Introduction
Hello, guest, and welcome to my little guide page! I, as you probably guessed, am ReggieK.
You're probably wondering how I intend to teach everything about RP on one simple site, aren't you? Well, to be perfectly honest, I can't do that. RPing is rather like an art form, it is something that can easily taught, but only mastered by actually going out and doing it! So, then, you're probably wondering just what I hope to accomplish with this page, right?
This is basically sets of ground rules, hints, tips and suggestions for the newbies, and maybe even a few pointers for the veteran RPer. The main thing to remember is that everyone has their own style of RP, no one way is set in stone. So consider this a road map. There are many ways to RP well, you just have to find the way that works for you!
Also, please do not neomail me until you have read the FAQ! Most, if not all of your questions will be answered there, including those by some who may not agree with some of the things I say here. Information about me, my owner, and how this site was created will all be touched upon there! Now, on to the meat of the page!
The best way to explain RP is through example, so, in order to do this, I have recruited some of my friends to help me out! | Meet Rascalis, the Faerie Poogle, | 
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| Pixistiyx the Pink Aisha, | 
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and DBtheFox, the Green Wocky. |
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They'll be doing little mock RP's throughout the page, just to help you get a feel for how an RP behaves. They'll each have their own color whenever they speak, just to make things a little easier to follow.
The Basics
First, let's start with a few basic questions you may have. Those who are very new to RP, or have never RP'ed before in the first place, may find these helpful. Veterans, however, may wish to skip this section entirely.
What is Role Play?
Role Play is an interaction between characters played by two or more people. Think of it as a kind of interactive story. Characters can speak back and forth, go on adventures, fight, use weapons, magic, whatever you wish them to! In Role Play, you are limited only by your imagination.
How do you do it?
In role play, you use words to describe everything. Good RPers know how describe their characters looks, thoughts and actions. They not only tell the other role players what their character says, but also how he or she says it, who it is directed at, if it is whispered or shouted, well, you get the idea. Because no one can see your character, you must use words to tell people what they would see, were they standing there. The best advise on 'how to do it' is to try and make the RP read like a book.
What are the rules?
Role play is a rather open-ended thing. There really aren't any 'rules' per say. But, there are unspoken rules of common courtesy. For example, you probably would not be very happy if someone in a role play killed your character. Therefore, it is probably not a good idea to go around killing other people's characters. Common sense and courtesy are rather important in role play, more about this can be found under the Tips section of this page.
What is a genre?
A genre is a kind of role play. A role play would quickly become very confusing if there were vampires and knights running around a highschool, fighting against the villains from The Lord of the Rings while being aided by a wolf pack. Therefore, RP boards and sites are given specific topics that all who enter should adhere to. For example, you will probably not have the warmest of receptions if you enter your blue furred talking wolf into a highschool role play.
How do I get a character?
Characters can be made up by the player, or you can take over the role of a character from a movie, book, comic book or TV show. It is, however, very bad form to take over a character created by another role player without their permission. If you are playing a previously developed character, ie: Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, Spike from Cowboy Bebop, Legolas from Lord of the Rings, ect, try to keep your character's thoughts, speech, actions and reactions similar to those the original would have. More info on this here. If you are creating your own character, try to make him or her believable, at least somewhat human.
Terms
Role play has some rather unique terms that you are likely to run across. Take a second to glance them over!
RP
RP is short for Role Play. You'll see it quite often.
Godmoding
Godmoding comes in many forms, and is one of the worst RP crimes you can commit. Godmoding ranges from doing auto hits/kills on another person's character to refusing to take a hit from another character. But, this is just for terms, more about Godmoding here.
MUAHAHA! I am here!
You're all dead!!
Him again? And we were having such a nice RP... |
N00b
A n00b is a term used to describe someone who is 'new' to RP. It is generally not a good thing to be called a n00b, as this is usually done in reaction to a bad post, or a question or comment that should be obvious to those who have been around the RP board. It does not matter how long you have been on Neopets, or even been role playing, a n00b is more of a state of mind. It is, for example, not a good defense to ask what a n00b is, then say, "I'm not one! I've been here for two years, this is just a new account!" No one will believe that you have been around that long, and those who do, will think that you really haven't learned much at all.
Chatspeak
Chatspeak is a shortening of words in order to type more quickly. "Hi, how are you today?" for example is shortened to, "Hi how R U 2day?" This style of type is highly debated, some role players preferring it, while others refuse to even stay on the same board as those who use it. Out of thirty people polled, only one used chat speak, twenty refused to RP with someone who used chatspeak, and only two thought that someone who used chatspeak could be considered a 'good' role player. Try as I did, I could only find one person to defend chatspeak. There is, of course, no rule that prevents you from using this, but be warned: you will likely be shut out by the majority of role players if you do.
