Role Playing for Dummies 2.0

4 posts · 2005-11-09 03:11:00 to 2005-11-10 03:35:00

#23900000373 11/09/2005 03:11 Re: Role Playing for Dummies 2.0

Character creation:

i know the idea of having a character who is out for vengeance for his/her parents killers sounds like a good idea, but its an over played story "this man killed my parents/family/partner, so i'm gonna kill them". So when trying to create a character purely for RP purposes, don't rush it..sit down for awhile and think about his/her motives for being freed... what their life was like..like neo's, stuck in an apartment....maybe a teacher...a doctor..scientist...hell even a policeman if you really wanted.

simple tips and questions to ask yourself-

age?

height?

sexuality? ((for the guys who obviously may wanna play homosexual-characters...it happens...sometimes heh))

strenghts?

weaknesses?

do they smoke? and if they do, what brand? whats caused them to smoke?

do they drink alcohol? and if they do, what is their favourite drink? and if they are alcoholics, what started it?

do they have a sense of humour? if so, is it just natural? or a defense mechanism?

are they witty?

are they sarcastic?

where were they born?

their first love?

are they married/divorced/seperated/widowed? if widowed, what happen? were they murdered? run over? plane crash? car crash? train crash? did they die of cancer or any other illness? was it suicide?

Are they religious? if so, have they always been religious or was it a life changing experience that made them be religious?

their favourite music?

will he/she be passive/aggressive? ((i.e MA/gunman and always want a fight... or healers and always shy away...or somewhere in the middle))

noticable features? ((i.e scars..tatoos..birthmarks..the like))

if your looking for RP, don't stand about and wait for it to come to you... because you may be waiting a long time...go out there and make your own RP, nothing more admirable then when two people can RP using no given situation and not having to wait for a crowd of people to even start to RP. If your having trouble finding RP, look on these forums and get the names of the leaders from the RP guilds, add them to your buddy list and when they come online ask if you can be included in any RP..or go to tabor west and/or the sphinx night club.

as posted in the above post, do not god mode.... no "i shoot you in the head and you die" .... if you wish to emote fight ((which are sometimes cool =) )) you have to make it fair and reasonable and let the other character decided his/her characters fate i.e "Mr.x quickly draws his pistols and sends a volley of bullets towards Mr.Y" now its up to mr.y what happens "Mr.Y instinctively rolls out of danger with minor cuts and bruises" or "Mr.Y tries to escape but gets cut down whilst trying to roll for cover" obviously you more experienced roleplayers out there already know this.. but i do see alot of roleplayers doing this kind of thing

#23900000380 11/09/2005 19:19 Re: Role Playing for Dummies 2.0

Very good quidelines, all. I have only one slight point of contention. Regarding the "no godlike characters" rule posted at the very top... I think what you're trying to say is:

"Your character is not all-powerful, or all-knowing, nor are you in complete command of every situation. What you do must follow logic, even if it is the maleable logic of the Matrix."

The "You are not God" rule is an important one, and I'm not trying to argue with it itself. I think, rather, that apart from the first one, your examples aren't particularly godlike. For instance, pulling an SMG "out of nowhere" is only realistic if you're a scantily-clad anime heroine, or some such. Doing that sort of thing without any kind of explanation in a realistic, or even semi-realistic RP will get you mocked. SMILEY

However, supposing our example character had reached into his coat and pulled forth an SMG that he had been hiding there, that would make sense. I mean, Neo did it. And not even when he was the One.

Secondly, people die all the time in one shot. Certainly not player characters, as that infringes on rule #2. But NPCs expire in droves thanks to a well-aimed burst of automatic fire. The Matrix is a world of high-lethality, and it's not an expression of godlike power to put a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger. Rather, it would be godlike for someone to SURVIVE that sort of encounter.

Thirdly, acting like God is not BEING God. If you want to start a fight, then laugh and walk out, that's your prerogative. If someone wants to chase after you and keep fighting with you, that's up to them, and you can't really stop them because you're not God. A perfect example of this is the Merovingian. The man has lots of guards to do his fighting for him. Thus, he can start a fight and escape. Does this make him God? Certainly not (despite what some Merovingian supporters might think. SMILEY

).

Anyway, I just thought I should bring that up, in case people were confused by those examples. The basic idea is the same. Don't be God. Your character can pretend to be God. Your character can even wholly believe he or she is God. But they are not, in reality. That's where the distinction lies.

- Void

Recursion: n - See Recursion.

#23900000382 11/09/2005 22:53 Re: Role Playing for Dummies 2.0

A good rule to go with is that if the canon character doesn't remember however they impacted your life, then you can claim it in your backstory. For example, if you once saw Morpheus run from some Agents and escape through a hardline, that's totally cool. If, on the other hand, you claim to be Neo's brother... Well, that's a problem. There are certain cases where you wouldn't want to claim a relationship, even if that character wouldn't recognize you anyway. For example, if you're Neo's secret twin-brother, separated at birth... Well, that's a problem, too, even though Neo wouldn't remember you.

As for playing Exiles or Agents or the like, it has worked out for a few people. I can think of three people who have been able to pull such a thing off. That's it. If you're not absolutely sure you can CONVINCINGLY play some kind of nonhuman with the complexity it deserves (especially since the game mechanics themselves don't support it), do us all a favor and don't do it.

The bottom line is this: RP is about mutual belief. If you and everyone you RP with believe something, it is for all intents and purposes true. Those who are deeply entrenched in the RP community, such as Gothique, Plt, or Anubis, can claim things that are a little more out there than usual and still be believed. But while you're just getting started with the RP scene, my recommendation is against trying anything too far "out there".

- Void

Recursion: n - See Recursion.

#23900000383 11/10/2005 03:35 Re: Role Playing for Dummies 2.0

we got a guy on syntax called nnn .... he runs around claiming to be neo's son =/.... anyway, these guides use only as guidelines... a sort of a beginners tip.. so it gets you ready for any questions people ask so you don't make it all up and then forget it and tell some one else something different =)