Beginners Role-Play Guide

Role-Play Defined

There can be varying opinions of what role-play means yet the definitions all point back to the same thing. It's the act of playing a role, or character.

Urban Dictionary

To act and speak as if you are the character you're portraying. To roleplay is as much about what not to say as what TO say. It means to keep your speech in the context of the setting in which your character (or avatar) exists. Context can be defined as both time and place.

Dictionary.com

To assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), especially in a make-believe situation in an effort to understand a differing point of view or social interaction.

Forum based Role-Play

Forum roleplaying happens when a group of people use a forum to create a story.

The actual roleplaying happens through text. Role-players write responses to one another through posts. Each post describes the character’s actions, thoughts, feelings and speech.

Why Role-Play on Mafia Returns?

People’s reasons may differ yet the main ones usually fall in line with one or more of the following.

Increased Vision

Posting in the role-play areas will give you XP points that go toward your characters vision.

Increased vision allows your character to better see other characters in the locals list, when being pick pocketed, and seeing more of a hitters name when receiving a witness statement.

VIP Status

Having VIP status also allows you to compete with other role-players in the VIP rankings – shown at the bottom of The Streets forum. It gives you an idea of the active role-players and has both district and individual rankings.

Role-Playing to Simply Role-Play

Those that role-play may do so for the above reasons and yet those that keep at it and find the most enjoyment are those that role-play to add more depth and realism to the game – and let’s not forget humour. You role-play to act out your character and bring it to life. It's a fun way of getting more out of the game than just clicking about.

Role-playing allows the player to get a sense of what it may actually be like to live out the role of a 1930’s gangster. This is the point of role-playing; to be someone or something completely different to your day-to-day self.

Your imagination and the skill to role-play your inner vision is all you need. Without role-play Mafia Returns wouldn’t be as immersive and interactive as it is.

How to Role-Play on Mafia Returns

It needs to be said that there is only one way to effectively role-play on Mafia Returns - to actually role-play!

You have to take a character and play that character out through your posts in the role-play areas. If the character isn’t evident and the player behind the screen is, then it’s not considered role-play. On this site or any site for that matter.

What will constitute something that is role-played and something that isn’t is simply the content of the post.

Definition Breakdown

'To act and speak as if you are the character you're portraying.'

• Don’t act your own personal feelings and emotions; do act those that would be in line with the character that you have created and choose to play as.

'To roleplay is as much about what not to say as what TO say. It means to keep your speech in the context of the setting in which your character (or avatar) exists. Context can be defined as both time and place'

• The time and place is the 1930’s prohibition great depression era. It’s not 2015 and what happened on IRC the other day. Don’t write about credits, perks, admin, users, characters, admin wacks, dishonourable discharges etc. Don’t write about having a cell phone, a tablet/laptop, a Bugatti Veyron, an ak-47 and anything produced after the 1930’s.

'To assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), especially in a make-believe situation in an effort to understand a differing point of view or social interaction'

• Don’t be yourself. Remember when your parents told you to just be yourself? Forget it! On here that advice is bullshit. You’re not a 1930’s Mafioso – your character is. This world is make-believe, so don’t take things personally. Just act as your character would and post your personal rants in the OOC forum.

Add The Right Character!

Make sure the content of your posts are rich with character! Not your own personal character of the 2015 human behind the computer; the character and personality of the Mafioso you’re creating.

In Character and Out Of Character

IC: In Character. This is the character, the fictional creation.

OOC: Out of Character. This is the player, the person behind the computer.

An important distinction to make in role-play is between being In Character, and Out Of Character. Your character can be made in your image – yet it can’t be you completely.

Your character could have certain personality traits based on you yet remember you are the person behind the computer playing your character – you’re not really living in the 1930’s as a Mafioso. Your character is based in another world – the 1930’s prohibition and great depression era.

Being In Character

When you act from the created 1930’s Mafioso character this is called being In Character – or role-playing. You write about what your character might be doing, thinking, feeling and saying.

Being Out Of Character

When you act from your own self, as the human, this is called being Out of Character. You write about your own personal thoughts relating to being the human behind the computer.

Role-Playing your Character

When you role-play you assume the role of a character. A character is a made-up entity for roleplaying. You create a character and write from their perspective/role. Your character isn’t you, and you aren’t your character – you’re separate entities. You can think of it like an actor in a movie – the actor is not the character. Al Pacino is not Michael Corleone.

Have a Character to Role-Play

Having a character is important when role-playing. You need to have a definite understanding about the character you’re playing and portraying – otherwise what will your role-plays be about?

Having a character and writing him/her into your role-plays will give them a certain flair or style instead of the bland and strictly dialogue driven post.

Role-plays that contain actual characters tend to be more juicy, deeper, immersive, and have a lot more in the way of narration and story. These posts have an abundance of personality – they have character!

Eliminating Out Of Character Issues

It’s not enough to simply say I’m a 1930’s Mafioso and I’ll act like one. This is when IC and OOC start to become blurred. You need to have created a character, to role-play a character. If you don’t create one you will most likely get stuck in the game as yourself and you’ll lose the line where you – the writer – stops, and your character begins.

This In Character and Out Of Character mixing can be evident with those either new to role-play who haven’t put in the time to create their character, or those who have been playing Mafia Returns for many character cycles and have lost touch with role-playing an actual specific character.

Creating a well fleshed out character is what helps to clearly define what’s In Character and what’s Out Of Character.

Creating a Character

A big part of any text based role-playing game is creating a character biography (bio) and using it as a base for all role-playing.

