Credits are due to the original poster on the old forums, Seven. Original forum thread here!
The Literature of Roleplay
The centre of the Arelith community and server is the concept of ‘roleplay’, which is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the changing of one's behaviour to fulfill a social role." That is not exactly the premise that is presented with this server in the Neverwinter Nights Community, but it certainly rings true on the basic level. Instead of a ‘social’ role, we instead look at various mythological, fantastical, modern, Victorian – well, we look at roles that have spanned human existence. Different players take different approaches to the ‘role’ of their characters – whether we look at is from a simplistic view point or a complex, each character is intricately weaved into this ‘role’ in the tapestry of ‘roleplay’. We, also, as players try our best to get into what many describe as a ‘mindset’ (not actually changing our real life behaviour and psyche) in order to present believability to other roleplayers.
Unfortunately, there is a problem that has likely plagued many players, or problems that continuously prod and poke in annoyance: roleplay that we encounter on Arelith, unlike witnessing film or theatre, is mostly through text.
This requires some sort of knowledge of the English language, and an understanding in how to effectively use it to convey your character - your role - as coherently and efficiently as you possibly can. We are limited in what we can type, and our painter’s palette doesn’t really have a plethora of colours and shades to choose from. Much of what we are trying to say has to be concise and clear. Many of the scenes, characters and stories we create will have noticeable gaps for we cannot actively describe every, single minuscule detail (to do so would be overwhelming, convoluted and confusing). Thankfully, imagination of other players will fill these gaps.
Regardless of experience or level of roleplay, the environment of interaction is one of constant learning and readjustment in order to (hopefully) efficiently portray your character with believability, realistic qualities and connectable ideas or aspects.
It doesn’t matter if you have the most ‘badass’ concept on the planet, with an intricately written back-story, and a character that is the greatest thing since Shakespeare’s confused youth Hamlet; all of it is useless unless you can make other players believe it. And that believability can be achieved, on various levels, but to achieve it masterfully requires skills that are employed in the roots of dialogue and action itself (and perhaps some of the philosophy behind it). Many characters that I have witnessed that employ these qualities, make one go,
“Wow.”
The following is a discussion of ideas and tips and tricks (not a list of orders and commands) that I have accumulated over the years, through in-game experiences, discussions over MSN, and threads across the various forums.
The Literature of Roleplay
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Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
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Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: The Literature of Roleplay
1. Roleplay in General – On Coherence and Decisiveness
There are many common habits and little quirks that can greatly improve how one presents a character, and as equally as many that can be detrimental to our interactions, even though we may not see it. We all started somewhere, and most of us started at the beginning. Thus, we have grown as individuals and as roleplayers, and our characters, equally have grown – many ways we roleplay have been adapted, likely, from other players. We are constantly trying to improve and maintain a level that is enjoyable (while remaining coherent and decisive).
The following are a list of general ‘habits’ people can fall into that can be justifiable in certain scenarios, but again tweaked in order to portray a stronger and more confident grasp.
i. ‘Seems’
The idea of ‘seems’ is one that has been frequented, and almost a fad. To define it, seems “give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.”
There are times when it is called for in-game – when mysteriousness and obscurity is at play in the given encounter – but again, roleplay is about presenting something coherent and decisive to other players (and characters).
The following illustrates it,
*he is perched on the chair, and seems to be staring intently at the passerby*
The ‘seems’ in the above emote takes away from the blunt force of what the player is trying to be. It is far more powerful to simply say,
*he is perched on the chair, and is staring intently at the passerby*
You are clear-cutting the emote, and saying to everyone in the area, “This is what my character is doing, exactly.” There is no confusion or realm of second-guessing. It draws a satisfying line; a clean, crisp stroke that does not leave any other room for interpretation.
Now, unless your particular moment is meant to be one that is to be left open for multiple interpretations of viewpoints, ‘seems’ would be worthwhile – otherwise, being as decisive with your emotes as possible leads to generally stronger roleplay.
ii. “…”
We’ve all seen the ellipse sometime or another. Very seldom, however, do you see it in any form of written media except at the end of the weekly comic, right after the, “To be continued.”
The major problem with the “…” is not the fact it is so widespread and frequently used, but because it leaves it open to various interpretations.
Is the character bordering on rage? Is he/she conveying contempt? Disbelief? Surprise? Contained excitement? Anxiousness?
This is where the coherence and clarity of the scene suddenly goes up in the air – and more often than not, the “…” is generally followed by a line of text or an emote that clears the air (only hinting at the redundancy of the triple-dot). That isn’t always the case however.
The following are two different examples,
“So I slept with Sheela, the other night.”
“…”
“What?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“So I slept with Sheela, the other night.”
“*her eye twitches in a muted rage*”
“What?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
This conveys a direction in which the scene is going, and it illustrates the character’s reaction with more, well, character.
While the definition of the ellipses may slowly grow upon frequented characters your character interacts with, it is always wise to take in account that there may be new faces or people watching from above. Effectively portraying your character so that imagination can reign in and paint a scene – a scene of clarity – can make for memorable impressions and encounters.
iii. Redundant Emotes
We attempt to illustrate our characters and their actions with as much creativity and ingenuity as we can, in hopes to be convincing and compelling. We do find ourselves sinking into habits that could be eliminated to increase the fluidity of scenes and text that comes at us – especially in times where large amounts of people are present.
