Hydaelyn Role-Players

Whether you’re a wily vet or a role playing noob, you’re here because you want to role play.  I’m going to break down RP into its component parts and explain how you can get involved.  Don’t be afraid, we’re all here to have fun!

I’m trying to make this document as enabling and newbie friendly as possible, so hopefully it doesn’t go over anyone’s head.  Let me define a few abbreviations here:

• RP- Role Playing:  building a community story by interacting with other characters
  
• PC- Player Character:  An in-game avatar controlled by another player somewhere in the world.
  
• NPC- Non-Player Character:  An in-game avatar controlled by the computer.  No player is at the other end. 
  
• IC- In Character:  communicating in character to create scenes, like an actor in a play.
  
• OOC- Out of Character :  communicating as a player, usually done to set up RP opportunities or resolve RP conflicts.  Generally this is ((marked with brackets)) or annotated somehow.  OOC- this is an OOC message.
  
• IRL- In Real Life:  a phrase used to indicate you’re talking about the real world and not the game.
  

For your convenience, here’s a table of contents.  You can read the whole thing top to bottom if you love words, but I think the document is still meaningful if you skip around.  I assume not everyone will be interested in every post, but even experienced RPers may get some utility out of the parts on character creation.

1. What is Role Playing?- A basic description of the hobby for newcomers.
   
2. What Makes a Story?- Explanation of story structure including the nature of conflict and pacing.
   
3. What Makes a Character?- Important character considerations including goals and room for growth.
   
4. Building a Character-  Techniques to help inspire you and create memorable characters.
   
5. Character Questionnaire- 100+ Questions about your character to help flesh them out.
   
6. RP Etiquette-  A few dos and don’ts of RP that I hope are universal.
   
7. Going OOC- The sometimes overlooked necessity of OOC communication.
   
8. Resolving Conflicts-  Resolving RP conflicts and having fun with them.
   
9. RP Scheduling-  Can’t find any time to RP?  Why not MAKE the time?
   
10. Conclusion-  Final Words.
    

What is Role Playing?
Role playing is playing pretend, just like when we were kids.  When children play house, they’re role playing:  you have the mother, the father, the baby, and sometimes the family dog.  When we RP, we pretend to be someone else, but because we’re (possibly) more mature than children, the roles we assume and the stories we tell are much more complex than kids playing house.

As role-players, we create our own Final Fantasy XIV stories.  Most RPers try to stay within the established framework of the game, and many chose to imagine their character as far removed from the world-shaking events of the main quest line.  You may want to play your character as if he/she went through all those epic encounters, but don’t be surprised if other RPers are unwilling to accept that your character is indeed the hero from the main story.  

While you might be upset that your fellow players are unwilling to react to your character with admiration and awe, it’s important to remember that role-playing is a shared experience.  Think back to when you were a kid again…remember those children you DIDN’T like playing with?  Remember how they never admitted they were out?  Remember how they refused to play along if their character got into trouble?  Remember how their toys were invincible and nothing bad ever happened to the characters that kid was playing?  Free form RP in FFXIV is the same way.  No one wants to waste time playing with someone who is the perfect person with powers like a god, and unfortunately the RP community can be pretty judgmental and dismissive.  

Random strangers may not like the direction your character is going or think that you’re only trying to troll them, and they deal with that by ignoring you.  However, don’t be discouraged!  I’m sure you can create a character that you’re happy with and that others accept, but to make that great character we first need to understand what makes a story.

What makes a story?
Conflict is the simple heart of every story.  It sometimes shocks me how people don’t understand this.  I’ve been in writing workshops where talented authors scribble page after page of lovely prose, building interesting worlds and unique characters, but the story is boring because nothing ever happens.  There’s no conflict.  Conflict is action and action is story.

That doesn’t mean every conflict is a duel to the death with fireballs and rapiers.  Conflicts can be violent confrontations between individuals, or they can be deeply internalized battles in the mind where a people wrestle with important decisions.  There are books and books and books written about conflict, and there are a variety of methods to try and categorize them, but for now let’s keep it simple.  

There are essentially three kinds of conflict:  

• Character vs. Character 
  
• Character vs. Environment
  
• Character vs. Self
  

The first form of conflict (Character vs. Character) is the most visceral and easy to grasp.  The heroine may be squaring off against the Dark Lord in a battle to determine the fate of the world, or the hero may be competing with his brother for the hand of the woman he loves.  Character vs. Character conflict can be large or small, Individual vs. Individual, Group vs. Group, or any combination.  These conflicts are the easiest to realize within the framework of FFXIV because we’re all playing individual characters and we all have our stories.  When our characters’ wants and needs interact, conflict has the potential to be born.  The only thing we really have to worry about is resolving those conflicts, either by playing through them, establishing a climax OOCly before or during play, or maybe using dice rolls to decide what will happen.  (More on that in post #7!)

The second form of conflict (Character vs. Environment) is difficult to create in FFXIV, but not impossible.  Rather than two characters (with two separate players) playing through conflicts or acting out a situation, the players come to an agreement about the environmental situation and how the problem can be handled.  

Suppose you want to RP being stranded in a frozen wasteland.  You can take yourself out to Coerthas and start playing, but the scene will probably grind to a halt unless you’ve established some parameters.  How long will you play survivor in the frozen wastes?  What sorts of problems will you have?  Realistically everyone can just walk back to Camp Dragonhead any time, so suspension of disbelief is important.  It’s also important to think of potential consequences and complications that will arise from the environment.  Will the players freeze?  Will they be forced to huddle together for warmth?  Will they build an igloo and, if so, how well will it protect them?  Like Character vs. Character conflicts, these sorts of problems may be resolved with dice rolls, or the players may come to an agreement as to how they want the story to proceed.

What if you want to RP a perfect romantic picnic that gets ruined by rain?  Unless the random weather is very cooperative, you’ll have to pretend that the weather is bad regardless of what it’s doing.  Hopefully whoever you take along on your romantic picnic is cooperative.  Bonus points if you get to the picnic spot and it’s night time!  The problems here don’t seem potentially deadly, so chances are you’ll be able to play through the situation with a minimum of OOC communication and dice rolling.

As a final example, what if one character locks another character in a room?  There’s nothing to stop the person being locked in from simply wandering off (no locked doors in the game), but the individual players have an agreement that the room is locked.  Again we have some big questions.  Can the locked-in character escape?  Can the lock be picked?  Will help come if called?  These sorts of questions need to be answered.

In essence, Character vs. Environment conflicts have great potential, but they require more coordination and trust on the parts of the players.  If I let my RP friend lock me in the room, I’m trusting that my friend won’t leave it at that.  My friend should already have a plan in place for how I can escape or what might happen next, and my friend should guide the story in that direction.  If I need to wait to be rescued, my friend should have the decency to tell me to go ahead and leave the scene until the rescue has a chance to happen.  It’s rude to leave people hanging in the lurch.

