The Newbie's Guide to RP!

Govanator · April 9, 2007

Posted here as I'm bugged in the correct forums and cannot log in

NOTE: While I'm the first to point out there are no concrete rules in RP, it always helps if those new to roleplaying have something to start from. This is not a ruleset, merely what the title states it to be. Also some of the examples below such as the sterotypes, which are no doubt purely for illustration purposes, do not fit in with my own opinions. This guide is a collection of sources, edited to work in a readable manner, the only credit I take for it is in the editing and the presentation for your benefit as a reader.

What is Roleplaying?

Have you ever wrung your hands in helplessness as you tried to explain roleplaying to a layperson and kept running into a wall of incomprehension? ...It is very hard to explain the essence of roleplaying to someone who is totally unfamiliar with it... - De Profundis (Hogshead, 2001)

You hear opinions like this all the time. For some reason, there exists the general belief that roleplaying is hard to describe. It is complicated. Ti's something you ahve to experience in order to understand. Granted, ever so often, someone will put forward a definition of the activity, but it inevitably gets rejected by the rest of the community, each person responding that one part of the defintion doesn't fit properly. So, in an effort to be true to everyone's personal roleplaying experiences, we often end up with no defintion at all. Instead, we fill the hold with a kind of "wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more" understanding, one shared by experienced roleplayers but completely opaque to those outside the community.

Consider roleplaying as "Let's Pretend" with rules.-- TORG (West End, 1990)

So what is a roleplaying game? ...a more mature version of the games of "Let's Pretend" that we all played as children.-- All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Eden, 1999)

Remember when you used to play "make believe" as a child? Roleplaying is a more adult way to play "make believe."-- Chill 2nd Ed. (Mayfair, 1990)

Storytelling is a sophisticated way for adults to play make-believe. ...In order to prevent jaded adult imaginations from being bored quickly, the setting is much more intricate and complex than most people's childhood fantasies.-- Exalted (White Wolf, 2001)

When you were young one of the games you played may have been "let's pretend" where you would assume the character of a film or television program etc. Roleplaying is the natural extension of that childhood game. Each Roleplay system has a set of guidelines of what should happen in certain events. These systems explain how magic works (if applicable) and how to simulate combat, illness and other skills.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974) was firmly fixed in the world of wargaming. By the time Call of Cthulhu (1981) went on sale, roleplaying had already distanced itself from its roots. And by the 90's, there was more of an effort to take roleplaying out of the box of strategy games and connect it with ordinary social activities, especially the games we reminisce about from our childhood. Despite the fact that not everyone actually played "make believe," the idea immediately caught on. Roleplaying was described as something so natural, so innocent, and so fanciful that children did it all the time without even knowing why.

The bomb, of course, was eventually dropped by Vampire: The Masquerade (1991), which replaced all references to roleplaying with "storytelling," attempting to distinguish itself from everything that had come before. As with calling on "Let's Pretend," appropriating the word "storytelling" emphasized the natural, instinctive nature of roleplaying, connecting it with the rich tradition that has existed in every culture throughout time.

Who Roleplays?

Thousands of people around the world Roleplay, from teenager upwards. Many people get their first contat with Roleplaying at University of College where there are often groups of clubs of Roleplayers.

Why Roleplay?

Roleplay allows you to become (for a shot while anyway) a fighter in a mystical land, a private investigator in search of horrible creatures or a magic user fighting to save the world. Have you ever watched a film and said "I could do better than that." ? Chances are, there is a Roleplay system that will allow you to test your skills in these situations.

Persona Development

When creating a character, take time to consider it's background. Start simply at first, and work with what you know, and that which you find most comfortable. After you have decided on a race and class, make an outline on a piece of paper (or on your PC) in order to create your history. It can be as general or as detailed as your imagination will allow. Start with your personal history from child to adulthood. What is your character's name? What trials and tribulations did you have to over come that shaped you into what you are now? What has happened to your character in recent years. How did you come to be where you are and why?

Once you have those areas hammered out, you can move into other areas, such as, what was the most important event in your character's life and why? Who (if you choose) is the most important person in your character's life and why? Why did your character choose to be X class? What is your character's greatest fear (if they have one of course)? What does your character do for a living? What does your character do in their free time? How does your character support themselves? Where does your character live? Does your character have family? Does your character have any friends or enemies? Are there any family secrets? Where does your character like to hang out? Does your character have any birthmarks or scars? How brave/cowardly is your character? Is your character good, evil or neutral? Does your character like to have a good time, or do they keep to themselves, as a loner? Does your character have any racial or place related prejuidices? Essentially you want to flesh out as much of your character as possible, in order to not only make it real to others you interract with, but also yourself. From there your character will begin to take on a life of it's own that will become entwined into the very fabric of the game itself.

Playing your character

The first thing you have to remember, no matter what is that it's just a game. It's fun, it's relaxing, but it's still a game. Fun is the point of roleplaying. Whether it's silly fun, moody fun, angry fun, or hack-n-slash fun, the point is still to have fun. There are lots of people (like me) who'll give you all sorts of advice when it comes to roleplaying. Try things out. Experiment. But when it comes down to it, as long as you and the rest of your group are having fun and you aren't hurting anyone or anything, then you're doing something right. The trick is to remember that the rest of your group or fellow roleplayers are included in this having fun thing.

When you make a mistake or things seem to go wrong, try to stay calm. Try not to get angry, flustered or defensive. If something really bothers you, get an out of character discussion going and try to come to a comprimise or at least a better understanding of what's going on and why. All roleplay should be consenual and you should not be subjected to nor inflict anything that makes your or another player uncomfortable.

