1. I would not insist on being the hero of every story. In fact, I would strongly avoid any hint that I was trying to take over the plot.
2. I would not personally attack every RPer that disagrees with my illustrious and indomitable opinion.
3. I would not be always built with exaggeratedly powerful and bulging muscles. I would occasionally be a ninety pound weakling with glasses. I would occassionally be an overweight priest with bald spots.
4. I would try to remember that not all girls simper and lack brains save for what their already vacous male hero has to provide for them.
5. I would not give characters unrealistic hobbies for their cultures. I would remember that if my elf of the virginal woods has a taste for making large bonfires and vandalizing anything in sight, I have some explaining to do.
6. I would remember that if my hero jumps into the center of an enemy force of two million, my hero will probably not kill half of them and walk out unscathed. I might want to realize that discretion IS the better part of valor when my hero is up against two million.
7. I would remember that chivalry is dead if it involves letting a demonic and maniacal evil guy retrieve his sword after my hero disarms him. Quite literally dead.
8. However, I would remember that the above idea does not apply to every random person I meet on the street. I will remember that the Lancelot of Monty Python was supposed to be a joke.
9. I would also try not to be blindly predjudiced against any species, even if those species are traditionally evil. I will remember that I should be more worried about what the corrupt king that tells my hero what to do is himself doing in those forbidden portions of the castle than whether those dang dragonmen are wiped out yet. If all the dragonmen are doing is innocently cooking rabbits, I might want to find someone else to wipe out anyway.
10. I would not have my hero assume that my magician or the equavalent is plotting against him just because that magician happens to be entirely too smart for him. I might even occasionally let my hero be smart too. Even use big words.
11. I would not have my heroine be dependent on my hero. I would remember that just because she wears leather and boots does not automatically make her tough and cool. She must be able to use that outfit to some effect other than the new fashion. She must be able to move in that leather without looking back at the hero for permission.
12. I would even remember that my heroine does not have to be beautiful. I would remember that it is perfectly acceptable to make my heroine mildly pretty, plain, or even downright misshapen and ugly. I would remember that in proportion to the population, attractiveness does not necessarily coincide with decency.
13. I would not make my heroine subject to stereotypes even as I am trying to break out of them. I would remember that a girl who dresses up as a boy to become a knight or a WWII fighter plane pilot or Klingon warrior will probably not have a lot of interest in pink embroidery and the lastest fashion. She should probably not be a cheerleader, or the medieval or sci-fi equivalent in her "normal life". Why should I strive to make her fit into girl roles when she obviously doesn't want to be in a girl role?
14. However, I would not look down on legitamate and necessary things such as motherhood and marraige just to be appealing to feminists. I do not need to make the girl male and I do not need to view the fact that she is capable of having children as a sort of biological slavery. A girl may not fit into traditional teenage gender roles and still be perfectly fine with being a mother as an adult. The two are not mutually exclusive. I might even remember that I myself have a mom, for all that.
15. Especially if I am on a kid-friendly board/chat/egroup, I will try to keep any relationship between my hero and heroine (or relationships period) a little legitamate. It is a fact that many people do not do this in reality, but I would be unhappy if every single person in my little world had relationships of this sort. I might even think that other people reading my material or interacting with me in RP might not really need to know about these anyway. I would try to realize there is such a thing called marraige and that it is less restrictive than illegetimate relationships, no matter what the hippies say.
16. In fact I would try to keep most relationships a little subdued. I would realize that a lot of people prefer the intellectual and emotional side of relationships to watching my hero and heroine kissing in every other corner in all the halls of the palace. In fact, I might realize that holding hands might be a little less exhausting on readers and other RPers.
17. I would try to have the occasional character have a family. I would remember that in reality, the typical boy does not have his parents killed before he reaches the tender age of fifteen. I would also remember that that same boy does not grow up and marry some girl and have her and all progeny killed off before he reaches the tender age of 25. I might let my character have a little less traumatic life.
18. However, I would remember that although the occasional character is allowed to have a traumatic life, he will have to deal with it some other way besides doing what every traumatic hero does: search for vengence. Most real people are not satiated by merely shaking their fist at the sky or the evil-doers footprints and storming after them. It is not shocking on my character's part to show grief, neurosis, a further leaning toward religion (There isn't necessarily a seperation between church and life, ahem), or even drunkeness and suicidal tendencies. Now, while some of these might not be good things for my character and may be distasteful and may completely break my character into a hollow shell of himself, they are more realistic that making him too "strong and hard" to be human. Or alive, for that matter.
19. I would remember that my hero is allowed to have fun sometimes. My hero might want to possess a sense of humor behind that grim facade. If he does not ever have fun or smile or laugh, then something is probably wrong with him and I should explore that in my characterization, rather than just assume that this is normal hero stuff.
