Ascension Wrestling Federation - A Roleplaying Guide
Feb 26, 2018 19:26:16 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Kira Izumi, and 6 more like this
Post by IMMORTALS on Feb 26, 2018 19:26:16 GMT -5
ROLEPLAYING GUIDE
Seeing as we don't have a designated OOC area, I'll put this here. What this is is simply a way to help people role-play, maybe offer ideas or provide tips and tricks you can use while posting. Everyone I talk to seems to have some particular way of writing up the posts, from going nuts and writing it 'live' on the Boards here, to premeditating it on Word/ Docs and copy pasting it. Then there's the elements of the story, like how you imagine you character would be in such a place, or what they might do. So the best way to share advise and help those in need is to let you into my mind and show you how I write RP's. I fully encourage others to join me with this, as it will ultimately help us all out in the long run and make our writing much more enjoyable.
1. The Most Basic of Basics
'So I just joined this place called XHF, and now I made my character. What next?' Well first things first, its time to bring that character to life. Applying to the fed of your choosing is only the beginning, now its the fun part- telling their story. Depending on your writing style or what you like most about role-playing, your characters evolution is in your hands. You can do anything you want with them (within the realms of realism), and telling a big wild story is always fun. So lets start off by looking at what we have. I'll use my character in my examples (Hyperion). Quick backstory; he's a delusional ex-biker/ tough guy who took too many bumps to the head and mixed in a experimental hallucinogenic drug which now results in him thinking he's one of the first Greek God of mythology...I know, what the hell. But, here how I do it.
I picked Aquaman/ Jason Momoa as his pic-base so no matter what I have him doing, hes going to be this big grumpy/ brooding dude. That's my first clue, would this guy be hanging out in the gym? Maybe. Would he be riding a bicycle around a local park? Definitely not. So my story revolves around that first. He's big hes mean and hes wacko, so I work with that.
Secondly I like the fact that he thinks he's a God from a bazillion years ago, which means he wouldn't know what cell phones are, or TV or even wrestling. He's like a fancy caveman. So I consider that.
Lastly I like to come up with a start/ finish for my story. Hyperion is facing off against Michael Storm for a big match, and Michael Storm is a good guy. Therefore I will be the bad guy. I need to tell him I will beat him, but I alos want people to see what Hyperion gets up to. So I need to pick a setting that makes sense to his characters. And then I don't want writers block, so I want to keep the dialogue easy and flowing. So I might bring in another person or something to help so he's not talking to himself.
With all that in mind, I put together my RP;
"Hyperion walks to the local bar, where he looks grump/ angry and people stay away from him. Nobody talks to him, so he talks to the barman. He is having some drinks, the barman is cleaning while they talk, very simple stuff. He tells the barman he has a match, the barman asks if hes confident and Hyperion declares how he is a God and cannot be defeated. He looks crazy but that's who he is. He tells the barman about Michael Storm, gets angry the more he talks about it and decides to leave. He gets up and marches out, pushing people out of his way and generally being grumpy/angry all the time."
This is a very quick and concise version, but you get the jist. I want people to know about my character. He doesn't go shoe shopping or walking a dog, he's a biker. He drinks in bars or drives his bike around, or even just walks the street being menacing. I also want readers to be aware that he is this big strong angry man, this is shown by him intimidating people, having them avoid him or even him pushing them away. Finally I want readers to know he believes himself a God, so I write a little about Greece or what he believes it to be. I've never been to Ancient Greece myself, nor do I know what Mt. Olympus looks like, but I can make stuff up that's kinda believable. So I just put together a quick RP, it didn't really do much but in the end you learned more about my character, he developed more of his story, his setting and attitude matched his description and he trash-talked/ competed with his opponent. A fully packed, well-rounded RP. Which brings me to topic #2.
2. To Be Competitive, Friendly or Neither?
Some writers think the best way to succeed is simply make their character walk to the ring, microphone in hand and tell their opponent how they are going to win. And sure, this does work...some times. But does it progress a current story? Does it develop the character more? It really only ticks one of the boxes, and sometimes that is not enough to get you the win. An RP can be judged on a lot of things, but the golden rule is always the same- 'If the RP is fun to read and makes sense, then its good.' The making sense part is a grey line, seeing as I just told you who my character is! But its a good guideline to go by. I will give example of three ways to write that are always fun to read, and always go down well in my book.
The Character Development RP: Not necessarily a strong competitive RP, but more focused on telling the characters story. This RP will really shed light on who the character is, what they are going through in life and what they are feeling, and ultimately fill us in more on what this person is all about. They may say a few choice words about their competition, they may not even mention the match. But a development RP can easily win a match and get you the big win if you write it well. A prime example of some great character development recently was Michael Storm. He has been dealing with real life factors, aging. Sickness. Injuries. Retirement from the ring looms on the horizon, doctors have advised him to stop competing, but his competitive nature propels him forward still. It really is a battle of the body vs mind, and an amazing RP. Read it here; Michael Storm - Aging. Illness. Death.