Different sites have different templates they use based on the type of game yet they all have the same basic idea in mind; giving the character a background and some depth – some life!

It’s much like a police background check on someone and then some. Think about what that background check might entail, then add to it more personal details such as likes/dislikes, hobbies, habits, strengths, weaknesses, personality and so on. Basically the personal details are what you create about your character to give him/her a personality.

Staying In Character

Your character's biography is who you are in the game and what keeps you In Character. It stops you from being yourself in your role-play posts as you instead act out the character you have created. Anytime you act outside this character you can be sure you’re acting as yourself – and Out Of Character!

Creating your Character's Biography

Spend some time and actually create a biography for the character you wish to role-play. You then simply use that information as ammunition for your role-plays. The bio becomes your personal side of the story; your personality or personal-reality and it’s what seeps through and into all your posts. It gives you plenty to write about and gets rid of this writers block thing people talk about.

Here’s a basic template that can be used for creating your character bio and fleshing out a solid Mafia Returns character to use in role-plays.

Basic Info

First name:

Surname:

Nickname(s):

Preferred name:

DOB:

Ethnicity:

Living Family/Relatives:

Criminal Organization:

Known Associates:

Appearance

Height:

Weight:

Facial Features:

Build:

Favoured Attire(s):

Personality

Favoured Weapon(s):

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Values:

Hobbies:

Background

Family Lineage:

Past Affiliations:

Criminal History:

Personal History:

Other:

Don't Be Lazy!

Spend 5-10 minutes filling the above character template out or something like it and start using it as a base for your role-plays. It will make a world of difference. Even if you don’t show it to others; keep it as a reference. It’ll be the difference between posting something bland and something with character!

NPCs in Role-Play

NPC: Non-Player Character. Created by the game or people; used for support roles in role-plays.

PC: Player Character. Created by people; used as the main characters in role-plays.

Player Characters have a role-player or person behind them directing their actions. NPCs generally do not. NPCs occur in various forms in roleplaying games, but are generally always treated as side or supporting characters. They usually serve to advance the plot or game in some way, whether by aiding PCs or hindering them.

In other words - NPCs can be good or bad, depending on the situation.

NPCs Add More Life

Adding NPCs can create a better scene than just two player characters. NPCs do not need to be the focal point of the thread - more like extras in a movie.

The Mafia Returns world consists of both Mafioso and non-Mafioso. PCs are the Mafioso and NPCs are everyone else. You can add NPCs to any role-play as extras in the environment – it’ll give your posts more life!

Using NPCs

For role-played businesses in the Business District forum it may be that NPC’s staff those establishments. It would get quite boring for the role-player who plays the bartender to simply have bartending posts over and over again; and so NPCs are a perfect solution here.

In The Streets forum NPCs might be civilians that inhabit the environment of the role-play. There aren’t only Mafia members that just walk down the street. If anything, they would be the minority. Add more NPC civilians to your role-plays to give them more life.

You could role-play a companion style NPC, like a sidekick character that is yours to control and yours alone. Some do this with their bodyguards and corrupt agents yet you’re only limited to your own imagination.

Try a role-play without the intention of interacting with another PC, and instead create your own temporary NPC for that role-play to interact with.

Give Depth to Your NPC

Make sure your NPC is not one dimensional. A flat, characterless NPC is no fun to role-play with. Pick an astrology sign, a personality type, or similar if you need something quick and easy for a personality.

Remember, NPCs needn’t be shadowy side-arms existing only to support main characters; they can and should disagree with characters, act inappropriately, etc. according to their personality and the situation.

If you write a recurring role for a NPC in a business thread then role-play a little info about them in the initial post. If they were a recurring actor in a TV series then they would have a personality and be recognizable. This gives other role-players an idea on how to better role-play with the NPCs that either work there, or frequent the place.

Having a bartender others can use is one way; and also having frequent customers with certain personalities PCs can meet is also another creative way to use NPCs. For example maybe there is a drunkard that sits at the bar most days – or specific days, that others could role-play with.

Role-play Content - Actions, Thoughts, Feelings, Dialogue

Because all we have is the written form here – text – your role-play posts should consist of the characters actions, thoughts, feelings and dialogue. It’s only through writing these things into your posts that your character will come through, and not you – the writer.

Role-Playing with Just Dialogue

Example of using just dialogue:

“Hey bartender give me a fine drop of Old Forresters and tell Raoul that Scriba is here for him.”

Although the above example contains dialogue it doesn’t convey any character. How can we get a feel or understanding of your character behind the dialogue – without the personality (personal-reality) written with the dialogue?

In this case the personality needs to be conveyed through actions, thoughts and emotions. What we think, feel and do is what gives us all our unique personalities.

More Than Just Dialogue

Example of using actions, thoughts, feelings and dialogue:

Scriba casually made his way to the bar. The memory of being here the other day and having a glass of Old Forresters bourbon swiftly came back to him. He really dug the taste of a fine nip of anything, especially this brand. It made him relaxed, maybe not straight away, but after a few glasses he usually just melted into the chair. He thought it might be because it was fifty perfcent proof. Not the strongest stuff compared to the shit being made by locals, yet strong enough to do the job.

“My good man. Give me a fine drop of that Old Forresters. Pour one for yourself too.”

He glanced around the environment with drink in hand, sipping at a steady pace, thinking of the day behind him. His thoughts went onto Raoul and how good value he felt he was as a friend. Scriba liked the cut of Raoul's jib and felt a sense of comfort being around him. Much like a mentor, or older brotherly figure. Scriba waved the bartender back over.

