The Encyclopedia of Roleplaying, A total walkthrough on roleplaying

[Cade]

Introduction

You may have come to this thread to learn how to roleplay. And you may have come to this thread to learn how to roleplay even better. Lucky for you, you've come to the right place. The Encyclopedia of Roleplaying is a total walkthrough on roleplaying, as well as writing single person stories. Please take the time to read through everything on this page. And who knows? You may leave the Roleplayer's Journal with more knowledge on roleplaying then you did coming here.

Here are the basics of roleplaying before we begin any further:
- Roleplaying is creating or adding to a story using your own made up character(s).
- When Roleplaying, you take turns writing posts. One person goes first, then another, ect. After everyone has at least one post, the person who posted first goes again, and so on.
- You are supposed to control only your own character in a roleplay, but controlling someone else's character to create minor events is allowed and is ok.
- To roleplay effectively, you must create a convincing storyline. To do this, add details to your posts, describing the look on your characters face and telling how "the sunset looked."
- Do not forget to spell words correctly and use correct grammar and punctuation. This means no smilies, and especially no "1337" talk. (I'll explain more about 1337 later on.)
- When asking questions about the roleplay, don't post them right in the middle of a roleplay. Create a separate thread, and post your questions/comments there. This is called an OOC. (Out Of Character)
Lastly:
- Be sure that you constantly check on your roleplay, so you know when it's your turn to post.

These are the basics of roleplaying. "Rules" that should always be followed.

Below, I'll post an example of an rp (roleplay) so you can get a basic idea of what it should look like. (Post created by Zephyrus and quoted from 'Onslaught' at the Elite Roleplayer's Association thread section.)

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Part One: Harmony

1730 Hours, July 20, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
On board the Tempestates, Human Entry Vehicle

Spartan 127 stared uneasily around him at the HEV. This was an apparent suicide mission, but there was no doubt in his mind that he would come out alive. Krayt stepped into his HEV and secured his harness. The Spartan ran the systems check and removed some safeties. He armed his ejection tube and waited. Everything was ready to go. He looked up and watched the countdown timer slowly decline. Zephyrus watched the tiny screen in front of him. A city appeared. He opened a private COM channel and connected directly to Krayt.

"Alright, this is where we're headed. I’ll see you on the ground. Good luck."

The timer read 0:00. Krayt steadied his feet as he and Zeph plunged into the fiery hell below...


1800 Hours, July 20, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
Harmony, Xanthe

The hatch blew open. The Spartan inside immediately leapt into action. Zephyrus grabbed his SRS99E and dove into the open. Out of nowhere, a plasma mortar disintegrated 127’s drop pod. Just in time. The Spartan searched for any sign of Krayt.

Spartan 014 cursed. His HEV had dropped onto a car. The alarm blared, giving his position away. If the Covenant forces in the area could hear, he would be surrounded in a matter of minutes. Krayt planted his feet into the hatch and pushed.

[Cade]

Section 1: The Deciphering of "Roleplay" Words

Now, when you see the "words" OOC, IC and BIC, you may think, 'What the hell does that mean?' Glad you asked...thought!

OOC - Out Of Character

IC - In Character

BIC - Back In Character

These three words are, for now, the most used roleplay words. They are all used when either saying something that does not count as your post for your roleplay or when saying that your character is speaking. Sounds confusing still, I know, but keep on reading...

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"So right now we're just waiting for the others before me to add their respective posts... " (Quoted by Krayt from 'Our Darkest Hour Comments/OOC')

"Just waiting for Unknown really." (Quoted by Kaldravv from 'Our Darkest Hour Comments/OOC' in reply to Krayt's question)
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Directly above is an example of what you might put in an OOC. Questions, comments, or just anything having to do with the roleplay.

IC and BIC are rarely used when roleplaying now-a-days, because you need not post right in the middle of a roleplay. Otherwise, you'll look like someone who has no idea of what they're doing.

[Cade]

Section 2: Starting a Roleplay...The Right Way

Starting a roleplay is the foundation of all roleplays. By starting one, you are creating an entire universe that you and your fellow roleplayers can mend and mold to your wish. (English translate) That means that by starting a roleplay, you and your friends can decide what happens throughout the entire thing. Creating the plotline, for a shorter version of what I just said. Before starting a roleplay, you must think up an idea in your head. Brainstorm if you wish, for this is usually the best way of creating new ideas. Take one idea from some book, say, and add that idea to, for instance, the Star Wars universe. Mold those two ideas together to create something entirely new.