One of the common elements of redundancy is emoting what can be physically done in the limited mechanical world of Arelith. In hopes to add our personal touch, we only add unnecessary chatter that could be otherwise altered to continue the ‘flow’.
*sits on the bench*
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
Our characters mechanically show themselves sitting down – the first emote is thus redundant. There are two alternatives, and neither is more favourable than the other; it largely depends on your playing style.
*slides onto the bench with a coy grin*
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
Or,
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
The first example describes the action with a more unique touch, as well as coupling it neatly with an expression. This sets the mood for the following interaction – coy, flirtatious, womanizing, and so forth.
The second example simply transitions into dialogue, and eliminates unneeded emotes – it gets right to the important stuff.
iv. Passive Voice
Not only is this a common hindrance to roleplay, it’s still something that plagues writers.
Passive voice is saying something similar, ‘he would be sitting on the bench’.
Passive voice leads to a sort of submissive and ‘passive’ (scholars are clever) voice to emoting. It is more direct and admiring to simply state what the character is doing.
To say, ‘he is sitting on the bench' is more confident and clear. It resonates more and is not subject to this ‘passive’ (or even uninteresting) tone.
There are many common habits and little quirks that can greatly improve how one presents a character, and as equally as many that can be detrimental to our interactions, even though we may not see it. We all started somewhere, and most of us started at the beginning. Thus, we have grown as individuals and as roleplayers, and our characters, equally have grown – many ways we roleplay have been adapted, likely, from other players. We are constantly trying to improve and maintain a level that is enjoyable (while remaining coherent and decisive).
The following are a list of general ‘habits’ people can fall into that can be justifiable in certain scenarios, but again tweaked in order to portray a stronger and more confident grasp.
i. ‘Seems’
The idea of ‘seems’ is one that has been frequented, and almost a fad. To define it, seems “give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.”
There are times when it is called for in-game – when mysteriousness and obscurity is at play in the given encounter – but again, roleplay is about presenting something coherent and decisive to other players (and characters).
The following illustrates it,
*he is perched on the chair, and seems to be staring intently at the passerby*
The ‘seems’ in the above emote takes away from the blunt force of what the player is trying to be. It is far more powerful to simply say,
*he is perched on the chair, and is staring intently at the passerby*
You are clear-cutting the emote, and saying to everyone in the area, “This is what my character is doing, exactly.” There is no confusion or realm of second-guessing. It draws a satisfying line; a clean, crisp stroke that does not leave any other room for interpretation.
Now, unless your particular moment is meant to be one that is to be left open for multiple interpretations of viewpoints, ‘seems’ would be worthwhile – otherwise, being as decisive with your emotes as possible leads to generally stronger roleplay.
ii. “…”
We’ve all seen the ellipse sometime or another. Very seldom, however, do you see it in any form of written media except at the end of the weekly comic, right after the, “To be continued.”
The major problem with the “…” is not the fact it is so widespread and frequently used, but because it leaves it open to various interpretations.
Is the character bordering on rage? Is he/she conveying contempt? Disbelief? Surprise? Contained excitement? Anxiousness?
This is where the coherence and clarity of the scene suddenly goes up in the air – and more often than not, the “…” is generally followed by a line of text or an emote that clears the air (only hinting at the redundancy of the triple-dot). That isn’t always the case however.
The following are two different examples,
“So I slept with Sheela, the other night.”
“…”
“What?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“So I slept with Sheela, the other night.”
“*her eye twitches in a muted rage*”
“What?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
This conveys a direction in which the scene is going, and it illustrates the character’s reaction with more, well, character.
While the definition of the ellipses may slowly grow upon frequented characters your character interacts with, it is always wise to take in account that there may be new faces or people watching from above. Effectively portraying your character so that imagination can reign in and paint a scene – a scene of clarity – can make for memorable impressions and encounters.
iii. Redundant Emotes
We attempt to illustrate our characters and their actions with as much creativity and ingenuity as we can, in hopes to be convincing and compelling. We do find ourselves sinking into habits that could be eliminated to increase the fluidity of scenes and text that comes at us – especially in times where large amounts of people are present.
One of the common elements of redundancy is emoting what can be physically done in the limited mechanical world of Arelith. In hopes to add our personal touch, we only add unnecessary chatter that could be otherwise altered to continue the ‘flow’.
*sits on the bench*
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
Our characters mechanically show themselves sitting down – the first emote is thus redundant. There are two alternatives, and neither is more favourable than the other; it largely depends on your playing style.
*slides onto the bench with a coy grin*
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
Or,
“So what are you up to today, ma’am?”
The first example describes the action with a more unique touch, as well as coupling it neatly with an expression. This sets the mood for the following interaction – coy, flirtatious, womanizing, and so forth.
The second example simply transitions into dialogue, and eliminates unneeded emotes – it gets right to the important stuff.
iv. Passive Voice
Not only is this a common hindrance to roleplay, it’s still something that plagues writers.
Passive voice is saying something similar, ‘he would be sitting on the bench’.