“Can you see if Raoul is around? Tell him Scriba is asking after him.”

Add Personality!

The role-plays on Mafia Returns are completely text and in written form, so without the extra personality with the dialogue it’s just a sentence that anyone, anytime, anywhere, any gender, with any personality could put forth. You could add 100 different actions, thoughts and feelings around it and get 100 different characters - so use more than just dialogue!

Interweaving Role-Plays

It’s important to know and remember your character isn’t the central point of the plot or storyline at all times. Don’t join a thread where there is clearly something going on between the other characters and expect everyone’s focus to shift to your character. Play to the story; don’t expect others to gravitate toward or even care about your character in any particular moment.

Example of what not to do:

(me) Scriba placed a sign up on the business door that read ‘Closed until further notice.’ He felt pissed the situation had come to this, yet what could he do. He thought of selling it off to the Russians. Fuck the Russians, he internally exclaimed, and bolted the front door closed after exiting.

(you) Raoul waltzes up, goes inside the front door and grabs a telephone. I must call this Scriba guy real quick.

“Hey Scriba, I’m here.”

Read Before You Write!

Read others posts that may impact yours before writing and posting as they all contribute to the story. Don’t ignore or disregard what others have posted. Doing this will lead you to mess with the collective role-play.

Role-Playing Realism

Realism is an important aspect of creating a flowing storyline. Role-play realism is not exactly like real life realism. A game based in the year 5392, with space travel and highly advanced technologies, has different rules of realism than a forum roleplaying game set in 1930. Realism is especially important in forum roleplaying because many people are writing in the same universe.

1930's Prohibition and Great Depression Era

Realism in Mafia Returns is to role-play in the 1930’s prohibition and great depression era. It’s important to keep it realistic to this era. Researching whether something you intend to include in your role-play actually existed back then or around that time is your best option.

Don’t just wing it - put in some effort!

Here are a few resources to get you started:

1930’s

More 1930’s

Prohibition

The Great Depression

Dirty 30's

Price Guide

Pistols and Revolvers

Rifles and Shotguns

Machines Guns

Automobiles

Automobiles (Photos)

Ships, Trains & Planes

Fashion

1930-1945 Fashion

Womens Fashion (Photos)

Music, Radio & Silver Screen

Cigars

More Cigars

Gambling

FBI & The American Gangster

Spelling, Grammar & Structure

Spelling, grammar and format are huge in text based role-play games. Not taking care with these areas can turn a straight forward post into something messy, incoherent and sometimes just plain awful. Even if most of the role-play is well written, portions that aren’t can throw the readers flow off – or in really bad posts have them stop reading altogether.

Spelling

Bad spelling is obvious. We want to be able to read what you write. If you spell words wrong here and there that’s a given, we aren’t all employed proof readers and budding novelists. Yet if it’s consistent in the role-play it can give off the vibe of dirty beggar instead of accomplished Mafioso. Just use a spell check if possible in a writing program like Microsoft word. If not proof read!

Although bad spelling and grammar can be an eye sore we all make mistakes and it’s not the worst thing we could do when role-playing. If new to role-playing this might be an initial weakness but it can be easily turned into a strength if a little more time and care is given to each post.

Structure

Having things spaced properly such as using paragraphs (approximately 4 sentences to a paragraph) and continuing things on a new lines for different characters speaking and when moving from speaking dialogue to action – and reverse.

Example of a poorly structured post:

Scriba usually liked the wind when it blew strong. It reminded him of those wintery days as a kid, playing outside with his father. Today he smelt it as having the scent of his mother but now wasn’t the time for reminiscing. The gun felt cold to touch; steel was just ruthless at this hour and in this frosty weather. He’d rather be inside next to an open fire, yet there was always work to be done. Today's work involved vengeance and be it rain, hail or shine he would make sure to have his before it came to pass.

Scriba looked down at the kid a moment as he further pressed the barrel of the colt revolver harder against the young lads forehead. “Who’s the punk now, huh?!” Scriba let him know who was boss. It made him feel alive inside. He felt in control yet emotions kept pouring through him as the thought of his mother persisted. Maybe this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down, he thought. Maybe she really did just get in the way. Maybe it was really just an accident. He couldn’t continue to take the rampant thoughts in his head. He just wanted it to be over, and wished it never happened.

Scriba pulled away and paced about, rubbing at his forehead as the gun dangled in his oft hand by his side. All the while feelings of anger kept rising within him, interchanging with grief, as he kept thinking about his mum, lying there, in cold blood. He turned back and took aim at the kid who was on his knees weeping in the cold snow.

Example of a better structured post:

Scriba usually liked the wind when it blew strong. It reminded him of those wintery days as a kid, playing outside with his father. Today he smelt it as having the scent of his mother but now wasn’t the time for reminiscing. The gun felt cold to touch; steel was just ruthless at this hour and in this frosty weather. He’d rather be inside next to an open fire, yet there was always work to be done. Today's work involved vengeance and be it rain, hail or shine he would make sure to have his before it came to pass.

Scriba looked down at the kid a moment as he further pressed the barrel of the colt revolver harder against the young lads forehead.

“Who’s the punk now, huh?!”

Scriba let him know who was boss. It made him feel alive inside. He felt in control yet emotions kept pouring through him as the thought of his mother persisted. Maybe this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down, he thought. Maybe she really did just get in the way. Maybe it was really just an accident. He couldn’t continue to take the rampant thoughts in his head. He just wanted it to be over, and wished it never happened.