Desperate
A 'desperate' is another dreaded word in role play. Desperates are people who role play simply for the purpose of getting attention from those of the opposite gender. Often found in boards with 'romance' in the title, most shun this crowds of role players. The accusation of being a 'desperate' is one of the worst a role player can receive.
Hi! I'm Pixi! I'm the most popular girl
in school, I'm a cheerleader, play all sports,
and make straight A's! I'm also the prettiest
girl in school, and I'm single! ^.~ |
OOC
OOC is short for 'Out of Character.' This can mean one of two things. First is that the person role playing is stepping out of their character, speaking, not as their character, but as themselves. This is sometimes denoted by the role player typing in parentheses.
The second definition of this is when someone playing a previously developed character has that character behaving nothing like they should. Sephiroth, from Final Fantasy 7, for example, would not want to sit down and 'talk about his feelings' with Cloud. He is behaving 'out of character,' which is not necessarily a good thing.
Continued/no newbies
A mistake newbies often make is to try and enter a board with 'No Newbies' in the title. If a member of the board comments about this, they quickly announce that they are not newbies, saying that their account was frozen, or the like. What they do not realize is what is meant by 'no newbies.' It does not, in fact, have anything to do with how long someone has been role playing, or on Neopets. It means that there was a board created earlier, but it was deleted, and all those who were previously on the board should come to this new one, but they do not want to introduce any new characters. So, save yourself the embarrassment and avoid boards which read 'no newbies.'
One-Liners
One-liners are role players who post minimally. These post often read something like:
*walks in* Hi, I'm Jamie.
This gives the other role players very little to go off of, and allows for very little expansion in the role play itself. If the goal of RP is to make it read like a book, well, there are very few one-line books. Many role players avoid these 'one-liners.'
What are you? |
Tips
As was said before, there really are not any set 'rules' to role play. There are, however, things you can do to make yourself a better, more skilled, more respected role player. You do not have to follow any of these tips, but who knows, they just may help! Below are some handy tips that some of the best role players adhere to.
Know your RP
Make sure you know something about the role play which you are entering. If you think that Cowboy Bebop is about dancing cowboys, it is probably not a good idea to join in that role play. At the same time, do not assume that because you know about Ann Rice's vampires, you will be able to join in a Vampire Hunter D role play. Each one is different. You do not have to know everything there is to know about a certain thing, but if you have at least some idea, you are bound to role play better, and to come across to others as more intelligent.
Know the site rules
There are many different role play sites, all of which have different rules. Be sure to research the rules of a site, as you do not want to be kicked out for violating a rule you do not know existed. Neopets does not allow any profanities or suggestive role plays among other things. You can find a complete list of their chat rules here.
Develop your character.
The worst characters to RP with are the ones who are inconsistent. They can be very powerful one minute, weak and crying the next, cold as steel one moment, yet giggling and happy after another moment. Know your character, and know him or her well. While no one is happy, giggly and bubbly all the time, they are neither furious, angry and sulking all the time, either. And so it should be with your character. Some may put on a cold face to the world, but deep down, there is still some other emotion playing there. Make your character more 3D, and they will not only be more realistic, but also more fun to play, as you will be able to test their actions and reactions in different situations.
I not only have my own character, but I
also have people he knew in his past, and present! |
Don't RP OOC (if using a previously developed character)
So Legolas is your favorite character ever? Great! So you want to role play as him? Go for it! So you want to make him run around the forest doing handstands and singing drinking songs at the top of his lungs? ...wait a minute.
While there is no rule in RP that will prevent you from doing that, most people are not going to appreciate it, and it is very unlikely that many people will join your board. Try to keep characters true to their original, it not only allows others to role play easier with you, but it also shows a certain amount of respect for the character's creator. If you chose to role play a character and have them behave against their natures, be prepared to face some scrutiny from other role players.
