Hydaelyn Role-Players
The Role-Play Handbook - Printable Version

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The Role-Play Handbook - Eva - 03-07-2013

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Introduction

I've been role-playing for a very long time and have found recently that it may be helpful for many new and returning RPers to have a sort of handbook to refer to in order to help answer some of the more common questions many new RPers face when starting out in the world of Final Fantasy XIV.  I wanted to build a bit on Brin's How-To Guide and Kylin's Role-Play Etiquette Guide, which are both still very effective.

So often these days MMO's have been reduced to a grinding marathon, and building one's "toon" up to be the strongest and best-equipped.  This drive I've found sometimes seems to trump what really makes the MMO experience great - the interaction with other players.  While it's unfair to say that most role-players don't care at all about progression or personal advancement within the game, it may be apt to say that many regard it as a secondary goal, and I think most would probably argue that it's one that they do not wish to lose sight of.

This guide is not meant to be regarded as a hard-and-fast list of rules that must be obeyed on pain of banishment from the RP community.  Most of the RPers that I've met in my time have been very amicable and eager to help.  The truth is we are a minority in the MMO community and we are very eager to welcome anyone who wishes to join us in what we do.  But we are also all human, and we are all different.  Some of us exhibit more tact than others.  Some of us are very accepting of styles of RP that differ from our own, while others may not be.  We all have our own individual preferences, and it's from this diversity that a lot of the truthly great interactions between our characters are born.

Rather than a list of rules, please look upon this guide as a series of guidelines which you may use to help enhance your role-play experience in Final Fantasy XIV.  Most of us have agreed that there are certain elements within the RP community which are acceptable and some which are not.  There are certain conventions that are practiced globally in RP, others apply more to MMO's, and some are very specific to the world of Final Fantasy XIV.  I hope to discuss these in detail.  One may always feel free to defy convention if one chooses, if he or she feels it will be more enriching to the overall experience.  But at the same time, some regard must be given for the people with whom that RPer interacts.  This will be discussed in greater detail later in the "Pitfalls to avoid" section.

Once that balance is struck between what makes you as a role-player happy, and what fits in line with what the rest of the community deems acceptable, realistic, and reasonable - then the real fun begins and you will watch with some amazement as your character is thrust into new and unusual situations, makes friends with other characters that he or she likes, feels friction with more disagreeable characters, and participates in all manner of adventures and interactions.

What is most important is that you are having fun.  Role-play is something which you may potentially spend a very long time doing.  If it is not an enjoyable experience for you than something is wrong and that should certainly be addressed.  Perhaps the character you have created is not as much to your liking as another would be, or perhaps the relationships your character is forming with other characters are not fulfilling.  These sort of situations can be remedied fairly easily by expressing any concerns.  The RPC features a forum called "RP Discussion" for exactly this sort of scenario.  Other role-players in the community will be glad to hear your concerns and sound off with possible solutions.  As I said before, most everyone in this community is friendly and eager to help.  We all want to have fun, and we all want to see one another having fun as well.  After all, that's likely the primary reason for being here in the first place!

Role-play is a rewarding experience for most, but at the same time what you take out of the experience - like most things in life - will be proportionate to what you put into it.  I would encourage any new role-player to create a character they like, seek out a group that seems like they would fit, and simply observe and listen to other role-players.  "First your ear, then your tongue," was a motto I prescribed a long time ago to newer RPers just getting into it.

Once again please bear in mind these are just suggestions and not rules or demands that the RP community exerts over anyone.  They are intended to help you get more mileage out of your RP experience and not to stifle you in any way.  These are also largely based on my own personal observations from over a decade of RP experiences - but I freely admit there may be opinions expressed here which conflict with others.  Debates on the RP Discussion Board abound with regard to how specific elements of RP can and should be handled.  This guide takes a rather broad scope, but doesn't delve too deeply into any particular issues.  If you have any questions, I've tried to provide links to relevent discussion threads, but if none exists please feel welcome to create your own and begin a discussion.  That is why that forum exists, after all!  You may also feel free to send me a PM if you prefer.  I'm always happy to provide a little insight if it helps make RP a more enjoyable experience for everyone.  So let's get on with the guide, shall we?



What Role-Playing Is

Wikipedia defines role-playing as "the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role ... consciously to act out an adopted role."  The page goes on to say how in role-playing games that "participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories.  Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterisation, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.  Within the rules, they may improvise freely, their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games."  While the rules referenced here seem geared towards something like a tabletop-styled RPG, role-play in Final Fantasy XIV (or really any MMORPG) is not a great leap from that.  Rather than rules, many role-players adhere to a set of guidelines - or a rough structure of standards and assumptions believed to be commonly held within the community - to help them get through their interactions with other characters.  These guidelines may vary from one RPer to the next, but the principle values are generally the same.  We will be discussing many of these values and the variations within them throughougt this article.