Scriba pulled away and paced about, rubbing at his forehead as the gun dangled in his oft hand by his side. All the while feelings of anger kept rising within him, interchanging with grief, as he kept thinking about his mum, lying there, in cold blood.

He turned back and took aim at the kid who was on his knees weeping in the cold snow.

Adding Italics

One thing that you will find in text based role-play games is using Italics for the actions and “Quoted text” for speaking parts. It just makes things better to read and it gives the subconscious an immediate recognition of the different sequences in the role-play.

Example with italics to break up the action and dialogue parts:

Scriba usually liked the wind when it blew strong. It reminded him of those wintery days as a kid, playing outside with his father. Today he smelt it as having the scent of his mother but now wasn’t the time for reminiscing. The gun felt cold to touch; steel was just ruthless at this hour and in this frosty weather. He’d rather be inside next to an open fire, yet there was always work to be done. Today's work involved vengeance and be it rain, hail or shine he would make sure to have his before it came to pass.

Scriba looked down at the kid a moment as he further pressed the barrel of the colt revolver harder against the young lads forehead.

“Who’s the punk now, huh?!”

Scriba let him know who was boss. It made him feel alive inside. He felt in control yet emotions kept pouring through him as the thought of his mother persisted. Maybe this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down, he thought. Maybe she really did just get in the way. Maybe it was really just an accident. He couldn’t continue to take the rampant thoughts in his head. He just wanted it to be over, and wished it never happened.

Scriba pulled away and paced about, rubbing at his forehead as the gun dangled in his oft hand by his side. All the while feelings of anger kept rising within him, interchanging with grief, as he kept thinking about his mum, lying there, in cold blood.

He turned back and took aim at the kid who was on his knees weeping in the cold snow.

Always Proof Read Before Posting

The best way to avoid having spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and a hard to read posts is to proof read! Not once, or even twice, but three times! Every time you proof read you will change something, so make sure the changes also don’t contain new errors.

Add Colour

Colours can also add to a role-play. They are generally used to emphasize text within the role-play and also to alert others of hyperlinked text that can be clicked on.

Using Quote Boxes

Quote boxes are also handy and have been used especially in business district threads for menus, posters, newspapers and signs. They’ve also been used in street posts to break up text, and some use them for the speaking portions of their role-plays.

Use Links Correctly

Links can turn a good post into an awesome post – if done correctly. Don’t just post a link as it is. This would be considered OOC. Put it in as a clickable text hyperlink. Maybe colour it and bold it so people can see it. People do this to link to back alley posts where they may have a menu, or an office thread, or to images to give a picture to a description.

Test Document Readability

http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp

It gives a rough 'score' on how hard it is to read (more to do with broken English rather than verbose vocabulary), but even better is it actually suggests which lines need to be rewritten to improve it. I find it a great tool to get non native English speakers (that do have good English) more confident in their posts. (Setanta)

Types of Role-Plays

There are three main categories of role-plays you will find on Mafia Returns.

Solo Role-Plays

These are self-written and aren’t posted to actually have anyone else add to the story in any way, rather instead they are to be shared for other peoples reading pleasure. They are still role-played as the person’s character is being acted out within the role-play, yet they are a solo effort – they are complete unto themselves.

These posts include character development story role-plays, newspapers, advertisements etc.

These role-plays are usually lengthier. They can still be added to by others, yet more as a spectator to the story that came and went, rather than adding to the plot itself.

Multiple Character Role-Plays

These are story driven role-plays that are usually pre planned Out Of Character in some form before the role-play begins in the designated forum. They may be heavily planned OOC first and posted in a back alley thread before moving it on to the correct forum; or they could be loosely planned and the story evolve as people add to the thread through their role-plays.

These posts include family collective role-plays that have a definite start, middle, and end to the story.

Open Ended Role-Plays

These are created usually by a single person with the idea to address the masses and allow anyone and everyone to post, respond and add to the role-play if they so choose. They may be pre-planned to a degree yet they have no definite end pre-plotted.

These kinds of posts include discussion based role-plays, crew leader authorization role-plays and social gatherings.

Writing the Role-Play – Research, Write, Proof Read

Skimming over the role-plays before knocking something up in a minute then posting it is a slap in the face to those that posted before you, and those having to post after you.

Role-playing is about speed and who can post the quickest. It’s about putting out quality work that adds value to the thread it’s being posted in.

Research and plan!

First spend some time researching and planning before you even write anything. If you’re adding to a thread read the posts before yours to get an idea of the story as its being played out and think about how your character might fit in. If it’s in a business you may just be wanting to role-play being in the same place, yet you may also see a post with a story you can add to and continue.

If you’re starting your own solo role-play spend time planning it out first. Research what you need to regarding it being era specific and plan the plot points you want to include. Writing the plot points first gives you an outline to then later flesh out. It keeps the role-play punchy and to the point

If you’re organizing a role-play with others still have a general theme and plot points; unless it’s open ended. Give characters a role and a general idea how they will add to the story. All stories begin and also end, so make sure you have an idea on these also. This avoids long and excessively drawn out role-plays.

If it’s an open ended role-play – meaning there is no pre-planned ending – then still having a theme and idea for the original post will be necessary.

Write!

Next write the role-play itself using the plot points as a guide but give yourself the freedom to be creative when you’re writing and change things as the ideas flow. Flesh it all out by acting your character into it through his/her actions, feelings, thoughts and dialogue.

Proof Read!

Lastly proof read! Go over the post once and check the spelling, grammar and the structure. You may get new ideas during the proof reading stages so write them in, correct things, take things out and overall fix it up. Then, go over it again. Do exactly the same thing as you just did. Proof read the whole role-play over and over until you feel you don’t need to change anything further. Then, go over it a final time for any last spelling and grammatical errors that need to be ironed out.

