Roleplaying TipsNPCs and Story ConflictsRemember Bob who killed your father X years ago and then bought you a puppy for a forgiveness present and then ripped its guts out right in
front of you and then went to your girl/boyfriend's house while you were out on vacation and then framed you for doing it and then he got into the prison with a disguise and tried to kill you? Or remember Ted who roomed with you in college and ordered frozen pizzas that he always ate entirely by himself and then on the rare occasions he didn't do that and had leftovers claimed they were all his and wouldn't let you have any and that always pissed you off and yet whenever you had leftovers he ate all of them and he was just such a freaking hypocrite and then there was Jack who started hitting on you girlfriend after the whole Bob-raped-her incident...Yeah, I bet you're right ready to kill that sonuvab**ch, right? Well, take a tip from an experienced roleplayer.
Don't tie up those loose ends! Too many times have I seen a roleplayer tie up that loose hole in his roleplaying origins when his brother killed his entire clan/guy dishonored his family/brother stole his Klondike Bar, and then he would complain to me, "
Hey Akunin, you have any ideas for what my character can do next? I'm all out of ideas." Leave loose ends open to unravel the thread a bit further before you have to fix them.
Personal example? Easy; I play Bleach all the time. Kyte is a Vizard on Bleach roleplays, and his Hollow half is named Keel. I roleplayed Keel kicking the crap out of Kyte and vice versa
many times. Now before you even go there, I didn't just say, "Welp, nothing to do. KEEL ENCOUNTER TIME!" No. I did it when Kyte was under stress and aggravation and down in the dumps,
as any Vizard who hadn't mastered his Hollow would encounter. There was a rule on the site that other people of your race had to teach you second release. At this point no one had second release and I was the strongest Vizard on the site. I taught myself Bankai inside my inner world while hiding out in hostile territory. Why? Not because I was trying to be Billy Bada**. There was a massive battle, and because with all of the reiatsu flying around, I was hiding in plain sight.
There are
plenty of things you can do with your story, as long as you don't kick out those NPCs.
Starting OutDon't be cliche. Hey, stop me if you've heard this one before. Hctib Elttil, in his first
five posts after getting approved, goes out. In an effort to prove that he is
not fresh meat, he runs into some
cliche anime punk the main character has to flatten because the punk is a sanctimonious a**hole. Dear God...if I had a
penny for every time I've seen that happen, I could retire right now. Don't get me wrong, there's a
right way to do that; an epic encounter that's about twenty posts long, preferably. But honestly, enough people do it already. I have high respect for original people.
Be descriptive! Now, come on. If you say you joined this site to roleplay by yourself, just stop. We
all know you're lying, we
all know you're trying to be cool, and we
all know you're just being a tool. You joined a social roleplaying site because you
want to roleplay with other people who share similar interests. But that's not going to happen if you aren't descriptive. Now believe me, I
know sometimes there's not a lot to detail after a post. But is no one-liners seriously too much to ask for?
Nobody, unless they are
really, REALLY nice, is going to want to roleplay with you if they make a small dialogue about the benefits of you joining them, and asks you to follow, and then departs, and you- know what? Better use a visual.
- Kyte wrote:
- Kyte lowered his crimson eyes, which were softly glowing, to ____. Slowly crossing his arms, he let his power cascade off of him like a waterfall. His red, chaotic energy flowed off into the sky as if a beacon; betraying power incomprehensible and a force not to be reckoned with. It betrayed the power of someone who had been around for many years, and was experienced in the art. But, most of all, ____ would be able to tell this was only scratching the surface of what was before him.
Follow me, ___. I can tell what you most desire. I can see it in your eyes. You want to kill him. You want to bleed him as he begs for mercy after what he did to you. Follow me, and I can give you the power to do that.
As he spoke, a rip in the fabric of reality opened behind him, revealing an endless plane of swirling red energy; chaos incarnate. It was a portal to all of those who wished to know the truth.
I will leave this open for only five minutes. If you truly wish for the power to crush him, you will take it. If not...it will forever be closed to you.
And with that, Kyte turned, and walked through the portal.
And in response,
- ____ wrote:
- ____ followed Kyte through the portal.
With
all of the detail they just expended on you, you couldn't write more than that? Something had to go through your character's mind. S/he would have an inner conflict here. Choose to follow Kyte, a person s/he barely knows, with a promise for power s/he couldn't even begin to comprehend, or stay behind, being cautious, and safe, but forever lose an opportunity to gain the power they need.
