Hey there. So, you wanna role play? Awesome!
This is basically a beginners guide to roleplaying in Second Life, but a lot of the tips will help with role-playing in other forums too, including chat boards, fan forums, discord, etc. This is written to help those who have never RPed before, but want to know where to begin, and for those who haven't RPed in years and want a refresher course.
The First Step: Pick Your Roleplay
It's very hard to roleplay anywhere if you don't have any where specific to roleplay. Fortunately, in Second Life, there are loads of amazing sims specifically dedicated to roleplay. You can look at the official Destination Guide for some, and there are also many more to be found by searching for 'roleplay sims' in the in-world search or looking at people's profiles. I will, however, be making a list of some of the sims curently available in a future post.
The most important thing is to pick a roleplay that suits your style and genre. Don't like modern living? Then don't pick a roleplay based in a small-town/city for modern day people. Love sci-fi? Then choose a sci-fi themed sim.
Once you've picked a couple of RP sims that suit you, visit them. Wander around but make sure not to disrupt people who are in active role-play. There is most often information at the landing point - often a group join (this is a way to make sure people know you are either in-character (IC) or out-of-character (OOC) and can see IC posts that might spark an interest for you to join a scene in the future. There is, most often but not always, an OOC group as well. Then make sure you read any rules and abide by them, especially since you're going to be wandering around the sim OOC. You may be required to wear clothing that will allow you to blend in on the sim. Do not disrupt people actively roleplaying, as it will not endear you.
Some fantasy sims have very specific rules about the supernatural, especially those who have a mix of humans and non-humans. The veil must be kept in-tact most of the time so don't just walk up to a scene and declare that you saw a werewolf/staked a vampire/had a spell cast on you, etc.
Once you've chosen your new RP home, it's time to move onto the next step.
Step Two: Creating Your Character
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The Basics:
So, for this step, I will guide you through the process of making a brand new character. There are a few ways to go about it. If you want to use your SL name (I use Primrose Harper on some RPs, but use a titler for others) then you don't need to use a titler, but of course you can if you wish. If you are using a different name - for example if your SL display name is 'The Trash Monster' - then titlers are excellent for people to distinguish your OOC-self with your IC-self. They're also useful for letting characters know what your character smells like (supernatural sims in particular), whether they are likely to be armed, etc.
If you are making a new character, then you need to start with a name. And the best place for finding a name for anything and everything are name generators. My favourite, that I use for all kinds of things, including my SL name, is this one: Fantasy Name Generators. It has regular human names from all over the world, and many, many other names.
Make sure your name is appropriate for the character you intend on playing. For example, a character who lives in 1920s New York is not going to be called Zion or Phoenix. For this example, we're going to call our new character, Elizabeth Hughes.
Now how your avatar looks for this or any other character is mostly up to you. However, it's obviously important that if you're on a sim with no supernatural characters, or supernatural creatures living under a veil, that you don't run around with wings on or orc tusks. On that same note, a 17th century nobleman won't have leather motorcycle pants, either.
The Backstory:
You should have at least a basic idea of your character's past. Do they have family? If so, who. Even if you don't have names for family members, at least knowing that they have X family members is a start. For Elizabeth, she's going to have both parents living, and traveling around the world after their retirement. She's also going to have a younger sister who she doesn't get along with. She was, at one point, engaged to a man named Henry, but broke off the engagement.
A note on broody, moody, sullen characters. When played well, these characters have a lot of depth and interesting storylines. But if your character is just broody and won't speak or interact with anyone, you're just going to annoy others who want to interact.
Your backstory should be developed enough that you can refer back to the most important parts - the things that make your character who they are, their experiences, etc - but it doesn't have to be super in-depth. A few sentences on a note card can be enough. You can build it up as you go, but it's important to have a starting point for yourself.
Does your character have an education? If they dropped out of school at any point, why? What are their hobbies, interests, skills? Maybe they're an amazing chef, or a skilled knitter. Perhaps they dropped out of high school to pursue a career in the circus but had to leave after a love affair gone wrong. Who knows? It's entirely up to you.