Know the time period
You may think this a rather obvious point, but sadly, many ignore this. Quite often you find someone inside a medieval role play wearing tube tops and tight, shiny, hip hugging leather pants. Such fashions were definitely not in at the time, and the chemical formula used to treat today's leather was not even invented back then, nor was the stretchy type material used to make tube tops. Therefore, such an outfit would hardly be appropriate. Keep these things in mind while role playing. Oh, by the way, in case you did not know, guns also were not around in the days of knights in shining armor. ^^
Don't be a fire starter
What does that mean? Discrimination against pyromaniacs? No! Fire starters are people who are always seeking to pick a fight or cause a commotion. The idea that a role play is 'boring' is usually what drives them to do such. Keep in mind that not every role play has to involve some epic quest, heroic battle or daring rescue. Quite often, groups of role players can be together for months if not years, and just because there are no battles on the current board does not mean that there was not one on the last, or will not be on the next. Characters sometimes need time to sit, relax, unwind, and talk to other characters.
Hey, guest, can we talk? |
Don't godmod
One of, if not the most dreaded kind of role player. The godmoder. Godmoders have a very undeveloped style of role playing, stating their character's actions, and forcing reactions upon those they are role playing with. They, in essence, take over the characters of the other role players. Often, they use the excuse, "My character is just that powerful!" This, sadly, is no excuse, for they do not know the powers of the other characters on the board. There are, however, a few simple things you can do to make sure you are not godmoding.
Do not force actions upon other characters. Instead of saying
He grabs the girl by the arm and turns her around to look into her eyes,
try something a little more open ended.
He reaches out to grab the girl's arm, attempting to spin her around to look into her eyes.
This allows the other person's character more freedom, now able to either be grabbed, or to dodge the hand.
This brings up the other kind of godmoder. The invincible character. No matter how many people attack, how many spells are cast, how many arrows or bullets are fired, this character dodges them all. Not a wound on their body. At the same time, this same person usually expects everyone else to die because of his or her blows. Very bad form. A good role player knows when he or she is outmatched or outnumbered, and will take as well as dodge hits.
Use description
In other words, "Don't be a one-liner." Remember that, while you may visualize what your character looks like, acts like, is dressed like, and how he or she is standing or sitting, no one else does. Good role players are actually very interested in the mannerisms, speech patterns and placement of other characters. So tell them! Don't just say,
*walks in* Hi, I'm Jamie!
Instead, try to tell others about your character. A better post would be,
A girl with black hair falling to her shoulders enters the room. She has bright blue eyes and wears a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt. Smiling to those who notice her, she waves a hand, saying, rather softly, "Hi, I'm Jamie.
Adds a lot more personality to Jamie, doesn't it?
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Does this description make me too girly? |
Don't be a desperate
You may have seen this before. A person with a male Neopets account makes a board, the setting, we will say, is a prince riding though the woods on his horse. Suddenly, there are ten females on the board, all wounded, running or hiding, hoping not to be found. 'Damsel in distress,' times ten. Or you come across a highschool board, the character there described as captain of the football and basketball teams, the richest and most popular guy in school, and he just happens to be "single and looking!"
Desperates come in many ways, but they are all after the same thing: romance. They jump from board to board, genre to genre, in hopes of finding a person to cuddle and kiss in the role play. Many role players get fed up with this kind of "love-sick" behavior very quickly. Remember, Neopets is not the place to find a boyfriend or girlfriend for yourself, your pet, or your character. If you really need romance, may we suggest a book?
Distinguish thought, speech and action
Some role players try and clump all three of these things together, not distinguishing one from the other. While it can, sometimes, be picked apart, it takes a great amount of effort for all those trying to read it.
Jamie walks in and says hi she looks all around and waves to John He's in my English class she thinks to herself before she walks over and says hey what's up? to him.
Punctuation would help this post quite a bit, as would some more character description, but there are a few other things that would help, also. Use quotation marks to set off words, or some other kind of symbol to set off action. Try to avoid using parentheses, as these are usually reserved for OOC chat. Here are two different ways you could use symbols to help make this post easier to read.
Jamie walks into the room, "Hi!" she says as she looks around. She notices John and waves to him, thinking, "He's in my English class." Moving toward him, she waves once again. "Hey, what's up?
*Jamie walks into the room,* Hi! *she says as she looks around. She notices John and waves to him, thinking -He's in my English class.- Moving toward him, she waves once again.* Hey, what's up?
Share the spotlight
So you have developed the best character ever, right? Not only is he or she original, but they have a really cool personality, appearance and weapon! They should be the center of everyone's attention, right? Well, the thing you must remember is that everyone else feels just about the same way about their character. This is not a book, movie or videogame, there is not one main character to focus on. One of the tricks of role play is to learn to share the spot light, to allow other characters some attention. If every time the focus begins to drift toward another character, yours begins to fall down and cry, or start a fight, or just start demanding attention in general, your fellow role players are not going to think much of you or your character.