At a minimum proof read it three times, at a maximum however many times it takes to finally not want to change anything, then one last proof read. It may sound pedantic but it both makes your role-plays clean and helps you understand writing and role-playing better. Every time you proof read you will learn something new.

Word Length

This may differ between people here on Mafia Returns yet role-play always comes back to acting your character. It’s about how much text is needed to have both your character and point come through. Some people feel their point is the dialogue of the message, and in some cases this could work, yet not for a continual back and forth role-play or a complete story. The OOC forum is for people to put their thoughts and concerns down. People seem to think just because they include In Character references in their posts it makes them role-play.

Remember, role-play is acting as your character would act – not just typing what he/she would say. If what he/she would say is exactly what you would say then you are missing the point of role-playing.

Dialogue alone doesn’t convey character. You don’t go to see a movie to only hear the dialogue. You also don’t listen to the radio to just read the subtitles. Character has to come through, and that’s through emotions as well as dialogue, at the very least. This is a text based game and it’s your job to write the character in, not just the words he/she would speak.

Beginners/Short Posts

For those beginning or writing a short post aim for about 200-300 words as a goal. These are a good length for intertwined role-plays with others.

Intermediate/Medium-Long Posts

For an intermediate role-player or a medium length post aim for about 500-800 words. Also good for intertwined role-plays with others.

Advanced/Long Posts

Anything more than 800 words is fine it it’s a solo role-play.

These aren't hard rules by any means - just guidelines to go by; yet if you intend on posting anything with less than 100 words then you really need to be asking yourself if you could put more into that role-play – and the answer to that will most likely be yes!

Role-Playing in The Streets

This is where you will find debates, new crew leader announcement posts, solo character stories, family collective role-plays, social gatherings and anything else someone can write that acts out their character for all to see and potentially participate in.

To post here means you are being seen by the whole world – all of Mafia Returns. Whatever you say here has the potential to reach everyone. What you post here doesn’t just affect you; it also has an impact on who you represent – your family, your district as well as your city.

When it comes to role-play this is the A league. This is where the big boys play. Granted, some who post may be better off learning whilst in the business district, yet that’s more up to how crew leaders run their families. Having said that, bad role-play is bad role-play no matter where it’s posted – it just has stinks more when it’s in the streets. The stench spreads quicker and reaches further than a Business District thread.

Wait Till You're Ready

My advice is to only post here when you’ve been sufficiently schooled in the art of role-play, otherwise you’re just putting your own reputation at risk – and your families, districts and cities.

Role-Playing in the Business District

This area is used for more day-to-day personal role-play as you can go into a business and just role-play casually. It’s a place for role-play surrounding business establishments – as the environment is within a business itself.

Great Place To Start

Newer role-players can start off here in a family orientated business without being judged. It can be both a training ground and also a place for great casual role-play interaction.

Good For Character Development

Businesses are great to use for character development. You won’t always be a Don, and you have to start somewhere. Growing your character through daily role-plays in the business district is a great way to also practice, meet others in a casual setting and still get XP points.

Bad Role-Playing – Godmoding

Godmoding is an umbrella term referring to several types of bad role-play. All godmoding attempts to shift the role-play in the godmoding players favour. In essence, godmoding is any attempt at giving an advantage to a roleplaying character that would not otherwise exist.

Powerplaying

Powerplaying: Godmoding by controlling another role-player’s character without permission.

Powerplaying is when you use another’s character without their permission by controlling them through your own role-play. It also refers to having more power than you actually have in a given situation. We are not God’s, every character has limitations just as humans do.

Action Powerplaying

Starting, completing, or otherwise interfering in any way with another character’s actions may be Powerplaying.

You can only act your own character – not someone else’s. How exactly can you move someone else’s character around in the story yourself? The answer is simple – you can’t!

You can only act, think, feel and speak with your own character. This isn’t a novel where you’re writing the whole story yourself. It’s a forum for people to write a story together by role-playing their own individual characters. Imagine walking into a room and trying to act, think, feel and speak through someone else’s body. It’s impossible – so don’t do it in role-play.

Example of role-playing someone else’s character:

Scriba walked into the bar and slid onto the nearest stool he could find. A long day had him feeling tired, and all he wanted was a stiff drink before making his way to his apartment and nodding off.

Scriba called for Raoul to line him up three quick shots so he could get on with things.

Raoul came over with a bottle and three shot glasses and started pouring them.

Example of letting someone else role-play their own character:

Scriba walked into the bar and slid onto the nearest stool he could find. A long day had him feeling tired, and all he wanted was a stiff drink before making his way to his apartment and nodding off.

Scriba called for Raoul to line him up three quick shots so he could get on with things.

“Hey Raoul, three shots, pronto. I have shit to do.”

Scriba scratched at his head and turned on the bar stool, eyeing the environment.

Your role-play starts and ends with your character. Anyone else involved, or being nudged to get involved, should role-play for themselves.

Very minor action Powerplaying may be okay with certain role-players, such as those you are familiar with or in certain plotted situations. If you’ve role-played with someone many times before and you know they’re okay with it, you may be able to assume their character nods, moves along with your character etc.

Damage Powerplaying

Role-playing doing things that don’t give the other player an option is Powerplaying. For example you role-play that you grab someone and stuff them into the boot of a car. This gives you more power than you actually have. You need to give the other person an option to act their own characters reaction.