Passive voice leads to a sort of submissive and ‘passive’ (scholars are clever) voice to emoting. It is more direct and admiring to simply state what the character is doing.
To say, ‘he is sitting on the bench' is more confident and clear. It resonates more and is not subject to this ‘passive’ (or even uninteresting) tone.
-
Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: The Literature of Roleplay
2. Emotes
Emotes are half of the Arelithian roleplay experience, some would say. It is arguably closer to a third or a quarter – but we’ll get to that later.
Emotes are intrinsic to the roleplay experience because they portray the actions, expressions, posture and mannerism of the character. Much of this is difficult (but not impossible) to convey in dialogue, so it is left to the words between the two little asterisks.
There are many different preferences when it comes to how one should emote – is length and detail more important than conciseness and abruptness? Should they be for flavour, or for storytelling?
There is no true ‘right’ answer as many strong roleplayers stick to different styles, but there are certainly distinct currents beneath their roleplay that makes their emoting strong and forceful.
Another difficulty with emoting is trying to say precisely what you want to say, generally with the least amount of words. This calls upon a level of diction and clarity when writing, in order to get across what you exactly want to get across.
Emotes are a big part of roleplay, and the following text highlights certain ideas (or tricks) to keep in mind to alter or perhaps even improve the way you approach describing your character with those little **.
i. Imagery and Mood
Imagery and mood remain the most dominant aspects of emoting. You’re trying to your best to create an image and a mood, not just one or the other. This can be achieved by combining strong adjectives with visceral words to make the action pop.
Most roleplayers use both imagery and mood at different times throughout their scenes in order to accompany the scene at hand. Imagery is sometimes necessary – even though presenting a mood might be more ‘powerful’.
An example of an image is simply,
*he stands on the curb*
Mood can only be achieved through imagery, more often than not. Adding any form of adjective greatly enhances the ‘mood’ (and ultimately the whole image of your character), and eventually builds for stronger interactions and representations. Altering the above example to produce the following,
*he stands on the curb with his head bowed, his placid gaze fixed to the stonework beneath his mottled boots*
The second example presents a mood as well as detailing the image. Adding any sort of adjective or expanding upon a simple action with curious details allows for other characters to take interest. Not many would be interesting in the first example – but the second adds detail. Of course, there are only certain times when this is applicable and suitable. Determining when to add mood-presenting adjectives or adding obscure details is something that only comes with experience as a roleplayer.
ii. Answering Questions
Not all of the 5 W’s and the loner H, but sometimes there are tricks to simply and elegantly improve a single emote.
We can’t answer all the questions from a single action, but trying to answer as many as we can with simplicity enhances the single action itself, and also adds character to it.
If you were to examine the following,
*she picks up the cup*
This emote really only answers the ‘what’ – what is she doing? She is picking up the cup. But how, or why? (Who is always moot and when is often a little straightforward).
You can simply add a handful of words to expand upon the action:
*with a frown of disgust, she snatches up the cup*
This now answers what, how and alludes to several ‘whys’ (it is often stronger to keep the other people in the encounter guessing and curious, little things like this add to the ‘flow’ of the scene and leave more up for conversation).
We know she is picking up the cup, but we now know how – she’s snatching it. This speaks to some sense of urgency or even reluctance. Out of context, it is uncertain, but the scene and character likely speaks to the reasoning behind the how.
We also are alluded to why. It isn’t always clear, but we are certainly given the impression as she bears a “frown of disgust”, it could be a variety of reasons: wanting to forget, the rebellious nature of consuming a possibly alcoholic beverage, an escape, or perhaps being pressured. We certainly know she is not doing out of pleasure or enjoyment. Alluding to why adds little curiosities to an otherwise normal act.
iii. Metaphors /Akin to Creatures
It isn’t always easy to imagine or interpret even the most detailed things in a fantastical world. We are presented with concepts, images and scenes that are simply beyond our own individual imagination. So often the best way of ‘doing a round about’ is relating it to powerful imagery or representations we all know.
So, metaphors, basically. (Similes too.)
They can be very simple, or very complex. Often, it remains very visceral and blunt. The stronger the image, the more you enhance the scene that the image is seen in. For example,
*he scampers along*
*he scampers along like a whimpering dog*
This is one of the simplest transformations that convey a powerful and resonating image – whereas it previously did not.
The above is a simile, and while there is often division in what is more effective (or if even one is more effective than the other), metaphors do appear to have a more direct and ‘this is what it is, not akin too’ approach. Powerful images are the ones we tend to remember the most.
*he scampers along*
*he is a dog scampering along*
The second certainly makes a ‘bam’ impact – you go from relating a character to a dog to the character being a dog. This certainly unravels more character of the character. Imagery is more dominant in the metaphorical arrangement.
Another simple way of making your emotes pop is a weird, interesting and certainly memorable trick: associating character actions and expressions with animalistic adjectives (such as serpentine, avian or canine).
You can turn,
*he cranes his neck upwards*
To,
*he cranes his neck upwards in an avian fashion*
Not only does this give a point of interest in the emote and perhaps even a bit of fun exaggeration, it begs the question why the player chose ‘avian.’ Does it have some sort of significance? And if so, why?