The final form of conflict (Character vs. Self) is the most difficult to play in FFXIV.  These conflicts are deeply internal and require little interaction with others.  There’s no elegant way to present your internal monologue in game.  You could use a series of emotes to do so, but reading them would get tedious for other players and break the suspension of disbelief.  This gets back to that old rule of fiction:  show don’t tell.  Imagine you’re watching my character in game and you see each of the following:

Lum Delume stops dead, her eyes widening with disbelief at the news.

Lum Delume stops dead in her tracks.  Can it be true?  Is he really dead?  Can a life so rich with experience and knowledge be snuffed out like candle?  Will she ever hear his voice, or see the knowing twinkle in his eyes?  Will she ever go back to the mid week market with him to buy blueberries and cream?  Can a world without him have true meaning?  Can she go on knowing he is gone?

Either of these could be fine in the proper context, but #1 gets the point across immediately.  Other players will understand my emotional response based on my reaction, and the scene proceeds.  There’s no need for me to explain everything I’m feeling, and it’s better if I don’t.  Much like acting, less is more, and the other players will use their imaginations to fill in gaps about how my character feels.

Good in-game RP should be dynamic and fluid, you do something, I respond, you respond to me, and so on.  This makes it difficult to play out internal conflicts in game.  Let your actions speak to the turmoils your character is feeling inside, but if you want to write some detailed inner monologue or give people a glimpse inside your character’s head, consider keeping an IC journal on the forums.

It’s also important to remember that you’re RPing with other people and they have their own characters and agendas.  You are not the sole author, and that’s what makes these games so interesting.  You should have ideas for conflicts and handling those conflicts, but be responsive to other players.  If they come up with a good solution a problem, let them follow that solution!  Don’t stop them from slaying the dragon just because they did it in a way you didn’t think of first.  Don’t keep them from changing your story.  The unexpected twists and turns of RP with other people is what makes the game fun.  If you want exclusive creative ownership of your character and story, you should really be writing a novel and not doing free-form RP.

All three forms of conflict can be employed in varying measures to create a dynamic story, but a good conflict falls flat without proper pacing.  Stories build, problems get worse, and the stakes get higher as the tale unfolds.  In the best stories, the problems become so large and the situation so intense that the audience can’t see any solution.  It’s then that great authors come in with a satisfying and logical climax.  Problems are resolved, and we bask in the warm glow of the denouement.

Because RP in FFXIV is dynamic and there are multiple authors, it’s difficult to control pacing.  Still, it’s useful to consider the stories you are telling and the time frame they’ll need to be resolved.  Major character conflicts may last a month or two of real life time, and there should be several complications that raise the stakes during that period.  Smaller problems may only last through one or two RP sessions but there should still be several jumps in the action.  Give a little thought and creative energy to your stories, large and small, and you’ll be happily surprised when other players latch onto the complications you introduce and run with them.

Consider this example.  Suppose my character Lum has a crush on Professor Labcoat and really wants to impress him.  She invites the professor to join her for a meal she is preparing.  The scene could unfold a few ways:

1. Professor Labcoat arrives to find a sumptuous meal expertly prepared and laid out on the table.  He has a pleasant evening with Lum where they talk about how good the food is.
   
   
2. Professor Labcoat arrives to find a sumptuous meal expertly prepared and laid out on the table.  He has a dinner with Lum where they discuss lab coat technology and the future of lab coat research.  Eorzean lab coat technology is falling dangerously behind that of the Garleans.  Apparently the Garleans have developed a new method to make lab coats from the threads of mortal souls.  The Professor ask for Lum’s help.  He knows she’s a conjurer and he’s impressed by her sharp mind and keen wit.  Lum thinks it may be possible to weave the spiritual energy of nature into Eorzean lab coats to combat the Garlean menace.  The two of them make their way to the Professor’s lab.
   
   
3. Professor Labcoat hears a deafening crash the moment he arrives.  He rushes to the kitchen to find Lum desperately trying to extinguish a smoldering loaf of bread, a large pot of spilled soup soaking through the floorboards beside her.  Before he can react, a cat darts from under the table, running through Lum’s feet, startling her and sending her tumbling to the ground.  She looks up at the professor with an awkward smile.  “Dinner is served?”
   
   
4. Professor Labcoat arrives to find a sumptuous meal expertly prepared and laid out on the table.  He starts to take his seat when a kobold leaps from the shadows and snatches up the pot roast.  “Mine!  All MINE!” says the kobold, cackling wickedly.  The professor makes a grab for the beast, but misses as it jumps through an open window, scurrying away into the darkness.  Lum enters from the kitchen and stops, confused.  “Didn’t I bring out the roast?  A kobold SNATCHED it?  After him!”
   

The initial conflict in every case is that Lum wants to impress Professor Labcoat.  In example #1 everything goes perfectly.  Professor Labcoat is impressed…maybe?  I would personally find this scene boring even though a pleasant dinner evening can be a lot of fun in real life.  Still, have you ever watched a movie scene where a pleasant dinner was had by all?  No, you haven’t.  I think I’ve read about pleasant dinner scenes in novels, but even then it’s a paragraph of information and not a 60 minute RP session.  There’s no real action there, no pizazz, and there’s nothing to indicate the relationship between Professor Labcoat and Lum is deepening beyond the fact they spent an evening together.  The central conflict remains unchanged.

In example #2 we have a story unfolding much like #1, but this time the Professor and Lum have something interesting to discuss besides how good the food is.  Lum finds out the Professor is already impressed by her intelligence and asks for help with a problem.  The evening will continue with them traveling to the professor’s lab.  What could happen on the way?  What could happen at the lab?  In this case, the characters get different situations to interact in and the characters have a chance to deepen their understanding of each other and build shared memories, creating a solid foundation for a relationship.

Example #3 seems ripped right from a romantic comedy and we’re curious where it will go next.  Will the Professor help Lum fix something to eat?  Will they decide to do something else completely?  Who knows?  The fun will be in finding out, and each player has a chance to show some of their character based on the action that occurs.

Example #4 immediately changes the dinner date into a wild goose-chase through the countryside.  Much like situation #2, there should be plenty of opportunities for the professor and Lum to interact.  They’ll cooperate and chase down the kobold.  Maybe they’ll get the roast back and maybe not, but they’ll have a memorable experience.  There’s still plenty of time to have a romantic interlude after the action is resolved, and indeed the quieter scene will be more meaningful following the excitement of the chase.