Role-playing may be regarded as being similar in many ways to improvisational acting, whereby you have no rehearsed script by which to determine your own character's actions and responses.  It may also be regarded as collaborative story-writing.  A group of RPers whose characters have similar goals and enact a group storyline may even wish to draft a story outlining their experiences.  I can certainly understand how some might even find the experience to be a sort of muse for one's own story-writing.  There are many ways to define role-play, but this guide will be aimed at how that applies specifically in the world of Final Fantasy XIV.

You may find that some will talk about "good RP" versus "bad RP" as you meet other RPers.  Generally speaking this is more a matter of opinion than it is an assessment of one's skill at playing make-pretend.  The only real requirement for "good RP" that is pretty universal would be an ability to communicate your scene/story/character in an effective or enjoyable manner.  Different RPers will have different styles, and these at times may conflict with one another.  The most important thing, from my experience, has been to be both respectful to other RPers, but also tolerant of their style.  No one should ever demand that you participate with any type of RP that you don't enjoy.  You can always politely walk away from it.  At the same time, you should be prepared for others to feel similarly about your own style.  This is why this community is made up of several smaller groups - each with its own style and list of preferences and guidelines.



In-Character versus Out-of-Character

Throughout this guide you will see the abbreviations IC and OOC (or the selfsame adverbs: ICly and OOCly).  This refers to your character speaking in-character or out-of-character.  That is to say that there may come times when you'll need to explain something to someone in a way that you as the player will need to do as opposed to the character.  Most often this is done through the various chat channels by the use of single or double parentheses.  For example:  "((This reminds me of something I saw once on a soap opera!))" or "((I need to go afk to take a quick restroom/WC/bio break))"

I have also seen other methods of expression OOC such as {braces} or -- sometimes text after hyphens.  But generally the preferred method is parentheses.

Speaking only for myself, I use [brackets] to express if the following text is being spoken in a particular manner or tone.  This can be used to indicate sarcasm, annoyance, jubilation, a sing-song voice, etc.  You cannot actually convey this through the text itself, so it is sometimes helpful.

As an example:  [sarcastic] "He was /really/ helpful..."

The degree of acceptance of OOC varies from RPer to RPer and from group to group.  Some are more tolerant of it than others, and this is one of those things to be mindful of when selecting a group with which to RP.  As a general rule of thumb - when others are RPing and behaving in-character, you will want to avoid disrupting that as much as possible and conduct yourself in-character as well, unless there is some specific reason not to.  The ratio of IC to OOC also seems to be one of the biggest differences between RP that is classified as 'light', 'medium', or 'heavy.'  This conveniently brings us to our next section...



Different Styles of RP

You've probably heard or read about "light" or "heavy" RP and might have wondered what these terms are referring to.  As it turns out, most roleplayers tend to be humans (at least on one side of the keyboard) and so there's a wide swath of styles, modes, and types of roleplay that they prefer.  Like any other metric that we might try to assign to individuals in a group, it's important to understand that these modes are a spectrum rather than a definite category.  In other words, most people will find themselves somewhere between the light and heavy ends of this particular scale and they may even move around on it from time to time.  Occasionally heavy RPers take a break with some light RP or vice-versa.  You might rightly wonder how such a changable distinction could be useful, and for the most part it probably isn't.  There is no style of RP that is inherently right or wrong.  The only practical use I've found for these descriptions is in matching up different players with reasonably similar roleplaying modes.  The simple fact of the matter is that light RPers tend to have more fun if they're in a group with other light RPers and vice-versa for heavy RPers.  So by figuring out which end of the spectrum you lean towards you can better gauge what sort of RP you'd prefer to get involved with.

