Weekly Workshop- Building a RP charector

[Eloise]

Day 1- Choosing a name.

Choosing a name can be one of the harder parts of creating a character. You have to make sure that your name fits in with what race you want your character to be. For example, you won’t call and elf Ugluk, and no self respecting orc would like a name like Finrod.
First of all decide what race you’d like your character to be. Elf, Man, Dwarf, Orc, Maia, Balrog, Ent and troll are the main ones. Also, make sure that if the RP you are joining is set in Tolkien’s world you don’t have any unicorns or griffins etc.
Secondly, choose your name. There are several ways you can do this.

• Have a name randomly generated. Meduseld has a Rohirric generator and an Elvish one which are very good.
  
• Have your own name turned into Elvish. The Council of Elrond has a database where you can request your name in Elvish. Of course, this won’t work if you plan to RP with an orc
  
• Modify an existing name. Legolas for example could be changed to Laeglos, which still sounds Elvish but is a different name. It doesn’t just have to work with elves. Try modifying any name you like.
  
• Make up your own name. Probably the hardest, but also the most fun! Just choose the first thing that comes into your head!
  
• Use your own name. A bit boring but at least it means you won’t forget it!

A few general tips to keep in mind-

• Don’t make it too long or difficult to remember. Listohithnilomian may sound cool but do you really want to type that every time you post?
  
• Try to use a unique name. There are hundreds of Arwens out there. Unless you’re specifically following the story of the books using the same characters, try to use something different.
  

Tomorrow’s workshop will be on choosing a personality!

[Matrix]

could help if you can spell character

[Eloise]

Today's workshop is on building a character's personaltiy. There are many different ways to create a personality and you'll often find out that by the end of an RP your charector's personality has evolved as the story progresses. I'm going to post quite an indepth form which can be used to create a charector. You don't have to fill in all the fields to create a good charector, but this is one of the easiest ways to do it, as it makes you think about your charector. Once you've written this, you can post it here

Name:
Race:
Age:
Gender:
Family:
Height:
Home:
Build:
Weapons:
Other items:
Animals/Transport:
Appearance:
Strengths:
Weaknesses(see tomorrow's workshop):
Personality:
History:

And here's an example:

Name: Eloise
Race:Balrog
Age:As old as Middle Earth
Gender: Female
Family: None
Height: about 14 ft, small for a balrog
Home: None
Build: Slim and small
Weapons: Firey whip, sword
Other items: Small bag of Jewels
Animals/Transport: None
Appearance: Small and skinny, she has fire red eyes. Her skin is more red and firey than some balrogs.
Strengths: Can fly, can burn enemies
Weaknesses(see tomorrow's workshop): Clumsy, easliy makes mistakes, can seem threatening
Personality: Kind and gentle, she is often tripping over her own feet to help people. However she is often shy and thinks people won't accept her when generally they are kinder than she thinks
History: She was a spirit of Lorien before being corrupted by Morgoth. She later escaped from Angband when her consious got the better of her and she's been wandering from place to place ever since.

However the best way to create a believable charector is to sort out their basic personality then stick them in an RP. Only then will they grow and develop into a good charector.

Tommorow's workshop will be on avoiding Mary sues.

[Matrix]

Eloise said:

charector's

you really can't spell can you?

[Laerdan]

Or it's a deliberate error to make a point.

Anyway we are talking about character creation, many character record sheets are never seen by anyone except the writer and it's not about how you spell your character it's about who you make them.

[Matrix]

sorry, but eloise is my sister, it is my job to annoy(however thats spelt) her.

[Eloise]

Lol, lets get back on topic rather than debating my poor spelling!

Todays workshop- Avoiding Mary sues!

First of all, what is a Mary sue?
A mary sue (or Marty sue, the male equivelent) is a mary poppins type charector(sp?). They can do no wrong and generally always save the day. Sometimes the have unnatural powers, bordering on godmodding. (haveing powers that no other person in the RP has, or anything like that) Like I mentioned earlier, Mary Poppins is the ultimate example.