Scene one fails not because there is no conflict, but because the conflict has no pacing.  In scene one Professor Labcoat should clearly know Lum is interested in him, and he can accept her or reject her.  There’s no complication between exposition (Lum has a crush and wants to impress the Professor) and conclusion (Professor is/isn’t impressed).  In every other scene the resolution is delayed because of complications, and we have a real story.

Another way to think of these issues is to consider the gap between what everyone expects and what ultimately occurs.  Whenever a story goes as expected, it’s boring.  Actions and choices in stories should have results and complications that subvert expectations, creating a gap between audience prediction and what really occurs.  The action is born from the characters attempting to close that gap.

Just remember, in good stories the situation gets worse and worse until it’s finally resolved in the climax.  If you want to have good RP, you need to be willing to let your character lose sometimes, be willing to have setbacks and failures.  These problems are the heart of the story.

What Makes a Character?
If conflict is the heart of the story, change is the heart of the character, and change comes as a result of the conflicts.  A good character has motivations, things they need or want, and the ability to try and achieve those motivations.  Once the character obtains what they want, the motivation is resolved.  We won’t pursue that motivation anymore because we got it or we failed to get it:  the motivation is complete.  To continue the story, we need a new goal.

The classic love story is a fine example of this.  My character is in love with another and pursues the romance.  The story could end happily for me:  I win my true love and we start a new life together.  Our new motivation would perhaps be something shared, maybe we want to save enough money to buy a nifty in-game house.  The romance could also end badly:  perhaps my true love is murdered and my new motivation is to have revenge on the killer.  It may also be that my love doesn’t love me back and choses to be with someone else.  In that case, I may try to sabotage their relationship if I’m not a good character, or I may try and find a new love, or I may secretly bear an undying torch for my unrequited romance.  In every case, you can see how the story builds to the next step.  My character had a motivation, and based on that motivation there was some change in the direction of the story, resulting in a new motivation.  If my character has no goals to pursue, the story ends.  No motivation, no conflict, no story.

It’s also important that your character’s goals be something that can be pursued and resolved in a meaningful way.  Because FFXIV is a fantasy game nearly any goal is achievable, but I’ll try and give an example.  

Suppose you met a character who was obsessed with preventing the Calamity.  Perhaps in FFXIV this is possible…maybe there is magic that would allow someone to go back in time and stop the Calamity from happening.  Still, is this a good motivation?  The Calamity happened and the entire game world is built upon that fact.  Undo the Calamity and you’re really not playing FFXIV anymore.   If you pursued this story, you would spend all of your time doing IC magical research.  Thinking about the future is pointless because your story is focused on changing the past.  Why pursue relationships, keep ties to family, or worry about problems like war with the Garleans or the beast races and their Primals?  None of that will matter if the Calamity is undone.

If you decide for RP reasons that your mission succeeds and the Calamity doesn’t happened, what then?  The game world and all the lore is still built upon the fact that the Calamity occurred.  Other players won’t accept that the Calamity was undone because it is too great a break from the established story of the game.  

Preventing the Calamity is a terrible goal.  It’s just not reasonably achievable.  If someone came to you in RP and said the Calamity never happened because they prevented it, would you want to RP with that character?

The best character goals will be something within reach that doesn’t require much interaction with the established story and characters of the game.  Many players are unwilling to accept that you want (or HAD) an IC relationship with one of the storyline NPCs.  They won’t accept that you want to learn Loiuscroix’s ritual that protected the warriors of light and placed them out of time.  They probably won’t like it if you claim to have the power to summon Bahamut, and if your IC goal is to summon Bahamut, other PCs will think of you as crazy at best or a dangerous villain at worst.  All of these ideas are too big, to unbelievable, too unreachable.  Think of something smaller and more human.

For these reasons, it’s good to have a character with definite flaws and limitations.  If your character is remarkably attractive, incredibly skilled with a blade, smart enough to write dissertations on efficient modes of airship propulsion, never gets sick, has plenty of money, is married to the love of her life, has a great relationship with her parents, never feels jealous or angry or scared or inadequate…well.  What motivates this perfect person?  When you have it all, what else do you want?

Every exceptional positive trait your character has removes a potential avenue for change.  If you start out claiming you’re an expert swordsman, you never have the chance to role play learning to be an expert swordsman.  If your character is super smart, you never have a chance to learn those things or role play becoming smart.  If your character starts the game married, you never have a chance to RP those exciting early times in a relationship.

None of this means your character should be an inept butterfingers with no social ties at the beginning of the game, but a good rule of thumb is to pick one or two benefits your character has, then pick an equal number of flaws.  Try and make these choices meaningful.  If your character is excellent with a sword, perhaps he feels awkward talking to others.  If your character can throw fireballs that melt steel, maybe she also has a bad temper.  If your character is wise and patient, perhaps he really hates violence.  It can be a little tough paying negative character traits because we worry other players may mistake our negative RP traits as our own shortcomings (I’d hate people to think I have a bad temper!).  Don’t worry.  Most RPers are mature enough to enjoy your character flaws.  Many will love your flaws more than the things you do well!

Just remember, a good character needs room to grow and change.  Leave yourself open to change from other players in the game, and leave your stories open to interaction from other players as well.  The goal is to build an entertaining story together, and that means many character motivations leading to conflicts leading to resolutions leading to new motivations and new conflicts.

Building a Character
Now that we have established what makes a good story and a good character, you might have some questions on how to create your character.  There are thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of books on character design, and the subject is too exhaustive to cover in great detail here.  Instead, I’ll try and give you a little insight on how writers I know build characters and leave the rest up to you.  You’ve got a great imagination!  I know you can do it.

Character History & Personality:  Careful Planning vs. Jump Right In
Characters can be built from the ground up with lavishly detailed back stories and prior planning, or they can jump into the action with only a few notions about who they are and where they’re going.  If you’re having trouble coming up with a character concept, some of the techniques below may help.  I’m listing them from the most free form to the most writing intensive.  You can start from the top and work your way down, but never look at character creation like a homework assignment.  Let your imagination flow, follow any tips that seem fun and interesting, and ignore the rest.  Those parts of the character that interest and excite you most will be the same things that excite others.

Inspiration
Sometimes a character idea leaps out and feels completely right.  Everything writes itself.  Everything falls into place.  People love the character and it’s easy to play.  

Consider yourself lucky:  not everyone has the natural talent to produce an awesome character from thin air, and virtually no one can do it at will.  Ride the wave of inspiration and enjoy it.  There’s not much else to say about this, but I thought I’d include it for completeness sake.