Best way to avoid this is to use the following guide:

• You cannot write your attack and damage in the same post.
• It is fine to state what could happen. It may be hard to word without Powerplaying though.
• You can post your part of an attack but let your opponent post the resolution.
• Use words like attempts, aims, tries etc.
• Don’t use words like hits, strikes, slams and so on.

Example of not letting someone’s character respond:

Scriba walked up to Raoul and smashed him in the face with the bottle. He could do these things, because he was a really big guy and strong as an ox. He bullied people around a lot and no-one could deny his power.

Example of letting someone else’s character respond:

Scriba walked up to Raoul and swung at his face with the bottle, attempting to smash it against his forehead. Scriba was a brute of a guy, and liked to bully people around. He usually got his way and thought he might try to do the same again.

The second example gives Raoul a chance to react as he sees fit. You can’t go around acting like you’re a God and everything you do when it comes to other peoples characters is fine and they have no response.

Instead you role-play what your character intends to do – your actions; and let the other person role-play what their characters reaction is - their actions.

Metagaming

Meta gaming: Godmoding specific to the use of OOC knowledge in role-played actions, behaviours and thoughts.

Meta gaming is using Out Of Character information in a role-play that your actual character wouldn’t know. Things such as automatically knowing someone’s past because you read their bio, yet you didn’t come across that information in character.

Remember to act out your character, and this includes what he/she knows and doesn’t know in character.

Example of using Out Of Character information in a role-play:

Scriba enjoyed meeting Raoul for the first time the other day. He thought they might even become good friends at some point. Hell, if he could make friends with the Russians, why not a fellow Italian-American.

Scriba remembered Raoul owned a bar called The Dead Rabbit that had opened up in New York. He figured he might as well pay him a visit, and here he was. He pushed at the door and walked in to see if his good friend was about.

“Raoul, you here friend?”

Example of a better way to role-play the scene:

Scriba walked into The Dead Rabbit for the first time. He hadn’t been here before and thought the sign out front and the procession of customers coming and going must’ve meant it would be a good place to eat.

Upon entering the establishment Scriba took a good look around. The aroma of whatever had been cooking filled his nostrils. Smells fucking delicious, he thought.

Scriba made his way toward the bar and took a seat on a cosy looking stool. He gave a wave to the bartender to order himself a drink to set the mood. He loved a good nip of bourbon and he thought the bottles on display seemed a good start.

Try to keep things believable to what your character knows and doesn’t know. Does your character really know the same people his mother or father knew? Does your character really remember back so many bloodlines and can speak of the happenings of previous periods? Or, are these things only known by you – the player.

Have Fun!

Without the enjoyment from role-playing it just becomes another chore and something else you need to do.

There's a saying: "Doing something with purpose is passion; without it is hard work."

Make sure part of the reason you role-play is because you actually find it a fun way to pass the time! If you hate writing and being creative then maybe it's not exactly for you - or you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

Role-playing isn't everyone's cup of tea. Yet if you make it a goal to find some kind of enjoyment in it - whatever it may be - then you'll want to do it again.

Don't let it become only something you do to better your vision or climb the VIP rankings. At least once in a while write just to write and express yourself creatively and just to enjoy the absolute fuck out of it!

Q&A with Mafia Returns Role-Players

If you were asked what three main things are important to keep in mind when role-playing, what would they be?

Also what tips, if any, would you give to someone new to role-playing?

Achilles

Have an outcome in mind. Else an RP can just rattle on forever with no real structure there.
Keep it entertaining. Make sure it's not just about replying as quick as possible, too often I see people filling in a few lines here or there. It adds nothing to the RP.

Plan out the RP. This can be effective if you have a few people involved as it means there won't be clashes in the story, each person taking a turn, each person with a role to play.

Aegon

1) Perspective, what your character knows - what time period the character is in - what they're not supposed to know - what they've missed etc. just the perspective of your character

2) Quality - a small well written post is worth leagues more than a bulky post that people won't read anyway if it's terribly written - just read over your post a few times before posting

3) Intrigue - Nobody likes a god mode written character - well sometimes i do but only in terrible anime's and if they get killed off doing something epic - you don't want to have an obvious character, add something unique or subtle to the situation which you can build on keeping people interested i guess

Just give it a go ^_^ most people are super relaxed and won't chew off your face if you post something that isn't shakespeare, in fact the only person that will probably criticize you (most of the time) is yourself later on, so don't be shy, the more you RP the better you get

Ajani

When it comes to role play I find it important to set the scene and be descriptive of what is going on. Basically paint a picture for the reader. Another thing is keep in mind what type of character you are playing as. Is he a noble man, respectable or a dickhead. I also find it fairly important to keep things in proper timeline setting sometimes it's hard with other postings and replies but it should be a key aspect.

Astrid

Not to be a God, you are human you have weaknesses let them show

Don't control someone else, you can role play what reactions they might be having a bit, but let the other person be who they want

Add more than a simple response, think about how your character is reacting, how the surroundings around them look, describe enough so that another can create an image of what is going on

Tips? My biggest tip is just think of how you would react or respond. Don't over think what you're typing. If someone is inviting you to get a coffee, just choose something you would get and talk how you would talk to someone.

Barry

We only have one rule regarding role-play - "act how your character would act".

If people always remain focused on their character, who they are, how they think, how they feel, what motivates them etc; then they can't go too far wrong.

BlackJack

Mainly I would keep in mind context, respect and diplomacy.

Tips for new players would be to practice in the Bds and then work up. And always be mindful of respect.

Curtis

1: An awareness of context. The backstory to the situation and previous posts.

