I have often been asked, as the administrator of a private Roleplaying Muck, exactly what roleplaying is, or what defines good roleplaying, or how a person could improve. I have never given a complete answer, choosing to wait and gather my observations together. This document is the result.

Roleplaying is, properly, an art-form. Like writing, its close cousin, it springs from within a person and is completely subject to his or her method of seeing life and re-creating it. However, also like writing, roleplaying can be categorized and hints can be gleaned from these organizations that may offer to online roleplayers a chance to improve; to improve in such a way that others can enjoy their roleplaying more. I offer my theories and observations on RP after three years of serious exercise.

The Four Schools of Style
The Rules of Engagement
Roleplaying Etiquette
Readability
End Notes

In writing, there are 'conventions' which most authors cleave to. One of them is 'viewpoint': where the author brings the reader into the story. This can be inside the head of every character (omniscient), inside the head of certain characters (limited omniscient), or outside the characters in various stages. Another of those conventions is that of the style of writing prose. Some authors can be mistaken for poets by their florid and lush writing styles, like many French authors (Hugo, for example). Others are straight-forward, telling the actions of their characters will little or no vocabularic frills. These conventions are readily obvious in roleplaying and translate well into four Schools.

THE OPEN BOOK
The Open Book School belongs to those players who play their characters as an open book. They tell those present the exact thoughts of their characters, sometimes even telegraphing their actions through their thoughts before they even proceed with them! Characters played almost totally in the Open Book School are fascinating and fun to watch, because readers get the opportunity to see every single thought of importance that the character has. Examples of this might include statements such as the following:

• Wyn thinks . o O { I can't believe he wouldn't notice.... }
• Questing_Dream nods attentive. . o O ( There is no magic that I could sense there...Could it be some subtle magic? I shall have to study this more carefully. But the lantern is lit already! ) She looks across the countryside as if looking for one of the six hundred, her ears tilting forward.
• Distant_Song raises her eyes wearily and watches Shiran soar over the clouds. She saw Runutek doing much the same earlier, though with him it was unbelievable. With transparent wing vanes, it seemed as if the Rheeht was being held aloft by will alone.

THE BODY LANGUAGE
The School opposing Open Book is the Body Language School. In this method, the writer reveals the emotions of the character only through their reactions to events or statements, stating none of the motives for those reactions. Characters played in this school are ambiguous to read since many expressions and motions in the body have multiple meanings, but this School conveys very sharp mental images of the characters. Examples of this school are as follows:

• A frown develops on Taja's face, confusion pressing her brows together over the bridge of her nose. Her face falls to study the ground. "I do not understand," she says softly, moonlight falling on her face as she looks up at dwagon, "Why power pertains to manipulating the weasther."
• Zilvar snaps his eyes open and turns his head to face Distant, "Good evening mother. I hope I did not drag you from anything?" Tight lines around his eyes betray the lie of his light response.

THE MELODRAMATIC POSE
This School refers to the player's method of using prose, particularly in an extremely poetic (sometimes wordy) way. Though some rare people will use the Melodramatic Pose methods in their character's speech patterns, this School is usually reserved for poses about the actions of the character. It is typified by heavy use of metaphor, varied and sometimes esoteric vocabulary, and a flair for the dramatic. Examples of this school are as follows:

• Distant_Song isn't looking at Kamots. With her eyes lowered, her hair half-mussed out of her braid, and in the dim light, she looks like some young maiden, contemplating the ground in shy humility. "Sometimes, I would rather have a living mate. And there are times when I think I am in mortal love."
• Kamots smiles, "The Breath of the Star." He nods and gives Distant an affectionate hug. The gentle night closes about the mother and son, the trees of the forest whispering secretively in the soft summer breeze. Far above, the stars look down upon the sleeping land, their Argent light somehow warm as it caress all it touches. Swaying slowly the Breath of the Star turns its face toward them, its own petals reflecting the soft illumination and joining its bretheren in the sky in their silent chorus of the night.

THE PRAGMATIC SCHOOL
Opposing the Melodramatic Pose School is the Pragmatic School: the no-frills players who simply say what they are doing without dramaticizing it. Examples of this are:

• Argent_Star starts, glancing over his harp. "Oh! Good morn-turning, Shiran."
• Kujaku raises an eyebrow at Runutek's display. "Oh dear. That does NOT look pleasant."
• Envoy looks around in confusion, a pout beginning to form.