Some things to think about are as follows:
- age or assumed age for immortals/supernaturals
- country of origin
- family (past or present)
- attitude
- two-three skills
- education
- hobbies (at least one, if not more)
- style of speech
- reason for being at the city/town/realm the RP sim is set in
Character Applications:
Now, some RP-sims require you to fill out an application before joining. This can be a good thing because it will help you to fit into the sim without much trouble, but many veteran RPers find them tedious. However, they can sometimes be a useful tool for helping to flesh out your character's backstory more. But it's a good reason to have at least a short backstory handy.
Step Three: Roleplay Etiquette
Now you've created your character, let's understand the basic etiquette everyone is expected to follow when RPing. There are a couple of things to remember that will help improve your RP experience, and will prevent some RPers from getting annoyed.
Entering a scene:
You should enter a scene in a way that will allow characters to interact with you, but also doesn't jolt people out of the scene. The best thing to do is either to wait and read a few posts first to find out the gist of a scene, or to send someone who has been in the area for a while an IM to find out what is happening. The last thing you want to do is cheerfully greet with a handshake, someone who has just been stabbed.
Make sure your RP intro includes a way for people to interact with you. You can either direct his towards one specific person, or leave it open to whomever sees your character enter the area.
Bad Entry Example: (using Elizabeth who I created earlier) Elizabeth walked into the cafe, stomped over to the counter and grunted her order to the NPC barista. She stood sourly next to the counter as she waited for her coffee, shooting glares at anyone who looked her way. She took her coffee when it was ready and stomped back outside to sit in one of the chairs.
In that scene, no-one would want to talk to Elizabeth because it's clear she's in a bad, unsociable mood. The only exception might be a friend, but if this is your first scene, or your character's friends aren't around, you've just alienated everyone. The only time this type of scene works is when it's setting up something else and you don't intend for anyone to interact. And then you would announce that OOC first so people know you're trying to set something up. eg. ((setting up a future scene, don't mind me)). The single or double brackets allow people to know you're speaking OOC.
Good entry example: Elizabeth walked into the cafe. She was a bit grouchy but once the caffeine was swirling in her system, she'd be more cheerful. She gave her order to the NPC barista, trying not to sound rude. As she waited for her coffee, she would nod to anyone who acknowledged her.
This is open enough to allow anyone to interact and still shows your character is a bit grumpy, without alienating all the characters in the room.
Dice and other forms of decision making:
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Generally dice are used in combat for make things fair. That way no-one can use some kind of ridiculous power move and instantly win a battle. It also makes battle more interesting as people are limited by what their roll allows so they have to think on their feet and come up with creative ways of winning a battle.
Dice can also be used for determining your species or getting a complete 're-roll' to start your character from scratch.
Limits:
Most people have limits in RP. Some of them are pretty basic. Some are not so basic. A lot of players include them in their profile so it's easy to find, and if not, you should always asks, especially if you are heading into a more intense or dramatic roleplay, one where people might be injured by your character (ie. a fight) it's good to check and see what your fellow RPers limits are.
Some people don't have many limits, and some have a lot. The main thing is to know yours, and respect others. Discuss anything that could me a major shift in the way a person is able to play their character (ie amputation, disfigurement, death) or anything that could change a major storyline before RPing to make sure everyone understands limits.
Roleplay Don'ts:
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Godmodding is controlling other people's actions and reactions, and is banned in pretty much all forms of RP. You can't predict what another player/character will do, even if they told you OOC what will occur. Example: Elizabeth walked into the grocery store and saw Peter in the check out line. "Lizzy!" He called out to her, stepping out of line to see her. Peter may not have had time to step out of line, or he might have been talking to someone else. As he is not your character (and even if he was yours on an alt account) you can only be responsible for your character's actions. This includes NPCs, although generally NPC characters like waitresses etc can used to a point - ie. the waitress brought over your food - but you can't say that the NPC waitress swore at the customers or similar unless you own the restaurant/cafe/etc. It's considered extremely rude to control someone else's character - you wouldn't like it to happen to you, would you?
Metagaming:
Metagaming is when you/your character uses information they found out OOC, during an RP. This is also considered extremely rude and will cause many players to refuse to RP with you, or refuse to speak to you about anything RP related when OOC.
