Mar 28 - 20:40:38 |
|
Post Reply | Post new topic | Page: 1  |
RP 101 by LuckyLucy (Welcome, Basic Info, & Notes) | Started by: LuckyLucy on Sep 26, '17 19:22 |
Welcome and thanks for your interest in my first attempt at trying to help mentor folks on some of the concepts of RP. DISCLAIMER: I am not the world's authority on RP. There are SO MANY different sites, communities, and groups out there and each has their own way of doing RP. This class is written based on how I was taught and what I do. You may do things differently and that's okay! However, unless there is a MAJOR contradiction with what I'm saying and the rules/etiquette of MafiaReturns, I ask that you respect my attempt at sharing knowledge and not try to beat me down with my 'mistakes.' Okay - thanks in advance!
Notes On How This Class Will Work:
Role-Play (RP) 101 – What It Is (& How to Be Respectful Doing It)Role-Playing (also known as RP for short) is the act of playing at a role, not speaking, acting, or writing as yourself. It is something you’ve done all your life even if you never called it that. You did it with Barbie & GI Joe as a child, when you pretended to be Jedi Knights on the playground, when you went off on a tangent in a movie/tv show character’s voice saying something they might say, and you did it every time you day-dreamed about a movie/tv show or book you read. You do it when you dream at night! There isn’t a person on the planet who hasn’t done it, so if that’s your fear, put that on a shelf. You’ve done this before, and it’s hard to screw up. You can, however, learn some stuff to make yourself easier to work with in this community! Play by Post (PBP) Role-Playing is a form of collaborative storytelling (working together to write a story.) It occurs when Role-Playing takes place on a forums or bulletin board system (like we have here at MafiaReturns.) It involves two or more people, each role-playing their own characters, taking turns writing what their characters would say, writing what their characters attempt to do, and deciding the results of other character’s actions which are being attempted against (or towards) your character.
THE TEN GOLDEN RULES OF RP ETTIQUETTE
Common Formatting for Role-Play“ALL CAPS IN QUOTES!” = Your character shouting something for all on he thread to hear. “Words in quotes.” = Something being said in a normal speaking tone unless otherwise mentioned as being a whisper. Things written in italics = Generally presumed to be thoughts or things happening in the mind of a character. This is not universal and many people will use italics to put emphasis on important details or for names of businesses, movies, books etc. (( oc: Stuff in Double Brackets or behind the letters oc. )) = Things being said by the player NOT the character. Sometimes used by players to make sure clarity is imparted during rp. BECAREFUL USING THIS ON THE PUBLIC BOARDS – the public boards are considered 100% IC (ideally) and not posting 100% ic in your post has been a reason that site admins have removed posts in the past.
Okay so that's about it. I will reply to this post shortly with a link to the first class. I hope to see many of you there! :) |
|
Report Post | Tips: 1 / Total: $2,000,000 Tip |
Lesson #1: https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/1034000#15961431 You have seven days for your homework starting now. :) |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Sep 26, '17 20:15 | |
Report Post | Tip |
On #7 I mis-spoke. I can't grant exp (don't know why I typed that) I meant the cash payment.
CORRECTED #7: For those of you who start and complete each lesson within seven days, I will donate $1,000 to your character as a reward. That means you have 1 week to do the homework and you’ll get a payday. You MUST complete all the previous lessons to earn the |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Sep 26, '17 21:08 | |
Report Post | Tip |
Lesson #2: https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/1037494 Lesson #2 Homework Notes –
|
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Oct 04, '17 02:18 | |
Report Post | Tip |
A reminder to all the students from RP 101 Lesson #1 that Lesson #2 is up and tomorrow I'm adding Lesson #3. If you'd like cash for on time homework, you've got about 24 hours left. Please be sure to post your 'on your own' homework either in response to my lesson #2 post or on the streets (and leave a link on the lesson #2 post so I can verify you are done!) Students from Lesson #1 Were: Spider_Sal Wild_Kitten Wrench PapaNurgle HerbalTheLeaf Finnigan If someone wants to join us late please feel free! Just be sure to do lesson #1 before you do lesson #2! |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Oct 09, '17 19:13 | |
Report Post | Tip |
Due to the unexpected war between the cities, I'm extending the deadline for this week's homework to October 12th 02:00 Server Time. Thanks guys! Good luck to all of you and if you have to roll a new pc, please let me know via Mobmail and you can continue this class where you left off with your old character. |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Oct 10, '17 01:29 | |
Report Post | Tip |
Lesson #3 is up: https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/1044332 I've announced today that if you finish all the lessons in the class I'm going to award you (in addition to the $1000 per class completed) a credit at the end of the class! This is ONLY available to those who complete all the homework before one week after the final lesson is posted. So if you want to join late - PLEASE DO. You're still eligible. Just catch up with the rest of us. I'd love to see others taking part! Questions? Mobmail me! |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Oct 14, '17 02:56 | |
Report Post | Tip |
Today’s class (and the final two after it) are going to be done in the OOC boards. Going forward, if I do this class again, I will re-write the entire class to be done Out of Character because there is a lot which I feel like you guys missed out on by me not being able to tell you things AS Lucy. I chalk this up to a learning experience for me and you should too. Not every website you visit will handle RP quite the same and due to the particular rules of MR's forums, what worked for me really well on another site, wasn't a good fit here. So, please consider taking this class again in the future when/if I host it because I think there will be new take-a-ways you’ll find in those. Let's get to Lesson #4 and I'll try to release #5 asap as well because I was woefully behind on getting this one to you.
