Part One
Introducing Yourself
We do this all the time in roleplay: we bring our character into the rp for the very first time.
This can go a number of ways, and depending on how you do it, you can either make a very dull entrance or a very nice one. Let's go over all the different ways of introducing yourself and point out how to do it wrong and how to do it right.
The Walk-In
The walk-in is the most common form of introducing a character. It's simple, makes sense, and allows just about anything to happen as a result of it.
Sarah walked into the bar and looked around.
Seems legit, right? Right. But is it? The answer is no.
Sarah walking into a bar isn't very interesting at all. Anyone can walk into a bar. It's HOW they walk into a bar and WHAT they do, or even WHY and WHEN that make it intriguing and let the other rpers get an idea of how to go on with it.
The creak of the old door announced the arrival of none other than Sarah Barnes herself. She entered the dingy setup with a smile on her face and a bit of bounce to her step. She caught a man at a table looking at her, and she gave him a wink. She walked right up to the counter and plopped down on a vinyl bar stool. "One scotch on the rocks if you please," she purred to the handsome bartender, grinning widely as she caught his blush.
This is much more informative and gives the responding rper a lot more to work with. Perhaps the responding rper is repulsed by Sarah's flirty behaviour. Perhaps they're intrigued. Maybe they're interested but shy and try to just steal a few glances at her. How do they respond? There's a number of ways. So long as they don't respond with:
Adam walked into the bar and sat at the counter near Sarah.
So long as they don't do that, everything should be fine.
The Suddenly-There
The appearance is the second most used form of introdduction. It's about as simple and elegant as the Walk-In, and just as wrongfully used.
Adrian sat on a chair looking at his book.
Of course, this can change from dull to interesting depending on what happens when the responder debuts their character into the scene, but more likely than not, at the sight of this one-liner, a responder will put:
Dirk walked into the room.
Adding a bit of interesting action or something more detailed can assist the responder.
Adrian sat in the chair, reading the crinkled and worn pages of the old diary. It was all here, his entire life story. But why couldn't he find the part about the dog? It had just come to him after all, after seeing that wolf at the zoo the other day, he'd suddenly remembered the strange encounter with the big black dog. It had to be in here, something that could help jolt his memory back to that day.
So here we have more clues to respond to: Adrian is searching for something in the diary. It doesn't really matter how important it ends up being, but at least the responder has something to, well, respond to.
Dirk entered the little library, and though all he wanted was to find that deviously hidden cookbook Roy told him about, something else drew his attention. It was a boy about his age hastily flipping pages in a really old book. Curious, Dirk walked over. "What are you doing?"
The initiative post and the response have a better basis to go off of now. The rp can be furthered simply by adding more interesting details to the simple action of "reading a book".
The Action Film
The action film is a little harder to pull off, and by action film, I simply mean the fast-paced action you see in films. It's a little harder to do since you have certain rules to stick by pertaining to the world, not a lot of dialogue occurs, and usually, people don't know how to respond because their brains have been bludgeoned to death by the simple yet elegant Walk-In and the easygoing Suddenly-There. The Action Film entrance depends both on the person who starts it and the person who responds to it.
Robert ran down the street with the cop hot on his heels. "Stop that man!" the cop yelled.
George watched Rob run by, wondering what was going on.
It is so annoying when that happens. The rp dies pretty much right on the spot.
You need to get your W's and H in order. I referred to them in the Walk-In: what, why, who, where, when, and how. Ask yourself those questions and make your post into a real scene. The big question we have is, "Why is Rob being chased by the cops?"
Robert flew down the street, feeling much the part of the rabbit when it is hunted by the dogs. He soaked his clothes as he splashed through a puddle, but it wasn't as though he had the time to care about such things. Behind him, he could hear the rather athletic cop shouting out swear words and occasionally the cliche, "Stop that man!" Robert dived into an alley and put on an extra burst of speed, hoping to evade him. Why, oh why had he taken that wallet? "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered.
There we go. Much better. Not only is it a little more exciting to read, but we have at least some more details for the responder to work with: he's frightened, the streets are wet, he's now in an alley, the cop can probably take him down, and he stole a wallet. The responder has multiple options to reply with now. Perhaps George is a bystander who is bowled over by Robert. Or maybe George helped Robert steal the wallet and they're both running away. Maybe George was the guy who got his wallet stolen and he's also chasing Robert.