Most importantly, it individualizes your character amongst a sea of scores. Players will remember your character as ‘the woman who stares like a snake’ or ‘a hin that laughs like a hyena’ or a ‘dwarf that snores like an ox’.
While this requires a bit of knowledge on the natural world, most players have certain exposure to classic animals that are constantly used in fantasy world.
You could even go outside the realm of Real World and incorporate Forgotten Realm creatures into your emotes, ‘she grins seductively like a succubus’ or ‘he rabbles on like a crazed gnome’ or ‘he hordes his waterskin like an ancient red wyrm’.
It’s a subtle trick that makes your character a little more unique from adding a few words in even the simplest or most common of actions.
iv. Word Vault (Character Variation and Uniqueness)
For players that are trying to differentiate their vault of different characters or even for players with solely one character they consistently play – both are always challenged in how to make their character unique and varied from the rest of the Arelith-world.
Several ideas have already been mentioned, but perhaps one of the strongest tips is developing a ‘word vault’ for each character. The idea may sound a little preposterous or too-much-work, but it really is a simple exercise that can generate individuality in the waves of roleplaying conformity.
To do so is simple, take your character, pick a handful of general verbs and adjectives that are a little more detail-orientated than ‘walks’ or ‘big’ and are completely applicable to your character itself.
These verbs and adjectives will be used to consistently throughout your continuous roleplay. In some ways, you make these words ‘yours’.
Say, for example, the character I am using in question is your typical malevolent Velsharoonite necromancer.
I could use the following words that I could reuse infrequently (but frequently enough to be distinguished) to develop a more unique character.
Verbs
ruminate
gloom
hobble
crow
Adjectives
ebony
harrowing
poisonous
laborious
The key is to picking words that are common enough (or if you think them uncommon, can be used effectively that their definition can be easily deduced), and then using them simply.
Using the above words, there are several emotes one could generate: *with a narrowed brow, he ruminates in the corner of the room, self-absorbed*, *his ebony cloak swishes behind him*, *he hobbles laboriously*, *he lets out a poisonous crow*, *his grin is harrowing*, and a variety of more.
By individualizing and generating more unique emotes for your characters, you not only let them leave a mark, and paint a more visceral image, but you can easily differentiate them yourself – which solidify the differences of your characters to ensure they’re never blurred together.
You can also pick certain phrases to make claim to yourself, like *wraps his cloak tightly about himself* or *straightens his tie in an impeccable manner*. Without changing the words used, you can add some level of consistency and individuality in your character by giving them an emote or two that they can use once or twice in every scene they get into.
Emotes are half of the Arelithian roleplay experience, some would say. It is arguably closer to a third or a quarter – but we’ll get to that later.
Emotes are intrinsic to the roleplay experience because they portray the actions, expressions, posture and mannerism of the character. Much of this is difficult (but not impossible) to convey in dialogue, so it is left to the words between the two little asterisks.
There are many different preferences when it comes to how one should emote – is length and detail more important than conciseness and abruptness? Should they be for flavour, or for storytelling?
There is no true ‘right’ answer as many strong roleplayers stick to different styles, but there are certainly distinct currents beneath their roleplay that makes their emoting strong and forceful.
Another difficulty with emoting is trying to say precisely what you want to say, generally with the least amount of words. This calls upon a level of diction and clarity when writing, in order to get across what you exactly want to get across.
Emotes are a big part of roleplay, and the following text highlights certain ideas (or tricks) to keep in mind to alter or perhaps even improve the way you approach describing your character with those little **.
i. Imagery and Mood
Imagery and mood remain the most dominant aspects of emoting. You’re trying to your best to create an image and a mood, not just one or the other. This can be achieved by combining strong adjectives with visceral words to make the action pop.
Most roleplayers use both imagery and mood at different times throughout their scenes in order to accompany the scene at hand. Imagery is sometimes necessary – even though presenting a mood might be more ‘powerful’.
An example of an image is simply,
*he stands on the curb*
Mood can only be achieved through imagery, more often than not. Adding any form of adjective greatly enhances the ‘mood’ (and ultimately the whole image of your character), and eventually builds for stronger interactions and representations. Altering the above example to produce the following,
*he stands on the curb with his head bowed, his placid gaze fixed to the stonework beneath his mottled boots*
The second example presents a mood as well as detailing the image. Adding any sort of adjective or expanding upon a simple action with curious details allows for other characters to take interest. Not many would be interesting in the first example – but the second adds detail. Of course, there are only certain times when this is applicable and suitable. Determining when to add mood-presenting adjectives or adding obscure details is something that only comes with experience as a roleplayer.
ii. Answering Questions
Not all of the 5 W’s and the loner H, but sometimes there are tricks to simply and elegantly improve a single emote.
We can’t answer all the questions from a single action, but trying to answer as many as we can with simplicity enhances the single action itself, and also adds character to it.
If you were to examine the following,
*she picks up the cup*
This emote really only answers the ‘what’ – what is she doing? She is picking up the cup. But how, or why? (Who is always moot and when is often a little straightforward).
You can simply add a handful of words to expand upon the action:
*with a frown of disgust, she snatches up the cup*
This now answers what, how and alludes to several ‘whys’ (it is often stronger to keep the other people in the encounter guessing and curious, little things like this add to the ‘flow’ of the scene and leave more up for conversation).