Lesson #4 Freeform Role PlayingThe "Default" Style Of RP Here at MR - the other used here at MR (discussed in next lesson) is Outlined Role-Play
Freeform Role-Play (Noun) \ ˈfrē-ˈfȯrm rōl-ˌplā , -ˈplā \ - Role-play which employs informal or simplified rules, playing emphasis on theatricality or creation of quality literature. Typically involves large numbers of players in a common setting. Collaborative Storytelling (Verb) \ kə-ˈla-bə-ˌrā-tiv ˈstȯr-ē-ˌte-liŋ \ - The act of two or more persons collaborate on telling a spontaneous story. Usually, each player writes/acts/speaks for one or more characters in the developing story.
A lot of people who have experience with video games or even table-top or live action role-playing games, have the misconception that you can not engage in role-play without having a person who knows how the story ends or the motives for every other character in the known world (except yours.) Many people take the opinion that role-playing is competitive (after a fashion) with the players vs. the game (in the case of video games) or the game master (in the case of table-tops and larps.) Thus, they find the idea of role-play on forums, by chat, or email as 'lacking.' While it's a valid point of view to want to enjoy RP as a person who responds to the setting and actions of NPCs rather than developing it as you go - it's also a much more passive way to enjoy a story. It's the difference between watching a movie and being the person who writes or acts in it. Most people I've known, once they get past their fear of being seen as a poor writer, or not creative enough; they tend to enjoy collaborative storytelling games MORE than the ones they've done in the past because it not only contains the randomness they love, the strategy and planning on a whole new level - but it allows the player to have FAR MORE say in the life and world of their character. If you've ever been a person who thought about a movie or video game "that was good but man wouldn't it have been cool if... (insert your neat idea here)" then you're the sort of person who would enjoy collaborative RP.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?Once you've developed your character for MR, you're ready to join the world. You can easily do this by visiting "the streets" as any thread posted there is welcome for you to join! I advise reading through posts first. If it's a business you can usually join without too much reading (no need to read 100s of pages of people coming and going since your character is only JUST coming into the business) but read the first post to get a description of the place and read the most recent page of posts to determine if something has changed or is currently happening that your character would respond to. Example: if the place has recently been ransacked by Durdens, you might want to respond to that... or if he place is being robbed at the moment you're joining... that's also something your character would have a reaction to. Most folks don't walk into stores which are in the process of being robbed and say nothing or just go about their shopping experience. So... read and avoid feeling foolish later! Also, make sure the post isn't exposition ... remember what we did in lesson #2? Sometimes players write exposition posts (diaries, journals, or even an event from their past) that wouldn't be a realistic place for your character to show up. Make sure a thread you choose to join isn't someone's exposition. Not sure? Mobmail them and ask if you can join. It's polite and will save you a little embarrassment. Once you find a thread, make your first post. It doesn't have to be huge. Make sure to give a little description of your character though so people can imagine what they are seeing and can respond to it properly. Like you're an author writing a book. Generally third person is the best form to write in for collaborative RP so that it reads like a story to anyone visiting your thread later.
Example: Hard To Work With: I'm a woman in my mid-20s with red hair and intense green eyes. I'm wearing a red halter top dress and go into the bar. "Give me a beer," I ask the bartender. Preferred Form: Lucy, a red-head in her mid-twenties wearing a red halter top dress, walks into the bar. "Give me a beer," she says with a twinkle in her green eyes.
Finally - AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT: If you want people to be able to reply and reply well ... always end with a hook. What's a hook? Hook \ ˈhu̇k \ (noun) - Object used to attract and ensnare. In the case of RP it's an open ended post which, without a reply, leaves a story incomplete.
Let's do an example... Tom Posts: Tom sips his beer. "Where you from?" Bill Posts: Billy says, "Sydney. You?" Tom: "Maine." Bill: "I hear it's cold there." Tom: "Yep." Bill: "You in town for business or pleasure?" Tom: "Business."
In the above example we see an extreme example of what I call "one lining." This is a form of RP reply that can happen with a literal one word or one sentence or (and I've seen this) be a huge exposition piece that results in no "hook" for the other player to work with. All of Tom's replies force Bill to lead the conversation and actions. It's VERY rude to make one player do all the work. Here's how it might have gone better.
Tom Posts: Tom sips his beer. "Where you from?" Bill Posts: Billy says, "Sydney. You?" Tom: "Maine. Colder than a witches tit there this time of year." Bill: "Chicago isn't much better, makes me miss the outback. You in town for business or pleasure." Tom: "Business. How about yourself?." Bill: "Business as well. Any chance you might know a guy by the name of Spider Sal?"
The only post that SHOULDN'T end with a hook... be it a question to be answered or an action awaiting a response; is the last one in a thread/story.