Care about other characters--even if your character doesn't
So your character is cold hearted, dislikes people, and enjoys giving people the cold shoulder. That's just fine, right? Right. But if your character is constantly giving people the cold shoulder, not expressing any thoughts, emotions actions or feelings, and you do not let other people in on what he or she is thinking, the role play is going to become very boring very quickly. Try and let the other role players know what your character is feeling or thinking--remember, no one is completely heartless. The best villains from movies and games all have something or someone they care about, some driving force behind their actions. Keep that in mind.
NEVER kill another person's character
This most always falls under the category of godmoding. Every now and again, a player will give you permission to kill their character, but this is a very rate thing. Remember the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you do not want someone to randomly kill your character, you should not kill theirs. Oh, and claiming that your character is 'just that powerful' is no excuse.
Not all RPs are about Neopets
In fact, very few are. Unless a role play specifically says "Neopets RP," it will not involve Neopet characters at all. Just so you know.
Many of us are human! |
Even immortals die
Superman died. Vampires can be slain, even Akasha in Queen of the Damned died. Even if your character is an 'immortal,' remember that there is no true immortality. Your character may fully believe that he or she cannot die, but remember that every character should have weaknesses. No one is asking you to hang a target on your character's back and beg the world to kill them, just remember that role playing a fight scene with someone who refuses to be harmed in any can become frustrating quite quickly.
Don't post multiple times
You mean I can only post once in an RP? No silly! What I mean is: Try and condence your posts into one, longer one, rather than posting several short, choppy ones. Here's an example!
*Brian walks in*
*He's wearing a black T-shirt and baggy jeans*
*His hair is short and brown*
*He sees someone he knows and waves hello*
If someone were to 'post' at every break, meaning, hit the 'Add Message' button after each break, the message would seem very long, indeed. This is not a good way to RP because the posts are often outdated, as it takes time to post, and it makes it seem very choppy. Also, if there are a number of people on the board, and it is in 'Chat Mode,' the messages of that or other people could easily be lost. Here's an example of a better post:
*Brian walks in, wearing a black T-shirt and baggy jeans. He has short, brown hair, and waves hello to someone he knows*
There, isn't that much easier to read? And it makes Brian sound a lot smarter, too!
Know when you are not wanted
Mean as this may sound, there are times when people will not want to RP with you. It may be because characters, like people, sometimes need to talk one-on-one with another character. A character may simply not get along with your character, or someone may not like your RP style. They may even consider you a godmoder, desperate or a fire starter. Role Play is based off of the interaction of characters, and it will not be enjoyable if someone does not wish to role play with you. The general rule is: let the person who made the board make the decisions, and after that, the majority rules. If someone does not wish to RP with you, refusing to leave the board, or following them to another one, is not going to help your reputation in the least.
FAQ
I've gotten a lot of questions about my page, many even before it was fully published! So, here are some of the most common ones.
Who are YOU to tell ME how to RP?
Well, that's simple. I'm not. As I said in the intro, this site is more like a road map, aimed at novice RP'ers. If you disagree with some of the things I say here, that is fine, really. This site has been built with the tips, criticisms and advise of over thirty talented role players, who each has their own RP style. No one role plays quite the same way, so if you do something different, and it works for you, then keep doing it.
How come I've never seen you role play on Neopets before?
I've taken to role playing other places mostly, but every now and again I can be found on the boards, though it is mostly to visit with old RP friends.
How long have you been role playing?
A very long time. Since I was eight years old, so over ten years now.
Can I Neomail you or RP with you so you can tell me how good I am?
I'd rather you not. Flattered as I am that you care about what I think, I'm very busy. And besides, there are a lot of good RP'ers out there. Find someone you think is good, role play with them a time or two, then ask their opinion.
Will you link to my RP site?
No, sorry. I don't have time to screen though them all to find the good ones, I don't want to deal with people being offended if I link one and not another, and, well, I just don't want to deal with it all. Sorry!
Can I link to you?
Sure! I'd be very flattered if you would. Just copy and paste petpages.neopets.com/~ReggieK onto your page. Or, you could just copy and paste the code for a button -blocked-lookup.
ReggieK doesn't look anything like he does in his pictures!
Well, that's because ReggieK goes to the lab ray every day. He was created as a Blue Wocky, which he is pictured as in his banner, but has been everything from a Fire Poogle to an Island Uni to a Faerie Kyrii!
Where did you get the pictures for this site?
Mega_Flarex2 drew them. All the pictures are © to her, and are not to be taken without permission! Art thieves will persecuted.
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