Tinw’s Tips for Better Roleplay

Roleplaying is basically the fine art of “let’s pretend”. The goal is to “live out” an imaginary adventure, environment, or event. Each of you writes one character, and creates the action as you go. In RPGs, a GM (Game Master) or Moderator may be in charge to guide the overall story, provide twists of plot or problems to solve, and make sure things are running smoothly.

There are many informal roleplaying threads in the plaza kingdoms, where threads may have no plot, just a setting or theme to give you something to do: hanging out at the feast-hall, smoking a pipe with Hobbit friends, or even doing crazy stuff like getting a makeover at the Moria beauty spa. These threads have almost no rules and are what I call "roleplay lite". Have fun with them!

However, my specialty is what I call "immersive" roleplay, where you try to bring to life the world of Middle-earth as vividly as possible. So that’s what the rest of this page is about: tips and suggestions to help you get the most out of your roleplay.

First tip: Think of roleplaying as like building a sand castle. The more detail you add to your part, and the more you work together and respond to what others in the group are doing, the better the overall result will be.

Table of Contents

The Golden Rule of the Plaza: Read and Heed the First Post

The first post of kingdom threads tells you what that thread is for, and how to play. In the case of RPGs (role-playing games), the introduction will tell you what your character knows, where you are, and why. The rules will tell you how you must act in order to make the action run smoothly. These guidelines may include:

  • Who can participate.
  • The minimum length of your posts. (Really short posts don't give enough detail for other players to respond.)
  • Staying in character.
  • A link to an OOC (out-of-character) thread, or some other means for asking questions or making comments without disrupting the scene. If there’s an OOC thread, remember to check it, since people may need to ask you a question about something you’ve posted!
  • How often you may post. (If no limit is specified, a good rule of thumb is to let 3-4 other people post before you reply. Scenes tend to collapse if the thread turns into a conversation between just two or three people.)
  • A link to previous threads in an ongoing story.

    • The Golden Rule of Roleplay: Read ALL the Posts

    Obviously, circumstances are going to change after the first post -- it's a story! So characters may have moved away from the starting place. You want to get involved, and the best way to do that is to know what's happening! It is embarassing to you and disrupting to the action, for example, if you walk up to someone and say, “Hi, how are you?” when she’s being stepped on by a dragon. (I’ve seen it happen!)

    What to Include in Your Posts

    Describe what your character is doing as vividly as possible, so people can visualize it. You can describe your actions, where you're sitting or standing, facial expressions or tone of voice as your character speaks. And do speak! People often include emotions and thoughts, and that's fine, but other character can't (or shouldn't ) read minds. You may also slip in details about your character's appearance, clothes, or what you're carrying. Props, anything from a pipe to a walking stick, add interest.

    Example: Thanlith, a tall, lanky man in travel-stained clothes, strode along with a swing in his step, glancing from side to side and noticing the bustle and activitiy of the marketplace. he was jingling a leather purse in his hand, and had a sparkle in his eye. “Excuse me,” he said, pausing before Cora, Aramir, and Ened. “Do you know of a good alehouse in these parts?”

    Mentioning Other People’s Characters

    Sometimes you may want to refer to other character's actions, expressions, or reactions to what your character is doing. Be careful. Some people don't want you to write their characters for them. Others are perfectly happy for you to do that. Either way, it’s fine for you to mention something they've already said they're doing. So, for example, if someone's written:

    Hirilen raises her sword menacingly. "We are NOT going by the pass of Caradhras. It's SUICIDE!"

    Then feel free to "back away from the angry Elf-maiden waving her sword around."

    But if she didn't write that she had her sword in her hand, don't put it there for her. See?

    Describing the Scene

    You are free to add details about the scene, introducing things for the party to react or respond to. It's best to take what the GM has described and build on it. So, if you're in a forest, and the GM has given you a tense, watchful mood, you could add that the trees are rustling ominously, or that you hear the strange, unnerving cry of an animal wailing in the distance. If the GM’s last post is a fast-forward covering several hours of travelling time, you could describe in detail passing over streams, hills, valleys. And you are very free to have your character respond to the environment by suggesting a course of action ICly, like “why don’t we explore those ruins over there?” or “That man in the corner has been nothing but stare at you; let’s go dump our tankards of ale over his head.”

    The one thing you have to be careful about is that quest and adventure RPGs usually has a plot that the GM is planning. Therefore you can’t introduce a ravening band of orcs, a band of children playing in the forest, or an event that would change the whole thrust of the scene, without consulting the GM. This varies somewhat by GM. Watch to see how much they steer a story, and how much they let players steer it. After a while you’ll get a sense for which GMs like to let players run with the action and play with it, and which GMs are working from a general outline of key events, obstacles, and discoveries which help the players “live out” a story.

