Roleplay

From LensWiki

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Help Roleplay 3 Tools for Roleplaying 3.1 RP Rooms 3.2 Various Tools 3.3 Accents 4 Tips for Good Roleplaying 4.1 Player Suggestions 5 Roleplay Status 5.1 RP Account 5.2 Statusing 5.3 RP Status Examples 5.4 RP Challenge Events 6 Misc Related to RP 6.1 IC Communities 6.2 IC Accomplishments 7 RP Events 7.1 Globals 7.2 RP Challenges

Introduction

Basic RP information should go here.

Help Roleplay

RP ROLEPLAYING
Roleplaying on Lensmoor is STRONGLY encouraged. Essentially, anything done 
in-character will involve some degree of roleplaying. 
 
Roleplaying is the art of expressing a fictional character, essentially a 
grown-up version of playing pretend. Good roleplay starts with a 
well-thought-out character with a past and continues when the character 
behaves in accordance with: 1) [[race]], 2) [[alignment]]/[[religion]], and 3) 
personality. Roleplaying is extremely interactive and characters should 
change and develop due to the people they meet. 
 
Any player with bright cyan [ ] around their level in the wholist is willing to help 
you get into some roleplaying.
 
For external resources see: 
 
([http://arkanabar.tripod.com/newguide.html] -- Start with Chapter 3, then
Chapter 2. Uncle Figgy can be annoying and verbose, but he knows what he's 
talking about.) 
 
Also see [http://www.rpg.net/realm/critique/query.html] for a useful list of 
questions for character creation. 
 
If you would like to award a roleplay point to anyone regardless of IC 
relationship, you can do it with the status command (see below).

Tools for Roleplaying

RP Rooms

• There are special designated Roleplay Rooms that will give some bonuses when roleplayed in.

Various Tools

"RP TOOLS" "ROLEPLAYING TOOLS"
This is a list of some of the tools available to support roleplaying. While 
just about anything can be used as a roleplaying aid, here is a list of 
commands to start off with. 
 
SAY is used to speak in the room. It can also be paired with different 
[[language|LANGUAGES]]. 
 
EMOTE is used to describe your actions to the room.
 
PMOTE is similar to emote but replaces the target's name with 'you'. 
 
RMOTE is similar to pmote but offers more replacements for names and 
objects, such as replacing a target's name with 'you' to the target. It 
also lets you place your name anywhere in the sentence rather than the 
beginning. 
 
THINK is used to convey your thoughts. Some psionic skills are related to 
the use of this command, allowing people to target and intercept thoughts. 
 
GOSSIP is a public channel for continent-wide gossip. 
 
OMOTE is used to change the in-room description of an object to convey 
temporary changes to it. For example, 'A rock is here.' can be changed to 
show 'A rock is covered in muddy footprints.' 
 
RDESC is used to set a player's in-room description such as changing 'Bob 
is here' to 'Leaning against a tree, Bob is watching the room.' 
 
MDESC is used to set entry and exit messages such as changing 'Bob walks 
north.' to 'Dragging his feet, Bob trudges north.'
 
DESCRIPTION is used to set what a character looks like.
 
BACKGROUND is used to set information regarding a character's past.
 
PERSONALITY is used to set information regarding a character's general
mindset, behavior, and other traits.

Accents

ACCENTS
So you would like to use an accent in your character's roleplay! As a 
roleplay-encouraged mud, we like to see players who put in extra touches to 
their character. However, accents can be a touchy subject and area because 
of the wide range in which someone can try to portray an accent. 
 
First, let's start with defining an accent. An accent is a way of 
pronounciation in a language (and only pronounciation) different from the 
"standard" way of pronouncing. This is different from a dialect of a 
language, which is more involved than an accent and happens to include a 
different way of pronouncing words. Linguistically, there is nothing wrong 
about an accent, it just happens to be different. 
 
All of that said, there are ways of expressing an accent that can really 
enhance your character's roleplay and then there are ways that will give 
everyone around you (including imms) a headache! The following are some 
tips you can follow to focus your use of an accent more towards the former 
and away from the latter. 

