Hello all, 

I wanted to put up this guide in order to help newcomers to the world of roleplaying as well as help others who may not be 100% familiar with my style of Rping. This is also just good basic information to help with roleplaying in general. 

Please note that these guidelines are of my own creation and created from years of experience being apart and running rps. You may use this information however you wish, however I believe this information is the best when rping and it is what I expect and use when running or joining in rps. 

1: Have an Open Mind:

One of the biggest problems that I have when trying to start and rp is pre-assumed judgement on the rp before it even begins. Mainly this is because of two main reasons. They either have already heard of the rp, or they don't know the rp at all. 

In the first, a person has usually heard what the rp is based off beforehand and already assume that it won't be interesting due to what they originally viewed from the anime or game. For instance, take the Mega Man series, let's say: Mega Man Battle Network. 
In some cases, a player may have already watched the anime, manga or played the vid-game and completely didn't like it, or there were many aspects of it that they didn't like. As such, when they hear of an rp being run like it, they automatically don't want to join in it. "I've played the game, watched the anime, read the manga and didn't like it, so I don't want to join in on this because I don't like it." And similar such ideas. This is pre-judging the rp before it's even begun. Granted there may be aspects that you not like or a plot point in the story that you have already seen/read/heard and did not like, so you don't want to join an rp that will have similar things happen. However, how are you 100% sure that aspect will take place, or that the same events or systems will occur in the rp? An rp is something where the storyline and events can take very different turns and are based completely on the player and the GM. Not wishing to join simply because you know something about the possible story beforehand limits the fun you can have and denies you a lot of fun you can join in. Moreover, should you change your mind, and want to join later you have already missed out on a lot via initial joining and you have forced the GM to alter and change the rps dynamic in order to accommodate you, which can severely slow down the rp. 

The next problem is not knowing the rp at all and pre-judging that the rp will not be good with you in it or that the rp itself will somehow not be as good with you in it, because you don't know the rp. I have seen this a lot and this is one of the issues that should be removed quickly. Joining in an rp that you are not familiar with can be one of the most exciting and awesome things to ever happen in an rp! From a GM standpoint it can be one of the most awesome things to watch as a person who knows nothing about an rp and somehow takes those right steps and does something so wonderful to completely change and alter the dynamic of the rp in the most awesome ways! And it's made all the better because that person didn't know what they were doing until they did it! Moreover, how awesome can it be for you the player to be running through an rp and suddenly activate some grand power or ability and you don't even know how you did it!? Suddenly you are so BA and all you did was somehow activate something you thought was completely normal! Not knowing the rp can be one of the most awesome things about joining an rp! It unleashes your imagination in so many different ways and can make the experience so much better! Don't be afraid to join out of not knowing the rp!

Have an open mind! Join the rps with the intent and excitement of experiencing a new world! Enjoy the rp for what it is, not for what you expect it to be. 


2: Control

When posting, control can be one of the biggest problems in an rp. Control of your own character and the actions of others, along with the environment. For a GM, I believe that control always needs to be indirect, so as to not assume complete and total control of the rp. And rp needs to be enjoyable and captivating,  and one of the best ways to do this is to give all players the control they desire. In a game, they are the main player. They should be allowed to move and choose how they wish. A GM should at best, use the choices and environment to steer the rp along down the desired course. As such, when I use NPC and other things to interact with the character it is mainly in an indirect manner, rarely do I use complete action to move a situation forward, unless it is needed. 

example: "The NPC threw the punch at the man's face, sending it right towards his nose"
vs: "The NPC punched the guy's nose and sent him flying into the ground"

In the first example, it shows that the NPC is punching the guy in the nose, but there is enough time for the player to interact with the attack. To dodge or to take the attack and go flying. A good player, will be able to see that based on who the NPC is, they can either move to somehow block/dodge the attack or take it directly and react accordingly. Only players that either have rather large egos or don't know how to rp correctly will always attempt to dodge/side-step/block every attack. Logically however, result and outcome should be fairly evident. If and attack is heading towards a person at say, 15x the speed of sound, the ability to dodge is nigh impossible and so the person in the way must either correctly take the attack, or move via imaginative ways such as teleportation or something faster. Simply stating that they somehow side-step or dodge such an attack is merely trolling or showing just how inexperienced the player is.

A player should also in accordance, learn to move, react and interact in similar ways. Almost never should a player use any move(especially in battle) that is an absolute, unless given by the GM. This will greatly cut down on arguments with other players in regards to actions and reactions. 

Example: "Player punched a hole through other player and took off his arm, taking out his shields before grabbing him and sending him into the ground"
Next player: "Or so he thought, however, other player actually moved back and broke his elbow and smashed him into the ground instead"

See how this can very easily get into an argument? Pretty soon, player A is arguing with player B's abilities and the rp is all but halted until the GM steps in or the matter is resolved.  A much better way to rp this is to not assume control over another player's character or abilities and simply trust in your own. 