Most people mix all four schools together in varying degrees; this is what forms their 'style'. Identifying and being comfortable with your style can help you to streamline it, or to try new directions, or to define different styles for different characters to further differentiate them from one another.

Exercises Involving the Four Schools
For those interested in developing their awareness of the Schools and how they use them in everyday roleplay, here are a few exercises that can be played with.

• 1 -- Create four characters and try to make them complete extremes within each of the schools. This will teach you quite quickly that extremes are unusual and difficult to maintain! Outline the problems you had with each extreme after playing with each. For example, when playing in the extreme Body Language School, did you find the people playing with you often misinterpreted your actions or emotions? How could this be solved?
• 2 -- Identify the Schools you draw most heavily from and try to play opposite them. Notice how your style affects the character you're playing, and try to decide what kinds of characters are most suited to which of the Schools. This will help you to decide later what School would be most appropriate for you to lean towards when trying to portray a certain personality.
• 3 -- If you have identified the Schools that seem to attract a certain type of character, try playing a character whose presentation would most benefit by a certain School in its OPPOSING school. For instance, play an adventure/action-based character in the Melodramatic Pose School, or a thoughtful, introspective character in the Body Language School.

What makes a character interesting? What brings you back to playing with him or her again and again? How can you get other people to be interested in playing with you, and how can you start a session? These are all valid questions in roleplaying, and their answers give you clues to the rules of engagement of interactive play.

The HOOK
Sessions require a hook to get rolling, a reason to begin, a thread you wish to follow. Good hooks can be story ideas or plot ideas (those are usually the easiest to begin), or they can be character hooks: you think your character might clash/get along with another character in particular and want to give them the chance to run across one another. Whatever your choice, all sessions should start with a hook to prevent them from meandering aimlessly. Before you shoot the arrow, you should select the target; you'll have a better chance of hitting it then.

The BAIT
You must bait your hook with the most important of tacit roleplaying truths: if you start a session intending to talk about yourself, or to play yourself, things fall apart. It is only when the promise of your character interacting with another character that excites you that you will get better results. Just as people in RL will gravitate towards people who find them interesting and want to listen to them, players will gravitate towards players who make their characters feel necessary and pivotal. This doesn't even have to be in a plot-sense...just the belief that a character is being taken seriously and truly engaged will win you players who want to join you for RP often.

The CATCH
Once you have the hook and have drawn in the people you want to play with, it's time to deliver. No matter how good the hook, if people don't get the catch at the end, they won't want to play. The best hooks have to do with character. If your character has a great deal of depth in many areas, people will have no end of fascination with him or her. Don't just give him one childhood secret--give him several, and a trauma, or a great joy; add his passions, give him unknown zests and hobbies and interests. Make your character as fully-dimensional as you can so that everytime someone plays with you, they see some new facet, or some subtle unfolding that they hadn't quite suspected.

A FULL COURSE MEAL
All these things will make strong logs, and make your character more fun to interact with. Characters who have new things to say all the time, whether it is through their own auspices by changing in reaction to their surroundings or through their player's auspices by the revelation of previously unknown things, will draw people to play with them. But as always, the other factors are important as well. For instance, even if your character is as fully dimensional as a real person is, if you don't give the people playing with you a chance to get their say in as well, you'll soon find yourself alone. Or, if you have no chosen direction for the log, or if you grossly lack in roleplaying etiquette, your other strengths will go unheeded. Like a box of Legos, or the raw ingredients of a supper, roleplaying is only edifying when it forms an orchestrated whole. ;)

DESSERT
Sometimes roleplaying becomes stressful, or characters part at odds. As a special treat, it is often welcome for the players to kid around after the IC action is done. Or sometimes, they'll prefer to talk about events and examine them, reveal the thoughts they couldn't because it wouldn't have been in-character. If you have the time after a session is done, indulging in some good post-game analysis is always a special treat.

Exercises Involving the Rules of Engagement
Roleplaying is an active skill--it requires that you go out and make yourself available for play. Here are some exercises to make you more aware of the rules of engagement, and how you might make your character one that more people seek for roleplaying.

• 1-- Sit down and make a list (mental or physical) of the characters currently sharing your roleplaying environment with you. Think about what you know of them, and see if there are any hooks you can find that would draw them to play with you. For example, if you know that your character is a jeweler, and that another character has a beautiful pendant that (unbeknownst to your character) has great emotional significance to him, you have a hook: have your character comment on the pendant, thus starting a session that encourages the other to talk about his past.