Note: Just to reiterate, this chart is only meant to show examples of the opposite ends of light:heavy roleplay.  Most roleplayers will probably fall somewhere in the middle of most of these examples.
A light RPer might... A heavy RPer might...
enjoy a more casual style with less emphasis on detail or continuity enjoy a more immerse level of RP and carefully track their character's story
make up their stories/characters on a whim or as they go without much regard for the game's lore or past events pay close attention to the game's lore so their stories and characters don't conflict with it
use a character's class to help define their character choose to define their character purely through their story, perhaps even ignoring their in-game class all together
make use of in-game mechanics (attack moves, consumables, gear, etc) in their stories may forgo any of the in-game mechanics to tell their stories, perhaps to the point of ignoring their character's in-game class
prefer a more flashy or dramatic style of storytelling prefer a more "everyday" style that focuses more on the routine life of their character than regularly occurring grandiose events
incorporate elements from other games (hearthstones, aliens, Chuck Norris, etc) or even real life (modern technology, religions, etc) into their story only use those elements that they could find evidence of within the game itself
have their character appear wherever/whenever convenient put a fair bit of effort in keeping track of when and where their character would be at a given time to include tracking travel times where applicable
view RP as something "extra" to do when they aren't involved in another aspect of the game's play (raiding, pvp, questing, etc) view RP as the sole reason to play the game
keep their character consistent so it's easier to play over time have their character progress and grow over time as part of their story

You may also notice that some RPers take a much more proactive approach to their experiences, introducing many characters and plot points and often seeming to be at the center of the story arcs they work so hard to create.  Others seem to prefer the sidelines, or proudly cast their characters for the "best supporting character" role, and seldom take any sort of active steps towards creating events and incidents, but respond to the people that they surround themselves with and allow themselves to get caught up in their stories.  Both the 'proactive' and 'reactive' styles are perfectly fine, and like so many other things this too can be seen as a sort of spectrum on which RPers may sit somewhere in the middle - where they create some of their own story elements in the hopes of hooking others into them, but at the same time play into other characters' stories as well.  As with most other things in RP there really is no right or wrong here, and you should participate in whichever way feels most natural and fun for yourself.



The Lore, and How to Use It

Hydaelyn is an expansive world, full of intricacies.  It's the staging area for a war between an Empire and three city-states that have their own interior issues.  There are other nations remarked upon as well, including one which was conquered 20 years ago.  Five races make up most of the playable characters, each race broken further into two distinct clans.  Moreover, other beings exist such as Padjal, Moogles, Beastmen, etc.  Polytheism is the norm for most Eorzeans, and Twelve deities are celebrated across all of its nations.  There is limited technology, and the use of magic is described by relations between the elements and what is known as "aether" - which is also a sort of life-force that flows between living beings and the planet.  The scope of this guide doesn't aim to include the lore of Hydaelyn, but rather encourages any new RPer to seek it out.  I'll include a few helpful links to aid you in getting started.  Once you're more familiar with the world in which your character will be residing, it will be easier to develop his or her mannerisms, preferences, and other important characteristics.  Taking some time to learn this will pay off exponentially.

As it is now, the game's lore is somewhat fragmented, but the following two links may provide a place to look up particular information:
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV

Those curious about the Eorzean alphabet may look no further than the following link:
http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10973-eorzean-alphabet/

Moreover, a map of Eorzea may be viewed here:
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Here is a handy guide with the name of many of the geographical locations as well:

* Hydaelyn - The entire planet
* Eorzea - The smallest subcontinent of the planet where the entire game (so far) takes place
* Aldenard - The main continent of Eorzea (pretty much the entire game map except for the islands)
* Sharlayan - The city state to the northwest. Culturally focused on knowledge and rumored to be currently in ruins. (currently closed)
* Dravania - A mountainous region between Sharlayan and Ishgard (currently closed)
* Ishgard - A towering city in the mountains (currently closed)
* Coethas - An area leading to Ishgard
* Xelpkatol - More mountains north of Gridania (currently closed)
* Ala Mhigo - A city state in the western high-lands conquered by the Garlean Empire in 1542
* Gyr Abavia - The area surround Ala Mhigo
* Gridania - A city state directly west of Ala Mhigo and one of the three cities a PC can start from
* The Black Shround - A thick forest surrounding Gridania. Also known as the Twelveswood
* Mor Dhona - A barren area between three main city states.  This area has been the site of two major battles between the Garlean Empire and Eorzea.
* Ul'dah - A mercantile city state on the southern edge of Aldenard and one of the three cities a PC can start from.
* Thanalan - A desert-like region surrounding Ul’dah
* Vylbrand - A large island of the southwest coast of Alenard
* Limsa Lominsa - A nautical city on the coast one of the three cities a PC can start from.
* La Noscea - A hilly, grassy region immediately surrounding Limsa Lominsa
* O'Akomoro - A region covering the northern end of Vylbrand
* Garlean Empire - While not a geographic region per se, the Garlean Empire has expanded from the small country of Garlemald to cover most of Hydaelyn.  This area is not shown on the map so we do not have any specifics about its size or location.

