Are there any ‘exercises’ that you’ve done in the past or currently do out of fun to get yourself into the mood or even prep?
Do you think the the ‘You do [x] threads to the person above you’ could be good practice for RP? Or the same concept but in a different format. “You see [x] on the side of the road.” and then the next player builds off from there.
There’s a word for it, but I am at a loss at what it’s called. I guess RP improv?
I listen to music, mostly.
I barely RP anyway so I don’t have much of a strategy for this.
I think about my characters doing things even when I’m not at the computer, particularly them interacting with other characters important to their stories or with their own thoughts about key struggles and issues in their lives.
My style of RP is a bit “method acting” so knowing them inside and out for these character defining moments/states of being makes it easier to step into their roles when it’s time to write for them.
Normally for RP exercises, I start with stretching before getting into the heavy lifting, unless its a Friday on which I do cardio.
But does rolling count as cardio?
Ab rolling, yes
No joke, that workout is hard to get into.
Improvisation generally.
“Yes, and/No, but” is a similar concept: in order to keep a narrative going, one must get out of the mindset of thinking about why something wouldn’t work and stopping there -which stalls the narrative- but instead about how things would play out and what are the consequences- which keeps the story going.
I also try to take in lots of different kinds of fiction and read/watch stuff about the craft of creating fiction. Springhole’s been a great help to me.
Speaking of widening one’s experiences and references, one offs are great for this. With a one off character/scenario, you have more room to experiment without there being lasting consequences. This lets you test things out and find out what does/doesn’t work as well for you and see new opportunities.
This is a really good website. Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any resource on good ways to DM? Like in the above, if you’re the DM, would you inform all participants that they’re going to die? Or do you wait for a participant to inform you that they’re ok if their character perishes? How do you provide an immersive experience if folks know that their character is going to die?
I used to really like the Zen’s RP circle threads, and the Kazimir character questionnaires - made me think out some things I hadn’t thought of, you know? It was a fun way to think outside the box with my characters.
That said other than that, nah, no exercises for me. I need to be in a specific mindset for RP though. I think the main thing that immerses me personally is the visuals, the actual physical representation of the world. I cannot RP in discord, not well at least. I’ve tried, but… can’t do it. Can’t get into the mindset, you know?
I make transmog. I’m very visually inspired.
Sometimes, I play games. Or read forums about RP. Browse guild listings, even if I have no intent to join.
Aww yeah, those were good fun. We’re due for a good one, maybe someone can take up the torch?
I do the exact same thing haha. The transmog is the very first thing I work on.
You’re a LARPer aren’t you? So that makes so much sense.
I read a lot of different books from different RPGs. Not just D&D and stuff derived from D&D crunchy rules/standard fantasy settings, but stuff like White Wolf’s games (Exalted, Mage the Awakening) and Dreampod 9 (Heavy Geat, Tribe 8, Jovian Chronicles), Dogs in the Vineyard, the Burning Wheel, etc. Run several of them too.
It really got me out of thinking of conflicts in terms of a constant series of life and death encounters, and instead focus more on player/character motivations, desires, relationships and bigger picture stuff like philosophy or politics in games.
So I’m one of those DM’s that doesn’t make a habit of killing characters without player consent. Afterall, when a character dies, their story is effectively over; unless the player just resurrects/rolls up a new one, which cheapens it. If a death isn’t going to impactful and permanent to some degree, I don’t see the point.
I’ve found that there’s plenty of other ways to motivate or punish players/characters such that character death would be considered a mercy. 
Sorta ish. I do medieval combat. But in terms of actual roleplay it’s kinda half IC half OOC - we mainly use the IC stuff for jokes. Quite different to WoW RP, but yeah.
my rp is an exercise for my actual writing
I used to post a few RP thought experiments, but I suspect they’d go over significantly less well given the current demography of the forums.
Weirdly, though, I feel like at a certain point, you’re better served doing things other than RPing to improve at RP. Once you have the whole “speaking extemporaneously as another person” thing basically down, then you’re often better served by expanding the amount of stuff you rip off in your storylines.
So I guess what I’m saying is “improve in RP by watching anime,” or something.
I also think the “skill” required in roleplaying is vastly overstated and usually just a means to make people feel bad and to insult intelligence.
I also think it’s a differentiating mechanism that fellow gamer nerds use to try to channel their “gifted child energy” into another facet of their lives, to try to signal to people that they are “smart.” As you get older, you realize it’s just kinda nonsense.
I do think the one thing that there is to get better at is 1) coming up with things to hook people, either through circumstances in your control (your character’s condition) or your character’s expression (the actions they take and the emotions they express), and 2) coming across as an interesting but also endearing character. No one wants to RP with a self-insert, but boring characters who do nothing aren’t fun, either.
In a way, it’s the people-oriented aspects of RP that one gets better at, in my experience, rather than the high falutin, writerly, artistic/intellectual elements. Write things that get people out of their shells, and be agreeable and considerate (without necessarily having an agreeable or considerate character).
There’s something to be said for some intellectual and emotional maturity that goes on display in really poignant moments in roleplay, when your character has the opportunity to reveal their perspective on the world in rare conversations and dramatic scenes.
But otherwise, I think a lot of the talk of “skill” is usually used harmfully (in my experience). You just need to be able to put sentences together and get a point across.
I’ll listen to music, or read a random passage from a book also chosen at random. Writing freestyle for a few minutes also does wonders. In terms of getting into character, I find that taking a moment to consider the kind of day my character could have had before I log online to play will help me get into the appropriate head space.
While I do think it’s entirely possible through studying actual writing to find ways of effectively drawing in people and making a character seem more interesting, I totally agree that the social aspect is incredibly important and often overlooked.
It is easy to fall into the line of thinking that if only one’s spelling/syntax is exacting enough, one’s prose is purple enough, one’s paragraphs long enough, one’s loe knowledge encyclopedic enough, one’s character concept novel enough, etc that you’re good to go.
But at the end of the day, roleplaying is a social activity. I’d say that the overwhelming majority of RP problems I’ve encountered are largely rooted in badly handled OOC interactions (or total lack thereof).
And in fairness, I do think it’s not just a lack of moral fiber or consideration that can cause problems.
Take, for example, someone that I am prone to be in open, public settings–the person who sits in a public IC spot, does nothing, and hopes someone else approaches him for RP.
Or someone who goes to events, only has their character do what their told, and doesn’t contribute much in the way of thoughts, quips, actions, anything to get other people going beyond the rails of the event.
I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with behaving this way (it just be like that sometimes), but if everyone does it, there really isn’t any RP–again, beyond the strict, bounded confines of event RP.
And people who are socially conscious enough to know what it takes to finesse people out of their shells and get them to say something without being stupid, self aggrandizing, or offensive are able to generate RP in a way they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
I think that’s the stuff people get better at over time. Hooking people gracefully. I know I’m not very good at it, but I know people who sure have an eye for it.