Still with me?

Once you come up with the "foundation" for your roleplay, making up a name is vital. Without a name for your roleplay, people will be less inclined to join. Once you have a name for your roleplay, you can then choose to either create a character, or take another character you have made in the past, and add him/her to the roleplay. To do this properly, you must also create a sign-up sheet. The title for the sign-up sheet should be the same as the title for your roleplay, which hopefully you've already come up with by now. The only thing you need to add to the title of the sign-up sheet are the words "Sign-up, OOC, Questions, Comments, ect." So the title of your sign-up/OOC should like this: "(Insert title of roleplay/story here) Sign-up, OOC, Questions, Comments, ect." If your roleplay is not a multiple person one (I.E Story), or you have previously gathered up the participants, you may choose not to put in the "sign-up" part. Thus: "(Insert title of roleplay/story here) OOC, Questions, Comments, ect." (The only word you really need in the sign-up/OOC is "OOC". Be careful though if you just add this word. It can confuse readers.) Making this thread is extremely important to your roleplay/story, as it provides people a place to add their questions, comments and ideas for your roleplay or story.

Now, after you create the OOC/sign-up thread, you can create the actual roleplay/story itself. Just create a new thread, give it the title you've already thought up, and make the first post, which should be the introduction to the story. (More will be explained on how to write an introduction later). As soon as you have made the first post, wait for your other participants to do their turn. And that's how to start a roleplay...the right way.

(Tip: It helps to private message each of your participants of when it's their turn to post. Otherwise, they may forget.)

[Cade]

Section 3: Creating Your Character

I know that this isn't the create a character section, but if I'm gonna go over everything on roleplaying, I better have this too.

Creating a character can be the simplest piece of writing you do, or it can be the most detailed. It's entirely up to you. However, I strongly recommend making your character as detailed as possible, complete with converting how much he weighs in pounds to kilograms, telling all about his past, and so on. By doing this, you're giving the reader(s) the ability to connect with your character. You're also making it, in fact, that much easier to roleplay. By creating a detailed character, you're also giving yourself the ability to see and connect with your character; something you don't want to roleplay without having. Below is the basic character creation sheet:

Species/Race:
Name:
Last Name:
Gender:
Born:
City/State of Birth:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Home Planet:
Current Residence:
Blood Type:
Appearance:
Accent:
Rank:
Spartan Number: (if applicable)
Armor:
Weapons:
Specialty:
Emblem/Avatar:
Primary Armor Color
Secondary Armor Color

Biography:

Now, this character creation sheet is based off of Halo, but you can conform it to your character (such as removing "Spartan Number" if your character is something from Lord of the Rings). Now, when you look at the sheet above, you're probably thinking of just "answering the questions stated", meaning just write it "Weight: 210 pounds" or "Armor: Full body steel." Instead, what you want to do is go above and beyond what a basic character might look like. By this I mean instead of "Weight: 210 pounds" put down "Weight: 210 pounds (95.2543977 kilograms)" and that'll be good enough. (By the way, to convert pounds to kilograms, just go to Google and type in [insert number here] pounds. It will automatically convert it for you. Just copy and paste.) The same goes for the type of armor (if this applies to you). You want to be as detailed as possible, telling about the different functions of the armor, it's color, ect. Below is an example of my Halo character, Krayt. Take examples from him.