Example: "Player punched his fist at Player2 with enough force that it could blow a hole through his chest and send him into the ground."
Next Player: "Player2 quickly moved back in order to lessen the blow and tried to counter against Player by aiming to strike his elbow"

In the first example, everything is almost absolute. He attacks him, but the other somehow counters, leaving the first confused and upset because that normally isn't and shouldn't be possible. In the second, everything is indirect. The attack is in motion, the movement to dodge is not 100% certian, but a counter attack is already planned. Should the battle continue, Player might get the attack off, but will in all likelihood suffer a lot of damage to his striking arm in the process from the counterattack. 

When you are in rping, again fighting or interacting in absolutes, unless granted by the GM, is not the best and can very easily lead to just arguments instead of actually enjoying the rp.  Learn how to properly control your character and interact with others and the environment. It will make enjoying the rp, MUCH better. 

3: Posting Order:

Posting order isn't exactly a big problem, however it can be and it is just a lot better to just have a simple understanding. Players that are in an rp should just know and understand that it is much easier and better to have everyone post before them. I.e. If there are 5 people rping, wait till everyone posts and then submit your own. This way you can easily see what everyone is doing and then react accordingly. By natural order, everything will take a turn based reply and make the entire rp much cleaner and easier to reply to. Jumping in almost every other post can just be annoying and make replying a lot harder to keep track of. 

4: Timely posting and availability:

It is always polite and a good idea to post in a timely and proper fashion. Remember, you are not the only person in the rp. There is always at least two people. And if you want to enjoy rping more and more, then it's best to always try and give the rp your full attention as well as the proper time. Be online and post in a timely fashion and it will help everyone. Chances are if you are not online and don't post in a timely fashion, you will be given a lesser role or not treated as important by the GM. So show up and be eager to rp!!

5: What to rp?:

When you want to rp, be assertive and pick the rp that you want to run. vote on it! Don't be afraid to say what it is you are in the mood for. If you are not, interested then say so. Otherwise, little will happen. Be assertive and talk to the other players and work on what you all want to rp and enjoy. ^^

6: Respect the GM

This should be simple and an automatic to remember, but many times, people tend to forget this. Give the GM the proper respect he/she deserves. It's the GM that takes the time to come up with a world and story that everyone enjoys in the rp. One that you and your characters are taking apart in. And as a person that has created countless characters, worlds and stories for people to enjoy, it can get daunting and hard for a GM to create stories and worlds when players don't really seem to be giving as much as you are putting into it or don't seem to care. Remember what the GM is doing to create everything that you're enjoying and kindly respect his/her wishes while in their rp. And this counts even outside of the rp. Try to be there to rp, not just for the GM, but for the other players as well and try to understand what everyone there must do, especially the GM. 

A player in total is in charge of usually no more than a couple of characters in an rp. What their background is, what their powers are, what their goals are. 
In contrast a GM alone must keep tack of the over-arcing story or the rp, the creation of every NPC you will encounter, those NPCs goals, abilities and backgrounds, every boss you will encounter and enemy, their possible backgrounds, goals and abilities, the maps, towns, cities and exotic places you will visit and the interaction, love interests, new abilities, powers and items that will be given not to just you, but every player in the rp. Moreover, this also has to be done for every rp that a GM creates. Simply, this can stack to be a lot.  So please make sure that you are trying to help the GM out when you can and be respectful to  them and understand what they have to do. 

7: Respect the Players

A player that submits their characters are doing so not only because they wish to enjoy the rp. They have generally crafted their character, given them goals and powers the way they wanted. They want to see them grow and continue through the rp to be something awesome. No other player should ever put another player's character down outside of rp standards. Be happy that they are there rping with you to make the story you are all enjoying more richer and better.

8: Keep OOC out of IC

A hard thing for many players to do is to keep out of characters information or feelings out of In Character characters or rps. On two areas players always need to remember when rping. Keeping your feelings out of the rp and keeping information out of the rp when needed.
Generally, its just always best to keep whatever feelings you have towards a player outside of the rp and not merge both together. Being upset, angry or hating another player should not equal your character suddenly attacking theirs or keeping their distance for no reason apart from your feelings out of character. Remember that the rp is another world entirely and it should be treated as such. 

In this same vein, keeping the information you acquire should also stay out of character until your character discovers or knows it. If you heard in OOC that the GM was thinking about making a cave dungeon, your in-character character shouldn't suddenly have the urge to suddenly want to go exploring caves. Try to keep the story paced. Make reasonable and normal choices that are within your characters abilities.



Overall, always remember that an rp is created to have fun. So have fun. Enjoy it!