- Even though you are using an accent, it should be generally understood 
what you are saying. It is true that in real life we may not understand 
everyone with a thick accent but it is also a very frustrating experience. 
Ultimately, the game is about having fun. Having to spend an exorbitant 
amount of time figuring out what someone is saying can retract from the 
fun, make people not enjoying roleplaying with you, and end up giving the 
opposite effect than your intended one. 
 
Additionally, if your character is not understood by other characters it 
can lead to IC consequences. Miscommunications happen and poor or 
unintelligble speech can be another character's pet-peeve. 
 
An accent is spoken, not written! For written items (letters, notes,
worlds, etc.), your character should be writing just fine. 
 
On a side note, if they have a writing disability, then that's another 
story. You will have to portray this in an understandable way. Writing a 
short OOC note at the top for especially poor writing abilities can take 
the place of inflicting everyone with an intentionally poorly written note. 

This is wise to do, especially when it has to be read by the imms. Another 
alternative is to write out your world, letter, etc. the way you would 
normally for the character and then provide an OOC translation for those 
who have difficulty reading the IC version. For example: 
 
[Ink has been smeared across the page with a lot of difficulty. The letters 
are formed in huge, sweeping strokes due to T-Rex's large size and teeny, 
tiny arms.] 
 
<clearly written IC message follows> 
 
OR 
 
<IC written message> 
 
<OOC Noted Translation: Translated version> 
 
- If you choose to use a less comprehensible accent, you have some choice 
in how and when you use it. When roleplaying one on one with a friend who 
does not mind the accent, you can let loose all you want. In other contexts 
where you deal with other characters, such as on IC channels like gossip 
that are seen by more people, the accent may grate on other players' 
nerves. You can compromise by using the emote function on the channel to 
express that your character is speaking with an accent without actually 
doing so. For an exaggerated example: 
 
Incomprehensible accent: T-Rex gossips (G) 'Roar, rawr rawr, roary roar!' 
 
Understood accent: Gossip (G) T-Rex opens his large, scaley mouth to form 
the words with difficulty. 'Dinosaurs are awesome! Griftmire is the best!' 
 
- Some of our players use screen-readers. Please be aware of how your 
special accent may sound to someone who must rely on a screen-reader to 
read it for them. Your meaning may be lost in the midst of heavy 
apostrophes and spellings intended to reflect different pronounciations. 
 
- An accent and intelligence, races, etc. are not linked. Anyone of any 
intelligence, ability, [[race]], and so on can have an accent. However, in 
portraying your accent, you should also be aware of your character's racial 
RP, family, background, and other outside factors that may influence if 
your character has an accent, why they may have it, and how they may 
express it. 
 
- This is by no means an exhaustive list! We encourage you to please use 
common sense!

Tips for Good Roleplaying

Player Suggestions

People can post their own personal tips if they'd like.

Roleplay Status

RP Account

'STATUS ACCOUNT' 'RP ACCOUNT'
Players can award status and roleplay points to other players. The amount of points players can spend to do this is controlled by their 'status account' and 'rp account'.
 
The status account reflects the players ic influence over things. This
increases with time, based on the players personal status (those who are
famous are more listened to), their level, and whether they represent a
clan (a clan voice) or religion (high clergy). This can be spent to 
affect the status of another player in the game, either positively, or 
negatively.
 
The rp account reflects the character's experience with the rp aspect
of Lensmoor. It too increases with time, based on the rp points the
character has received, and to a lesser extent, his level. This can be
used to award rp points to other characters.

Statusing

help rp points
"RP POINTS" "ROLEPLAYING POINTS"
Roleplaying points can be awarded to players for their roleplaying
contributions. Recipients must have a background and personality set.
 
Syntax: status <player> roleplay 1 <signed/unsigned>
 
This command is used to award someone a roleplaying point. This can be
signed or anonymous but will reward one point either way. Upon doing so,
you will enter the editor and be prompted to write up an explanation for
awarding the point. When giving RP points to multiple people, please post a
separate explanation for each person.
 