• 2 -- Practicing with bait is a real-time experience. Begin a session with something and pay special attention that their actions are receiving as much attention as yours. This is best practiced in a one on one log. Start playing with nothing but the hook in mind and with the intention of drawing the other person out, and see what happens.


• 3 -- Sit down with your primary character and follow trains to their conclusions. For example, begin perhaps with hobbies. Is your character a hobby-jeweler? Who taught him? Why does he like it? Does he do it well? Did he ever make a piece of jewelry he was especially proud of? What did he do with it? Why did he do whatever it was he did? Are there any circumstances that would cause him to give up his hobby? Or, you can start with other basic premises: Is your character afraid of dragons? Why is he afraid of dragons? How did he handle his fears in the past? What would cause him to lose that fear? What would he do if confronted with a cousin of a dragon-like creature (like the Shiiru)? What would he do if confronted with a dragon sapient (like Timur)? How apt would he be to lose his fears? Ask your character how many hobbies he had, how he passed his time, what his philosophy of life is, who his parents were, where he grew up, what environment did he grow up in, what things comfort him, what things annoy him, what things distress him. And always ask 'why' after those questions.

One of the largest differences between roleplaying and writing is that it involves collaboration. This aspect makes roleplaying as much an activity in the social sphere of relationships as it is in the artistic sphere; unlike the latter, the rules of social relationships involve real-time interactions between people. Thus, there are codes of conduct it is usually wise to observe when roleplaying. Here are some of these guidelines.

1) USE GOOD SPELLING, GRAMMAR, AND VARIED VOCABULARY.
There is very little more annoying or difficult to deal with than roleplay with someone whose vocabulary is only forty words large and whose spelling is atrocious. Online, your typing serves as your person: it gives people first impressions of you, and reinforces them. If you take the time to review your poses before hitting 'return', you will save those playing with you a great deal of grief.

2) DON'T SPOIL THE MOOD.
If you find a group of people engaged in roleplay (or planning to), who are planning for a specific mood, do not change that mood without asking first. Ask if the session is open to others if the mood seems intimate, and if you want to bring in a radically different mood, ask the participants if they would mind the change of pace. Sudden mood-changes by incoming characters can be very jarring to people who are in mid-play.

3) GIVE OTHERS TIME TO REACT TO YOUR POSES.
Traditionally, in one-to-one roleplaying there is a constant trade off. One person says something, than the other, then the first player has a turn again, etc, etc. It is a good idea to maintain this in two-player situations; allow your fellow player time to react to your words. In larger situations, the feasibility of this guideline breaks down somewhat, however it is still always a good idea to give players time to react to your actions before assuming that they do not react. By nature, roleplaying on the Net is a somewhat time-consuming affair. Don't accidentally cut off the other players in a rush to include everything you want included.

4) EDIT YOUR POSES BEFORE HITTING RETURN.
The days of raw telnet are well-past; there are plenty of muck clients that allow you to backspace and review your actions before you press the return key. Doing so will help you catch spelling and grammar mistakes, and to check your pose for its flow. Editing your pose serves the same purpose editing your writing does...with the same positive results. A note: While small poses can do without editing in some cases, it is ALWAYS a good idea to check long poses before sending them out into the world.

5) DON'T HOG THE SPOTLIGHT.
Everyone wants to be in the spotlight; it's human nature to want to be the center of attention. It's an ego-boost. That's why it's especially important to be polite and share the spotlight with others while playing with them. If you absolutely cannot stand being in the background in group logs, then you need to seek out more one-on-one RP which, by nature, puts both participants in one another's spotlight the entire time. But while in large groups, remember that you're not the only one there to have fun, and let other people have their moment in the sunlight...or better yet, manufacture ways to put different people on center-stage. You'll be surprised how often people will drag you up with them in gratitude. :)

6) DO NOT SPOOF OTHERS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION.
You can never assume that you know how a character will react to any given situation--unless that character is yours. Just as you wouldn't want other people to take liberties with your characters, you mustn't take liberties with theirs. Don't spoof other people's reactions unless you have their permission.

Exercises For RP Etiquette
Though the best way to become a polite roleplayer is simply to roleplay, some aspects of the guidelines above lend themselves to recommendations and exercises to improve your own courtesy. Try these:

• 1 -- Buy a good dictionary and thesaurus; when you log on, flip both open to a random page and read a good word or a good synonym and make it a point to use both in your play that session.


