Role-Play how to...

this is a basic guide on how to "role-play"

I would start by stating that by no means I am no expert nor I claim to be one... yet, I've managed to come up with some basics... 

if I am wrong in any area, feel free to correct it, as we all want to learn in the right way, not the wrong way... 

type of the role-play:

Text-Based Role-Play

RP category:
Fandom, based on the existing universe of the virto Mary realm

RP setting:

Alternate Universe:
here, in-forum where we are the same players like in virto, but here acting our role outside the office, not working to manage our companies like we do in-game

if we want to get deeper into even more technicalities, we can also have a sub-category, as "semi-original", meaning that we build our setting on the original Mary realm, same countries, and cities where we operate in-game but based on that setting, we, in fact, build our own setting that is as we think is more fun, starting with a fictional base, but with some basic real-life events if we want to build on that too...

RP players:
who are the players:

we, the players from virto Mary realm, our core team, prospects, familiars, friendlies and even neutrals from the game willing to enter our role-play games here - you can invite your friends here too... 

Characters:
- create your character as you wish, as you like it,
- but at the core keep it based on your business you have and manage in virto Mary realm,
- meaning ultimately you can be as wealthy as your in-game business will allow you to be, obviously, you can't have more money than what your in-game company can pay you as the CEO
- no matter how much you want it, we can't accept you, your character for role-playing here, to have more cash money, cash reserve, more than 25% of in-game your assets

25% of your in-game assets rule
- this is the maximum cash reserve in reasonable limits, a company may have or keep as cash, as available cash to use
- thus no more than 25% of the total assets, can, in theory, be available in cash,
- a company, any company will pay its CEO, even if the CEO is the same person as the owner of the company no more than its cash reserve, thus no more than 25% of the assets, assuming this is a reasonable amount of cash reserve for any respectable company
- the only exception being when the owner will actively liquidate the company, sell everything, every and all assets, to cash out,
- but since this scenario won't apply, considering you all will continue to manage an active company in virto Mary realm, we will keep the 25% of your in-game assets rule in place
- now, in-game, some of you may have less or more than 25% of your in-game assets, as a cash reserve, in hand, due to a different business approach you may employ in-game in virto, and that's just fine, nothing wrong with that we know that
- but, to keep it simple, we choose not to allow a role-player participating in our roleplaying games, to be more wealthy in-forum for RP purpose than 25% of its in-game assets
- keep in mind, our roleplaying is set in an Alternate Universe based on the Mary realm, in virto game, as such the level of your in-game assets, will follow you here, in-forum, in the roleplaying environment too, we will base everything on this parameter

Character creation
creating your character, how to do it

Physical appearance:
Describe your character's hair, eye, skin color, and whatever else is most important to you.
This will help other players-writers to visualize your character. You can also use an image in your profile here, to complement your description.


Personality:
What is your character like, and how do they act around other characters?
You should also think about your character's goals, motives, and desires.

Do not make it super-powerful, and almost perfect, as no one likes a character with no flaws.

Likes and dislikes:
What sorts of things does your character like and dislike/fear?
It could be as simple as a love for chocolate and a fear of spiders.
It could be as complex as having a hobby (ie: painting) and having a fear (ie: being abandoned).


Skills and talents:
Everyone is good at something, and your character should too!
Same way, everyone is not so good at something else, as such your character should too!
It might be a good idea to include something your character is bad at in order to make them more believable and vulnerable, to keep them more realistic and authentic.

Once again, do not make it perfect and super-powerful, as this is in violation with a basic simple rule of roleplaying, technically called "God-modding" or "Mega-modding", and usually, such characters are not very liked and not very popular.

Backstory:
This will root your character in the fictional world of our roleplaying setting.
It will give it a history, a time frame, an existence, an upbringing from something that was before he became a successful business owner.
You will need to consider your character's history, family life, occupation, and so forth.

Realism and authenticity:
Make your character believable and realistic.
In the RP world, flawless characters — called "Mary Sues" or "Gary Stues" — have a notoriously bad reputation and are extremely frowned upon.

Positive vs. Negative traits:
Always create your character with both positive and negative traits.
If you choose 3 positive traits, make sure you have at least one negative trait.
If you choose 5 positive traits, make sure you have 2 negative traits.

For example, your character is smart but too shy to speak up and show off its intelligence.

You could add a fun quirk or two!
Characters that have unusual approaches to solving problems, odd habits, or strange mannerisms can make your character compelling and interesting to others.


If you are creating a character for a fandom RP setting, like ours here, try to blend it into the fandom's world as much as possible, build up on you as the business owner of your company in Mary realm.

However, don't make it too similar to an existing other player's character, or based on a real life public person, as this may lead to uncomfortable complications.
It's a fictional character so try to keep it fictional, yet realistic and authentic.

Narrative vs. script style of roleplaying:

The Text-Based-Role-Play is a "play-by-post" role-playing simulation game in which players interact with each other in a predefined environment, our own setting here, via text.

Usually this type of role-playing it is a subset of the online role-playing community which caters to both gamers and creative writers alike. 

We all read books, or I assume we read as well among other things, so as readers we see a fictional world, with fictional characters interacting in that book.

Here, we create our own world, based only the Mary realm countries and cities, here the characters are who we want them to be, with only one limitation to start with, representing the business owner of your company in Mary realm.