In this note you must give an example of one thing that the person did that
was appropriate to their character and/or the situation at hand that added
to the roleplaying atmosphere. You must briefly explain why this
demonstrates an appropriate reaction. 

While you can quote examples, do not post a log or a bunch of emotes: it is
your responsibility to explain what is notable.

If the example is the character's response to a particular situation,
please give a brief summary of what the situation was and include in your
explanation why it was appropriate for the character to respond as they
did. The situation does not have to be a single instance or session. You
can give RP points for consistent characterization, character growth and
development. 

The aspects of personality you reference may be obvious or subtle. A
developed character will have many aspects to their personality that make
them who they are. Some very simple examples are things that you would
notice every day in real life. For instance, Lisa is very bossy or Joe is
shy and nervous in public. 

See RP EXAMPLES for examples.

While only one example is required, you are welcome to elaborate as much as
you like. There is nothing wrong with lavishing praise on a fellow player.

You can only award a total of 3 points of status for one rp plot. This
includes both normal status and up to one RP point. 
 
PLAYERS MAY NOT GIVE -RP TO OTHER PLAYERS. INSTEAD, POST A REQUEST TO
IMM.

RP Status Examples

"RP EXAMPLES" EXAMPLES
The key to a good RP note is one distinct example and an explanation about
what that example means. The example does not have to be a direct quote.
The example can be in the context of a situation, a recurring habit, or a
hint at character development. It can be just about anything so long as you
can convey why this demonstrates portraying a role.

Please remember that we do not accept logs or snippets from logs as
examples of roleplaying. It is your job to explain what you saw, and what
it means.

Here are three different examples of RP notes that each has sufficient
information to award an RP point.
 
Example One: Consistent Characterization
Bobby is blind, and often stutters when speaking. As a blind person, Bobby
consistently reacts to sounds.
 
Bobby grins then, and inclines his head vaguely in the direction of the
sound of your voice. "Th-that's w-w-where th-the tricks c-c-come in. And
n-no one c-c-can be c-c-completely s-silent... B-breathing,
sh-shuffling...s-so I j-just l-listen f-for those."
 
Example Two: Consistent Personality
Jeffrey is a compassionate person. He likes to help people in small ways
regardless of their aura. Most recently, Jeffrey, who is golden, healed a
group of evil characters and politely refused a reward. He merely said it
was his calling and offered more help in the future.

Example Three: Character Growth from Recent Events
Joe has been a devoted follower of <insert deity here> for many years.
Recently, his faith has begun to waver after his family was killed. When
Susan mentioned that she believed that her god would keep her from harm,
Joe had this response:
 
"Protect you from harm?" Joe snorts derisively. "Some gods may claim to
watch over you and protect you, but the ones who do are lying to you. I
placed my trust in my god to protect the ones that I love, and look what
happened to them. The world is cruel, and the only truth in life is
death."

RP Challenge Events

'RP CHALLENGE'
Once in a while, an imm will offer an RP challenge in which an rp activity 
will be posted. The imm will ask for some kind of evidence that the rp took 
place and will reward participants with an rp point. 
 
Past RP Challenges include:
* Writing a book to expand on racial roleplaying
* Running an event in an RP Red Zone and submitting a report
* Starting a cross-continental conflict that is noticed in IC correspondence

Misc Related to RP

IC Communities

There are different ways your character can relate to other characters or be a part of some kind of IC group or community. These can include:

• The character's race (see Lensmoorian races, Antrippan races, and Remort races)
• The character's alignment
• A faith
• An IC family (see also marriage and children)
• A clan (also see the clan list)

IC Accomplishments

There are a variety of IC accomplishments you can achieve with different levels of difficulty. These include:

• achievements
• clergy in a faith
• title quests
• goals
• hero

RP Events

Globals

Global Events where the special events occur and players must work together through roleplay to come up with a solution.

RP Challenges

Special Roleplay Challenges where you earn RP points for completing the challenge.