How To Roleplay?

[Dupre[THG]]

What is Role-Playing?

It’s the art of taking on the personality of someone that is different from you. It is very similar to acting or writing. The biggest difference is that it involves interacting with other people without the benefit of a script or an outlined plot that you already know the ending of.

The most difficult thing to understand about roleplaying is that you only get out of it what you put into it. You can’t just come into a room and sit in a corner and expect the others there to pull you into their RPing just out of the blue. Many people accuse RPers of being snobbish or elitist because they don’t go out of their way to include everyone they run across. The simple fact of the matter is, most RPers get very involved in their characters and the existing plots that they are participating in, and they never think about trying to drag in people they don’t know. Look at it this way...if you and some friends are standing around talking you usually won't try to pull nearby strangers into the conversation. If you want to be involved with a group of RPers, you have to actively involve yourself. But do so with politeness and consideration.

The trick to being a successful RPer is to have interesting characters. If your character has nothing of interest to say, then people won’t interact with you. It’s important to work out a full history and personality for your character, and to stick to it when interacting with others. It’s also important to not have a perfect character, or a ridiculously powerful character. Such characters will rapidly wear on the nerves of the other RPers you try to interact with.

Glossary and Abbreviations
• RP - Roleplay
• RPer - Roleplayer
• PvP - Player vs. Player Combat
• PvM - Player vs. Monster Combat
• IC - In Character
• OOC - Out of Character
• LoS - Line of Sight
• UO - Ultima Online
• Emote - An action described in Ultima through text, for example ‘smiles’ or ‘waves’, seen in Ultima as the action between two stars and usually in a different text colour, in this document emotes are written like this * with only one star at the end due to the word processor being used

Creating a Character

Firstly, although it might involve combat, Roleplay has little or nothing to do with developing a Player vs Player combat template. If you're planning a template, plan it so it fits the character, rather than creating the meanest fighting machine possible.

Now you'll need a basic history, this needn't be too in-depth to begin with, everything you do in-game will add to your characters history. Initially however try to answer these questions about your character.

• How old are you?
Are you a wizened old geezer or a fiery young maiden? Do you think you know it all because you're a wizened old geezer, or is it the brashness of youth?

• Where are you from?
Were you raised in a loyalist stronghold such as Trinsic, or the free but sometimes turbulent city of Vesper? This may affect other aspects of your history.

• Who were your parents?
Are you the illegitimate son of a dishonoured guardsman? Were raised in serfdom? Was your childhood easy, born with a silver spoon in your mouth, or were you raised by a simple woodsman? Are you an orphan? Any of this can be useful in adding a personality to your character.

• What have you done since you were a child?
If you are the daughter of a woodsman, did he teach you how to make and use bows, or use an axe? Have you taken the skills and knowledge imparted by your parents with you once you left, or have you rebelled against everything they stood for? Do you still love and honour your parents (or their memory) or do you hate everything they once stood for?
You might have been raised by thieves in Vesper and once you'd grown, you grew to hate that life and fled to enlist as a soldier in Trinsic and fight against crime. Basically, HOW have you spent your life since your childhood, what has brought you to where you are now?

• Alignment?
This needn't be as black and white as Dungeons and Dragons-style alignments, but in answering the first 4 questions you should have some idea of what kind of person you are. Are you trustworthy and noble, or a scheming backstabber out for his own ends? Your history so far should give you a REASON as to WHY you are the way you are.
Rather than alignment, think of it as your personal belief structure. Are there lines you won't cross, or are you happy to maim and torture to achieve your own ends? Would you betray a friend? Would you help an ally in something you find personally distasteful, such as murder? How strong is your own personal code of honour?

• Goals
What personal goals do you want to achieve? Are you filled with a burning ambition? Do you want to avenge your father's death at the hands of orcs by slaying all their kind? Do you seek revenge on someone who has wronged you or your family in the past, or do you want to see justice done for all those less fortunate than yourself? You might even simply want nothing more than a peaceful life, to settle down in the woods one day, in your own cabin, but things keep getting in the way.
You should now have some idea as to WHO you are. If you are making a new character, bear your history in mind. Start with skills that reflect that history instead of magic resist 50, eval 49 and magery 1 or whatever.

Basic Role-Playing

There are a few rules to keep in mind while roleplaying...

The most important one is:

Don't use OOC information!
There are things in game which you can do, but which your character can't. Resist the temptation to use game mechanics to give your character information he or she shouldn't have, this spoils the fun for the other players. This issue comes in many variants. Here are some of the most common examples.

Recognising characters.
Characters DO NOT have names and titles floating over their head, nor do they wear guild badges or nametags. You do not know their names until they are introduced to you, or you overhear their name. Also, if they give you a name other than what is hovering over his head, then it's the name they gave you you will know them by. You will also not know which guild they belong to, unless they wear a uniform your character would recognise. Lastly, if a character is disguised, you should not be able to see through the disguise unless you know the character very well IC.

Respect Line of Sight.
You cannot see through walls, or around corners, nor can you see what's going on behind you. If an Orc is sneaking up on your character, do not just turn round and challenge him. Instead, you might *sniff* - orcs are notorious for their lack of personal hygiene - and then turn around. You might hear voices from inside a building if you are standing right in front of the door, but you will not hear silent people, or see people in an upstairs room. If you want to know what's going on around the corner, then walk round it. If you stand behind someone and emote things like *waits patiently*, you are likely to get no reaction. But if you *coughs impatiently* or *clears throat* you probably will.

Using information from IC posts on the boards.
Information posted on message boards like the Fireside Table should be treated as OOC information, unless you have an IC reason for knowing it (ie you were there, or it's an IC letter addressed to you). You can of course use OOC information from the boards to let you ask the right questions, so that you do find out about what happened in game.

Do not poweremote.
Poweremotes are emotes that presume a certain effect on someone else's character. For example *kicks legs from under Greg*. Instead, *kicks at Greg's legs*, and leave it up to Greg to decide how it affects him.

Do not expect a reaction to emoted thoughts.
Characters cannot read minds. If someone emotes *thinks the Duke should be hanged for stupidity* the duke won't take any notice. Instead, try emoting *looks at the Duke scornfully*

Get permission before causing permanent damage.
You should not permanently damage somebody else's character without asking permission OOC. This means causing permanent scars, cutting off limbs, and even cutting off their clothes in some cases.

Respect fellow players.
We play for fun. If you take the RP in a direction that could make the other player feel uncomfortable, it is better to ask OOC first. Roleplaying rape is forbidden under all circumstances.

Lastly,
Realism.
Making UO 100% realistic is not possible. But we should always strive to make it as realistic as we can. For example, don't expect to shadow a target in full metal armour without being heard. Let's face it, it would rattle. Ask yourself: ‘If this was real would I notice whatever’s going on?’ Become your character, focus on realism.

[Deano]

It's good to see things like this. THe best way to roleplay is to observe others and try it yourself. These sorts of things get people off to a good start.

I'm shocked at the minority of "roleplayers" across all games. Infact I consider ANYONE who simply logs in with a name that is more logical than "warriorman" to be roleplaying to some extent.

Keep up teh good work.

[Dupre[THG]]

thanks alot deano all positive feedback like that is surely welcomed