We know she is picking up the cup, but we now know how – she’s snatching it. This speaks to some sense of urgency or even reluctance. Out of context, it is uncertain, but the scene and character likely speaks to the reasoning behind the how.
We also are alluded to why. It isn’t always clear, but we are certainly given the impression as she bears a “frown of disgust”, it could be a variety of reasons: wanting to forget, the rebellious nature of consuming a possibly alcoholic beverage, an escape, or perhaps being pressured. We certainly know she is not doing out of pleasure or enjoyment. Alluding to why adds little curiosities to an otherwise normal act.
iii. Metaphors /Akin to Creatures
It isn’t always easy to imagine or interpret even the most detailed things in a fantastical world. We are presented with concepts, images and scenes that are simply beyond our own individual imagination. So often the best way of ‘doing a round about’ is relating it to powerful imagery or representations we all know.
So, metaphors, basically. (Similes too.)
They can be very simple, or very complex. Often, it remains very visceral and blunt. The stronger the image, the more you enhance the scene that the image is seen in. For example,
*he scampers along*
*he scampers along like a whimpering dog*
This is one of the simplest transformations that convey a powerful and resonating image – whereas it previously did not.
The above is a simile, and while there is often division in what is more effective (or if even one is more effective than the other), metaphors do appear to have a more direct and ‘this is what it is, not akin too’ approach. Powerful images are the ones we tend to remember the most.
*he scampers along*
*he is a dog scampering along*
The second certainly makes a ‘bam’ impact – you go from relating a character to a dog to the character being a dog. This certainly unravels more character of the character. Imagery is more dominant in the metaphorical arrangement.
Another simple way of making your emotes pop is a weird, interesting and certainly memorable trick: associating character actions and expressions with animalistic adjectives (such as serpentine, avian or canine).
You can turn,
*he cranes his neck upwards*
To,
*he cranes his neck upwards in an avian fashion*
Not only does this give a point of interest in the emote and perhaps even a bit of fun exaggeration, it begs the question why the player chose ‘avian.’ Does it have some sort of significance? And if so, why?
Most importantly, it individualizes your character amongst a sea of scores. Players will remember your character as ‘the woman who stares like a snake’ or ‘a hin that laughs like a hyena’ or a ‘dwarf that snores like an ox’.
While this requires a bit of knowledge on the natural world, most players have certain exposure to classic animals that are constantly used in fantasy world.
You could even go outside the realm of Real World and incorporate Forgotten Realm creatures into your emotes, ‘she grins seductively like a succubus’ or ‘he rabbles on like a crazed gnome’ or ‘he hordes his waterskin like an ancient red wyrm’.
It’s a subtle trick that makes your character a little more unique from adding a few words in even the simplest or most common of actions.
iv. Word Vault (Character Variation and Uniqueness)
For players that are trying to differentiate their vault of different characters or even for players with solely one character they consistently play – both are always challenged in how to make their character unique and varied from the rest of the Arelith-world.
Several ideas have already been mentioned, but perhaps one of the strongest tips is developing a ‘word vault’ for each character. The idea may sound a little preposterous or too-much-work, but it really is a simple exercise that can generate individuality in the waves of roleplaying conformity.
To do so is simple, take your character, pick a handful of general verbs and adjectives that are a little more detail-orientated than ‘walks’ or ‘big’ and are completely applicable to your character itself.
These verbs and adjectives will be used to consistently throughout your continuous roleplay. In some ways, you make these words ‘yours’.
Say, for example, the character I am using in question is your typical malevolent Velsharoonite necromancer.
I could use the following words that I could reuse infrequently (but frequently enough to be distinguished) to develop a more unique character.
Verbs
ruminate
gloom
hobble
crow
Adjectives
ebony
harrowing
poisonous
laborious
The key is to picking words that are common enough (or if you think them uncommon, can be used effectively that their definition can be easily deduced), and then using them simply.
Using the above words, there are several emotes one could generate: *with a narrowed brow, he ruminates in the corner of the room, self-absorbed*, *his ebony cloak swishes behind him*, *he hobbles laboriously*, *he lets out a poisonous crow*, *his grin is harrowing*, and a variety of more.
By individualizing and generating more unique emotes for your characters, you not only let them leave a mark, and paint a more visceral image, but you can easily differentiate them yourself – which solidify the differences of your characters to ensure they’re never blurred together.
You can also pick certain phrases to make claim to yourself, like *wraps his cloak tightly about himself* or *straightens his tie in an impeccable manner*. Without changing the words used, you can add some level of consistency and individuality in your character by giving them an emote or two that they can use once or twice in every scene they get into.
-
Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: The Literature of Roleplay
3. Dialogue
Dialogue is the most integral and important part of an individual’s roleplay. Whether or not they can emote with an master’s touch, dialogue is your character – every sentence is crafted in such a manner that it is exactly what your character would say. Good dialogue is engrossing and immersive, and allows a player to let their character ‘breathe’.
Good dialogue often requires more experience than being able to produce effective emotes. From witty banter, to moments of serious revelation, being able to form words to make sentences that will invoke something is often difficult than being able to shape an action or image that is powerful or memorable.
