The Purpose of a RolePlay Post

I was looking through a few of the old tutorials I had written over on RolePlay Gateway, and spotted this one. It’s a good edition to be added here, I’ve decided. As such, below is a revised version of the tutorial. While designed specifically for RolePlaying, replace ‘post’ with ‘chapter’ and I think it’s equally as pertinent to fiction.

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Each post you make in a RolePlay is your opportunity to contribute positively to the story being played out by the group of writers. Oftentimes, for new RolePlayers it can be difficult to know exactly how to do this. As such, this tutorial is designed to make it a little easier for you.

Three-Fold

There are three primary purposes to a RolePlay post:

1. Reveal your character.
2. Develop the environment.
3. Move the plot forward.

If you do these three things, your posts will certainly have a positive impact on the story, creating an enjoyable read for your fellow players, as well as any silent observers you may have. However, let me elaborate a little on each point in turn.

Revealing your character: Each of your posts should reveal some aspect of your character. Whether it be their appearance, thoughts, personality, attire; any developing traits or quirks, or maybe traits that are regressing and becoming less and less prominent over time.
One mistake often made by inexperienced RolePlayers is revealing everything about a character in the first post. What are you going to write about after that? An introductory post should be just that: An introduction to your character… Letting the reader and other players know that your character exists. Subsequent posts can be used to reveal further aspects of your character. Giving you things to write, and others to read.

Developing the environment: The environment is an essential part of any RolePlay, and is constantly changing: It should be alive. The sun moves across the sky, for example; so if you have two characters sat in the sun, a few posts later (perhaps an hour or so later in ‘In Character’ time), they may well be sat in the shade. Make mention of that. A person in a bar shifts off his stool to go to the bathroom. Make mention of that. It’s important to maintain a ‘real’ feel to the environment.
Also, atmosphere is an important part of the environment. Does moving into the next dungeon hall, for example, mean a deathly silence that weighs heavy on the party? Is the tavern a smoky, smelly place full of tension? Make note of these things.
The environment is the world your readers are drawn into. If a city was made entirely of still backdrops in a movie, with only the main actors moving, not many people would watch it.

Moving the plot forwards: Each of your posts should move the plot forward in some way. What’s the best way to do this? Maybe the easiest is through ‘prompts’ and ‘reactions.’ Let me give you an example:

A Prompt: As John Smith opened the door, he looked to the man he’d been chatting with and cocked his head to indicate the man should follow.

A Reaction: Dave Johnson noticed the strange fellow who’d been sat next to him a few minutes ago make some gesture. Picking up his drink as he stood, Dave walked towards the door.

Rudimentary examples, I know, but they should give an easy understanding of what I mean.
Another major aspect to consider about developing the plot is pacing. What amount of time should each post represent? A minute, a day, a week? Whatever is pertinent to that particular post. For example: Your party of wonderful heroes spends a full day on horseback. There is no need at all to describe every mile. But maybe you need a post where they break for lunch? To give a chance to display their discomfort, complaints, etc. Or do you just wait until they make camp in the evening. The choice, of course, is your own, but it’s something to consider.

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Well, there you have it. A quick overview to the purpose of a RolePlay post. Now you are armed with the tools needed to play a positive part in any RolePlay you join.

Your views

What do you feel RolePlay post or chapter should contain? Do you have tricks you use to maintain any of the points raised above? Share them with us! We’d love to hear what you do and what your opinions are.