Traits of the Mary Sue.
A Mary sue is nearly always an innocent but beautiful young girl. When most people start out at RP, they create Mary Sue's. This isn't something to be ashamed of, you'll learn from your mistakes! Other traits are big powers. If your charector is an elf, and can say read peoples minds, that ok as its a natural elf thing. However if your charector is an expert rider, healer, archer, can read people's mind, is undefeated in battle and virtually indestructable (and seems too good to be true) they are probably a Mary Sue.

Ways to avoid Mary Sue's
Flaws are usually the easiest way to avoid a mary Sue. When you fill out your charector form, you noticed the weakness box. For every strength you should try to have a weakness. And I don't mean a little thing like can't hold their drink. I mean serious clumsyness, arrogance, cowardness, soemthing major. Of course, not being able to hold your drink is an acceptable weakness if it goes with a power such as can juggle. It's a very hard thing to judge, and usually the only way to get the balence right is to practise.
Another way is to make your charector less pretty. Most mary Sues are beautiful and while an ugly charector can still be nearly all powerfull, they are less likely to be a mary sue. A disfigurment or plainness can be a good way to get round part of the Mary sue problem.

Finally, this is quite a confusing subject. there's a fine line between a good charector and a Mary Sue, you'll only be able to tell the difference after quite a bit of practise!

Tommorows workshop is on joining an RP and some general RP jargon.

[Matrix]

lots of spelling mistakes EVEN!! confoosed!! 

[MirkwoodArcher]

Matrix,

Stop having a go at Eloise (she at least knows how to put capital letters on the start of a sentence). She's doing a good job here and whilst I acknowledge the rights of siblings to annoy each other, remember that she has the advantage. She watched you grow up. She probably has tales to tell. Hell hath no fury like a big sister with a grudge.
Just a bit of friendly advice from somebody else's big sister.

Neneithel

[Eloise]

Go Nen! Lol, remember the dummy, Matrix! That's all I'm saying!

Ok, back to business.

Joining an RP.

The first thing to do when joining an RP is to check if it is open or not. If it's open to all, it means anyone can join at anytime. If it's pm only then you'll have to pm the person who started the thread to ask to join and wait for a reply before posting.
Secondly, check if it's scripted or free. Here's a quick definition of the two terms:
Free- No set storyline. The plot is pretty much made up as you go along.
Scripted- This type of thread has a set storyline. There will probably be an OOC(see below) where rpers can discuss the storyline. Unless you've posted in the OOC or it specifiaclly says anyone can join, you're best to PM the thread started before joining.

Next, see how far throught the story is. If it's more than two pages and seems pretty far into the story you should probably pm the thread starter before joining, just for a quick overview of the story and so they can make a situation where it's easier for your charector to join in. If the thread is pretty much at the start, just join in!
After that, read all the posts, so you get an idea of what the story is about. And I mean all the psots, don't skip any as they can contian important information!
Next, think! Does your charector fit into this story? If not, do you still want to RP but with a different charector? Make one up if you have to.
Then, your first post. There are Many different RP post styles.

• The third person past tense. Most common, an example is: Eloise coughed. "Please excuse my spelling mistakes, mellyn."
  
• First person, past tense, not nearly as common. e.g I coughed. "Please excuse my spelling mistakes Mellyn"
  
• Second person, past tense. E.G You coughed. "Please excuse my spelling mistakes, Mellyn"
  

There are a variety of these differnt styles, in all tenses. There is also a fourth style, which is quite common but is confusing, especially if you're new to RP. It involes putting all actions in asteriks and leaving out speach marks. an example is.: *Eloise coughs* Please excuse my spelling mistakes, Mellyn
That sentance was ok, but when you're in the middle of a battle or some other action filled sequence, there are so many astericks you forget when someone is speaking and when they are doing something.
Your first post should introduce your charector both physically and in personality.

Now for some RP Jargon!
RP- Role play. AKA RPG or role playing game
OOC- Out of charector. When rpers want to say something as themselves. Also refers to the threads wher eplot is discussed.
IC- In charector
BIC- Back in charector

Those are the most common, if you don't understand another term, don't be afraid to ask!