Motivation  
A good technique I learned was to ask two simple questions:  what does the character want, and what does the character really want?  Interesting, complex characters have an immediate, tangible goal that is achievable and a second goal that is more internal, subconscious, and difficult to achieve.  This internal goal is the true motivation for everything the character ultimately does.  For example:

Michonne (The Walking Dead)

• Wants- To kill the governor
  
• REALLY wants- To find new life with friends and family
  

Walter White (Breaking Bad)

• Wants- To get enough money to support his family
  
• REALLY wants- To be a kingpin with money, power, and respect
  

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings)

• Wants- To serve her father the king
  
• REALLY wants- To be judged on her abilities and not by her gender
  

Batman (you know…the BATMAN)

• Wants- To end crime in Gotham
  
• REALLY wants- To protect himself and save his parents
  

Commander Shepherd (Mass Effect)

• Wants- To stop the Reapers
  
• REALLY wants- To unite humanity with the various alien species in the spirit of cooperation to overcome all future galactic threats…OR to unite humanity AGAINST the alien species, yoking them like mules to fuel a new era of human dominance sufficient to overcome all future galactic threats.
  
  

Note the complexity that is born from each of these sets of motivations.  (Below might be a little spoilery, so skip to the next section if you’re not up to date on any of these stories.)

Michonne spends time alone but always comes back to the people she has grudgingly come to trust.  We can sense that she wants to join the other survivors whole-heartedly but something holds her back.  Is it self-doubt?  An unwillingness to lose someone close to her again?  We can think of a million ways to answer this question, and as the series continues we’re sure to get answers (if the Walking Dead writers are worth their salt).

Walter White says again and again that he does everything for his family, but he continues to cook meth, expand his empire, and crush his enemies.  He has more than enough money to support his family through many lifetimes, but he continues his criminal lifestyle even when the consequences begin to cause real problems for the people he loves.  Only at the end of the series when he makes peace with his own mortality does he admit to Skyler that he did it all for himself.  He was good at being a kingpin and it made him feel like he was worth something again.

Eowyn argues with Aragorn and Theoden about her role in the coming war.  She is ordered to stay behind when the riders of Rohan march, but she lies and conceals her identity to join the battle at Minas Tirith.  She confronts the Witch King, striking fear into his heart and defeating him through courage and determination.

Batman trains like an insane person and fights criminals in Gotham.  At his core, he’s still the child who lost his parents because he wasn’t strong enough to save him.  The character motivation remains the same in comic books, cartoons, movies, and video games.  Batman can’t rest, he can’t stop doing what he does because he can’t undo the past.  He can’t save himself.  Bruce Wayne died that night outside the theater and Batman was born.

Commander Shepherd wants to stop the Reapers but the character’s TRUE goals shift depending on how you choose to portray her.  Paragon Shepherd is inspiring and generous, she makes sacrifices and chooses the path that’s right even if it’s not the easy road.  Renegade Shepherd is self-serving and puts the good of Humanity over the other species in the galaxy:  she’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the future is one where Humans are dominant.  Bioware does an incredible job weaving these story lines together such that each seems like a complete game when considered by itself.  (No, don’t ask me about the third one.)

You can build a really great character if you decide on an immediate, tangible goal and then consider a deeper, hidden goal that dovetails with the tangible goal and drives it.  Such a character becomes nuanced and layered, and the complexity builds itself quickly in the imagination.  This is a great quick-and-dirty way to develop a good character for those that like to fly by the seat of their pants.  If you need inspiration, think about movies and television shows you know that have won awards.  Consider the characters there.  Chances are they have many immediate motivations but only one hidden, driving motivation that guides their actions as the story develops.

Real Life and Media Models
Colorful people you know from real life can inspire characters.  You could build a character based off a friend, a relative, or maybe a co-worker.  You don’t need to know everything about the individual’s personality or motivations, in fact it’s better if you start with the basic shell of that person and then build the RP character around it.  If you’re feeling stymied for motivation, check out the topic just above this one and ask yourself two vital questions:  what does my character want, and what does my character REALLY want?

Perhaps you don’t know any interesting people in real life, or at least none of them excite your imagination.  Choosing a historically important person, a modern world leader, or an imaginary character from some book, movie, anime, or video game may work for you.

If you pick a real life historical figure or a modern leader, chances are you’ll know very little about their personality.  It doesn’t matter.  The person you choose needs to inspire you and fuel your imagination, and everything else will build on that.  Concentrate on the qualities you associate with the figure you’ve chosen.  What sort of person was Joan of Arc?  Do you think she was warm and approachable or more spiritual and distant?  What sort of leader was she?  How did Abraham Lincoln’s family view him?  What did Gengis Khan’s friends think of him?  What are the best qualities of the person you’re thinking of? What are some nifty flaws you can add?  Once you begin to get a feel for a character, go back to the motivations post and ask:  what does my character want, and what does my character REALLY want?  You have to be careful or you’ll end up playing a caricature, but with just a few twists and a little creative energy you can make something truly unique.

Maybe a completely fictional character fires your imagination.  Just as people from the real world can seed your creative energy for a new and unique character, the same techniques work for popular fictional characters from books, movies, and television.  The more popular the character, the more important it is to put a twist on it.  What are some aspects of the character you like best?  These are things you’ll probably want to keep.  Other traits that seem less important can be switched out or forgotten.  Introduce new flaws or change the back story a little.  Avoid using the character’s catch-phrase…it’s a dead give away.  If you tweak even well-known characters just a little bit, you’d be surprised how few people recognize the inspiration.  If you really want to try RP but have been afraid, this is the technique for you.  Pick your favorite fictional character, tweak a few details in a way that seems awesome, and ask those two questions:  what does my character want, and what does my character REALLY want?

Just like me, with a TWIST
A method that works for some people is to play a character with the same personality as themselves, but twisted a little.  Or maybe don’t twist it at all.  This seems easy, but in my experience it’s incredibly tricky.  Don’t get lazy and assume your character would be JUST LIKE you.  Did you grow up in Eorzea?  Have you ever seen someone cast a magic spell?  Have you ever lived through an event like the Calamity?  Think about how these events could change you and tweak your character accordingly.

A related method that can work for people is to take an aspect of their personality and play it up.  Are you a little pompous or arrogant?  Those traits can make memorable characters.  Do you think you’re brave?  You could play a character that is foolishly brave or incredibly cowardly; both traits should be something you can play if you feel they’re a part of you, something you can understand.  The goal is to be inspired, so follow the inspiration where it leads.

Question and Answer Sheets
The final and most dogmatic technique for building character that I’ll discuss.  Google phrases like ‘character questions,’ ‘character building questions,’ and ‘character interview.’  You’ll come up with hundreds of web sites that ask all sorts of questions about character.  Find one that looks good and fill it out.  My recommendation is to only answer the questions that interest you.  If you read the question and you don’t immediately have an answer or find yourself thinking about the answer, chances are you should just skip that question.  I don’t think you’ll have much luck with this technique unless you have SOME ideas about the character before starting, perhaps inspired by the methods above.  Regardless, answering character questions is a good way to flesh out your history.

