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This is just for starters. Modifications and additions will be made.
Like Dan I will take (or leave) your ideas and delete posts.

01. Good RP starts with a solid foundation of your character. So when faced with creating a character start from scratch. First come up with a basic idea of who you want to portray (i.e., evil, good, male, female, down to earth, prissy, etc.). From there decide on physical attributes to enhance this character's personality. Most do this, but then stop there. Exceptional RP'ers continue with the following steps...

A. Create a history for your character from childhood. This is crucial Not only will it help you understand the character itself, but it will allow you to accurately decide how a character will respond to current conditions of an RP. i.e. If a character was born and raised on the streets most likely they will not be naive or speak properly.

B. Create personality flaws and nuances for this character. Let's face it, we all have them, shouldn't your character creation follow suit? Sometimes these will become personal trademarks for your character.

C. Take a chance by making a character that is totally opposite of yourself and other characters you play.

D. Please try and be oringinal. Nothing is more annoying than when one sees a carbon copy of their hard work. Not to mention a copy cat character never gains the respect or popularity of an original.

E. Stay true to what you have created. You'll find the more you "flesh" out a character the easier it is to react as that character. When introducing a character provide some sort of description (and not "that skin I use" ).

02. It's generally considered 'polite' to post a single major action then wait for the other involved parties to respond; the exception being if you are the only participant. Try to keep introductory posts to a single post (doesn't matter how long) before entering into an ongoing RP thread. If you want to have a multiple post introduction, say to gradually move yourself from your starting location (be it the same world in a different arear or another world or dimension) to the location of the ongoing RP, start a new thread then when you are ready, move threads.

e.g.
A short OOC (Out of Character for those not "in the know") note at the bottom of the last post moving to the new thread [OOC: Story continued in ******] and the same thing at the top of the new post [OOC: Story continued from ******].

03. If you are RP'ing with others allow the other parties to respond for themselves. Don't assign actions/reactions/emotions to a character not your own. Exception to this is if 2 (or more) of you want to get together and work out who does what, then one of you posts it, that's alright because content will have been given. Just remember it wastes time and space for someone to have to go back and "correct" what was done or said on their behalf.

04. If you are in a role play with several others, read all their posts CAREFULLY before you post a reply. If you respond to the first one you see, you can easilly miss something key that someone else posted, and then the continuity is all messed up. Then you end up with a bunch of follow-ups asking "what was that?" or pointing out the anomaly.

A. A little trick to use to try and keep continuity- Copy, paste, and save as text any posts that include your character in a roleplay. Then you can refer back to each as you write up your next post.

Also, don't switch viewpoints in the middle of the post. Either post entirely third person or entirely first person, whichever you are more comfortable with.

B. Write up your post in a word processor that has spell and grammar check. It isn't hard to copy and paste to the boards. When you do run a check though, remember that sometimes words are spelled correctly but are not used in the correct context (e.g. they're, their; you're, your; etc.). So re-read your post as well.

C. Use a foreign language and/or accent only in "speech" or when your character speaks outloud. For foreign languages please supply a translation somewhere in the post. Try to use correct spelling and grammar when writing. The exception to this is again when a character "speaks".

05. If you have a line of roleplay that takes place in more than one folder, it's a good idea to repost the bits together in at least one, or each involved folder, so people dont miss part of your storyline.

06. It's ok to invent a temporary npc to use in a post, such as a barmaid, messenger, or familiar. It's also ok to make up things to use:.A table, a fancy cloak, stun-stick, whatever, as long as your role-play has a legitimate reason for it to be there.

07. Please do not create a "God like" character. Understand that sometimes even your character will be bested every now and then. For example if dealing with a grand master thief it is doubtful that most will catch them doing something as simple as picking a pocket. If there are going to be exceptions (ie a mage cast a spell on something, a someone has a special device that will sound an alarm etc....) that's okay, but please don't tell me an ordinary fighter will just happen to notice it's happening. Always keep in mind what you are playing and stick to that choice. If you play an evil, be evil. I've never seen an evil person help a kitten down from a tree, just for the hell of it. If you are playing a short character, do not tell me that they can back hand another character that's 3 feet taller. In other words it's actually fun to have character downfalls.

08. No killing (or saying you killed) another person's character. A possible exception to this would be a REAL PK fight in-game. Like the game though, death will not be permanent unless the person killed say so for some reason or another. Likewise, no destroying someone else's world. You may destroy your own if you wish.

09. If someone RP's something out in the open, even if they are hidden in a corner, being as clandestine as a thief, it is still something that is shared by all the players who would read the post. There is that sometimes irresistable urge for you to act upon that RP, even if it would have been impossible for your character to overhear or interact at that time. Try to resist this urge. Remember, you don't know what you don't know. The player behind the character may know all sorts of stuff, but the character DOESN'T. Play it that way (it gets easier, just have to think a bit and ask yourself "would my character know this?")