20. I would remember that my comic character is not necessarily shallow and stupid. In reality, Disney sidekick-type-guys are pretty dang rare. Mushu is not lurking behind every corner. Most funny people are not just laughs and fluff. In fact, funny people are generally intellegent. Most of them know how to make us laugh and this takes some brains, believe it or not. Most funny people also are not showing us the painful emotions that they also are capable of feeling. This does not mean that funny characters should have break down and cry sessions. I just need to be aware of the possibility of hurt.
21. I would also remember that comic characters are not funny unless they are funny. Which is an odd way to put it, but I ought to be certain that the comic character is funny because of what he does or says, rather than what he looks like, for example. I would not want to be offensive because I didn't want to put any effort into my humor.
22. I would realize that my good guys do not always have to win. I would realize that if my entire mighty team is backed into a corner by a huge amount of bad guys and their ammo is gone, their swords blunted, their fingers amputated, that it is not feasible to pull out a win. I would realize that people are not impressed when the hero suddenly pulls out the Zap-o-meter 2 and annahilates the entire villainous mass.
23. I would also realize that the odds should be against my hero, not in favor of him. If my hero was hauling around the Zap-o-meter 2 throughout his whole career, why on earth did he not just destroy all evil in the opening scenes? Because then the story would be over. Nonetheless, if the readers know that at any moment, the hero can just out and win, the readers don't really have a special thing called suspense running in them. Or interest.
24. I would realize that my hero might also have the occasional bad tendency, hopefully not always related to hormones. My hero might really want to manipulate the Death Star controls or use the Dark Side of the Force or the Ring for his own benefit. Who wouldn't if it was hanging around their neck or lurking in their souls? My hero should not go around using these, nonetheless, if he wants to remain the hero. But he's more real if he has some kind of temptation. And not just the type of temptation he can just blow off.
25. My good characters should have a limit on how many cool powers they can possess. I should maybe think of applying the Inherent Flaw Factor. "For every cool power my character possesses, he should have a natural consequence to owning that power." Wolverine can heal himself, sure, but that means that he tends to undergo a lot more pain than the average Joe. Aes Sedai can throw around energy, but it tires them out, and if overdone, can kill them. My hero or magician should not be able to merrily throw fireballs endlessly.
26. This Inherent Flaw Factor also applies to villains, even when I am tempted to make them superpowerful. However, I am allowed to give villains more experience and thus, reduce some of the consequences, or make them less visible for a time.
27. I would learn to be observant. If Joeyman the Assassin has been lurking around my hero for the past three weeks, I would figure out that Joeyman the Assassin might have bad intentions. As in, when Joeyman the Assassin finally acts on his bad intentions and attempts to do bad things to my character, I would not yell, "Hey, that's not fair!" Anything is fair in the face of shortsightedness.
28. I would know better than to antagonize more powerful characters, unless I am playing that character a. for the purpose of getting badly hurt, insulted, or just simply gutted or b. I am trying to prove how cool and tough I am. I would also remember the flaw in argument b. If my wimpy little guy is all of a sudden able to throw Thor-type hammers at that more powerful character, other RPers will not be impressed.
29. I would be aware of the type of RP I am in before developing characters. If I am in a Dead Poet's Society RP, my He-man Warrior Dude is not going to fit in. If I am in a violent fantasy group, my Intellectual Artsy Type might be walked on without mercy. This does not mean that I cannot contribute an Intellectual Artsy Type...it just means I should be prepared to be looked at a little differently.
30. I would try to make sense. It is okay to have vision sequences, but if simply reading about my character's walk down the hall gives people headaches, I may be in trouble.
31. For that matter, big words are fun and wonderful. But, unless you are being funny, "You have done me a malfeasance" is just a long and purposefully confusing way to say, "You have offended me." It's okay to have a couple of characters do this, but I would try not to play narrator in such a manner. I would use smart, specific words, not esoteric ones.
32. I would try to keep in the right time frame. I would not have laser guns in 20th century New York. I would not know about DNA in the 1600s.
33. I would not use asterisks in an egroup.
34. I would not use scary colors either...in fact, I would probably not use any color save normal black.
35. I would not create a character merely to vanish. I would realize that this drives editors bonkers.
36. For that matter, I would not have a character that appeared and somehow knew everything and everyone in the plot by some twisted magic.
37. I would not have two second romances. "Oh, hello. What's your name?" "Bobby." "Okay, let's go out."
38. I would not be able to counter act the villain's every move. I would assume that I did not have his entire game plan and brain print for me to study.
39. I would be consistent. If I was able to shoot eye beams at the beginning of the plot, I would not suddenly forget my former power and shoot arrows from my hands instead.
ADDENDUM: The Seven Main Points to Remember (in more serious, plot based RP--some of this was covered above--just less, er, seriously)
1. You are not the center of the world: This is an important concept in role-playing. Your dialogue is not all important; your situations are not all important; and not everyone is going to care whether your character had a hard childhood or not. Role playing is like real life in this aspect. This does not mean that you should not develop your character and get him/her into as many fun situations as possible, but one of the first rules of role playing is other characters will have lives besides following yours. Do not get all huffy and insulted if you are not the absolute center of attention. If you are completely ignored, find a new group, but you don't get to insult everyone in your vicinity. Real people get ignored too...and they will not be liked much if they react like you just did.
