Guide to RP

TERMS TO REMEMBER

God-modding - the act of controlling another person’s character without their permission. All good RPers look down on this.

Power-playing - the act of giving one’s character god-like abilities. Power players usually create a perfect, unrealistic being that has no flaws and physically attractive. All good RPers look down on this.

OOC - stands for “out of character.” An RPer that wishes to make a comment out of character writes OOC before the comment.

IC - stands for “in character.” After making an OOC comment, an RPer continues the role-play and places this before their post.

RP/RPer - stands for “role-play” and “role-player.”

Bio - a prewritten biography of one’s character to give that character’s history. They are posted on the RPer’s profile or blog.

Abilities - a character’s given power. Not to be confused with power-playing. Abilities can include anything from a talent in art, adeptness in computers, control over an element, or ability to cast magic.

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Informal Role-play

Very short posts, usually surrounded by an asterisk * or a dash - . Proper grammar is not incorporated most of the time.

Ex. *sticks tongue out*
-shivers from the cold-

Formal Role-play

Longer posts, always at least one paragraph. Correct usage of grammar, capitalization, and punctuation is used. No symbols are placed on either side of the text. Long time RPers generally write multiple paragraphs.

Ex.

The black dress flowed freely down Arianna's small stature, elegantly sweeping the floor. The fashion matched her red hair, which was stylishly twisted upward in a sleek up-do. Crystal blue eyes scanned the room vigorously, taking in the various creatures that walked the manor. She clutched her glass of champagne tightly in her right hand, bringing the glass to her pink lips and taking a sip, relishing the feel of the alcohol as it slid down her throat. Unease crept lazily up and down her spine, her nerves running wild at the thought of one of the blood suckers or wolves coming at her with their jaws snapping.

Even with this uncertainty crawling up her vertebrae, none of the other occupants of the ballroom paid her any mind as they went about their socializing. She listened as the Queen made her speech, attentively following each word and yet keeping half an eye on everyone else.

A beautiful woman in a dashing gown of jade screamed for everyone to `get trashed,` and she chuckled silently in amusement as the blaring music thumped in her ears. She continued to drink in solitude, savoring the warmth of the deep violet liquid as it splashed down her throat.

Nearby she found a stool, and sat with her legs crossed, a bit of skin seen from the slit that rose to her hip. Her gun was concealed, attached to her other leg, and she rubbed her thigh against the edge of the stool, closing her eyes and enjoying the texture of cold, hard metal. She leaned her back against the wall, her skirt moving over her flesh and tickling her a bit. A smile couldn't be helped, for she was ticklish. Odd for an infamous mob boss to be amused by a soft touch of cloth.

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The Importance of Grammar in Formal RP

Grammar is a vital part of formally role-playing. Many times when an RP thread isn’t responded to, it’s most likely due to bad grammar - and even spelling, i.e. text talk - of the original poster (OP). If you are not a great speller, a dictionary or Microsoft Word are great tools to use. Word sometimes corrects your grammar, but as a human would, it does not always see the error. It is a great idea not to trust Word when it comes to parsing. Reread your post before putting it up. If after posting you notice a mistake in your entry, USE THE EDIT BUTTON. It’s there for a reason!

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The Importance of Punctuation in Formal RP

Can you tell which sentence is correct?

‘I helped my uncle Jack off a horse.’
‘I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse.’

The first sentence is sexual in nature, but the second one (same as the first, only with a comma added between uncle and Jack.) states that the speaker’s uncle’s name is Jack. This and other kinds of mistakes can change the meaning of a sentence. It is important that you use the right punctuation marks in the right places, or the reader may misunderstand your meaning.

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Structure

What is meant by structure, is the way your post has been set up. If there is no dialog whatsoever, then having a one paragraph post may be okay, depending on how long it is. Preferably, I do not like having more than 5-8 sentences a paragraph. However, if there is dialog, then the start of the speech must be made into a whole new paragraph.

Ex.

"Dad?" she says. "I swear, I can`t remember the words to my own songs." She is sixty-two and sitting on the edge of the couch, her old acoustic guitar perched on her knee.

Her husband of forty-seven years walks into the living room from the kitchen. "What`s that, Mom?" he says. For decades, ever since they had their third child together, he has called her Mom and she has called him Dad.

"I can`t remember how the second verse starts."

"Well, what are you singing?"

"You must be ignoring me. I've been trying to sing the same song for the last twenty minutes."

George, her husband, looks up at the ceiling. "Well, let`s see," he says, rubbing the gray stubble of his beard. "Picking Flowers in the Rain?"

--an excerpt from The Backward Fall by Jason Helmandollar

Although this is from a short story and obviously there are two characters, the concept remains the same.

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I believe I have covered all concepts. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send me a message with your question or concern. And if you’d like to add something to it, let me know.