Uhmmm – yeah, well, go figure!
It sounds like a completely strange thing to say but ... this holds the essentials of good role-playing. I do take on a role, I am thinking, performing, doing, and saying things along the story according to the adopted personality I chose for this role. This means I am not just continuing to write a story from a third person point of view, but I become part of the story, I am being one of the participants in the action.
Picture yourself being an actor in a stand-up show. You only can act for yourself, you do not know what the others will do, what their responses would be to your actions. This is exactly what role-playing is – become a fantasy person in a fantasy setting, ready to interact with the fellow participants via the written word.
Basic thoughts and RP-Etiquette:
Characters:
To participate in any action, you need to be there for more than one post. To be there you have to create your personal character.
Now we all know about our real life insufficiencies, but please, do not go now and create a fantasy character that is PERFECT! You will soon enough find out that people do not want to play with a too perfect character, since they always will be stuck in an inferior role. And just as much as you want to be a hero in your fantasy world, everybody else does.
Little example from a Sword & Magic – RP: A new player created a sorcerer character, and gave it unbeatable powers. All threads involving him would end shortly with some post saying that his powers were unbeatable and thus he defeated whoever was his opponent. It did not take long and nobody replied to his posts anymore – it was no fun because nobody likes to know from the beginning that they can only be the losers...
For practical purpose that means: design your character at least slightly realistic. Of course it can be different from who and what you are IRL, but according to the environment the story is set in, give it a few likeable insufficiencies, even if it is only that your character is being ticklish or allergic to broccoli.
Taking influence:
When playing remember that all participants have equal rights (unless agreed upon differently) in influencing the development of the story.
This means that just because you want the plot to go in a distinct direction does not necessarily mean it will happen. It is up to you to now with intelligence and creativity – just as you would in real life – to influence the scene accordingly.
It is absolutely BAD style to play others’ characters!
What I mean is to take decisions and act for others. I am not talking about little reactions you just need to assume to get on with your story, and some patterns of behavior can be taken for given by the development of a character and a story, but I seriously would warn to take too many liberties with your fellow players.
I more than once was rather pissed off to return to a thread and see that someone had made my character act in a way that was strictly against the whole personality I had set up, e.g. I was playing a mighty bad girl and held the leader of the good guys captive in my castle (we had worked out some really nice plot line of how he could free himself without me going against my bad wicked nature). the next thing I read is that another player had
“...sneaked into the castle
(which was protected by numerous magic spells, reason for why I had been able to take a captive at all)
past the guards.
(Needless to mention my guards at that time were a monster army)
I then took the captain of the guards captive, forced him to lead me to the witch’s quarters. Quivering with fear from this unknown stranger she threw herself at my feet and sobbing begged for mercy. I then went to release the Commander. The witch surrenders herself, her castle and her army.”
Uhhmmm – I guess it is easy to picture I was “not amused” about this!
What I am trying to say: act for yourself only – speak for yourself only! At least as major things are concerned. There is nothing wrong with letting someone nod in agreement or say a few words as long as they don’t influence the decisions, actions and character of the other party.
Interaction and plot line development:
Give the other party involved a chance for choice!
Of course we all want people to react the way we would like them to, to get on with our own plans. But as much as you have to accept that people sometimes make choices or show reactions that you do not like or did not anticipate in real life, you have to live with it when role playing.
You can drop as many hints as you want, letting your fellow players know what the direction is you have in mind for the game, but it is advisable to give the other party you are interacting with a choice....
E.g.
“I was looking at her – scanning her face for any even tiny sign that would betray her thoughts. But as much as I was hoping she would accept my offer
(hint hint ... so my partner will know what I would WANT to be the next step)
all I could do now was wait for her to declare her will and intentions.”
Had I wanted my fellow player do NOT accept my offer it could have been something like:
“I was looking at her – scanning her face for any even tiny sign that would betray her thoughts. But although I was convinced she would never accept my offer, all I could do now was wait for her to declare her will and intentions.”
Entering into a thread