I’ll include a character questionnaire in the posts below.  I don’t remember where I originally found it, but hopefully it will be useful to you.

Building Memorable Characters
Memorable characters have depth and complexity, but a few interesting traits never hurt.  Your character might have exceptionally clear, blue eyes or thick, wiry hair.  Maybe you have fingers like sausages or you always wear the same pair of ancient, weathered boots.  These sorts of details make a character stand out and instantly show other people that you’ve put some thought into your story.  I’ll try and list a few categories of interesting character traits with examples, but be careful about making a character too quirky.  Pick one or two unique traits and forget the rest.  One quirk is memorable, more than two and you just seem weird.  The other key is to be subtle with these traits…just one mention of a nasty scar and the other players will remember it.  No reason to shoe-horn it in every time you talk or move.

Appearance- You may have an exceptionally ugly or beautiful character trait.  If possible, your character model in game should reflect this.  Can you really tell everyone your character has beautiful green eyes when the model’s eyes are brown?  Appearance traits need to be handled with a light hand…throw some information about your appearance out there at the beginning of your RP session and wait a while before mentioning it again.  Generally I’ll shoot for something about my appearance at the beginning of an RP session and try to make one more mention closer to the end.

Quirks- A blanket term for all sorts of odd personality traits.  Does your character twist her hair a lot?  Does he frown when he gets upset?  Does she take a swig from her hip flask whenever she’s stressed?  Does he bite his nails to keep from laughing?  All of these quirks make a character memorable, but it’s important to be consistent.  Don’t forget to do your quirky action or ignore it when it’s inconvenient; a good quirk may occasionally cause problems for you, but those problems can lead to new stories.  Good RPers will notice that you obsessively touch door knobs twice before passing through, and they may ask you about it.  In this case it’s a good idea to have a story in mind for why you do the crazy thing you do.  Other players will remember your hang up, and they’ll remember the reason for it too.

Props- Does your character always have a cigar in his mouth?  Does she wear a chain on her wrist and play with it obsessively?  Does he absently clean his glasses when he’s drunk?  Does she keep a pencil behind her ear for taking notes?  Any activity that involves an object goes here.  Again, subtlety is key.  People will get that you’ve got cigars if you enter the room puffing away at one.  You can reinforce it by lighting a new one at an appropriate moment, or better yet, offer them to others and you have an open door to potential role play.

Accents- This is the least subtle of any trait, but a memorable accent or unique way of talking is sure to earn you a special place in the hearts of other players.  The problem is, depending on how well you pull it off, other people may find you annoying or tedious.  We all remember how Gollum talked and acted, but none of us would really want to be his friend.

Consistency and legibility are important if you’re going to do an accent.  It usually only takes a few changes to get the overall point across.  Consider these:

• “Hurr, eet doobie Lurd Vulky’s f’rst yun’gun June.”
  
• “Here, it do be Lord Vulky’s first young one, June.”
  

• “Guddim loike feesh ‘n leffim t’ doi, Oi did.”
  
• “Gut ’im like a fish and left ’im to die, I did.”
  

• “Weeee muuuuuuussstt haaaaasssss the preeeeeeeecioussssss, GOOOLLLLLUM GOOOLLLLUM!”
  
• “We must has the precious, gollum, gollum!”
  

The first lines invoke a heady sense realism but are impossibly difficult to read.   The second lines are easy to type, legible, and still get the point across.  Consider also, the longer it takes to piece through the writing, the slower the speech seems to be.  All of the first sentences above seem like they are spoken more slowly than the second sentences.

Well-done accents are great, but poorly done accents are a real eyesore.  If you want to do an accent, don’t be afraid to ask people OOCly for feedback.  Do they like the accent?  Is there anything you can do differently?   A little fine tuning could turn a disaster into a triumph, or you may discover that everyone thought your accent was fine anyway.

THE 100+ QUESTIONS

Welcome to over one hundred of the dumbest questions about your character. These are things that, if someone were to ask you in real life, you could answer without giving it any thought whatsoever. Most characters, however, can't answer this because authors never think about it - it's unimportant. Well, these things are going to help you define your character more.

Some tips: Answer these in character, but only in a situation where your character would be 100% honest with themselves and with the person asking the question. Otherwise, answer as an author, and still be 100% honest.
 
Mandatory Questions 
1. What about you is heroic?
2. What about you is social? What do you like about people?
3. Of what benefit could you be to the current group?
4. Why would you choose to join the current group?
5. Invent an adventure/plot that your character would actively undertake (as opposed to just tagging along)?
 
Personal Questions
1. What is your real, birth name? What name do you use? 
2. Do you have a nickname? What is it, and where did you get it? 
3. What do you look like? (Include height, weight, hair, eyes, skin, apparent age, and distinguishing features)
4. How do you dress most of the time?
5. How do you "dress up?"
6. How do you "dress down?"
7. What do you wear when you go to sleep?
8. Do you wear any jewelry?
9. In your opinion, what is your best feature?
10. What's your real birth date?
11. Where do you live? Describe it: Is it messy, neat, avant-garde, sparse, etc.?
12. Do you own a car? Describe it.
13. What is your most prized mundane possession? Why do you value it so much?
14. What one word best describes you?
 
Familial Questions
1. What was your family like?
2. Who was your father, and what was he like?
3. Who was your mother, and what was she like?
4. What was your parents marriage like? Were they married? Did they remain married?
5. What were your siblings names? What were they like?
6. What's the worst thing one of your siblings ever did to you? What's the worst thing you've done to one of your siblings?
7. When's the last time you saw any member of your family? Where are they now?
8. Did you ever meet any other family members? Who were they? What did you think of them?
 
Childhood Questions
1. What is your first memory?
2. What was your favorite toy?
3. What was your favorite game?
4. Any non-family member adults stick out in your mind? Who were they, and how did you know them? Why do they stick out?
5. Who was your best friend when you were growing up?
6. What is your fondest, childhood memory?
7. What is your worst childhood memory?
 
Adolescent Questions
1. How old were you when you went on your first date? 
2. It is common for one's view of authority to develop in their adolescent years. What is your view of authority, and what event most affected it?
3. What were you like in high school? What "clique" did you best fit in with?
4. What were your high school goals?
5. Who was your idol when you were growing up? Who did you first fantasize about in your life?
6. What is your favorite memory from adolescence?
7. What is your worst memory from adolescence?
 
Occupational Questions
1. Do you have a job? What is it? Do you like it? If no job, where does your money come from?
2. What is your boss or employer like? (Or publisher, or agent, or whatever.)
3. What are your co-workers like? Do you get along with them? Any in particular? Which ones don't you get along with?
4. What is something you had to learn that you hated?
5. Do you tend to save or spend your money? Why?
 