The Friendly/ Upbeat RP: This one takes a different angle. While still pulling in factors from above, this RP is determined to leave you feeling good about yourself, maybe about the character or possibly all of the above. While reading this RP, you root for the good guy, you cheer for him/ her to win. It doesn't have to be an entire role play, and if anything it could just be portions. But these RP's are enjoyable to read, they are comedic or cheerful and best of all, they tell the story of who we are reading about so well. If you like a fictional character after reading an RP, then that is good writing. To enter a fantasy world and relate to the character or simply laugh your ass off then that is always good in my books. A perfect example of someone who nails you right in the feels each time is Danny Ray, aka the Family Man. There are so many examples of good writing so its hard to pick or choose one. Just read this, his first post her eon the Network and you'll see what I mean; THE FAMILY MAN A NEW BEGINNING.
The Aggressive, Direct RP: Now and then you just need to blow off steam, you need to come right out and tell someone how you are going to kick their butt and take the win. And that is always fun to read, but too much aggression can leave the RP feeling stale. Every wrestler can fight, every wrestler is capable of kicking ass, so telling the world that and only that is doing a disservice to the character. Instead, think of it in another light- 'I really want this win, and I can't wait to kick their ass. But I am going to let everyone know in a different way'. Instead of having the character come to the ring and whoops verbal ass down the microphone, why not have them tell their friends, partners or even randoms in the story? Instead of being in the ring, why not have them talking to their buddy or barber or Uber driver about how they have a big match and their opponent is going to be sorry? I made Hyperion tell his barman, and that was enough. It doesn't have to be the world every time. Examples of this is Bobby Barratt, the very cocky but very confident heel. He spends time with his tag team partner/ friend, his girlfriend and maybe other members of the roster. He talks to them like a person would complain about a co-worker in real life, he explains how determined he is to win or how driven he is to come to a satisfactory conclusion. This RP for example is him actually going up against Hyperion and Ezriel in a tag team match. The rP revolves around him and his partner Jack Diamond making fun of their opposition, mocking them playfully between themselves. It is not overly arrogant, but get the point across. He doesn't walk to the ring to shoot his mouth, he does it in his own living room. When done like this, its more effective and develops the characters attitude also. Read the RP here; Technical Difficulties. A Prodigal Diamond Production
3. Preparation, Style & Presentation
This isn't always nor is it rare, but you start to write the most epic, badass post ever...and the boards kick you off. Or your laptop dies. Or you wife tells you to get off that stupid fantasy wrestling site with the weird men on the internet. It's happened us all at one time or another. How do you battle this? Preparation! My go-to backup plan took me a few botched attempts to work out, and a lot of lost writing. But how I start every RP is now by opening up Google Docs on my Google Drive, opening a new document and typing it there. No matter what happens to my computer, or any computer I am working on, it's available to me on the cloud and never lost. I cannot emphasize how stressful it is to lost a 3000 word RP due to accidentally refreshing your page.
Another unofficial rule but it is commonly referred to- if your RP looks good, its laid out well and its easy to read, it will be judged better/ liked by more people. If your RP is full of spelling mistakes, its messy looking, its colored poorly or simply looks super amateur, people might judge you harshly. I for one am a fan of colored texts, especially as the Network is a black background. Plain white text is fine, but adding color to it really spices things up. Changing text to italics or bold really separates sections. So it's something worth while. While some like to add images to their posts and other simply like things laid out in a particular way, the main thing to remember is this; you wouldn't read a book that was messy or had spelling mistakes, so why write that way on here? Each person has their own style, but here is what I do (Example of a Hyperion RP);
For narration/ storytelling purposes, I like to make it stand out. So I bold the text, to make it appear on screen easier. No colors, but I want people to be able to read it.
For dialogue, I italicize it so that it looks different to the narration. As I usually have more than one person between conversations, I assign each of them a color and do my best to explain who is who before having them speak in that color.
For layout I don't change it. I like to double space to make it appears cleaner/ easier to read and follow, and I leave it aligned to the left. You can do this however you like, but that's what I have found to be my style.
There is no good way or bad way to do this, and almost everyone has their own style. Simply click on the three RP examples above to see what I mean. The main thing to take from this is if you bold an entire RP with no breaks, or change the colors to very very dark, nobody can read what it says! Laying out your story in a tidier way reflects on you as a writer, and often assigns a certain feeling to your work. This is the least important part of writing an RP, but I feel it needs to be mentioned.
Taking all of those into account, I can usually come up with an RP for almost any situation. Your character is a up & coming athlete from wrestling academy? Have him working out in the gym, or meeting a buddy. Your character is a woman who's lost her memory? Have her looking for that, online or in the newspapers. Your person is a golden bear? Have them eaten salmon from the river! While we all suffer from mental blocks now and then, putting out an RP should be a fun pasttime, a nice hobby to have. We might not be accomplished writers in the real world but dangit we do our best here! And the stories/ characters I have crossed here are some of the best work to be written. There is nothing stopping you from putting out a great story, whether you are fresh and new to this, a seasoned writer or a returning e-fedder. This is an art, its a lot of fun and everyone here is excited to do this with you.
While this is my two cents, and how I role play I want to hear about you. What are your tips and tricks, what are your mindsets when writing? Do you crack open a beer and put on some Megadeth before sitting down to the keyboard? Maybe its wine and Katy Perry, who are we to judge! Do you like to incorporate your real life situations into your posts/ characters, or do you want it to be completely fictional? The more you share and the more help you provide, the better we will all be for it. And when we finally release XHF: The Compendium to the comic book stores, we can all take that money to the bank!