Unlike modern day film, where storytellers can use massive amounts of CGI, high quality cinematography and music compositions to convey what the ideas are, in the world of Arelith we are stuck with, essentially, dialogue. Dialogue is the ‘window’ into the each character – what they say, how they say it, and the reasons for saying it are the tools for identifying individuals.
i. Character Variation and Individuality
To make characters varied and unique to different cultures, races and groups of people, players often employ a variety of techniques to make what their character is saying different from others. There are generally three ways to do this, (a) accents (b) level of diction/dialect (c) structure.
Accents are the common way to make a character unique or different. From the pseudo-French ‘Cormyrian’ to the Scot inspired and typical ‘dwarven’ accent, many accents are employed to make the characters vary.
For example, the phrase, ‘The boy is on the hill’ could be changed to ‘Th’boy’s on th’hill.’ This is one of the most common examples, and is typically a form of slang (which counts as an accent). It certainly adds a bit of flavour to the individual.
The level of diction is another way – different characters use different words. This can be in a form of dialect or the amount of education the character possesses. Remember, intelligence does not always correlate to the sophistication or complexity of wordplay. You can have very intelligent individuals with a small vocabulary – and very silly people with a large vocabulary.
Dialect is word use and sentence structuring that varies based on environment and culture. Characters can vary themselves through ethnicity – in fact, one of the most important ways of making your character ‘ethnic’ is the dialect. Ways of addressing individuals, common words and phrases, and speech mannerism can define an individual from a certain country or place.
A common Forgotten Realms example is Zakhara, specifically the areas dominated by the Caliph. Most individuals from Zakhara obviously develop a Zakharan dialect – they are overly polite and formal; they make references to their gods at common occurrences; and certain words, like ‘bard’ are absent or replaced in their own language, ‘rawun’ being the common replacement.
Dialect, in an unorthodox sense, is even the ‘slang’ of the country or region. As Izzzt points out in his Countries, Kingdoms and City-States of Faerun, in Amn, ‘good business’ often replaces ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’.
Dialect can lead to intriguing language barriers and clash of culture. It thus does not only make your character a little different from the rest, but it can result in distinct and memorable roleplay because of it.
The third way to add variety to dialogue is through the ‘structure’ or ‘character’ of the writing. This is where good dialogue becomes vastly superior to good emotes, and where being able to make a character their own through what they say.
This is, also, the most difficult thing to do. It requires strong writing, consistency, and a strong character. To ‘individualize’ your character through what they say, and how they say it, you would have to reach the point where your character is identifiable by solely their dialogue. Taking the ‘accent’ approach to this is not necessarily poor, but perhaps not nearly as satisfying or gratifying as the satisfaction as the ‘structure’ of your work.
The best way to illustrate the character of dialogue, I will reform the following,
Quote:
‘The boy is on the hill.’
To keep in note, the character of dialogue can often incorporate dialect and diction (they almost always go hand-in-hand) but the formation of fragments, simple sentences, constant complex sentences, semi-colons and other grammatical and punctuation skills are what breathe life into individuality.
Quote:
“Ah? I see him off in the distance, Hajama smiles upon us. There is the boy, safe and sound.”
Quote:
“Ha! The lad! O’er yonder! On that bloody hill!”
Quote:
“Praise be Tyr, we have found him! There, on the hill!”
Quote:
“Hrn. Boy. There. On the hill.”
Quote:
“I daresay we have stumbled upon this fascinating specimen: blonde, shaggy hair, delicate form, aquamarine eyes…I think he would be excellent for experimentation.”
Quote:
“Boy found.”
Quote:
“Hark! The child hath been found; to me, gentlemen! Let us not tarry, rather ride forth and reclaim him!”
Even though it is difficult to ‘test’ the individuality of the restructuring of ‘the boy is on the hill’ because we are unfamiliar with the characters themselves, we certainly receive different impressions and pictures from their dialogue alone. They also incorporate and leave out details that would speak to the reasoning behind their dialogue.
This identity through the character of the dialogue allows for lasting and credible encounters, and builds characters into more well-rounded and believable individuals.
ii. Modern Language
It is difficult to isolate our everyday lingo and the wordplay of fantastical and historical characters. We can find ourselves sinking into slang and dialects that would seem out of place in a realm that isn’t entirely our own. If you avoid modern language, your character will have more credibility.
iii. ‘Flow’
Dialogue is important on two fronts: it identifies your character and makes them feel alive, but it secondly furthers all plots, interactions and scenes that develop throughout the roleplaying world.
Being able to craft good dialogue then, is not only important in the formation of your own character but helping others expand upon theirs. Dialogue has to continue the continuity of interactions, or what some may call the ‘flow’.
This ‘flow’ is more of a philosophical approach to dialogue and roleplay than mechanics, although, certain subtleties can be employed to ensure of this flowing continuity.
Dialogue should further roleplay and interaction, and you may have encountered players who effectively keep things going. This can be done usually in two ways: dialogue can be used to push the topic further, or there could be irregularities in dialogue that may peak interest and questions from the opposing party.
‘Awkward silences’ and stalls are examples when this level of flow throughout the scene is disrupted, and it usually gives a sort of ‘blah’ feeling. Being able to keep things moving, always, creates memorable encounters.