2: A willingness to adapt to the input of the other participants and an ability to be a team player rather than a demanding driver.

3: A good sense of fun.

My tip for someone new: Read a lot. Find the conversations, people and events that entertain you and join in with those. The whole thing is pointless if you don't find it fun.

Denam

1.Character - At the end of the day, RPing is simply jumping into someone's (usually someone fictional) skin. Everything you read or write should be done through the lens of their eyes.

2.Environment - If you can do #1, then you should be mindful of where you are and what sort of things could/would happen in those environments. The more realistic you can be in your RPing, the better.

3.Fun - At the end of the day, RPing is absolutely pointless unless you have fun. So give it your best and treat it like you would any other skill/game in your life. If you aren't enjoying the story, you're doing it wrong.

Guevara

1)Always question yourself when you're writing, you should have a reason for everything your character does. Why do they make this decision? Why do they visit this bar and not that bar. For me, really being able to understand and develop your character's aspirations and motivations helps you move from creative writing to roleplay.

2)Stay true to your character. Now that you've established who they are and what they want, you need to be consistent with it. If you've previously described your char as small and shrewd, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for your shrewd, quiet character to suddenly be setting off firebombs. Likewise, goombas don't stroll around in $1000 suits.

3)Try to think outside the box. Not everyone has to stand on a soap-box, not everyone has to smoke cigars and drink neat scotch. It's a really tempting trap to fall into because so many amazing mob films have given us this 'perfect' idea of what a mobster looks like, but you don't have to buy into it.

And a tip for new writers; don't be self conscious and don't worry that people will for any reason mock you. Get out there and write and people will appreciate you for it.

Kalebear

1. Keep in mind what era you are RPing in. If this means you need to keep it a bit vague without adding detailed information then so be it. But if you are RPing in the streets, you aren't pulling out a cell phone etc. Do your research.

2. Have a point in mind. Whatever you need to portray that should be kept in mind. If it is a story line, what is the point of your story? Is there a start? an end? and the middle tells people what needs to be said?

3. Have your stuff checked. Always have someone else read it if you are starting out. You want to put your best foot forward so it helps to have someone else look at it. I still get my stuff checked before I post it by at least 1 other person.

Tips:

- If you are writing a reply to a thread already up, be respectful.

- Think things out before you reply. Don't reply in strong emotions either. If you are angry, take the time to think out your reply so you aren't being rude.

KarmenKayne

One: Remember that we are in the late 20s/Early 30s. People always forget that and they bring up cars that didn't exist back then, alcohol that was extremely, extremely hard to obtain, guns that didn't exist yet, names that didn't exist, towns that didn't exist, etc.

Two: Remember not to say "game" or "Chat" or anything GAME related in your role-play text unless you're typing in Out Of Character or Outside, or unless you're saying something like "I talked to so-and-so the other day about this, blah blah blah"

Three: Don't spam. Like, in order to get experience for your post, it has to be longer than like two or three sentences. I'd say the average paragraph size would be good. And it would be smart, if you are planning on beginning to post, to get Forum VIP. It makes your posts count towards Durden mapping, as long as the posts aren't too short.

Four: Post on something that you feel you can be creative with to start out. It makes it a little easier to get going, then once you get the hang of it, it's easy!

McSteamy

You gotta have a story in your head.

Clear beginning, body...ending. Now ending can be open ended as well, those are the best kind. Opens up the stage for others to get involved in.

You have to describe everything of importance...sorta lay down the setting so to speak.

This usually setups the picture.

Get to the point!

I hate stranglers, say whats necessary!!!

Ending

Be concise, say what you need to say in the shortest way possible. Believe me there is plenty of space in a RP to get your thoughts out. And try to leave it a open ended one...attracts more people to tag along. Thats when its really serving its purpose. 

Tips? Id say if you'r a movie person...get to a setting first, then think about how you'r going to furnish it, come up with a script for characters....FINISH!!!

And don't forget to tie up loose ends, story's gotta flow...

Now if you want the MR reason? It HELPS immensely with ranking and vision. I mean that should be enough to wanna make most ppl participate honestly. Just the RHM job got me tied up...I've been looking at store fronts myself personally!!!

Raoul_Silva

Remember that your feelings and your characters are sepperate. You will get more enjoyment from playing a character different from you than just playing an extension of yourself. Role playing is a form of acting.

Dont play a character you are not comfortable playing. For instance if you are strongly homophobic then don't be playing Frank N Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Flesh out the idea for your character before you start playing. How would he react to certain situation? What ethnicity is he? Things like this make role playing easier and help keep your profile uniform instead of have diametrically opposed posts.

For new players, have fun, don't take it serious, and remember your position. Earners don't live long if they mouth off to consiglieres

Rhiannon

First and foremost, always remember this is just a game at the end of the day. Leave the coffee shop gossip and OOC issues out of the RP. It will just make for a bad read and for you look bad.

Second, always stay In Character! Don't flit back and forth between IC and OOC. It will just get confusing for the reader and you.

And last, but definitely not least - remember the time period we are in. This is the 30's we are supposed to be a part of, not the 21st century! There are no advancements in guns or technology. There is no digital displays or voice recordings. Be aware of what is and is not appropriate for the time, and place, you are role playing in.

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. People will read it and either like it or not. Some will even be inclined to give you pointers on what works and what doesn't.

Be expressive and use emotion when writing. People will respond to it better.

Never use only one or two lines unless that is clearly all that is required. A true RP will find a way to fll the space and give the post worth.

Setanta

#1 Have Fun - If you don't do anything else, this is THE rule. Without it, everything else is meaningless.

