top of page
.png)
Roleplay GUIDE - The basics
So! You have decided to join the massive and entertaining hobby called Roleplaying? Well congratulations!
​
But do you have any idea where to start? How to "Make" an unique and believable character that you and others will find interesting?
Then this guide is just for you! And of course for all those other people who have no idea where to start or just want to get some extra information on the subject of "ROLEPLAY".
​
First things first though, what exactly is ROLEPLAY?
​
Roleplaying is basically pretending, acting, you are pretending to "BE" the character that you are playing right now. You are nolonger the player who is sitting behind the screen, drooling and eating donuts and whatnot. No, you are now that adventurer, that honourable knight or brave soldier you always wanted to be!
​
So, roleplaying is basically acting and you will see that it is highly addictive!
TERMINOLOGY
CPRPG: Computer Role Playing Game
​
IC: In Character
​
OOC: Out Of Character
​
NPC: Non-Playable Character
​
PC: Player Character
​
MP: Multi-Player
​
Mary Sue/Marty STue/Gary sue:
an attempt by a roleplayer to make their character 'perfect'. Of course, by doing this, they put off others that may have wanted to, initially, roleplay with them. (ex.: someone talking about mind- reading, not letting themselves die, being a master in all professions while being an awesome fighter/spellcaster, being good at pretty much everything, etc.)
​
OP: Over- Powerd (Making your character insanely
powerful. Usually, this is used in more
extreme cases to call out people who
are making their characters capable of
things even lore heroes are having
trouble doing. This can be mistaken for
being Mary Sue or God Modding, as
all three are labeled as “RP Don'ts”)
​
Power-gaming/God-modding: Controlling other's characters. Generally, people who do this to their characters are avoided, shunned, or yelled at. No person should EVER do this with their character. Ever. Often connected to Mary Sue, Gary Stu, and Marty Stu. (ex.: “Gigantus swung his massive sword and decapitated Bruticus in one clean swing.”)
SP: Single Player
Character Development
Creating your (first) Character
Okay, so you know a bit of the strange words that we are using and what the shortcuts mean. So shall we make your very first character? GREAT! Let’s start right away! This section is completely focused on creating YOUR character and to make him/her completely to your liking (in a non godmode like way of course). So, the next few sub-sections will give you some recommendations on how to create just such a character.
​
Understanding Your Adventure
A very important aspect of character creation that is frequently overlooked is to research the game you will be joining. Many times, games or campaigns provide a background for you. This is particularly true when you are starting from 1st level. It’s crucial to do this for two reasons. First, your character will fit much better in his or her environment with a background that matches the campaign setting. Second, building a character that doesn’t match the campaign can hurt the campaign, or hurt your character’s ability to merge seamlessly into a group.
Character Background and Personality
Perhaps the most important idea around character creation is: Develop your characters before you create them in the game. Some people prefer to do that while they make their character but that is unadvised since it will be so easy then to screw up the character in your head. Try to write a paragraph or two about your character first. It is important to note that we are not talking about the character description you will type at this point! We are just generating ideas for your character. Some of the questions you can try to answer include:
• Where did your character come from?
• Why have you chosen the adventurer’s life?
• Why have you chosen your profession/skills?
• What are your character’s hopes, desires, and goals in life? Why?
• What are the physical characteristics of your character?
• What are some of the personality traits of your character?
• What significant “turning point” events occurred in your character’s life until now?
What were they?
​
Another good idea during character creation is to create detail.
Quite frequently, the smallest details about a character are the things that make a character really stand out. And remember, flaws can be just as important as assets when creating an interesting character. Many famous characters from movies have these critical flaws. In the movie, Inigo Montoya has scars on each cheek.. Luke Skywalker loses a hand. Stephen Donaldson’s “Thomas Covenant” has leprosy, and so on. Those are physical flaws, but other non-physical flaws can be great too. Captain Kirk was too much of a cowboy; Han Solo was a greedy rogue, and so on.
Consider some of these sample backgrounds for a character:
Example 1
Magnus is a strong fighter. He grew up in a military family learning swordplay. He is anxious to prove himself and become rich and famous.
It’s a start, but we really haven’t learned a whole lot about him. In fact, he could be any of a thousand fighter-types.
Example 2
Magnus is a very strong young man. Tall, even for a human, Magnus is quite muscular. As the son of the a Commanding officer on a an army, Magnus grew up around weapons, armor, and military personnel. As a result, he is quite familiar with most weaponry, and he is anxious to prove himself to his father.
As you can see, we have learned a lot more about Magnus. Now we know that he is taller than most humans, is related to a Commanding officer on a army, and has a need to prove himself. Let’s take this one step further:
​
Example 3
Magnus is a very strong young man, with brown hair and brown eyes. Tall, even for a human, Magnus is very muscular. As the son of the commanding officer of an army, Magnus grew up around weapons, armor, and military personnel. As a teenager, he was injured badly when he was roughhousing with some friends in the barracks. As they wrestled, they knocked over a large locker that fell on top of magnus, crushing one leg. The leg never quite healed properly, and as a result Magnus is ponderously slow and walks with a pronounced limp. During the time he was laid up with the injury, Magnus spent much time reading texts on military strategy. As a result, he is quite learned, and probably a good deal smarter than most of the other military conscripts. But, his father never forgave him for his irresponsible act. As a result, Magnus is still desperately seeking his father’s approval. Perhaps if he accomplishes something great as an adventurer, his father will finally approve. As you can see, we now have a very good understanding of Magnus. He has physical characteristics, including a noticeable flaw. He has a reason for adventuring, a reason for
being a fighter, and he has at least one notable personality trait – that of needing approval. This is a great start for a character that has some depth and will be memorable to other players. Yet, Magnus still has plenty of room to grow.
You don’t need to detail every last thing about your character. You want to have room to evolve fluidly depending on how your adventure proceeds. If your personality or background is too stifling, it may make role-playing difficult or ruin your enjoyment of the game. Similarly other gamers expect other characters to be at least of moderate value to the party, so don’t go so far overboard on the flaws that your character is helpless.
​
Developing Your Character Further
You are about ready now to begin playing. A few quick thoughts about how to develop your character further:
​
• While playing the game, be your character. Everything you say and do should be something that
your character would say and do... not what you the player would do. Since you are no longer the person who is drooling behind the screen remember?
​
• Stay true to what you have created If you have a crippled player like Magnus, try not to have him run – he would have a very hard time running with his injury, especially if he is wearing armor. Or, if you have him run, throw out some “emotes” or have him say things like “Friends, you must slow down! I cannot keep up . . . my leg!”
​
• Role-play your experience. Level one characters are assumed to have a certain amount of training, but no “real-world” experience. However, as your characters gain experience, levels, and new skills, consider whether their personality should also change. A first level fighter may be uncertain, nervous, afraid of a real fight, and so on. But the same character at fifth level may be more confident, perhaps even brash or cocky. There are plenty of variations, just consider how you might want to change styles as your character progresses.
​
• Take notes! Players who play only once a week, or play on multiple characters, sometimes have trouble remembering how their character has changed through various sessions. It can be very jarring to your other party members if one session you role-play your deep-seated fear of water, only to dive to the bottom of a pool to fetch a diamond next time you play him. Would be quite a miracle wouldn’t it?
.png)
.png)
bottom of page