10. No "sudden saves" by fantastical means to get out of sticky situations. (i.e. no deus ex machina - god from machine) That means if you're wandering along, suddenly get ambushed, you can't just pull out that "sword of super-slaying" or "bombastic blaster from the netherhells." If you didn't have it, don't use it consistantly, wouldn't be likely to have it.... don't try to use it.

11. Other than OOC don't use any acronyms in your posts, most people probably know the common ones, but assume they don't. Also, try to type it up before-hand in a word-processing program that has a spell checker Also, keep OOC posting to a minimum in an RP thread.

12. No "thread jumping" i.e. jumping in and out of threads with no logical way to have moved from one to the other (to another). Most these RP's are taking place on many differnt "worlds".

---- Like I said, this is just a start and may be condensed, most certainly will be added to, suggestions are welcome ----

My opinion as far as the "legality" of having the same character in different RP's at different ages... well, I'll say I DON'T LIKE IT, but several people have been doing it and I'm not going to stop it *for now*. I think it makes things way too confusing for all concerned.

You're supposed to be building a character with a HISTORY. Something that happened to you at an earlier time makes a difference about who & what you are at a later time. I don't see how you (this is a generic "you") can RP two (or more) different character timeframes at once. It's easier to just start a different character IMO.

I'm adding on a post from Ebaggins that I thought fit in here nicely.

quote:

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Ebag333
Member posted 03-27-2001 12:57 PM

1) You ARE that character. Think how s/he would think, act as they would act.

Example :
BAD
"Jimbob runs through the forest and digs up the treasure chest Joe buried last night."

GOOD
"Jimbob slowly walks through the forest, carefully watching for monsters. He walks by some fresh dirt, and wonders what sort of monster was here, and what they were digging for."

Even though the person RPing Jimbob knows that Joe buried a chest there, Jimbob doesn't. And Jimbob wouldn't go around digging at every mound of dirt he saw either.

2) No super-slaying bombastic blasters from the nether-hells. Give your "opponents" time to react. It's one thing to say "Ebag helps Leniad to his feet", it's another to say "Ebag jumps a million miles in the air, flys down, and land on Leniads head, smashing it like a pumpkin. COOL!"

First off, it's not fair. Second off, while some actions you might not be able to react to, most of them you could. So do something instead like "Ebag raises his hand and launches a black and blue ball of fire at Lenaid." Then give them time to react.

3) Description! Description description description!

Which would you rather read?
"The stanger walks down the road."
OR
"The odd looking stranger walks down the narrow dirt road, carefully watching the woods to his left and right. His blue cape billows behind him, giving short glimpses of the sable sword strapped to his left side. He right hand flexes near the grip, just waiting to draw the weapon again any foe."

Obviously the second one is better? Why? First, it's more fun to read. Second, it tells other people what the character is carrying. Third, it helps YOU get a feel for your character. If he's carrying a sword, he's not gonna punch someone. No, he's gonna draw his sword and chop their head off. Finally, it helps other people understand your character. By reading the above description, I can see that this is a very serious person, and he's (more than likely) slightly evil or battling with that.

Anyways, that's my guidelines to RPing well. Have fun!

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Adding another quote from Donnay here, figure it's appropriate

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Shon-dahre posted 06-16-2002 06:28 PM

Please don't use signatures when you are role-playing... It's just an idea to help keep stuff clean in here, especially as the longer topics will take a while to load anyway without all these annoying pictures

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code:

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Lawful    Good
          Neutral
Chaotic   Evil

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Good means that you do the ‘good’ thing in most situations, but you wouldn’t go so far as to kill to do it. Evil means that you don’t care about human life; don’t trust anybody. Etc. Neutral is someone that takes no sides; they only desire to live through life peacefully, though they’ll fight to protect themselves.

'Lawful' makes the alignment a little MORE good. Lawful Good would be like an extremist. They'd do just about anything to uphold law, keep peace. You know. Lawful Evil would be someone like Rak'nal. He's evil, but there are traces of good in him. Lawful Neutral... If you ever take sides, you'll join the side of good.

Chaotic means that they are... sporadic. If you are Chaotic Good, you are good but bad at showing it, you may make bad choices. If you are Chaotic Evil you're pretty much nothing but evil and probably insane. Chaotic Neutral is someone who does whatever they want to do for their own personal benefit. As long as it doesn't pose too much danger to them, of course.

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code:

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       Lawful  Neutral  Chaotic

Good
 
Neutral
 
Evil 

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