#2 Put yourselves in their shoes - Stop for a moment and just think "does this make sense for a 1930's gangster". Does it make sense for the person you are roleplaying to be saying these things, does it make sense for them to be doing these things and does it fit into your background story for your character. This only takes a moment, it becomes easier with experience and it solves 99.9% of mistakes that are commonly made.

#3 Enjoy it - Similar to #1? No, it's the same. Seriously, it's all that really matters. Don't mess up by doing #2 and other than that, just have fun. Think about what you're saying, think who you're saying it as and then have a laugh.

Watching those around you is a great way to pick up the ropes. Take care not to simply copy what they do, different personal relationships mean what one person does might not be acceptable if done by another, but see what the people you enjoy reading are doing and figure out what it is about them that makes you enjoy it. Once you figure that out, you'll be well on your way to developing your own style. Everyone has a different tone and a different voice (what you say and how you say it). Some are gruff and abrupt (despite really being teddy bears) while others are jovial and gregarious (despite really being horrible people), neither is right or wrong they're just different.

Utopia

Character: You are a 1930s/1920s gangster. Don't forget that. It's alright to have little quirks related to your character that aren't exactly typical of a pre/post depression gangster, but always try to stay focused on what you are - a mafioso.

Audience: Be interesting to your audience. If you're role playing in the Streets or the Business District, try to make your posts interesting and entertaining for the reader. This is especially true in the Streets, where a bog standard, boring post is unlikely to get any involvement from third parties.

Clarity: You don't have to be an amazing writer to put together a good roleplay, or even a native speaker of English. Nonetheless, always pay attention to your grammar and spelling. Although when reading roleplays, I try not to take these things into account, it is very easily to pass a bad judgement on someone that doesn't even use capital letters and full stops.

Whatsername

1) Remember who you are, where you are and what you're doing or thinking. We are mobsters in the 1930s, no cell phones, no computers. Some people RP as animals, cat etc, that's fine just keep with it.

2) Are you doing this 1st person, as it's currently happening or as it was in the past. Went/going.  I/She

3) Everyone started somewhere with their RPing. If you're unsure try to the HQ bar if you have one, or a business of a friend in a BD to start

I hate to just steal someone else's work but if you've not come across this thread it can be a great guide for new people: https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/3908#5746816

I love this guide.
Thank you Scriba <3

Massive respect for the amount of work you've put into this!!!

Just a heads up as not all content was self written. Some info sourced from http://forumroleplay.com/

Great site with much more on the topic of role-play, especially in a forum based environment. :)

Let's face it, 95% of well established players and RP'ers don't stick to the 1920's gangster rule.

Well you are observant, Padrino.

Not sure if you're saying this to means sticking to the era shouldn't be adhered to because others don't do it, or that 95% of these well established players and RP'ers that go out of character in these instances aren't exactly role-playing.

Either way, the point you make is evident at times and the guide was put together to help both beginners and oldies alike to better understand what is, and what isn't role-playing.

It's a pretty good guide, not saying anything against it. Only it bothers me a little that so many people advocate how this is mafia and advocate roleplaying as such without actually doing it. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, but that's how it is.

If you lower your goals and expectations to what the majority are doing or are happy with, it's a sure way to ensure our world turns to shit. Aim for better, expect better and demand better. Raising the goal posts and the expectations is the only way to improve things. That goes just as much for moaning about issues rather than doing something pro-active about improving them.

Excellent work on the guide Scriba. Outstanding work. When new players ask for tips and help on how to roleplay or what is expected of them, this will be the first place I direct them from now on. Excellent stuff.

Yep, definitely how it is at times. Other threads regarding role-play also point to being in character as a 1930's Mafioso. It's not something new to MR that this is how people 'should' be posting, yet many tend to put their own slant on things.

A good amount of people in the Q&A section have pointed to being era specific as important to keep in mind when role-playing, so it seems people do know this is important when role-playing on MR. It's now written in stone, so no excuses :)

Posting and playing a character outside a 1930's Mafioso in my opinion isn't exactly role-playing in the environment the game was set in. It also means those that do take realism more seriously aren't able to role-play with those that post outside this set environment.

Hopefully people that read this guide and tend to drift into other realms will get a little refresher.

I seldom play character's from the 1930s, but I try to ensure that any roleplaying my character does is routed firmly in the 1930s, whether its drinks, cars or guns etc

Raoul that's still considered era specific role-play. I'm not sure many role-play specific characters from that time period. I like to base mine on real Mafioso that lived in the 1930's or thereabouts. They have a loose resemblance in some ways yet the majority (backstory, personality etc.) is fictional.

You did a great job, Scriba. I, too, will direct newbies to this if they happen to ask about Role Playing. 

Well done! :)

Yeah mate, I just completely created the genre of role-playing. ;) Sarcasm aside, I used these resources and wrote the parts more directly related to MR:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=roleplay

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/role-play

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play-by-post_role-playing_game

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-player_character

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=NPC

http://forumroleplay.com/roleplay-guides/forum-roleplaying-basics/

http://forumroleplay.com/roleplay-guides/intermediate-roleplaying/non-player-characters-npc/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=godmoding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godmoding

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Metagaming_(role-playing_games)

http://home.claranet.nl/users/gryphon/rpguide.html

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/643554-how-to-role-play-properly-please-read

Excellent Guide lines Scriba, Well explained. Well done <3

I love reading this one, Keep it up! Cheers! * Thumbs up*

Good tips- cheers

All good stuff!!!

*Bump*

Many thanks :-)