[Guide]Entering the Fray, New Player Tutorial

[Shamitako]

So hi, my name's Lexi, and this is a guide. We've had a few people complaining lately about how it's tough to get into roleplaying on Reborn, or at least tough to do it write (get it, write?) So Ima make an attempt to help remedy that

If you're reading this you're probably new to the roleplaying section of the Reborn forums. You might be a regular on Reborn, you might be an experienced RPer, you might be both, you might be neither. Whatever the reason you're a total scrub and need help

Right, so then, Scrub (this is how I will refer to the reader from now on pls no be mad, is joke), what do you need to do to get into roleplaying here on Reborn?

Has Grammer Pls

Before you do anything else you're going to need the writer's most important tool: Readable grammar

"But Lexi," You say, "I slept through English class."

And that's okay, Scrub, I didn't ask you to have a degree in English. Just write well enough that your fellow RPers can understand you. Capitalize close to properly, use some semblance of punctuation, and try to keep your dialogue looking neat. Even when you're talking OOC, try to keep things neat

Find the Starting Line

Good job Scrub, you went and refreshed yourself on what a semicolon is, now you can actually get into an RP. It's recommended that you don't just dive in to the first thing you see. Look for something that's either based on something you're a fan of (like a Pokemon RP) or an RP that's primary focus is to be silly. All RPs are supposed to be fun of course, but there are some that have the entire goal as just doing goofy things and not so much crafting a story

Read All the Things

Now that you see a neat RP, be sure to read all the information in the OP. Just skimming it is a good way to miss important information, and missing information is a good way to get your character rejected. In addition, it's a good idea to read through the accepted character sheets for a concept of what expectations the host will have of your sheet. Andif the RP has already started, go read some of the earlier posts as well as the more recent ones

Quite the Character

Okay Scrub, you've got your semicolons, your RP, and all the information your brain can handle. Now you can start writing a character. Grab that lovely little sheet in the OP with your clipboard and head down to the posting section (or a Word/google Doc ifyou need to be able to save it for later) What kind of character you create is almost entirely up to you. And while I could give you some nice tips on how to make a good one, I'm going to be lazy and pawn that off on my lovely friend Acqui, who happens to have already written a guide on the subject which is totally not in a suspiciously similar format to this guide. Once you've gotten a character accepted, you can actually start playing and developing your character even further

Be Polite, or I'll Vaporize You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18QiS4fF7XI

It's no surprise that being rude is going to make people not like you, and thus not want to roleplay with you. Keep in mind that to all of us, you're a complete and total newbie to RPing, no matter how experienced you are. So when (not if, when) someone criticizes an aspect of your character, instead of acting like the God of Writing and getting all indignant, try looking at your character and seeing if they might be right. Roleplay is a joint effort between all involved parties, so try your best to keep on good terms with everyone. Learning to accept critcism, even when it's not presented in the nicest manner, is a crucial step in becoming a good RPer

Consistency is Key

There's two types of consistency you need to keep on your mind at all times, Scrub. The first is posting consistency, there's no requirement to post every day but don't be like Lexi and constantly delay your next post for months on end. The other is character consistency. You remember a couple paragraphs ago where you wrote a character? Well now you have to make sure that character doesn't end up as someone else. Character development is important, but all in all they should keep true to who they are

Roleplaying Taboos

There's a lot of stuff you should avoid, here I'll try to provide a list of the most important ones that are never okay for anyone. Do note that everyone has a slightly different definition of these things, so this isn't a one size fits all list, if you're ind oubt, be sure to ask the person you're interacting with before doing something. You'll usually see these as part of a generic ruleset, but just because they don't show up in the rules doesn't mean you should do them

1. Metagaming. Metagaming is the act of using information that you as a player know, but your character shouldn't know. There's too many ways to do this for me to listIt's not always obvious when you do it that it's happening, so if someone calls you out on it, try to be amiable and fix it
3. Powerplaying/bunnying. These are two different things, but they're similar so I'm going to cover them together. Powerplaying is when you take control of another character that's in an interaction with yours and make them do something that their roleplayer clearly didn't intend for them to do. Bunnying is a bit more subtle and less likely to cause huge issues, in fact some RPers may even willingly allow you to bunny their characters when they're going to be unable to post for a while. Bunnying is basically when you take control of a character indirectly, generally by assuming what their next action will be without consulting their player first. A certain amount of bunnying is bound to happen (like assuming a character followed you inside when they agreed to do so already) but it can get out of hand, so you should be careful
4. 
   
5. Godmodding. Godmodding is a fairly large umbrella term for basically doing anything that doesn't give the other characters a chance to react. The most common variation of this is to auto-land hits during a fight. This can usually be avoided by leaving room for your opponent to dodge or block in your wording. Instead of saying "Scrub hit them with his sword" say " Scrub swung at them with his sword"
6. 
   
7. Bullet-posting/speedposting. This is more a courtesy thing than anything else. If you're in an interaction with more than one person, try to avoid just going back and forth with one other person in the interaction and leaving everyone else behind. Not everyone can output ten posts per hour
8. 
   

1v1 Me IRL M8

Fight scenes, ah lovely fight scenes. Chances are that you're going to have to enter into one of these at some point, Scrub. And if you and your opponent don't do it right, there's gonna be a whole lotta butthurt. So do it right from your end, because that's half the battle, pun intended. Firstly, unless the RP specifically has rules indicating who has the advantage in a fight, always assume you have the disadvantage. When you attack, expect to miss. When you try to dodge, don't expect to just get out cleanly. Even if you win a fight, you're not likely to be unscathed. As Murdoc would say: "Play to lose." If both players go into a fight expecting to lose, then neither will be upset when the other manages to win. Also, try not to have fights run for too long, if it's starting to look like it's not going to end, PM your opponent and try to work out how to end it quickly

Now it's Your Turn

So now you've participated in at least one RP, but participating isn't enough, you want to craft your own world. I'm not going to explain how that works, there's plenty of info on that already, and besides this guide is for scrubs. But Scrub, do want to encourage you to try it out at some point. Play in a few RPs and get the hang of things, and then try branching out and crafting your own worlds for others to play in. Hosting is easily one of the most rewarding things I've done in my entire life. If you can manage to maintain interest you won't be disappointed. A good way to get into hosting without too much pressure is to run a reroll

The Student has Become the Teacher

Only one thing left to do once you've mastered roleplay, help others to do that same. You may be Scrub now, but someday you could become Sensei. Use your newly found skills to help other scrubs become masters as well. But always remember that no matter how much of a pro RPer you are, you can always improve

And above all else, have some fun crafting stories with your fellow roleplayers. That's what we're all here for after all

With Hope,

Lexi