As such, our roleplaying here, this activity is closely related to both interactive fiction and collaborative writing.

Compared to other roleplaying game formats, this type tends to have the loosest rulesets. You'll find the rules in a dedicated section for "House rules"

Use whatever writing style you like, or works best for you, either:
- narrative style, that reads like a typical book,
- or a screenplay style, which reads like a script, the latter being more suited for a fast-paced section of events in the roleplaying games.
 
The quantity of writing:
also, keep in mind some basic measurements of quantity in writing, and use it as you find it best for you, as follows:
- short post - under a paragraph, simple sentences
- medium post - in the range of one paragraph in a more advanced sentence
- long post - using more complex sentences, more advanced descriptions, metaphors, symbols, is usually more than 2 (two) paragraphs

keep in mind, the role-playing activities will earn you money, as established and approved by the GM's

long posts could earn you, even more, money, in the form of extra bonuses for what is usually called adding entertaining value to a post, to the overall content of the role-play
- if it's fun if it's entertaining if it's catchy if it's pleasant to read, to react to, if it's like a well-written passage of a well-written book, then this will more than likely qualify for a bonus if it adds extra value to the content
- now you don't have to write an entire novel in one post only, but if you aim for a bonus in cash, then you should consider a more complex writing, that in turn makes the roleplay more fun and entertaining


Writing interactions and descriptions:
Use concrete details and ample description while writing.
This will immerse you, yourself and your fellow role-players in the fictional world.
At the same time, you'll want to avoid rambling, as this can make the other person lose interest.
(I know I sometimes ramble maybe too much, I beg of you all to excuse me... hehe... )

Use the five senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste.
Or even a sixth one, if you attribute your character with one... hehe...

Describe the setting: weather, temperature, location, and important surrounding objects.

Use gestures: what is your character doing and/or thinking? How does he/she walk, talk, and position themselves?

Plotting:
Create a plot, an event, an activity, or enter one that is already created by one of your fellow roleplayers.

Contribute to the plot.
This is especially important when doubling; don't expect your partner to do all the work.
Don't just respond to everything he/she writes; add something new to your posts as well.
If your partner is doing all the work, eventually he/she will run out of ideas and get tired or drained.

Roleplaying where two or more people-players are contributing to the plot is much more interesting than RP where only one person is doing all the work.

Read - Wait - Post:
Read what other people write;
Wait your turn;
Post a reply;

In text-based roleplaying, everyone writes out what their character says, thinks, and does, and posts it, usually in a post, in our forum, right here.

When your turn comes, post your character's part of the story.


Post as soon as you can.
If you are unable to post in a timely manner, let your roleplay partner or the group leader know.

Do not pester people for replies. Don't annoy or trouble your fellow RP-ers with persistent interruptions and/or requests.
This can be seen as annoying.
Wait for a while, before asking for a reply; sometimes people forget or get busy.
Usually, a week is an acceptable waiting period.

Don't ditch, drop, give up a roleplay event without a word.
This can be seen as very rude in the roleplay community.
If you get tired of the roleplay and don't want to do it anymore, be upfront about it. Politely tell the person you are roleplaying with, or the group involved in that event, that you are no longer interested. But don't just drop out with no reason or basic explanation.

Doubling and/or Grouping
Know what doubling and grouping is.

Doubling
occurs in a one-on-one roleplays, where there are two players, pairing: you and your RP partner is pairing in a double roleplay event, scene or activity.

Grouping
occurs in a group based role-plays, where more than two players are engaged.

These doubling and/or grouping are often to team-up for a common goal, or to participate in a common activity or an event, like for example, a car race, robbing a store, bribing a politician, plotting a heist, to rob the federal bank or a casino, or plotting to rig elections, or to overthrow a mayor, or a governor, or a president and similar other scenarios.

Each person plays their desired role in the plot but based on your main character.
Example:
event: the Federal bank heist
roles: one is the spotter, one is the hacker, one is the muscles, one is the getaway driver, one is the helicopter pilot and one is the yacht owner and pilot and one is the mastermind behind all of it.

Usually, is based on a pre-agreed and pre-arranged scenario and sequences of scenes that will play in motion in a chronological order.
Usually, doubling and/or grouping is taking place for more complex and advanced role-play activities, like say a heist on a federal bank, or central bank of a country - as you can imagine, this kind of action is quite complex, as you'll see in some examples I've come up with.

Also, doubling and/or grouping is usually used simulating or kind of like a motion-picture movie, where you and your fellow role-players are in fact the protagonists of the movie, actively participating and influencing what's happening in that movie.

All described and more is roleplay, is writing, is storytelling, what your character does, thinks, reacts, all and more, to accomplish that final goal, in one example, to successfully rob the federal-central bank of a country.

Good etiquette
Maintain good etiquette when doubling and/or grouping.
When comes to roleplaying, fair is fair.
You should give the same amount of attention to all the characters that you are playing with, and to your own character and to the characters of other players involved in the doubling and/or grouping role-play.

If your character never get hurt or wounded, never loses, will always beat everyone else with no doubt, even if it may be tired, exhausted, impaired or other similar circumstances hindering its performance, then that is considered "God-modding" or "Mega-modding" and it is unfair to others participating in the roleplay... 

Keep in mind, we are all here and we stick around, to have fun... you too also should have fun...
but, in the process of having fun, try not to spoil everyone's else fun, because of your unique and special kind of having fun...