One of the most common examples of keeping things moving is the following,
Quote:
Speaker 1: “What do you think of it?”
Speaker 2: “I like it, but I…”
Speaker 1: “What?”
Speaker 2: “Nothing, nevermind. It isn’t important.”
This now leaves a point of interest for Speaker 1. What ever this ‘it’ was, it sparks some sort of reaction within Speaker 2 that he/she doesn’t want to readily express. This can either be continued further, or something noteworthy to bring up at a later date.
Adding words such as ‘although’, ‘however’ or ‘but’ (common words used in linking two separate or contradicting thoughts together) often give some sort of footing for the direction of the conversation or encounter.
On this note, it is often prudent to envision a sort of idea or direction in most of your interactions with other players – what is your character trying to accomplish? And how can you go about it?
To take a step back, conversations usually occur for a purpose, it need not always be some sort of selfish gain or a power grab; it could be equally virtuous, like simply wanting to learn, and equally sinful, like trying to have the character commit a fault or reveal a flaw.
Understanding that conversations should have purpose allow you to constantly push things forwards towards that sort of ‘mini accomplishment’ – it allows you to shape your dialogue in an almost directional manner.
This ensures that you will always have ‘flow’. You can constantly keep things interesting but more importantly… moving forward.
Dialogue is the most integral and important part of an individual’s roleplay. Whether or not they can emote with an master’s touch, dialogue is your character – every sentence is crafted in such a manner that it is exactly what your character would say. Good dialogue is engrossing and immersive, and allows a player to let their character ‘breathe’.
Good dialogue often requires more experience than being able to produce effective emotes. From witty banter, to moments of serious revelation, being able to form words to make sentences that will invoke something is often difficult than being able to shape an action or image that is powerful or memorable.
Unlike modern day film, where storytellers can use massive amounts of CGI, high quality cinematography and music compositions to convey what the ideas are, in the world of Arelith we are stuck with, essentially, dialogue. Dialogue is the ‘window’ into the each character – what they say, how they say it, and the reasons for saying it are the tools for identifying individuals.
i. Character Variation and Individuality
To make characters varied and unique to different cultures, races and groups of people, players often employ a variety of techniques to make what their character is saying different from others. There are generally three ways to do this, (a) accents (b) level of diction/dialect (c) structure.
Accents are the common way to make a character unique or different. From the pseudo-French ‘Cormyrian’ to the Scot inspired and typical ‘dwarven’ accent, many accents are employed to make the characters vary.
For example, the phrase, ‘The boy is on the hill’ could be changed to ‘Th’boy’s on th’hill.’ This is one of the most common examples, and is typically a form of slang (which counts as an accent). It certainly adds a bit of flavour to the individual.
The level of diction is another way – different characters use different words. This can be in a form of dialect or the amount of education the character possesses. Remember, intelligence does not always correlate to the sophistication or complexity of wordplay. You can have very intelligent individuals with a small vocabulary – and very silly people with a large vocabulary.
Dialect is word use and sentence structuring that varies based on environment and culture. Characters can vary themselves through ethnicity – in fact, one of the most important ways of making your character ‘ethnic’ is the dialect. Ways of addressing individuals, common words and phrases, and speech mannerism can define an individual from a certain country or place.
A common Forgotten Realms example is Zakhara, specifically the areas dominated by the Caliph. Most individuals from Zakhara obviously develop a Zakharan dialect – they are overly polite and formal; they make references to their gods at common occurrences; and certain words, like ‘bard’ are absent or replaced in their own language, ‘rawun’ being the common replacement.
Dialect, in an unorthodox sense, is even the ‘slang’ of the country or region. As Izzzt points out in his Countries, Kingdoms and City-States of Faerun, in Amn, ‘good business’ often replaces ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’.
Dialect can lead to intriguing language barriers and clash of culture. It thus does not only make your character a little different from the rest, but it can result in distinct and memorable roleplay because of it.
The third way to add variety to dialogue is through the ‘structure’ or ‘character’ of the writing. This is where good dialogue becomes vastly superior to good emotes, and where being able to make a character their own through what they say.
This is, also, the most difficult thing to do. It requires strong writing, consistency, and a strong character. To ‘individualize’ your character through what they say, and how they say it, you would have to reach the point where your character is identifiable by solely their dialogue. Taking the ‘accent’ approach to this is not necessarily poor, but perhaps not nearly as satisfying or gratifying as the satisfaction as the ‘structure’ of your work.
The best way to illustrate the character of dialogue, I will reform the following,
Quote:
‘The boy is on the hill.’
To keep in note, the character of dialogue can often incorporate dialect and diction (they almost always go hand-in-hand) but the formation of fragments, simple sentences, constant complex sentences, semi-colons and other grammatical and punctuation skills are what breathe life into individuality.
Quote:
“Ah? I see him off in the distance, Hajama smiles upon us. There is the boy, safe and sound.”
Quote:
“Ha! The lad! O’er yonder! On that bloody hill!”
Quote:
“Praise be Tyr, we have found him! There, on the hill!”
Quote:
“Hrn. Boy. There. On the hill.”
Quote:
“I daresay we have stumbled upon this fascinating specimen: blonde, shaggy hair, delicate form, aquamarine eyes…I think he would be excellent for experimentation.”
