Roleplay Tips and Tricks

[Malken]

Also another fun thing: murmur some things you mean to send over The Way out loud. Or find the wrong person.

One of my most memorable moment in my Armageddon career is sending this huge mudsex line over to my Boss via the way right after telling her that I was by myself hunting and I was too far and busy to come and meet her at the moment.

OOPS.

/ranger quits for the next 6 months.

[Dalmeth]

Do things for no particular reason.

Better yet, do things for reasons you came up for on your own.

Then keep reusing those reasons in other situations.

Bitches love that shit.

[Morrolan]

the best tip IMO to show your character off as a "whole person" is to be consistent when you're interacting w. others and when you actually do solo RP.

I agree. And, for things that are incredibly secret. and would be shown to no one: the bio.

Dear Diary - Waleuk
Today I saw a gith.
She was very cute.
She tried to kill me.
I think it was love.

Dear Diary - Terrin
Cheated on my gith girlfriend with my erdlu.
Feeling very guilty.
Getting strange looks from erdlu.
Afraid to Way gith girlfriend.

Dear Diary - Nekrete
Stood up gith girlfriend yesterday.
Attacked by dozen gith today.
Must send flowers.

The bio can be an excellent way of fleshing things out...showing staff (and yourself) that you character is consistent, or at least as consistently inconsistent as real people.

[bennybubonic]

The first thing to do, in my opinion, is to familiarize yourself with all the emote command tenses. There are a shit-ton of them to master. You can't really present your character fully fleshed without at least trying to show their physical reactions to this or that, in a realistic way, without stupid sentence redundancies.

I utilize thinks. A lot. Like, all the time. It helps a great deal to keep me in tune with how my character is riding the currents of a given situation. And, the personal usefulness of it aside, I shows (to the staff, at least) that you are active and not just idling about when you're alone. If you want to attract good plots, it helps to let the IMMs know in whatever way you can that, yes, you are active and observant even when "nothing is going on".

Also, when I start out with a new character on a MUD, I like to keep a simple "cheat sheet" next to me on the desk with a list of basic personality traits. Like, for instance: introspective, non-confrontational, suspicious of others, likes seclusion, distrust of those in authority, etc. Things like that. And I keep it until I feel I've "gotten to know" the character well enough to go without it. That in particular has been extremely useful for me.

Play music. Something appropriate to the theme of the MUD. I like solitary atmospheric music for Armageddon - This Will Destroy You, All India Radio, Caspian, God Is An Astronaut... they really help get me into the idea that I'm delving into this dangerous, lonely world and I am, frankly, a huge target for basically anything and everything.

Lastly, when creating a character, I try not to aim too much for what I hope they may become later on. I focus a lot on their back story, give them some sort of trauma or past incident that adds a quirk or two to the basic blank template of who they are. Concentrate on the personality first and the story will flow naturally enough on its own.

[MeTekillot]

Deliberately get in trouble. If your character has a condition that makes your character shout out their thoughts, make their thoughts about that powerful merchant or Templar particularly venomous that day if they happen to run into them.

People getting in trouble for something accounts for about 40% of the cool things that happen IC.

[bennybubonic]

Yes! So true!

I love the premise of murmuring your character's thoughts out loud, sometimes in a disjointed, easily misunderstood way. It's such an entertaining way of expanding a situation and, even better, potentially causing some ripples.

The best plots don't happen because your character is this amazing mek-eating super-assassin; the best plots happen through egregious mistakes, saying things that shouldn't be said, and doing things that, upon consideration, were probably a bad idea. Don't be a god; be a fucktard. If it's realistic to be so, at least.

[Maso]

I love it when characters make mistakes or bad choices...that suit their character. Even though the player behind knows that their character is at a disadvantage because of it.

Also, when characters react in the exact opposite way that you expect them to.

Also, I really like players who use emotes to describe the world around them, which while not character related is role-play related. It really helps me visualize the world.

[greasygemo]

I've gotten into the habit of using randomized dice rolls to decide things.. even If I HATE the outcome, I do it. It feels more like I'm not making my own choices that way

[Kryos]

Hi.  Want to role play well?

Play a human being(assuming you're human ig).

I'm going to counter what seems to be the general flow of this thread for a sanity check.

What does that mean?  It means that while humans can at times show a sudden change in behavior, that is the few and far between to the exception that most have a recognizable personality, consistent strengths and flaws, predictable response to stimulus, and usually, a purpose or motive for whatever they're up to at any given time.  Usually, such is quite mundane.  On Zalanthas, the very basic tenant of action, I believe, should be:  survive.  Broken down into of course:  1) water 2)food 3)shelter 4)coins for booze and a whore at luirs.  Some more affluent or ambitious may want to get promoted, too.  Tying right back to survival, higher on the food chain you are the less things above to eat you.

Suddenly changing your behavior, being erratic, or just simply making a scene because you want to make a scene . . . that is entirely immersion breaking from my perspective.  I've seen plenty of PC's trying to artificially stir the pot, and its blaze' more then anything.  Unless your PC is of course, deficient in some way.  In such a case, sure.  Just don't be surprised if deficient isn't the required state for survival.  And while I have made deficient characters before (who mostly got what they deserved) . . .

The best plots come from being human.

[kayza]

I'm a mediocre Rper.

The hardest thing I find is making your character consistent and as little like the player as possible.

I find making lists of how your character might react to things helps get that.   I try to document as much as I can about their personality.

[Incognito]

A few things that work for me:

A) Get involved with people who RP well. In the company of good RPers, you'll usually always find that your own RP becomes better. Its just like hanging around people with a larger vocabulary than you IRL.

B) Don't play the same type of role again and again. The Bynner warrior can only give you THAT much of fun over the years. Try something else out, you'd be surprised at how much fun a burglar or a merchant might be.

C) Don't stick to the same clans. Pretty much follows point B) above. Changing clans and geographical locations always brings in new experiences. Not all pleasant (no doubt) but you definitely won't be bored.

D) Apply and play roles that you want to play. Even if you've been turned down a few times, keep app'ing for that role you have in the back of your mind, when you do land it - you're gonna shine!

E) Last but most important - your experience with a PC is directly dependent on the sphere of his/her influence. i.e. if you meet / know / interact with a larger number of people, your own influence on IG events will be that much higher, whether you want it or not. Plus, it means that you'll be bumping into someone or the other more often while you're IG either physically or through the way, and that's never a bad thing to have.

[Hot_Dancer]

Take into account specific landmarks/NPC's you cross in game and make a habit of interacting with it/them in some way consistently.

Use the Weather command frequently.

Reduce your distractions out of game - especially when someone is trying to interact with you.

I tend to ditch people who frequently afk/idle/who are obviously in another screen on me during interaction/events and genuinely expect the same response when I do it to them.

[Iiyola]

Oh man, I HATE it when they do that.