Likes & Dislikes Questions
1. What hobbies do you have?
2. Who is your closest mundane friend? Describe them and how you relate to them.
3. Who is your worst mundane enemy? Describe them and why you don't get along.
4. What bands do you like? Do you even pay attention?
5. What tape or CD hasn't left your player since your purchased it? Why?
6. What song is "your song?" Why?
7. What's been your favorite movie of all time?
8. Read any good books? What were they?
9. What do you watch on the Television?
10. When it comes to mundane politics, do you care? If so, which way do you tend to vote? If not, why don't you care?
11. What type of places do you hang out in with your mundane friends?
12. What type of places do you hang out in with your normal friends?
13. What annoys you more than anything else?
14. What would be the perfect gift for you?
15. What's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?
16. What time of day is your favorite?
17. What kind of weather is your favorite?
18. What is your favorite food? What is your least favorite food?
19. What is your favorite drink? (Coffee, Coke, Juice, Beer, Wine, etc.)
20. What's your favorite animal? Why?
21. Do you have any pets? Do you want any pets? What kind? 
22. What do you find most relaxing? (Not as in stress relief, but as something that actually calms you down.)
23. What habit that others have annoys you most?
24. What kind of things embarrass you? Why?
25. What don't you like about yourself?
26. How would you like to look?
 
Sex & Intimacy Questions
1. Would you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, or something else? Why?
2. Who was the first person you had sex with? When did it happen? What was it like? How well did it go?
3. Have you ever had a same-sex experience? Who with, what was it like, and how did it go?
4. What is your deepest, most well-hidden sexual fantasy? Would you ever try it?
5. What was the wildest thing you've ever done, sexually? Who was it with and when did it happen?
6. Is there any sexual activity that you enjoy and/or practice regularly that can be considered non-standard? (Bondage, Fantasy Play, etc.) Why do you like it?
7. Is there any sexual activity that you will not, under any circumstances, do?
8. Do you currently have a lover? What is their name, and what is your relationship like? What are they like? Why are you attracted to them?
9. What is the perfect romantic date?
10. Describe the perfect romantic partner for you.
11. Do you ever want to get married and have children? When do you see this happening?
12. What is more important - sex or intimacy? Why?
13. What was your most recent relationship like? Who was it with? (Does not need to be sexual, merely romantic.)
14. What's the worst thing you've done to someone you loved?
 
Drug & Alcohol Questions
1. How old were you when you first got drunk? What was the experience like? 
Did anything good come out of it? Did anything bad come out of it?
2. Do you drink on any kind of regular basis?
3. What kind of alcohol do you prefer?
4. Have you ever tried any other kind of "mood altering" substance? Which one(s)? What did you think of each?
5. What do you think of drugs and alcohol? Are there any people should not do? Why or why not?
 
Morality Questions
1. What one act in your past are you most ashamed of? What one act in your past are you most proud of?
2. Have you ever been in an argument before? Over what, with who, and who won?
3. Have you ever been in a physical fight before? Over what, with who, and who won?
4. What do you feel most strongly about?
5. What do you pretend to feel strongly about, just to impress people?
6. What trait do you find most admirable, and how often do you find it?
7. Is there anything you think should not be incorporated into the media or art (sex, violence, greed, etc.,)? If so, what and why, and if not, why not?
8. Do you have any feelings in general that you are disturbed by? What are they? Why do they disturb you?
9. What is your religious view of things? What religion, if any, do you call your own?
10. Do you think the future is hopeful? Why?
11. Is an ounce of prevention really worth a pound of cure? Which is more valuable? Why do you feel this way?
12. What's the worst thing that can be done to another person? Why?
13. What's the worst thing you could actually do to someone you hated?
14. Are you a better leader or follower? Why do you think that? If you think the whole leader-follower archetype is a crock of shit, say so, and explain why?
15. What is your responsibility to the world, if any? Why do you think that?
16. Do you think redemption is possible? If so, can anyone be redeemed, or are there only certain circumstances that can be? If not, why do you think nothing can redeem itself?
17. Is it okay for you to cry? When was the last time you cried?
18. What do you think is wrong with MOST people, overall?
 
Magic Questions
1.  Can you use magic?  When did you learn you had this ability?
2.  What do you think of magicians?  Can they be trusted?
3.  Have you worked under any other magicians?  Who were they?  How did you meet them?
4. Do you have any magical items? Where did you get them?
5.  Have you had any dealings with magicians?  How did things turn out?
6.  Do you have any reason to hate magicians?

Miscellaneous Questions
1. What is the thing that has frightened you most? Do you think there is anything out there that's scarier than that? What do you think that would be?
2. Has anyone or anything you've ever cared about died? How did you feel about it? What happened?
3. What was the worst injury you've ever received? How did it happen?
4. How ticklish are you? Where are you ticklish?
5. What is your current long term goal?
6. What is your current short term goal?
7. Do you have any bad habits? If so, what are they, and do you plan to get rid of them?
8. If you were a mundane person, what would you do with your life? What occupation would you want, and how would you spend all your time?
9. What time period do you wish you had lived in? Why? (Looking at this as an attempt to change history doesn't count.) What appeals to you about this era?
10. How private of a person are you? Why?
11. If you were to gain an obscenely large sum of money (via an inhertiance, a lawsuit, a lottery, or anything else) what would you do with it?
12. What would you wish for if you found a genie?
13. What do you do when you are bored?
14. What is the most frightening potential handicap or disfigurement you can conceive of? What makes it so frightening?

RP Etiquette
Different groups have different rules for what they consider acceptable RP, but I’m going to try and hit a few guide marks that I think most people would agree on.

Cooperative Story Telling
I mentioned this in my post explaining RP and what it is, but it bears repeating.  Role playing is a shared experience.  You want to have fun, and other players do too.  It’s important to read the moods of other characters and try to build a story together.  It’s difficult to explain how this works as it’s more of an art than a science, but when people get in tune with each other and tell a story that everyone loves, it’s a unique experience.

A good rule of thumb when RPing is to ask yourself, “How would I feel if some other player did this to me?”  Imagine you are role-playing in a bar with a good friend, telling him an in-character story about getting ambushed by kobolds and losing your money.  Another player in the bar jumps in saying, “Anyone who would lose a fight to kobolds is a coward, doesn’t know how to handle a weapon, or both!”

Why did the stranger say that in the bar?  Obviously he wants to role play with you.  He’s picking a fight in character.  How will you react?  The best reaction will build more tension in the scene and deepen the interaction between your characters.  Consider these reactions:

“A coward, am I?”  Lum Delume pulls a dagger and throws it at the stranger’s head.