Ok, and just a quick note about Hijacking and machine gunning. Hijacking is where a person will come into an rp and completly take over the storyline. This can completly ruin the rp. If you have an idea for an rp, talk it over with the rest of the rpers, don't just jump in! Hijacking isn't much fun, think how you'd feel if someone came in and completly took over your RP that you'd spent so much time and effort on!
And the last think, Machine gun posting. This is where people post very short posts in a very short space of time. Not only does this exclude people that aren't on the same timezone and are trying to keep up but it also is a nightmare to moderate. So please, make your posts long and don't post too often!

[Matrix]

eloise can tell all the stories she wants because i probably dont know half of em. And the capital thing, its because i cant really be bothered at the moment.

[Galadeth Greenleaf]

This is going to be interesting!

[Laerdan]

Okay, I know she's your big sister and God knows we're entitled o get at big sistrs but you've made your point and it's time to quit with the spelling quips.

Why?

Because it's not fair to keep on at Eloise and it's making me nervous about posting. I'm dyslexic, I can't spell to sve my life and nothing upsets me more than people haveing a go at bad spelling, cause some of us can't help it.

Eloise you're doing a fantastic job, I know a few Mary Sue's and not all of them are new to gaming.
ou may be a big sister (which is a bad thing) but I think you're great anyway and after all he's a brother  which is definately the worst sibling possible. So pay no attention to him.

[Matrix]

ok il stop

[Eloise]

Aww! Thanks for sticking up for me everyone!

Ok, today's workshop is on probably the hardest part of RP, making up your own. And there'll be some general tips thrown in for good measure.

First of all, don't be afraid to make your own RP. Most of the current RP's are either by Sim, myself and I think there's one by Meredith. Even if you're new to RP, don't be scared to give it ago!

If you are new to rp, then it's a good idea to look through some other rps first of all to see how they start. Also, don't worry about people not joining, there will always be someone willing to RP (me for one!)

First of all, decide if you want it to be scripted or not. If you'd like it to be scripted, think through your plot line first. You don't need to think your story through to the end, but you should at least get a short way into it so you can tell people what you're planning in your OOC (If you don't understand any of the terms I've just used, they're in yesterday's workshop) If it's free you should decide a few things first.

• Where is it set?
  
• When is it set?
  
• What action will be happening in the first post?
  

First of all, where is it set? At the moment, while non tolkine rps and crossovers (Rps which have say, both harry Potter and LOTR are crossovers) are allowed, most RP's should be totally Tolkien. You should also think about what part of middle earth and make it clear in the first post. Will it be Rohan or Rivendell or any number of other options?
When is it set? What time of day? Is it before or after the war of the ring?
What action? Even if it's non scripted, you should still have a small amount of action, whether it's a solitary battle against orcs or cleaning a table in a bar.
The final thing to remember about creating your own RP is to keep it open. You should have plenty oppertunities for people to join. Whether you hear footsteps just before you close the post or a creaking door, make sure there is some way for people to join in!

Ok, now the bit you've all been waiting for-TIPS! (they aren't just about staring your own RP, they're pretty general)

First tip, try not to make your charector related to or married to someone. Do you know how many wives and sisters Legolas has? Seriously that guy must either be a real bigot or have had countless divorces. And when to wives cross... well your RP continuacy has a real problem!

Next, on the subject of Elves. If you're in an RP at the time of the silmarilion or set in Rivendell, elves are an ok race to be. But once you start to get away from there... Well lets just say there's an rp here where it's set in Rohan and there are more Elves than riders. (I'm guilty of that too though) Try being different species. What about a Balrog?

Next, Godmodding. I think I already explained what this is, but I'd just like to reinforce that this is a BIG no no.

Also, try not to get involved in more rps than you can handle. RP is fun but if everyone forget to post becuase they're in too many others it can really spoil the RP.

Next, experiment. Try being diferent charectors, different races and using different writing styles. That's the only way you'll find out what suits you best!

I hope you've learnt a lot from this, if you have any questions or anything, please feel free to pm me at any time,or post here.