WHAT IF I SCREW UP (or if someone screws up mine!)?The great fear of everyone. No one wants to feel stupid or ruin something done by someone else. Here's a great secret of RP - it can't be screwed up. Even in our above "wrong" situations, the story could still have developed and gone forward for as long as the participants wanted. AND... even if someone contradicts an established fact or says something that is contrary to what you think would or should happen... you can always roll with it and make lemonade out of lemons. Let's look at some common 'screw ups' and how to fix them.
It's called role-play but sometimes I think "ROLL" works too... because yes, sometimes you gotta roll with the punches other writers throw at you. It's not always fun to find that your RP partners aren't doing as you'd like them to do... but that's the unknown factor you gotta work with and that challenge is going to keep you on your toes and keep things fun.
HOMEWORK Find a thread on the streets someone else has started and post to it. Reply with your link below so I can verify you've given Freeform RP a try! Once you've done that, if you've done it within the one week time period, I'll award your cash reward and you're one step closer to that 1 Credit Award for completing all the parts of this class. Now get out there and have fun!
PS: Due to the lateness of this class being posted, I may post a second later today. You will have the full two weeks to complete both and still receive your award. |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Oct 25, '17 15:06 | |
Report Post | Tips: 1 / Total: $400,000 Tip |
Lesson #5 Outline Based Role PlayingFor larger RP events, an outline may be necessary to facilitate an exact outcome. Let’s look at some of the types of RP you might want to use an outline on.
What is an Outline?An outline summarizes the events of a story, breaks the story down into plot points, and tells the players who will write about each plot point during the RP.
Example Outline Players: Pig #1, Pig #2, Pig #3 NPCs: Momma Pig and Big Bad Wolf Posts -
Let’s Talk About the Example OutlineIn the above example outline we can see that this RP Storyline (The Three Little Pigs) will be written by the Three Little Pigs. They will include two NPCs (or non-player characters) in their story which includes their ally Momma Pig and their antagonist Big Bad Wolf. We can see there will be a total of 10 posts on this thread once it’s finished.
What the Outline Does:
What the Outline Does NOT Do:
Why does it matter that you not tell someone how long a post needs to be, how to write the post, or how to reach each plot point? Quite simply it’s a matter of giving each person SOMETHING to be creative about. One CAN put too much detail in the outline and cause their writers to feel as though their input isn’t necessary (or wanted) in which case, you’re pretty much telling a story by yourself. It’s a fine line between making a list of plot points to be hit upon and telling someone everything they need to write.
In the above 3 Little Pigs example, you’ll notice I didn’t tell the pigs how or why the wolf finds them. Is he going to eat them? Does he want to kidnap them and hold them for ransom, do the pigs owe their bookie cash and he’s there to collect? I also didn’t address what the homes should be made of – maybe their going to make their houses of out pizza dough, donuts, and hamburger patties! I also didn’t tell them to leave out their own stories too so maybe each pig puts their own angle on things… Pig 1 might tell his part of the story as part of his morning routine gone awry and Pig 2 might tell us about his job interview that was interrupted by the arrival of his loser brother whose first house was destroyed and the last Pig could secretly have employed the wolf to take out his brother’s homes in a bid to sell his new “Wolf-Proof” building material to a major construction company. The goal of each player in an outline RP is to hit the plot points while also putting their own twist upon things. You want to let each player have a chance to tell their story within the outline’s guidelines. Be flexible and welcome input from others to achieve a truly collaborative story. ALSO – be sure to tell the organizer if you see problems or conflicts in the outline for your character. For example… if you played Pig #2 and you’d NEVER build in a wolf infested area of the world… you need to let the organizer know that BEFORE you launch the RP. You CAN NOT just change the story in the middle of writing it or you will derail everyone and everything in the RP that comes after you. In the case of our pigs, if Pig #2 didn’t build anywhere near where wolves would go, the tale of the 3 Little Pigs fails to happen.
Sample RP Outline - Unused!This outlines was either not used but is part of several character's histories. I may share more outlines later after this post so you can see how others did theirs. The Degas Heist – This RP was written in an Ocean’s 11 style. The actual events as they happened are outlined first and then we broke down what each post was going to hit the boards looking like. The story would appear in such a way that readers wouldn’t know the twists until the final post went up and all was revealed (as in the famous movie Ocean’s 11.) This is taken from a long Back Alley thread where the plot was discussed between the participants – you don’t see that discussion here… instead this is the ‘finalized’ outline.
HOMEWORKWrite an outline for an RP that could be done. You don’t need to execute it, but I want you to give outlining a try and who knows, maybe you’ll use it in the future! Reply on this thread with your outline or Mobmail to me for credit if you don’t want the whole site to see. Remember to qualify for the cash payment for doing the class you must submit your homework within one week’s time. To qualify for the one credit award at the end of the class (next lesson is the last one) then you need to do all the homework whether on time or not. I look forward to reading your submissions! |
|
Reply by: LuckyLucy at Nov 03, '17 23:47 | |
Report Post | Tip |
Post Reply | View All Threads | Page: 1  |
Minimum $20,000