2. You are not invincible: If the character is stabbed in certain places, the character will get hurt. The character might die. If a character is in the middle of a milling mass of enemies, who all happen to be hacking away at him, the liklihood of him getting out unscathed is kinda slim. If your character does not get hurt, you will not be thought of nicely as a writer. If the situation points toward death or dismemberment, at least take in that direction. Unless you're playing someone like Colossus...and in that case, they've probably developed a couple of weapons that can do bad things to you. Bottom line: Invincible characters are dead boring. Superman is only cool at all because he has a weakness or so.
3. You are not God. You do not have permission to control other people's characters, change plot lines on a whim, wipe out half of the population of Middle Earth because you feel like it, whatever. You might remember that God has infinite responsibility in the use of his powers. Role players who try to play like this do not and thus do not deserve such powers. Don't intrude on a story line just to mess it up.
4. You are not a jerk. OOC flaming, granted, can be kinda fun, but the vast majority of the time, it's unwarrented, rude, and harmful to its target. Now, when three characters simultaneously gut your character after no particular provocation, you can yell at them a little. Flame, sure...but be prepared for retaliation...and perhaps even be prepared to apologize. More common, however, are people who just like to flame for the fun of it. They will jump on tiny little details and write huge inflammatory discourses about how dumb their target is. These are just simply, well, jerks. Don't be a jerk, unless getting entire groups or boards or MUDs mad at you is your idea of fun.
5. You are not a clueless newbie. There is nothing more annoying to experienced roleplayers then having some kiddo jump in their storyline and ask "Whaddya doing?" Now, there is nothing fundementally wrong with this, perhaps. In fact, there is nothing wrong with wanting to know the plot (although I'd suggest you read a few backposts instead of pestering the group for a ten page summary). What is fundementally wrong is following this up with constant whining. "I don't know what's going on. This plot is too confusing. You guys are jerks, because I don't know what's going on." If they've been nice enough to give you a summary, when such is possible, and you still find it confusing, maybe you should find another group. But it is not their fault you don't get it, even if the summary was vague. It is YOUR responsibility to do research on the foggy parts. Now, if you don't get a particular something and understandably don't want to go searching through a million posts, ask particular questions. "Excuse me, but are the Palm dragons able to shape shift or phase shift? I'm not sure." No one will fault you for asking specific and easily answered questions. Asking for an expansion on the summary will get you some grumpy stares, but it won't get you the exasperation present from the "I don't get it statement." Also, remember that some groups/messageboards, especially ones not adapted from a known book/movie/show, may have incredibly intricate and complex rules upon end. You may not get it, but unless you want a hundred page document, you might just have to wander in and pray you can figure it out eventually. The bottom line: You will be more respected if you can handle yourself without asking for complex plot summaries before starting your character out. Believe it or not, as your character was not involved in any of the previous plot, he will generally be okay not knowing any more about the plot than you do after a brief scanning. Just read enough to be sure WHERE the story is taking place, WHO key characters are, and WHAT the basic perameters of the game/world/whatever are.
6. You are not the only hero. It is very tiring to have a complex thing going and have one single person decide that his character is going to be the hero of the story. All of a sudden, all other players are just secondary to his character and his character, and his character alone, will save the world. This can be called by several terms, depending on what you like to roleplay. Martinism, Potterism, Randism.... Central heros are fine when you are writing a book by yourself, but most of the time, other RPers don't like it if you're obviously grooming your character to be the ultimate and irreplacable hero. Note that most books, even those with the afore mentioned characters, do not have an ultimate hero. Lord of the Rings is an even better example. Sure, Frodo did the whole ring thing, but Frodo tends not to be the favorite character in the series (although he is mine) and he is definitely not a "sole hero character" (Aragorn, Sam, Gandalf, Faramir...all come to mind). He would never have succeeded without help. In RPing, a character can be the leader, but no one character should be so special that he/she is destined to save the world whether or not anyone else happens to exist.
7. For that matter, you do not have every available talent... No one is going to buy a character who can shoot an arrow farther than anyone else, wrestle the Evil Muscle Man to the ground without breaking a sweat, and be able to write heart wrenching poetry that can soothe even the Ticked Off Were-Wolves of Shen. In fact, they're going to wonder if you're intentionally trying to make their own characters obselete with your multi-tool, one of a kind, superhero. Other RPers may even tend to get highly disgusted and find someone less 'special' to play with. At the very least, remember the Inherant Flaw Rule. "For every special talent there is an equal and opposite concequence to having that talent." Nightcrawler can climb faster than the Blob...but he can't take him on face to face without getting clobbered. Get the idea?