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Species/Race: Human/Spartan
Name: Krayt (pronounced "crate")
Last Name: N/A (Unknown)
Gender: Male
Born: December 7, 2525; the 584th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
City/State of Birth: New York City, New York
Age: 27
Height: 7 feet 2 inches (2.1844 meters)
Weight: 211 pounds (95.7079901 kilograms) without armor, 2050 pounds (929.864359 kilograms) in full armor.
Home Planet: Earth
Current Residence: N/A
Blood Type: 'A' positive
Appearance: Short, dark brown spiky hair (crew cut style), small sideburns, and thick eyebrows. Scar sweeps from right eyebrow to right cheekbone; through eye. Eye color is brown. Face is mostly shaven, and skin is a whitish-tan color.
Accent: Pacific-Coast Type Accent
Rank: 1st Lieutenant Marine Corp
Spartan Number: 014
Armor: Mjolnir Mark VI (.5): Helmet- Real-time HUD (Heads-Up-Display) provides health monitors, ammo gauges, and provides critical mission data via NAV points which identify objectives by where they are and how far away they are. Built-in digital binoculars allow the ability to zoom in on targets without a scope, and also give the ability of night-vision and thermal sensors, which are manually activated. When a (new) weapon is picked up, the reticule in the center of the HUD changes to conform to the weapon being held via microscopic sensor's in the gloves. The HUD also keeps track of health signs by tiny sensors built into the suit that monitor heart beat, breathing, wounds, blood flow and neural activity. In addition to these features, the suit has a built in motion tracker, which is indispensable during combat situations. Tracking movement and "painting" the target with a color corresponding to transponder signals: yellow for friendly, white for neutral, and red for hostile. An AI (Artificial-Intelligence) which can be linked to the suit can provide tactical data readouts via the HUD, and can "see" through the HUD's optical recorders. Energy Shields- The energy shields are very customizable. For instance, by decreasing the strength of the shield on one part of the body, another part can have increased strength. Gloves- Built into the wrists of the gloves is a wrist attachment that holds inside it a small combat knife, which can be ejected, like a pocket knife. Back- Portable energy pack on back supplies energy for all functions of the suit, including shields. Side compartments built into energy pack allow for weapon storage, and are only large enough to fit a standard SMG. (Sub-Machine-Gun) Sliders at the bottom of the holders can be slid to the middle of the pack, allowing the weapon to slide through one end and go out the other. Automatic size adjustments adjust to the width of the weapon being stored so it can fit perfectly. Legs- Sheaths on the calf-parts of both legs are able to both carry combat knifes, which are bigger than the mini ones built into the wrist attachment. Boots- The boots of the Mark VI armor is made of an incredibly strong, multi-layered alloy shell, which can stand up to most (if not all) terrain conditions. Inside of the Armor- Improved onboard supply of biofoam, which can be injected into the user's body, heals but the most severe wounds by sealing the wound, stopping the bleeding, and eventually numbing the pain. Overall- This series of Mjolnir Mark VI armor is built with Active Camouflage Generators, which were copied from the Covenant Elite's camouflage generators. A light-sensitive flashlight is built into the side of the helmet, and automatically activates when the pupil dilation size is doubled, via microscopic sensors that monitor the eyes. The flashlight can also be manually activated. The overall weight of the armor is about 1839 pounds. (834.156368 kilograms)
Weapons: SRS99E-S2 Anti-Material Sniper Rifle, also known as AngelRaiser, with a sixteen round clip (15.5x114mm armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot rounds), U.S.M.C Zoom Scope (smart-linked: 5x, 8x, 10x, and 20x scope magnifications, night and thermal sensors,) and about 29kg overall weight, 2018mm overall length, sound and flash suppressor. <> CRNS Nightstalker with 60 round clip (10.5mm semi-armor piercing, fin-stabilized rounds), PPS [Precision-placed shot] smart-linked scope (2x and 5x zoom, night-vision sensors), 3-round burst, Dominator duel-output ultra high-output incandescent flashlight built into the rifle, BlueBeam 3000 Laser Sight that is also built into the rifle, which gives 1-mile beam radius and dot size smaller than 1.75" at 100 yards. Select-fire switch gives the ability to use automatic fire, but at the cost of accuracy. A built in stand on the underbelly of the gun allows the user fold/unfold it while camping in one place. <> Duel M6C Magnums with 12 round clips (12.7mm semi, armor piercing rounds) and 2x scope attachment. <> Duel combat knifes with ceramic-steel alloy handle.
Specialty: SpecialOps, Light-Medium Assault.
Emblem/Avatar: A blue background with a white hawk and dark blue swords going through the hawk; located on the shoulders and the middle of the energy pack of the armor.
Primary Armor Color (Includes chestplate, helmet, energy pack, legs and arms): Blue
Secondary Armor Color (Includes small patch on the tip of the helmet, small patch on the outer side of the wrists and a medium sized patch on the outer side of the thigh): White