• 2 -- Consider your character concept and ways you want your character to grow in the next few sessions. Pick a few threads in your mind and form scenarios where your revelations, or your character's actions create opportunities for other people to join you in the spotlight, or take the spotlight entirely.

What makes a session fun to participate in, and what makes a session fun to re-read when it is done with are two separate things. While it will always be fun for you to re-read interactions involving your character, some thought can (and in the case of Genesis, should) be given towards making the end product of your play engaging to external observers. In this way, roleplaying becomes writing, a collaborative sort of writing. Here are some tips to remember that can help make your roleplaying session as much fun to read for other people as it was for you to play.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE (AND WHERE YOU CAN STICK IT)
All stories are based on some sort of change; it is what makes them interesting to read. No one wants to read a story about Joe Public and his 2.5 kids living tranquilly and unbothered through their entire, uneventful lives. However, change doesn't have to mean adventure, or battle. It can also mean revelation of new information that the reader or players didn't originally have, or conflict of a verbal or internal nature. If by the end of the log, the reader comes away with a piece of knowledge he did not have or a sense that if this log were to be cut from the Chronology, something important (small or large) would be missing from the lives of the characters involved, then you have successfully included this most paramount of requirements in your log.

So...where can you slip change into your log? Here are some suggestions:

• Background -- While the action of the log might seem to be mundane, sometimes the background tasks or background talk can serve as the element that brings change. For instance, if the sobre'su are washing up in the kitchen while the PCs talk downstairs, perhaps one of the sobre'su can mention a piece of information that the others might not know. This is the most subtle way of inserting change into your interactions.


• Action -- The main action of a log might be devoted to change, making it the focus of the session. For instance, if one character reveals his past to another in the forest, the revelation is the point of the log. Or, for another example, if there is a major battle that leaves one of the characters wounded at its close.


• Theme -- The most difficult of the three to execute is to have change reflected in the theme. Theme is always a difficult beast and requires a great deal of attention to detail, but if properly done then the result can often be very poetic. For example, if in the forest, two characters reveal their waning feelings for one another while the autumn processes into winter and the day into night.

ATTENTION TO PROSE
It is an unfortunate truth that most Mucks lack user-friendliness in the area of allowing people freedom in sentence construction. This is a problem Mucks with free spoof fortunately do not have. With this command, you can create poses that have more of the look of those in books, and should do so when you can. Read the pose preceding yours and formulate your response in a manner that affords variety. If the pose before yours began with someone's name, start yours with a line of dialogue, or with the rushing of the wind. With enough attention to detail and the help of those playing with you, you can create logs that 'read' like a book and will be that much more easy to browse over in the future.

Exercises with Readability
Readability is a difficult prize to struggle for because it is difficult to remember to pursue it in the heat of the moment, and because creating readable logs requires advance thought, some collaboration between players, and often times more time per pose than usual. However, the results are well-worth it. Here are some exercises to try if you wish to improve your readability score.

• 1 -- Find a novel that you favor in style and flip through it, examining the sentence structure and the prose structure--isolate how the author juxtaposes dialogue with explication, how he or she changes the way the sentences begin with each paragraph, what kind of sentences precede and end paragraphs. Keep this in mind for your next session and use free spoof in concert with pose and say to better imitate that form.


• 2 -- Sit down with a player you're about to play with and ask him if there is some theme or topic he'd like to explore with the log...try to agree on a general feeling you'd like the session to have before you begin play. For example, you might choose a theme of innocence lost slowly to time, or a theme of the stability of some things despite the constant changes in life.

More than anything else, roleplaying is an active skill. If you do not seek out people to play with, if you do not try to make them feel welcome with you while playing, or give them interesting reasons to play with you, they won't come. It's as simple as that. Unless they are feeling altruistic, people won't find you hiding in your corner, or your home, or your room, and draw you out, and you shouldn't wait for them to do that. To have fun playing, you have to actually do it. Most of the guidelines, rules, and observations I've made in this piece are unspoken, the underpinnings of good fun and good play that aren't verbalized or referred to...you'll probably find, if you roleplay often, that you do most of these things without even noticing. But, like other skills, the more attention and the more thought you devote to RP, the better you'll become at it.

I hope that, whatever your experiences, this document proves helpful to you in your play. Comments are welcome, whether they are suggestions or just feedback. Please email them to me at [email protected].