    Example: Hob Bracegirdle puffed along on the deserted track, feeling his sore toes pounded by the gravel uncovered by recent rains. The sun was setting. He scanned the darkening fields and hedgerows ahead anxiously, looking for the hopeful sign of rising smoke from a chimney. He needed to find an inn or a farmhouse soon!

    Hob’s player has not only described his character, but the setting around him. Notice that I slipped in a suggestion about something the GM might introduce to the plot, without actually saying Hob saw a farmhouse. The GM is very happy to use and expand on player input, if it won’t derail the plot!

    Getting People to Notice Your Character

    This is a problem, just as in real life: everyone hopes someone will talk to them, but doesn’t want to speak first. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen players write, “X picks up a drink and goes to a table in a back corner, waiting for someone to notice him.” It is almost humorous when four or five people are all hiding in different corners of a pub hoping for attention! Lurking is fine, if you want to play the mysterious loner, but otherwise you’ll need to seek people out. Your first step is to look for other shy people, go over and talk to them. That will solve their problem and yours, if they’re one of the “lonely” folks.

    Example: Hrefa noticed that there was a nervous-looking young maiden sitting in the shadows by the far wall, and went over to her table. “Hi,” Hrefa said with an encouraging smile. “Are you from out of town too? I’m Hrefa, by the way— do you mind company?”

    Your second step is to make sure that your own posts have what I call “roleplay hooks”, interesting details that people can respond to. Walking along and humming to yourself doesn’t give people much to react to. Carrying a dead rabbit along by its ear, or bursting into a room asking if anyone has seen a small boy running off with your wallet, or referring to “back in Gondolin, when I worked for Enerdil the smith” in casual conversation gives people a chance to say, “been hunting?” or to run out into the street looking for the purse-thief, or to ask, “Oh, were you in Gondolin?” Even better, if they want to “build” the scene, they could ask, “Oh, you come from Gondolin? Do you remember that awful day the city was destroyed?” which, in turn, gives you something to respond to, another RP hook.

    A third (and perhaps the most important) step is to observe what’s already happening in a scene and look for ways to get involved. If there’s a conversation happening around a table, for example, offer to get people a drink, notice someone’s scar (but don't make one up), or bend down and pick up something off the floor— “Excuse me, did someone drop this?” On an adventure, if it’s time to make camp, don’t just say you’re gathering firewood. Ask someone who’s not already doing something to come with you to gather firewood, hunt, or scout. Try to think of ways to interact with others, and build on what’s happening.

    My friend Cirwen says, “Roleplay with people. Not at people.” I think this is one of the secrets to good roleplay.

    Staying In Character

    Remember that you‘re in Middle-earth. Bring this setting to life by mentioning small details like the smell of autumn in the leaves, or callouses on your fingers from using a quill pen, or the echoing sound of voices in the halls of Khazad-dûm. The more vividly you can get this world into your posts, the more the “dream” will come alive.

    The same applies to your own character. Try to put yourself in the mindset of your character, think of his/her background in a realistic way. An Elf who’s lived for thousands of years isn’t as liable to be as frightened of strange noises, orcs, or a threatening-looking trail as the peasant girl from Rohan who’s left her village for the first time. The Elf, on the other hand, is less likely to know how to act in a typical pub, or how to haggle with a merchant to buy a sheep. Try to work out your character’s personality and manner of speech — hot-tempered? Formal? Eloquent? Shy? Stammering? Sarcastic? Secretive? Friendly? — and add that to your conversation.

    If it’s a serious RPG adventure, avoid talking like a 21st-century modern person sitting at a computer terminal and logging onto a bulletin board. Using smileys or expressions such as, “like, wow,” destroy the magic of the scene. Acting like a modern person, who’s sharing the latest gossip or trading idle small talk, is slightly more realistic but not very exciting to read! Imagine what the end of FOTR would’ve been like, if Legolas and Gimli had come upon Boromir’s dramatic death scene and commented, “Well, this sucks,” or “Man, I could really go for a pizza right now.” It’s humorous, and there are pubs and RPGs where joking around like that is half the fun! But there are other RPGs where the goal is to bring Middle-earth to life as richly as possible, and then you should try to think yourself into that world.