Biography: Krayt was born in New York City in 2525, and was abandoned at the age of 3 by his family. He grew up in the streets and alleyways of New York City, fortunately protected by the other inhabitants of the alleys. Krayt barely survived, scrounging in garbage cans for what little food he could get a hold on. At the age of 4, Krayt was sent to a public school only five miles away. There, he learned simple math and English skills. At the age of 5, Krayt was trained by his adult friends in the alleys to fight. Later, he brought those skills to school, and got into fights with other kids. One night, when he walked home from a recent fight with one of the school's bullies, he was kidnapped. Brought aboard a ship, he was taken to Reach. Without a choice in the matter, he was inserted into the Spartan-II program, led by Doctor Catherine Halsey, and taught by Chief Mendez. Years passed as he trained with the other Spartans. Spartan-127, Zephyrus, was his best friend during training, and they usually stuck together during combat exercises. At the age of 14, the Spartans, including himself, underwent a heavy series of augmentations. They included: Ceramic-carbide bone grafting, Muscular enhancement injections, increased blood flow to the eyes which enhanced vision, retinal implants to further increase natural night vision and extend farsightedness-to-nearsightedness ratios and Neurofilaments added to the nervous system to enhance reflexes and intelligence. Krayt and Zephyrus were two of the few 33 Spartans who escaped death during the augmentation.

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As soon as you have created your character and you’re going to sign-up for a roleplay, just copy your character and paste him/her into the sign-up for the correct roleplay sign-up.

For the Create a Character thread section, go here: http://z9.invisionfree.com/roleplayersjour...hp?showforum=31

[Cade]

Section 4: Using Your Character

Now that you've created your character, you're probably wondering "how am I supposed to use him/her?" Glad you asked. Most people tend to step away from their character as they get further into their roleplay or story. I can't stress how much not to do this.

Try adding more characters to your roleplay; characters that you don't expect to use for many different roleplays. This adds "zest", so to speak, to the roleplay, and also gives the story a new flavor other than your same characters everytime.

When using your character, keep to their already set emotions. If they're a serious character, don't suddenly make them crack a joke in every post. It is alright, however, to do this once in a while.

When your character speaks, give them an accent. When I say this, I mean don't always make them talk the same. Add swear words, if it works in that situation. And never (unless this applies to your character) let your character talk like this: "Hey Homie! What's up G-unit?"

Try and become the character you are writing about. Make their feelings yours, and their emotions yours. If you can do this, you can go through any experience with your character.

[Cade]

Section 5: You, Your Members, and Your Roleplay

Now that you've created your roleplay, created your character, and have rounded up some people to participate, your probably wondering what to do next. Let me say this: it's as easy as 1, 2, 3. No, really. There are three main steps. Before you advance onto the first step, you should probably be reminded that in a roleplay, you and your participants are taking turns in your posts. Having said that, you can now hear the first step.

Step 1: Read the other participants post before yours (if this applies) and then make your post.
If you're the lucky one who makes the first post, then you don't need to read the post before yours, because there is none. So, you can go right ahead and make your post. Remember though: when making your post, you have to think through everything you want to happen. Think of what events you want to happen. Then write it down, make changes, whatever. But make and let it flow nicely.

Step 2: Go over it again to make sure the sentences make sense, and the words are spelled correctly.
It is vital that you make sure all of your words are spelled correctly, and that all of your sentences make sense, and flow smoothly. Otherwise, an incorrectly spelled word could look different to the reader, or a sentence just won't sense. You don't want that.

Step 3: After entering your post, read over the one before it and yours to see if it "works".
This is also very important. If you forget to do this, your post may not make a lick of sense to the overall roleplay. So, by reading the post before yours, combined with the one you just made, you'll know whether they make sense or not. And if they don't, simply go back and change a few things. Then do this again.

Well, there you have it: the 1, 2, 3 of posting in your roleplay. But the fun doesn't end there. Be mindful of the posts your fellow participants make. If there posts don't make sense, and they don't change it, you can always private message them about the problem, or just write about it on the OOC. Chances are they'll go back, see their mistake(s) and change it.

[Cade]

Section 6: Managing Your Roleplay

Now you're probably wondering: what does managing a roleplay mean? Quite simple actually. Managing your roleplay means making sure no one posts random junk right in the middle of it. This includes someone spaming your roleplay. Trust me, you do not want this to happen. Luckily, there is a "cure", so to speak, for this problem. If you find that someone has spammed your roleplay, simply private message the moderator of that certain category, or the administrator, telling them about the problem and asking for the spam to be removed. Below, I'll post a few people you can private message to delete the spam that may appear on your roleplay:

Cade the Administrator
Zephyrus, moderator of the Halo category
Alchemist, moderator of the Half-Life category
Darkness_Unknown, moderator of the Star Wars category
tkeddo, moderator of the Harry Potter and Bionicle categories