Roleplaying 101

Farstriders is a roleplaying server, and Good Spirits is a roleplaying guild. We encourage our members to act "in-character" most of the time, but we don't expect everyone to be an expert at it right away. Most of the people that join our guild have no experience with roleplaying at all!

Role-what?

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts
William Shakespeare

At its core, roleplaying is about acting out what your character is thinking and feeling, rather than yourself as a player. While you might have a strong opinion about Baseball or US Politics, your character certainly doesn't. Likewise, your character is going to care, often passionately, about essentially arbitrary game issues. As a concrete example (and apologies to the characters who's names I'm borrowing here):

[Guild] [Zharina]: Topic of discussion: Gnomes. Evil menace, or cute stuffed lawn ornaments?
[Guild] [Yueghna]: Neither, mon! Bake 'em and 'dey're a great side dish!
[Guild] [Zt]: The only good gnome is a dead, exploded gnome.
[Guild] [Yvette]: ((Aw, come on now! I play two gnomes on another server!))
[Guild] [Yvette]: My vote is for lawn ornament, definitely. Especially after I get through with 'em.
[Guild] [Zharina]: ((Way too cutesy for me. I mean, pink hair?!))

In the above example, the ((text inside double parentheses)) is out-of-character talk.

So how do I do this thing?

The short answer: just try it. If you take nothing else away from this page, then let that be it. Roleplay isn't a competitive sport. You don't need to practice in front of a mirror or do warm-up stretches before you're ready. Jump in, and you'll learn as you go along; if you do happen to make some sort of mistake we'll be there to gently correct.

The longer answer: come up with a character, distinct from your own personality, and ask "how would my character react to this?" Look at our guild members' backstories for inspiration, if you like. Don't make your character too much like yourself; in this author's experience playing a character too close to one's own personality turns the question "how would my character react" into "how would I react," which is usually far less interesting.

Play your alter-ego if you want, and feel free to go a bit wild with the personality. Remember that your character doesn't have to be liked by everyone. Indeed, animosity and the occasional grudge is often a lot more interesting than a mutual admiration society!