What is RP?
RP is essentially you, playing a character you created, in a world of make believe. You bring your character to life through actions and words, interaction with other characters, etc.
RP or RPG is an abbreviation for Role Play or Role Playing Game. In many cases Role Play is done in a real life situation, with a group of friends. The Most popular of which is the Legendary Dungeons and Dragons, and Vampire the Masquerade among others.
Online role play is a wide variety as well. There are the picture based games, Nexus and others, that use Nintendo style graphics and there is Text Based, which is what Torra Nah is.
In the text based rp in which we play there are two main varieties of play, T1 and T2. The latter of these two is meant mostly for newbies and those that put no effort into the game. T2 is a one line post into the chat room, one that is very vague in description, and all around very generalized. Here is an example of t2:
:the young elf boy walked into the tavern
: he looked at the bartender and asked for a drink
Wow... How many young elf boys are there out there? what makes this one different from any other. What kind of drink did he want? A glass of water? a cup of tea?
As you can see this is very vague and generalized, it leaves too much un-answered. Now T1 on the other hand brings more out, and yet still can make you seem dark and mysterious. Example:
: windswept hair covered the young elf's piercing blue eyes. He dressed in the garb of his heritage, yet something in the way he carried himself even a fleeting glimpse could tell something was not quite right with this one. Slow fluid steps carried him to the bar. Thin Ring clad digits cleared the silver locks from his eyes while he searched out the keep. The bartender came to the young man, just his fingers slipped under his cloak, bringing a 10 gp coin from a pouch on his concealed belt. " Ale" the voice whispered.
See, now that brings out more of your character in just those few lines. The trick to T1 rp is description. For instance:
T2
: he wore a pair of simple leathers and a trench coat.
IS that all? I would hope not
T1
: adorning his body where a pair of simple leathers hanging off his hips, a silk shirt tucked into the leathers and capping it all of was a long flowing trench coat. With each step he took his heavy boots could be heard striking the wooden floors.
Its all about description in this sort of play. You can have a bad ass character, but if you don't role play him or her right, then what's the point?
Now if you have been paying attention you have noticed the colons before each of the lines that have been put up here. In the yahoo chat rooms, the colon before the post marks an action post... you always want to put these before your posts, unless of course your character is a long winded talker. You will know you have put up an action post when everything you wrote turns up in the chat room pink.
Expect it to take time to get good at this, no one is good right away, you have to open your mind and elaborate on things. The best way to practice is to write posts in your word processor, see how you like them, then write another. Work on the things you don't like from the first post, its all a matter of trial and Error.
Now The Ground Rules and Terms for the Rp Scene
The main enemy of good role play is Auto Actions, aka Auto's. This is when you perform an action and then another right after, assuming that the other person responded to the first action. Example:
: drawing back his blade, he thrust forewords, a twisted grin forming on his face when the resistance of his enemies chest met his blade. With his enemies last breath, he drew back his blade and sheathed it.
That is an auto... That is BAD! that post should look more like this...
: he drew the blade back, trained eyes centering on the target, he thrust forewords, the tip of his blade going straight for the enemies chest. He called upon his gods to let his aim be true and his enemies reaction slow.
That is the right way to do that post. Now if the opponent takes the hit, then you add the twisted grin, resistance part.
Other forms of auto include putting someone over your shoulder, breaking or severing limbs, etc... DO NOT AUTO, and people will like you, if you auto, your post will be voided and chances are you will be ignored.
NPC
An npc is a non person character, meaning there is no one playing that character, there is no reason to interact with that character, that character will not respond.
The typical situations for npc's are Bartenders, Cocktail waitresses, sometimes strippers, and almost always, manor servants.
On some occasions, mostly in manors Npc's will be a part of a post, but not the whole post. Example
: lounging in the balcony chair, a knock came upon her door, followed by the sound of one of the maids scurrying into her room, to tidy things up, it happened the same time everyday, so she thought little of it. Her cascading locks hung around her shoulders, soft long digits toyed with the mane, while emerald orbs scanned over the valley, she felt at peace here, now she knew she had found a new home.
The Npc Servant took up perhaps a line of that post, its simple, and we all know that things need to be tidy.
Next Month- The Art of T1 fighting
