Role-Playing: The Basics

Welcome to the wonderful world of Role-Playing!

This tutorial is designed to teach anybody how to role-play, even people who have never role-played once in their life. Role-playing can be simple and fun, and is a wonderful way to explore new worlds and utilize your creativity. It is a way to be your own author, and take yourself and/or your friends on fantasic journeys. In this tutorial, you will learn the basics of how to role-play, as well as the terminology associated with it -- even terms and acronyms no longer used. With this tutorial, you should be well on your way to become a veteran storyteller.

So, what is role-playing? Role-playing is when you portray a character, fictional or non-fictional, and enter them into a world where you get to tell a story with others. It is meant as a recreational means of writing or telling a story in an alternative fashion. It is a wonderful device for anyone with a creative or artistic sense, and can provide hours of entertainment.

There are two concepts that must be learned before one can role-play, or RP: the concept of being in character (IC) and the concept of being out of character (OOC). Being in character means to assume the role and mindset of the character you are portraying, and immersing yourself within a fictional world. Being out of character is when you are yourself, and no longer concerned with the game. These concepts are important to understand before you can start RPing, because the role-playing experience can be ruined for yourself and others if you do not understand these. The events that occur while in character do not and should not have any bearing on the events that occur out of character. When you are in character, you must assume the personality and mentality of a completely different person, and understand that what a person says or does in character may not necessarily reflect the person that they are out of character. Alternately, out of character events or experiences should not mold anything that happens in character. Role-playing, after all, is little more than a game, and if a person has a strong concept of IC and OOC, there should be no problems. Remember, whatever happens in character is not a reflection of that person out of character, and should not be.

Let's begin with focusing on being in character. Ideally, when you are in the game you will be in character primarily, so most of what you say and write will be done in character. Whie there is no specific right or wrong way to type whilst in character, there are a number of commonly-used methods employed by role-players. Being in character requires the player to be able to portray two things: speech and actions. Typically, in character speech will simply be what is written, with no markers, symbols, or special denotations of any kind. This is because it is easiest to simply type dialogue without needing to add anything.

Actions and narrations, on the other hand, are different. It is essential that actions and dialogue are clearly separated. Denoting actions can be done in several different ways. When you denote an action, you must put two colons ( :: ) before and after the actions your character takes. Whether the action, narration, or description taken is a sentence or a paragraph, they must be blocked off.

Here are two examples. The first example will be of a single-sentence (or phrase-length) action, and the second will be a multiple-sentence action.

::jumps over the fence::

::The bounty hunters raised their swords high above their heads. With lightning-fast precision, they dropped the blades down onto the criminals, splitting their skulls. With their enemies dispatched, the bounty hunters took proof of their kills and returned to their employer for a reward.::

Notice how the action is clearly blocked off with the colons on both sides as to avoid confusion. The players know that actions are being taken, and nothing is being said. Of course, the double-colon is not the only way one can divide dialogue from actions. Other common symbols used are asterisks (*) and dashes (-). It is important, however, that the action is blocked off on both sides, no matter what symbol you use. Another commonly used method is to approach each post as if it were a book. No symbols or indicators are used for actions, and dialogue is surrounded by quotation marks. This much is simply your preference.

Of course, you can integrate dialogue and non-dialogue within a single post. It is simply important that the actions be blocked off, and dialogue be separated from actions. Using the actions above, these are two examples of mixing dialogue and non-dialogue:

::jumps over the fence:: Now to get inside...

::The bounty hunters raised their swords high above their heads. With lightning-fast precision, they dropped the blades down onto the criminals, splitting their skulls. With their enemies dispatched, the bounty hunters took proof of their kills and returned to their employer for a reward.:: Alright, boys, it looks like The Questists won't be bothering us anymore.

Any combination of dialogue and non-dialogue can be used in a post, as long as the two are separated:

::Ramhart dropped into a fighting stance, looking at the goblins.:: Ugly things... ::He pulled his hands back, charging a pure white energy between them.:: Let's see how you like this...!! ::thrusts his hands forward, firing a pure white beam:: AURABOLT!!!

Sometimes when a character speaks in a different language, the translated text will be written in italics; or if it's prudent, text will be added in actions. When you add spoken dialogue in an action, be sure to put quotation marks around what is said.

Now let's talk about out of character, or OOC. Sometimes comments or questions must be said out of character, or the action must be interrupted. When you are speaking to somebody while out of character, you must denote your speech as being not within the story. When you speak out of character, your text is surrounded by what is called the "mun bubble". The typical mun bubble is two parentheses ( (( )) ) that surround text in the same way the action denoters do. However, the actual mun bubble is wholly dependant on the player. Just as with the action brackets, there is no right or wrong mun bubble. However, it is preferable that the mun bubble not be a single parenthesis on each side of text, simply to avoid confusion. This would be an example of something written out of character, using the common double-parenthesis mun bubble:

((Hold on a minute. The cat's sick.))

Sometimes people will put actions in their mun bubbles for the fun or substitution of being able to interact with people in real life, or IRL. This is fine, as long as it is understood that anything within the mun bubble is not being done in character or part of the story. Also, always remember that your character cannot interact with you or your fellow players. The two are completely separate, and should not mix in any way.

Those are the basics of role-playing. With this knowledge, you will be able to enter the world of RPing and act in character while still being able to talk and interact out of character, and know the difference between both. Always keep in mind that RPing is recreational and meant to be done purely for fun and nothing else. Affairs in character and out of character should always be separated, and you should always be mindful of remaining in your character and acting as they would -- not as you would -- and to understand that the other role-players are (or should be) doing the same.

Below is a list of frequently-used terms, acronyms, etc. that every role-player should know. Take a moment to look them over, what they mean, and their definitions:

:: :: - Action brackets
(( )) - Mun bubble (used for OOC)
IC - In character
OOC - Out of character
RP - Role-play
RPG - Role-playing game
Mun - The term used for a character's player if you do not know their real name: (If Aeonna is the character, OOC she would be known as Aeonna-mun)
RL - real life
IRL - In real life
NPC - Non-playable character
GM - Game master
BRB - Be right back
AFK - Away from keyboad
BBL - Be back later
WB - Welcome back
* * - Action brackets (alternate)
-[ ]- - Mun bubble (alternate)