“A coward, am I?”  Lum Delume walks directly up to the stranger, staring him down.

Lum Delume jumps, startled, freezing awkwardly before slumping her shoulders forward, a look of defeat on her face.  “A coward, am I?  Yes, I suppose that’s true…”

“A coward, am I?  You didn’t see how many were there.  It was impossible for me to escape!”  ((I’m not a coward, the GM rolled a die and I got a really bad result.  It’s just the way it happened.  I couldn’t help it!))

In the first post, Lum has immediately escalated the situation into deadly violence.  Only a complete psychopath would act this way, and chances are the stranger in the bar is already ignoring you.  If you had been the one to call out another player in the bar, would you expect them to turn around and attempt to murder you?  Even really tough, violent individuals wouldn’t respond this way.

The second post is a good reaction for a tough character.  You’re showing that you’re not a coward and giving the stranger a chance to react.  Maybe he’ll jump up and stare you down, forcing your friends to defuse the situation.  Maybe the stranger will back off, or maybe the stranger will laugh.  (“This one’s got spunk!  Lost yer money, did yer?  Let me buy yer a drink!”)  You don’t know what’s going to happen, but that’s the fun of it.  You’re giving the other player a chance to RP and show their character.  If they’re a good player they’ll choose an option that will continue the encounter and add to it…probably the worst thing the stranger could do is meekly back down, removing themselves from the scene and not speaking anymore.  Why bother to speak up in the first place?

The third post is a good reaction for a meek character.  Lum admits she’s a coward immediately.  The stranger can get up now and come over to intimidate Lum further, or maybe the stranger is disgusted by her attitude.  “Huh.  No wonder yer lost yer money.  Get a spine, woman!  Buy me a drink and I’ll teach yer a few things about swordplay!”  If I were in this situation, I would DEFINITELY want to buy the stranger a drink just to see what he’d do next.

The fourth post is almost as bad as the first.  Here Lum is denying she’s a coward but providing an OOC explanation for why things happened the way they did.  The stranger doesn’t care about the OOC reasons and you shouldn’t either.  The stranger wants to build a scene with you here and now.  OOC commentary only serves to break everyone’s suspension of disbelief and shut down the RP.  If you’re lucky, the stranger will try and continue the scene:  (“Don’t matter how many there were.  Kobold’s got stumpy legs.  If yer can’t outfight ‘em, at least try and out run ‘em!”)  Of course, the stranger might have decided it wasn’t worth the effort and moved on.

Always remember that role playing is a cooperative effort that takes time and creative energy from all parties.  When you’re RPing (particularly with strangers), always look for ways to make the scene more varied and complicated.  Try and find ways to draw people deeper and deeper into the story that’s unfolding.  They may not act the way you expected or hoped, but therein lies the beauty.  Playing with other people causes you to act in unique ways you wouldn’t have imagined on your own.  However, when you react in a way that’s not realistic or limits how the other players can respond, they get discouraged and may decide to direct their efforts elsewhere.  Role playing isn’t easy, and if people aren’t having fun with it they give up quickly.

God Modding
The worst kind of role playing severely limits how other players can react.  Suppose the first post above went like this:

“A coward, am I?”  Lum Delume pulls a dagger and throws it into the stranger’s eye, burying the blade deep in his brain, killing him instantly.

The other player has no chance to react.  Do you expect that he’ll slump over dead now and reroll his character?  Clearly not.  He’s going to open up his blacklist and add you.  Play that dictates action and result is called godmodding.

You are free to have your character do whatever she wants, but you should never dictate the results of those actions unless it affects your character alone.  In the post above, Lum acts in a ridiculous fashion, pulling a dagger and throwing it at the stranger, but the stranger is free to duck or dodge or block it with his tankard.  You can bet strangers you just met aren’t going to let you hurt their characters, and chances are they won’t be eager to play with you after that.  Even when playing with people you know, injuries and deaths are usually discussed OOC to make sure everyone is okay with the way the story is going.  The same can be said for dismemberments, scarring, or any form of violence done to another character.

Godmodding isn’t limited to physical confrontations.  Imagine if it went this way:

“A coward, am I?”  Lum Delume turns, showing the stranger the unearthly beauty of her perfect face.  The stranger rises from his seat as if seeing the Twelve, shuffling forward a few steps before falling to his knees in worshipful adoration.  He bows his head.  “Never have I dreamt of such beauty.  From this moment forth, my life is yours.  I swear my unending loyalty to your cause.  Command me now, mistress, and your bidding shall be done.”

Here I’m not killing him, but I’m dictating his actions AND stating he needs to be my willing servant from now on.  No player is going to like that, and I’m sure in a real situation I’d already be on his ignore list.  All of your RP needs to be open ended.  I may reveal the unearthly beauty of my perfect face, but how the other person reacts is up to him.  Don’t be shocked if he doesn’t play along.  Maybe I’m just not his type.

Remember, role-playing is about telling a collective story.  You give your part, then let the other person react with their part.  Build the story together brick by brick.  That’s where the fun is!

IC vs. OOC
This is something even experienced, respectable role players have trouble with.  There are things you know as a player, and there are things your character knows.  Good plots can be ruined when the line blurs and players use their OOC information in character.  This is also called metagaming.

Good mystery plots are the first casualties when characters use OOC information.  In the worst case, players know the answer to the mystery from OOC discussions and just let their characters solve it without any investigation.  This kind of behavior is lame enough to get you blacklisted.  In a more subtle example, the player has access to many details about the mystery that the character hasn’t discovered yet, and this extra detail allows the player to solve the mystery well before the character.  Rather than play along with the mystery as it unfolds, the player again has his character solve the mystery despite not having access to all the facts.

This IC vs. OOC issue can be a problem in the other direction as well.  Sometimes players are so worried about using OOC information they’ll refuse to allow their character to make logical conclusions because they’re not confident the character would have gotten there independently.  Instead of using OOC information to solve the case, the character in this scenario has access to all of the facts and the logical conclusion is pretty obvious, but the player refuses to let his character go there.  He’s worried he’s somehow using OOC information.

Many of us have issues with OOC vs. IC from time to time, and the tolerance people have for these sorts of mistakes varies from group to group.  You can ruin other people’s fun by using OOC information in character.  It’s impossible to know what to do in every scenario, but the best guide I can recommend is to follow the flow of the story.  Remember, stories are built from well-paced conflict.  What’s the conflict in question, and when should the characters reach the climax?  If I know the answer to the mystery, should I necessarily solve it?  What if more complications arose to gum up the works, or what if I solve the mystery but there’s immediately a complication that makes the solution unimportant?

It might not be possible to always have a clean line between OOC and IC knowledge, but in an enjoyable story it should hardly matter.  Instead of rushing to solve every problem, always look for ways to complicate and thus deepen the story.  What you know ICly and OOCly shouldn’t matter as much as how the story develops.