I'm sure you've noticed that most of this is simple, obvious stuff. A lot of people forget these kinds of obvious things in the middle of a game, however. They're all adrenalized from the dragon-killing, or they're angry because something went badly, and they forget about the basics. Try to remember simple issues of politness, communication and compromise, and your roleplay experience will go much smoother.

Classic Character Archetypes

While there are many character types we associate with roleplaying, and we could potentially spend several hundred pages on each, we chose to limit it to the top four most common archetypes that are found in roleplaying. The examples and explanations are given as the purest forms that can be made by players to help you identify the archetype. Each archetype can be combined to create a different type of character as well. With that being said, let's begin.

The Scholar: He who seeks to change the world through knowledge and technology.

The Soldier: He who seeks to change the world through might and magic.

The Politician: He who seeks to change the world through words and guile.

The Priest: He who seeks to change the world through faith and vision.

Examples of the Archetypes

The following examples offer the most commonly found illustrations of these specific archetypes. We recommend that you break free from the mold of what is provided for you, as they tend to be considered the stereotypical staple of roleplaying. Look for our next article on breaking stereotypes in roleplaying. These four types are broken down into the specifics.

The Scholar: The scholar is perhaps the most underestimated type of individual that exists in character building. He can be extremely calculating, highly intelligent, rational, an excellent strategist, and extraordinarily... vain. After all, he has all this excess intelligence, why not spend a little on himself? Scholars are guided by the pursuit of knowledge and the usage and implimentation thereof. This can range from the trivial, to the extensive knowledge and inner workings of political culture, computer design, or magic lore. Of course, like the rest of the archetypes, he comes in many forms. Usually the stereotypical scholar spends 10 years in hermitville studying on his choosen craft, he wears the scholarly glasses, the slightly balding head with a bit of wildly unmanagable tufts of hair sticking out, the plain and unassuming clothes of someone living on the edge of financial existance, however, as roleplaying of this character becomes divergent from the typical Hollywood influences, many new types are becomming apparent. Jesters and technology or weapons gurus also fit into this catergory. Jesters for their high levels of intelligence and strong usage of, and technology or weapons gurus for the same reasons.

The Soldier: Strong, willful, and looking for a fight, whether it be for profit, or to avenge the death of a loved one. One type of soldier encompasses those who seek to do justice in an evil and dark world: The rugged heroes who are strong in arm and wit, but have some fatal character flaw (dealing with the death of a loved one, pride or vanity, a weakness for damsels in distress...) that will be the end of them if they don't figure out how to solve it. Another type refers to those who always use sheer force to solve any problem. Big, hairy, and usually extraordinarily stupid, these individuals are almost always hopeless at accomplishing complex tasks. Still others might seek to cause destruction or chaos to appease a higher entity or leader. Persons of action, and extreme calculation, these people tend to make fantastic villains. Overall, the soldier class of characters seek to force their will on the world, directly, or indirectly.

The Politician: The politician archetype usually encompasses the most diverse groupings of individuals: Poets, Rogues, and of course, Politicians. The Poet is the hopeless romantic that is usually more skilled with his instrument of choice, rather than sheer brute force. The instrument can range from musical lyres, lutes, and the like, to the musical sound an axe or gun makes when going through flesh. They are socially capable of holding conversations, but most people tend to view them as lost or dreamy souls. They tend to be stereotyped with the thin, wiry, tall, and dreamy; however, the jovial, heavy-set drunkard leaning on a wall with his mug of ale is just as susceptible to being a Poet. A Rogue is the strongly misunderstood man of the moment. Usually an attention getter striving to better himself at his trade or skill, the rogue is a drifter, never really settling down with someone or something. This could be caused by profession, reputation, or self-inflicted torture. Impulsive activity mixes with the common traits of exceptionally specialized skills in one or more areas, high levels of reflex, agility, and intelligence. They could potentially be very dangerous given the right circumstances, or alignment, for example, the Great Rogue himself-Robin Hood. Politicians are exactly as their name implies-great talkers who love to listen to the sound of their own voice. Rather than facing conflict, they seek to beguile, distract, and utilize words to walk around it. Usually they are highly intelligent with strong social skills, specifically dominate, persuade, or manipulate.

The Priest: Priests, Clerics, Necromancers, Fortune-tellers, Mediums, and anything else dealing with the spiritual and supernatural world fall into this genre. These types of characters usually come in the most unlimited range of styles, body types, and personalities, as the effects of dealing with the spiritual or supernatural may have odd effects on someone's psyche and physical appearence. Your average neighborhood Catholic Priest heavy in the midsection, could mingle with your thin teenage punk kid who has more than a few run-ins with walking zombies-and won. These individuals are either guided, aided, cursed, or replused by an driving force in their lives, and a sense that something bigger than them exists. Hunters that seek out supernatural creatures to kill for their own means portray aspects of the priest as well, as they seek to impose a vision of the world without those creatures. The priest is above all a visionary-he can see something that no one else can, and through his faith-in himself, or something higher-everything he sees will be accomplished.

Combinations: To some extent, gypsies fit all of these profiles and work as a good combination. Very intelligent jesters at heart(Scholar), without a sense of the limits of their own physical property, mixed with a bit of old world swindling, story-telling, and pan-handling(Politician), perhaps guided by an overwhelming guiding force that lets them see the words, "I'm naive, steal from me." in bold letters on someone's forehead(Priest), and take advantage of the situation for their own ends(Soldier).