Tips

= Desrowth's RP Tips =

Preface:
All of this stuff is my opinion, none of it really matters. Have fun and encourage others to do the same.

Preliminary RP tips:
It’s very important to remember that everyone plays DSL for different reasons, and sometimes people don’t place RP as a high priority. It is highly recommended that you don’t take it upon yourself to police people or nag them for not RPing. Your mental energy is much better spent RPing with people who enjoy RPing and want to RP in return, as opposed to getting frustrated and angry with people who don’t want to RP.

This next tip might be controversial, but I’ve had a lot of success with it, so I recommend it.

The tip is: Your character is a reflection of you, but you are not your character. People who claim that their characters are completely independent of themselves (which includes their subconscious) are wrong. People who claim that they “become” their characters when they play their characters are also wrong.

When I play DSL, right now, the year is 2007, George Bush is the president of the United States, I am (probably) wearing modern clothing, I might be hungry or thirsty, maybe I recently received a promotion in my job or maybe I was recently laid off. There is a good chance that external factors will affect your experience on DSL, whether you admit it or not. So don’t pretend they won’t. If you’re feeling strongly a certain way, maybe you shouldn’t play a certain character at that time, or on the other hand, maybe you should. People often use their characters as therapeutic means, channeling negative and positive energy into them. The best thing, in my experience, is just to be aware. Be aware how you are feeling, and if it’s affecting your RP, then make a decision about how to deal with it.

Off-Screen Character Development:
This is probably the most important kind of character development on DSL, ironically, you aren’t actively involved in any of it. This is all the stuff that has happened to your character when you weren’t playing. Ever. This is what makes you who you are, and you weren’t even there for any of it! Shame on you. But you can make up for it!

The way to make up for this is to ask your character who he or she is. Find out about him or her! This might be somewhat boring or tedious, but it will add a considerable level of depth to your budding character. Find out how your character was educated, where, under what circumstances. Find out how they acted as a kid. Find out if they enjoyed going to dinner parties as a young adult or not. Did they only go if other friends went? Where do they buy their clothes? Do they only trust certain garment makers? When they leave their homes, do they always take their first step with their right foot for good luck?

You two have a lot of catching up to do, so get to it, and write it down! Create a text file on your computer for each character, and write down these many insignificant, mundane details. This is work for you, an investment, but it will be greatly repaid with interest when you interact with others.

(Remember, this is just for you to know. No one else might know these things, unless they observe you doing them, or you talk to them about it, but the fact that it exists is very important)

Pivotal Character Moments:
These are really fun (but can be stressful!). These take place on screen. You’re in an RP situation, and usually completely up to your discretion, you decide if it’s one of those rare moments where almost the essence of your character might shift a little or a lot because of what’s happening. This should not happen often, heck, maybe it will never happen, but it can. People might consider this a “No-Duh,” tip, but players are often hesitant to allow these random situations to change how they act.

Remember that although there might be one catalytic, pivotal moment, there will be many moments surrounding that one, and your character shouldn't change over night. Everything takes time. This is one of the MOST difficult aspects of RP, because it's incredibly tough to judge and gauge how fast or slow the change in your character should take place, and how that change will show.

Round your characters:
Hitler was a vegetarian. Einstein was a poor husband. Strong manly men are sometimes submissive to their meek wives. Find interesting, sometimes subtle counterpoints to your characters strong points. Don’t force everyone you interact with to be aware of how deep your character is, though. The most important thing is that you know it. Others will find out in due time.

DSL is improv:
Read up on improv a little. Send a private message to TOM! on the DSL forums, who has had experience in an improv troupe.

Here’s a starters site: http://www.improvencyclopedia.org/

This site tells you various improv words and concepts, as well as some basic improv rules:

Trust Don't negate or deny Make actionable choices Make assumptions Give and Take Listen, watch and concentrate Work to the top of your intelligence

Trust is VERY important. RP with people you can trust, and if you're uncertain, take a leap of faith and set your default condition to trusting, instead of not. When people trust each other they allow RP to grow organically and originally, but when people are questioning each others motives, they force their characters to act certain ways, perhaps defensively, to avoid being taken advantage of.

Don't negate or deny other people's actions. This doesn't have a direct relation to DSL, but the general concept is simple: Go with the flow. When someone swings an axe at you, go with the flow. Dodge it, or block it, have it knick you, have it hit you, then create another opportunity for action between whoever is participating in the event. RP events shouldn't go on forever, so eventually people will have to make decisions to end things, but let it happen naturally. Negating and denying also relates to conversation. Allow the conversation to flow, to bend, to weave. Allow the conversation to dig into your basic, strong character, and possibly it'll dip low enough into some of your unique idiosyncrasies you spent a while developing.

Making actionable choices relates to the previous rule. Make character choices which forces your character to say, or do something. Say, and do things which allow other people to say and do things in return.

MAKE ASSUMPTIONS! Assume that Elves hate Dwarves. Assume that Nordmaarians hate Yinn (Yaennie? :p). Assume the kender in front of you would love to follow you on an adventure somewhere. Assume that pretty woman isn't impressed by you. Assume the King of Arkane doesn't care that much about you. Assume a member of the Bloodlust clan will just as well slit your throat as shake your hand, depending on which side of the bed he woke up on. Assume, AND BE READY TO ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES OF WRONG/RIGHT ASSUMPTIONS!

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