The Contemplation
The contemplation is usually used with the Suddenly-There, but not so often. Rarely is it wrongfully used, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.
The contemplation is a roleplay post that usually explores a character's thoughts, opinions, and sometimes beliefs. It gives the writer of the post a chance to practice the art of writing rather than the mechanics of writing. It can go from poetical to analytical to anything in between. It's like the character is pulled away from their own reality and the rp world entirely and was given a moment to be.
(this is an actual rp post: my character Mauser Bataleur from the site The Vigilante)
Mauser stood at the counter pondering the meaning of broccoli.
It was such an unassuming vegetable, yet it possessed the incredible ability of banding humankind together in a common cause.
That alone deserved some aplause.
It did not matter that the common cause happened to be the universal dislike of the plant, it just mattered that it could make such a convergence of human beings. Not many could do that, even after years of study with colleges and special schools and psychoanalyst tapes. It just had to look green, look like a tree, and have the name broccoli attached to it.
Mauser shuddered.
God, how he hated broccoli.
He moved along.
The contemplation is hardly ever done wrong, but when it does, it usually looks like this:
Mauser looked at the broccoli and thought about how nasty it was. He moved along.
John looked at the sky and thought how cool the stars were.
Bella looked at Edward and thought about how much it sucked to be stuck in a Twilight film.
And so on and so forth.
The Aftermath
I have rarely seen this one, but I have seen it misused the most, and not in the way most people expect.
Jason leaned against the rock, utterly spent, holding his bleeding side. The battle had taken such an awful turn for the worse and so quickly. He was still shocked he had made it out alive.
What's wrong with this one? Is it the lack of detail or the style of writing? No. It's the pressure. Posts like these are written with an expectancy attached to them, the expectancy being that someone had better get over there and save them. It's a victimization of the character, and though not wrong in its own right, it is way overdone when Aftermath-type posts are used.
If your character has survived and is badly injured, then describe the setting around them. Bring in other factors that will determine why he's in a state like that. Rather than put the pressure of helping him on the responder, spread it out.
Jason leaned against the rock, waiting for the medics to arrive. He could see them a ways off, picking through dead bodies to get to the critically injured. Jason was in pain, but he could manage for now. He'd still be alive for a while yet. The man he saw the medics carry off didn't seem to have the same luck. He breathed out a sigh, wincing as he pulled air into his lungs, and he gripped his bleeding side. The battle had taken such an awful turn for the worse and so quickly. He was still shocked he had made it out alive.
Now the pressure of rescuing him is put on the medics and not on the responder. The responder could still come over and help Jason, but they don't NEED to.
This doesn't mean that you should never have your character in a desperate state and in need of rescue, just be wary of when you use those sorts of scenarios. It would be better to do so later on than to start off your entire roleplay with such a scene.
Here's another scenario:
Tara surveyed the field of broken, bloody bodies. In the distance, little specks like ants skittered over the hills; enemy troops still strong enough to flee. Tara drew in a deep breath. "Ah, what a glorious day for a victory!"
What's wrong here now? Well, it seems like Tara is the victor here and despite having fought so long, she's neither tired nor injured and has enough energy to fight another one. It's an unrealistic representation of a victorious soldier. This doesn't mean we need to put her in a desperate situation like Jason's scenario above, but we shouldn't have her come out of a battle unaffected.
Tara turned her gaze to the field of broken, bloody bodies. With a shaking hand, she pulled her canteen from her pack and took a greedy drink of water. As the vultures began to descend and Tara put the now empty canteen down, a bit of movement drew her attention upward. In the distance, little specks like ants skittered over the hills; enemy troops still strong enough to flee. Tara drew in a deep breath. "Ah, what a glorious day for a victory!"she said with a sigh, while a triumphant smile brightened her bruised face.
Tara is still a victorious soldier here, but now we see that she is tired, has bruises, and is very thirsty. A much more realistic depiction of someone who just fought a battle.
Those are the most common character introductions of roleplay. Now that you know that, think of a totally different way you could introduce your character into a roleplay. But always remember: detail, detail, detail.
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