    Remember it’s Just a Story

    Sometimes people get upset when things go badly for their character. Bad luck or confrontations, however, are actually some of the most exciting parts of the adventure. Remember it’s not happening to you! Don’t take your real-life frustrations in character; if your real-life emotions are showing up IC, it’s time to step away from the computer and take a break. If someone else’s character is being suspicious, hostile, unfriendly, or curt with you, don’t assume it’s the player. It’s the character. Players often roleplay characters very different from themselves!

    Combat

    This is a special case of describing the scene or other people’s characters. GMs will give you the scenario, the number of bad guys (NPCs means “non player characters”), and information you should know. Then feel free to fight the NPCs and kill them (but don’t godmod, see below). Again, be cautious about introducing opponents the GM hasn’t mentioned.

    If you are fighting another character, describe your actions, not the results. For instance, “Éorlheim drew back his spear and hurled it with all his might towards the head of the troll looming over him,” but not “Éorlheim drove his spear deep into the troll’s belly.” Sorry, that’s not your character, and it’s not your right to decide how they’ve been hurt!

    Combat is the trickiest part of roleplay because people all want their characters to succeed. This is called “godmodding”. You should not always succeed. Remember, even Aragorn gets beat up all the time in LOTR, and some people utterly despise the movie-Legolas for his super-stunts and his amazing ability to avoid getting wounded! That gets very tiresome in a hurry for everyone around you. It’s give and take. Be realistic. Allow your character to get hurt. Sometimes that’s the most dramatic, tragic, and exciting action of all. Remember when Faramir was nearly killed; it’s one of the most important events in his character’s history.

    Character Background

    The more you have in your own mind who your character is, where she came from, her history, her skills and knowledges, the more you can use these in roleplay. Is he a flute-player? Does she know how to track? Did he once nearly die in a house fire, so that he tends to sleep outdoors? Does she owe her allegiance to Prince Imrahil, so that she dedicates all her deeds to the glory of Dol Amroth? Does he remember the battles of the First Age, and did he fight beside Húrin against Morgoth’s deadly army? All of these can come into play, even if your character doesn’t speak of them directly. Give your character both skills and flaws: again, super-Legolas is not as interesting to interact with as humble Samwise Gamgee with his funny talk and his frying pan.

    Note that I have not mentioned Magic Swords, Dark Secrets, a Tragic Past, Animal Companions, or close kinship with Legolas, Aragorn, Arwen, or any of the other “heroes”. A lot of beginning roleplayers think that by giving something “cool” to their character, everyone will pay more attention to them. This is such a common mistake that Legolas apparently has hundreds of oath-brothers, cousins, fiancés, nursemaids, tutors, and twins separated at birth! Actually, having a believable, realistic character with flaws and quirks will give you more to work with in day-to-day roleplay than any “cool factor”. Think whether it would be easier to roleplay (or stand next to) Sam or Galadriel at the Green Dragon Inn and at the Battle of Helm’s Deep.

    Have Fun!

    The most important tip of all. Sometimes we get so caught up in going through the motions of the story that we forget we’re playing. Enjoy it. Revel in it. Live it. Love it. Let your delight, wonder, awe, sense of mischief, awe, terror, or recklessness show through in your posts. Always, always add a “spark” in what you write that makes it fun to read. Don’t just “stare at the doors of Durin.” Instead, try this: “Lilac Bolger gazed slowly upward, letting her eyes travel across the ancient carving, feeling a profound sense of awe as the images of trees and hammer, stars and anvil shimmered into view. ‘How old are they?’ she asked in a hushed whisper. ‘And what was the world like back then, that Elves and Dwarves could have been so close that they drew their symbols side by side?’” That gets across the magic of the moment, reminds people it’s Middle-earth, and gives them something to respond to. Your posts need not be long, provided they are rich.

    Roleplay Checklist

    Okay, that was a lot to take in. Let’s recap. First of all: Before you start a RPG, think about your character and come up with some background info to help make him/her real. As you play, other details of your character’s past may occur to you. Over time, you’ll build up a complex person. Then follow this sequence when you are in a RPG:

    1. Skim through the thread for GM rules, narrative, or instructions.
    2. Read other people’s posts to see what they’re doing.
    3. Look in the GM posts and other players’ post for ideas about what your character can do to interact, respond, or build on the scene.
    4. Plan your character’s action. Remember background details about your character that might flavor how he/she reacts.
    5. Now write the post, describing your character’s gestures, speech, and actions.
    6. Few people do it, but it’s amazing how much this helps: read back thorough recent posts to make sure yours fits in well.
    7. All right, hit the reply button!

    A Few Last Handy Tips

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