Going OOC
The very best RP happens spontaneously and dynamically.  None of the players saw this coming and it’s AMAZING!  That being said, not every session will be the best and sometimes complicated stories need planning.  Remember when you plan a story not everyone needs to be involved.  Bring in key players for planning sessions and let everyone else participate without knowing where the story is headed.

In general, it’s a good idea to communicate with the other players if the situation is turning violent.  People may not be comfortable with their characters getting hurt, and serious injuries like scars, broken bones, concussions, comas, magical maladies, sicknesses, or what-have-you really need to be discussed before they’re brought into play.  Conversely, maybe you’re looking for someone to do some violence to you.  Maybe your whole character concept is a young hot-shot who has never lost a fight, but you’re ready for him to learn humility.  You can go around picking fights, but if you want to lose in a particular way you’re probably going to need an OOC partnership with another player.

Other times, you may be having trouble moving a story forward because the situation is stagnant.  Everyone is spinning their wheels, and it feels like no one wants to take control of the situation and move forward.  In these cases your fellow players may have ideas about moving the story forward, but they’re unwilling to derail your train.  OOC communication can let other players know you want them to grab the reins, or if you want the story to proceed in a particular way you can tell your friends and get them to help out.  

Finally, there may come a time when writer’s block rears its ugly head and you can’t think of any new story ideas.  In this case, OOC communication is a great way to brainstorm and get fresh inspiration from your fellow players.  People who RP love to talk about stories, so don’t be afraid to reach out.

Really awesome RP is spontaneous, but many times we need to coordinate in order to move a story forward.  Just remember not EVERYONE involved has to know.  Let the few people that really need to know talk it over OOC, then proceed with the story for everyone else.  Your friends will be happily surprised.

Resolving Conflicts
IC conflicts can be talked through, or players can use dice or other methods to determine outcomes.  Dice rolling can be useful as it allows for degrees of success.  Take a number from 1 to 100:  say any number greater than or equal to 50 is successful and any number under 50 is a failure.  The lower the number, the worse you fail, and the higher the number, the better you succeed.  These results give you some notion as to how you direct your role play, and they have the added benefit of telling you how well you did without dictating the actions of others.  Remember, you control your own character’s actions, never the actions of others.

In general, the more a characters’ reaction matters to the story, the more important it is to talk things out before hand.  Players might not like having their character’s emotions and fate resolved by a die roll.  Suppose my character’s back story involves losing her father at a young age and now she has a problem being alone with men.  Another player says he’s a therapist and he’ll cure me if he rolls well, and he does!  I’m cured?  Chances are I don’t want to resolve my backstory issues in such a trivial manner and I’m going to ignore this whole interaction.  The therapist wants to get involved, but he should really ask me OOCly about my story and about how he can take part in it, or I should take the initiative to tell him OOCly how I’d like the story to proceed.  

When you don’t want to know the outcome of an interaction before hand, rolling dice is a good way to proceed.  Dice are also good when outcomes are contested:  when two players want the same thing.  Combat is a great example of a contest where players don’t like to know outcomes before hand.  Dice are rolled and the battle is played out blow by blow.  Even then, OOC communication can really add complexity to the battle:

• Lord Swordswinger:  ((Are we going to do this?  My character is all in plate armor and carries a fancy sword.  Dueling is his thing!))
  
• Timmy the Toothsmith:  ((Timmy has never even picked up a sword before…he’s all about becoming a licensed dentist.  But you called his girlfriend ugly so we gotta go at it.  It will be fun!))
  

Maybe Timmy rolls really well and Swordswinger rolls poorly.  Does that mean Swordswinger is utterly defeated?  Not necessarily!  Perhaps Timmy has tons of natural talent and his skilled strokes fall around Swordswinger like a violent storm.  Swordswinger barely fends off these blows before laughing and bowing.  “Never before have I seen such promise in a student!  You must come with me to Limsa Lominsa where I will teach you the true meaning of steel!”  Swordswinger is still a master and Timmy is still a novice…the natures of the characters haven’t changed but their interaction has..

Maybe Timmy gets lucky and disarms Swordswinger with a lucky turn of his blade.  Swordswinger is forced to yield, retrieving his weapon from the mud he says, “I shall not forget this humiliation, Toothsmith.  Be wary for our fates shall cross again.”  Again, the relationship and interaction is deeper but Swordswinger and Timmy have the same essential characters.  Swordswinger is a combat monster and Timmy wants to be a dentist.

Swordswinger loses in each scenario, and there are a million other ways this scene could play out, but the key is the story continues in a manner that’s satisfying to everyone.  Swordswinger is all about swinging swords, but he can still lose.  He doesn’t have to lose because he’s completely outmatched, either.  Either result above gives Timmy and Swordswinger a story to build on.  If Timmy refuses training, Swordswinger still has a connection to him when they meet later in a bar.  (“Toothsmith!  Are you ready to put down your drills and join me in the warrior’s life?  Everyone!  This boy has more raw promise than any student I have seen, yet he refuses to take up a blade!”)  Likewise, if Timmy got lucky Swordswinger can glare menacingly at him whenever their paths cross.  It’s up to Swordswinger to decide how his character will react.

No matter how you chose to resolve conflicts, it’s important to create a story that you and the other players are happy with.  Dice rolls and OOC communication facilitate the creation of a shared experience that everyone can enjoy.

Scheduled RP Sessions and Events
This is something I didn’t realize until it was pointed out.  (Thanks Loki!)  We schedule so many activities in the game, why not schedule our RP as well?  To really push a story forward you’ll need to have the right people online at the right time.  The best way to coordinate is to SCHEDULE it.  Using the in-game mail system, you can even schedule it in character.

For people that love role playing, it tends to be as important as any in-game activity.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to others and schedule RP sessions and events.  People are always scheduling raids, and you’ll be shocked how many people are happy to schedule RP as well.

Final Thoughts
I tried to be brief but this ended up being a real slog of a document.  I hope it helps those who have little experience with free form RP and encourages them to get out and get involved.  Please understand that everything written here is simply my opinion based on personal experience.  I don’t have all the answers.  If any guideline doesn’t work for you, feel free to disregard it, and feel free to look me up if you ever need help.

Lum! You posted on the RPC, you crazy cat <3

I don't mean to be a jerk or anything but there's a pretty detailed Role-Play Handbook stickied on the RP forums some month back. I will applause your enthusiasm, though.

I have read both RP guides and they are both extremely useful in their own way. Just because one exists does not mean there is no need for another with even more interesting views and suggestions! I like both of them and both of them helped me find out more about my character and how to RP. Thanks for the post. More information is better than less I think. You sure put a lot XD