Now that you have created your wolf, you'll probably want to RP with it. We'll start with symbols.
Symbols
There are two sections to RPing, basic RP anyway. We'll come to advanced RP later. They are: actions and speech .
As you can guess, the actions is what your wolf does. I used to enclose all of my wolf's actions in *'s, but I now do it as if I was writing a story, although different people do different things. Some simply put speech in speech marks and leave it at that. Others put actions in |'s, -'s, ~'s and many others. The most common is probably *'s, but many people, including myself now, find that to look very basic.
Tense
Most basic RP sites use the present tense, although you can use the past tense if you wish. I use past tense for more advanced RP, and present tense for, er, avidgamers. If you find yourself slipping into another tense as I often do, just leave it. It doesn't really matter.
Speech also does exactly as it says on the can, it's what your wolf says. If you use symbols, speech is usually outside the symbols. If you use speech marks, then the speech is inside them, obviously.
Of course, not all posts have to have speech. Not all posts have actions, although most do unless your wolf is engaged in a conversation.
Posts
You may also like to add a bit of description, this is not necessary except to make things more interesting, such as the weather or the surroundings. Be careful with surroundings. On RP sites, the name of the message boards is usually the name of the place. So if you are RPing on the board 'The Lookout Cliff' you should bear in mind that you are on a cliff. Apart from that you can add your own details.
The best way to explain all this is to use an example. Let's say that Mirror goes to the Lookout Cliff to speak to Rainfall. First, here is how this could be done with a very basic post:
*Mirror walks up to Rainfall and sits down.* Hello.
That is very, VERY basic, and quite boring, but don't worry if your first few posts are like that. The more practice you get, the better they will become. Here is a more advanced, although still basic compared to Advanced RP, post in the same situation.
Mirror pads over to Rainfall, his fur glistening in the sun, and sits down next to the other wolf, on the edge of the Cliff, and looks out over the territory. Then his gaze wanders down to the sharp rocks below. Mirror shivers and turns back to Rainfall. "Greetings, my brother," he says, dipping his maw courteously in greeting.
See? How much more interesting? Just in case you were wondering, here is how Rainfall may reply to Mirror:
Rainfall turns his head slowly and smiles at his brother, also dipping his maw. "It is good to see you, Mirror." He turns back and looks out over the land, spotting a herd of deer in the distance. Rainfall looks away as the sun comes out from behind a cloud and dazzles his eyes.
Style
I was going to add this into the Advanced RP section, but I decided not to in the end, as I think it fits in better here.
Different people post in different styles of writing- usually either modern (like the ones above) or more rustic. Sometimes a whole site will write in a rustic way, but usually it is just individuals.
Rustic, as I shall call it, is really for more advanced RPers, but is used on basic RP sites, if you can follow that. It's hard to explain, so I'll give you an example of how Rainfall might have replied to Mirror in rustic:
Gaze turning to Mirror, a smile spreads 'cross maw. "Good day to you, Mirror." Reclining 'pon ivorn haunches he gazes heavenwards, honey pools taken in by the falling miracle. "Tis beautiful... and I am doing quite well, thank you."
Shifting crania to look at Mirror, smile still 'cross maw, ebon' pinnias swivel to the sounds around him.
I think I should quickly point out that I did not write that myself. I'm no good at rustic. I stole and adapted it from my good friend Artemis of the Aspros Thyella Pack. Thanks, Artemis!
I think, also, before we proceed, that I should just give you a quick glossary of the words in that post.
- Maw- what we would call a muzzle on a dog, almost. This is also used in modern.
- Haunches- back legs.
- Crania- head
- Pinnias- ears
- Orbs/ optics- eyes. Not in the above post, but very important all the same.
I don't think I will go into any more detail, as this is something that is best picked up from observing. Also, speaking in rustic takes a lot of concentration. It's not really for people who have not yet got their heads round the basics.
I think that that's about it, so now continue to Lesson the Third- General Rules.
Email: littlecookiekrum@aol.com