Quote:
“Boy found.”
Quote:
“Hark! The child hath been found; to me, gentlemen! Let us not tarry, rather ride forth and reclaim him!”
Even though it is difficult to ‘test’ the individuality of the restructuring of ‘the boy is on the hill’ because we are unfamiliar with the characters themselves, we certainly receive different impressions and pictures from their dialogue alone. They also incorporate and leave out details that would speak to the reasoning behind their dialogue.
This identity through the character of the dialogue allows for lasting and credible encounters, and builds characters into more well-rounded and believable individuals.
ii. Modern Language
It is difficult to isolate our everyday lingo and the wordplay of fantastical and historical characters. We can find ourselves sinking into slang and dialects that would seem out of place in a realm that isn’t entirely our own. If you avoid modern language, your character will have more credibility.
iii. ‘Flow’
Dialogue is important on two fronts: it identifies your character and makes them feel alive, but it secondly furthers all plots, interactions and scenes that develop throughout the roleplaying world.
Being able to craft good dialogue then, is not only important in the formation of your own character but helping others expand upon theirs. Dialogue has to continue the continuity of interactions, or what some may call the ‘flow’.
This ‘flow’ is more of a philosophical approach to dialogue and roleplay than mechanics, although, certain subtleties can be employed to ensure of this flowing continuity.
Dialogue should further roleplay and interaction, and you may have encountered players who effectively keep things going. This can be done usually in two ways: dialogue can be used to push the topic further, or there could be irregularities in dialogue that may peak interest and questions from the opposing party.
‘Awkward silences’ and stalls are examples when this level of flow throughout the scene is disrupted, and it usually gives a sort of ‘blah’ feeling. Being able to keep things moving, always, creates memorable encounters.
One of the most common examples of keeping things moving is the following,
Quote:
Speaker 1: “What do you think of it?”
Speaker 2: “I like it, but I…”
Speaker 1: “What?”
Speaker 2: “Nothing, nevermind. It isn’t important.”
This now leaves a point of interest for Speaker 1. What ever this ‘it’ was, it sparks some sort of reaction within Speaker 2 that he/she doesn’t want to readily express. This can either be continued further, or something noteworthy to bring up at a later date.
Adding words such as ‘although’, ‘however’ or ‘but’ (common words used in linking two separate or contradicting thoughts together) often give some sort of footing for the direction of the conversation or encounter.
On this note, it is often prudent to envision a sort of idea or direction in most of your interactions with other players – what is your character trying to accomplish? And how can you go about it?
To take a step back, conversations usually occur for a purpose, it need not always be some sort of selfish gain or a power grab; it could be equally virtuous, like simply wanting to learn, and equally sinful, like trying to have the character commit a fault or reveal a flaw.
Understanding that conversations should have purpose allow you to constantly push things forwards towards that sort of ‘mini accomplishment’ – it allows you to shape your dialogue in an almost directional manner.
This ensures that you will always have ‘flow’. You can constantly keep things interesting but more importantly… moving forward.
-
Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: The Literature of Roleplay
Afterword
The intent of this writing is to offer ideas, suggestions and tips/tricks on the fundamentals of the mechanics of roleplay, rather than the sort of advice on character progression and roleplaying itself.
Roleplaying is a place of constant learning: how to improve, how to make this sound better, how to be more concise, and so forth. It isn’t a static environment where you go in with your own set of traits and styles and stick to them. It’s fluid and malleable, and you will almost always find someone who’s better at roleplaying than you in some capacity (let’s just admit it). Thus, to be humble and always think of ways of improvement – perhaps not radical but rather slight changes – is the key to success.
This piece of writing wasn’t intended to be rude or offensive, but rather, a collection of ideas. None of us are really innocent from bad habits or structural flaws or discrepancies, but that doesn’t mean we can try to get better.
If you have any comments, or your own pieces of advice (or even questions!) don’t hesitate to post. But simply remember the integrity of the work and the discussion to keep this as concise and to-the-point as possible.
And just a quick thank you to KT28 for enduring my rambling, and Izzzt, who I shamefully took a snippet of his own thread in the General Reference.
The intent of this writing is to offer ideas, suggestions and tips/tricks on the fundamentals of the mechanics of roleplay, rather than the sort of advice on character progression and roleplaying itself.
Roleplaying is a place of constant learning: how to improve, how to make this sound better, how to be more concise, and so forth. It isn’t a static environment where you go in with your own set of traits and styles and stick to them. It’s fluid and malleable, and you will almost always find someone who’s better at roleplaying than you in some capacity (let’s just admit it). Thus, to be humble and always think of ways of improvement – perhaps not radical but rather slight changes – is the key to success.
This piece of writing wasn’t intended to be rude or offensive, but rather, a collection of ideas. None of us are really innocent from bad habits or structural flaws or discrepancies, but that doesn’t mean we can try to get better.
If you have any comments, or your own pieces of advice (or even questions!) don’t hesitate to post. But simply remember the integrity of the work and the discussion to keep this as concise and to-the-point as possible.
And just a quick thank you to KT28 for enduring my rambling, and Izzzt, who I shamefully took a snippet of his own thread in the General Reference.