Powergaming:
Making a character who had more powers than they should (or is invincible) or RPing situations that give your character an unfair advantage over everyone else. No-one should be invincible, even if they are a god. Powergaming, metagaming and godmodding may get you kicked out of the RP sim.
Don't be a dick!
This ought to go without saying, but sometimes people need the reminder. Your character can be a right arsehole, but you should interact OOC in a manner that does not interfere with anyone's enjoyment of their own RP experience. Always seek OOC consent before doing something drastic to someone else's character, and if they say no or request a compromise, stick to what was agreed on. That said, if someone asks you OOC about an IC issue that is reasonable, don't be a dick and say no, just because you don't like them/the character/whatever.
Step Four: Roleplay Terminology & Hints!
So now that you're armed with the basics, and know what things to avoid, let's get to know how to actually write a role-play scene and other helpful hints.We'll cover emoting, actions, and some commonly used terms, some of which I've already used and some knew ones.
Roleplay Terminology:
OOC: Out-of-Character. All non-roleplay related chats and actions. Many people consider all IMs to be OOC unless otherwise stated. (ie. both parties agree to RP in IMs.) If in a scene and you need to make an OOC comment, it is courteous to use (( )) or ( ) to demark those areas. For example, if you need to step away, you would note that in brackets.
IC: In-Character. All roleplay related chat and actions. Anything that happens with or to your character, usually with one or more other players. There are many types of ic posts, including RP lures. But they are all from your character's perspective and don't include OOC info.
Emotes: See below for a more detailed explanation, but unless you're using a titler, this is generally how you post IC.
NPC: Non-played Character. Sometimes customer service people, or bartenders, security people, etc. Sometimes NPCs are visually represented in a store with a 'fake' avatar, although many times they are not. As mentioned earlier, you only have control over the actions of your own NPCs, but in the case of NPCs who are established, you can interact with them in a way that makes sense, but still doesn't attempt to predict their actions outside of the expected - ie. serving drinks at a bar, or working the register in a store.
Para/Semi-Para: So, you don't have to right an essay, but most serious roleplayers will at least expect you to write a few lines and use actual words when emoting/rping. Of course, there are instances where text speak or only a few words will be enough - example in a text message or if you're character is meant to be interrupted. But not many instances.
Post Order: Each player should wait their turn before posting. I'll go into more detail below, but that's the basics.
Emoting:
Emoting
is how you get your text to show up in italics on your viewer with your
name at the front. You start your sentence with "/me" without the ".
So, for example "/me spots a puppy in the park and walks over to
investigate." In your viewer that would show up as Primrose Harper (tellemonstar) spots a puppy in the park and walks over to investigate.
Displaying my display name and legacy name, and all of it in italtics.
Now, it you're using a titler, you need to write "/" followed by the
appropriate number rather than 'me'. That information will be included
with your titler. For emphasis you can use * on either side of a word.
Photo by Mike Tinnion on Unsplash
Roleplay Lures:
If you are trying to create a role-play scene and encourage people to RP with you in a location where no-one is around, called a role-play lure, there are a few things you should take into consideration. Firstly, is there an event on somewhere else on the sim/in town? Or another big scene that requires a lot of people's attention. Because you'll be a lot less likely to get people to come RP with you in that case.
A good RP lure gives people something to RP about. It can be ambiguous, but still needs something for people to want to RP about. A good example is when a store owner posts about being in their store, or people mention heading to a cafe/bar/etc. Of course, there are many ways to lure people into a role play scene, and some of it will be up to your character and how they act, what their job is, etc.
Post Order:
Wherever possible, you should stick to post order, ie. the order in which people are interacting. You can always ask someone if you're coming into a scene after it's begun via IM if you're having trouble figuring it out. This can become tricky in a place where there could be a few scenes all happening at once, so in that case you stick to the post order of the people you are interacting with. At a large event, post order sometimes goes out the window, and you'll often be notified if post order doesn't matter at an event, so just try your best to answer posts that refer to your character specifically.
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That's pretty much it. It won't take you long to get used to roleplaying, and as long as you read the rules of the sim and any applicable lore, you should fit right in. If you're nervous, let people know you're new. Most people are happy to hepl new RPers if they make a mistake, as long as you're willing to learn.
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