S-E recently gave us a LORE FORUM which has some good information; plus it appears they will be continuously expanding upon this!

Moreover, we have a few threads here at the RPC which outline certain aspects of the game's lore:
The "Useful Sites" post
Eorzean Lore and Facts
Explanations of Lore from 1.0
The Coming of the Seventh Umbral Era
Time and Measurements in Hydaelyn
A Discussion of the Game's Timeline
More info from Fernehalwes
Some Other Interpretations (a bit dated)

There are certainly more out there but you may need to do a little digging.  Smile



Reasonable Deviation from the Lore

At times you may find that some characters will conjure up elements in their stories for which there is no basis in the game's lore.  For instance, a character may have been raised in a village which doesn't actually exist in the game, or has ties to a seemingly made-up faction.  Usually this is deemed to be acceptable for most, so long as it's done in a way which doesn't encroach upon anything that is within the lore of the game.  At times this can be risky because as NPC's are added and the game's lore expands you may find that what was once a genuine possibility is negated by something that new lore states.  This could then result in a certain amount of backpedaling.  It happens, and most times other RPers are willing to play along with this so long as there is no direct impact on their own stories.

If you regard the game's lore like a block of swiss cheese - there are holes in it where you may take certain artistic license and add certain elements to make your character and his or her backstory a bit more tangible and interesting.  You may find that some RP groups are more or less free with this, depending of course on the nature of the deviation from the game's lore.  
In certain cases, some RPers may go so far outside the scope of the game's lore that they're bringing in elements specific to other games, television, mythology, anime, etc.  The lumping in of these non-lore elements is often frowned upon by those RPers who adhere more closely to the game's lore, but these are merely guidelines and are very much open to interpretation.  Some groups will be more or less accepting of this sort of thing.



Naming Conventions

There are some generalized naming conventions for each of the race/clan pairings.  Before you create a new character you may or may not want to check out the following information, which could help you create a name that is appropriate to the lore for that character's background.  It may also go without saying that certain names, while perhaps humorous, can also serve to completely defy a sense of immersion and some RPers may find it difficult to interact with a character with a very unusual or whimsical name, even when there may be some in-character basis for it.  The LORE FORUM that S-E has recently given us explains in great detail the naming conventions for each of the races and clans. These posts are certainly worth perusing, even if you decide not to follow these particular trends.



How to Get Started

"First your ear, then your tongue."  Advice from the Introduction that I would reiterate for its importance.  Too often I have seen folks new to RP try to dive right into a character - whether inspired from another character they know (or possibly even have RPed) - and get frustrated at why they're not regarded in the way they might expect to be.  The simple fact is that most realistic characters will often be suspicious of someone overly comfortable in new and unfamiliar settings or willing to divulge their entire life story to a complete stranger over a pint of ale.  While some characters may be very comfortable around strangers, a RPer must keep in mind that this is only half of the equation and they can have no control over how their character will be perceived by others.  Many RPers find this daunting or frustrating.  Some I've found want to be liked by everyone, and this seldom is possible.  In the end it's best to make a character that you, yourself, will find interesting and fun to be.

There will be linkshell directories, and the RPC forums may be utilized to introduce yourself and describe your style, and also read up on what sort of linkshells and companies are available with which to participate.  Most folks there will be glad to guide you to like-minded RPers based on your own individual preferences.  Speaking to the leaders of a group or even observing an event may help give you an idea if it's something you'd like to join.

Take some comfort in that very early on you can always decide that you don't like the character, and re-roll and create something different.  Perhaps you find a linkshell you really like, but the sort of character you were planning to RP has already been done.  Or maybe you're adamant about RPing that sort of character but there's just no niche for it and you want to explore some other linkshells/companies.  It may take awhile for you to find a sort of groove where you feel your fit comfortably with another group of RPers.

Almost certainly the best thing you can do early on is observe what other RPers are doing, how they're behaving, and think about the reasons for that behavior.  Eventually you'll do this for your own character, but I've found it helps to take notice of it first in others.

There will be no need to draft a longwinded character backhistory.  You don't need to know everything about your character's preferences.  In fact, a lot of this will kind of develop itself as you go along.  Maybe you'll draw upon some aspects of your own personality and embellish upon them.  Maybe you'll idealize some things.  One important quality that many characters have that makes them both realistic and also interesting is flaws.  No one is perfect, and a perfect character would be boring.  There are lots of ways to introduce flaws to your character.  Perhaps they're arrogant, or vain.  Perhaps they're not so bright.  Maybe they're physically weak, or unable to use any sort of magic.  Maybe they're prone to gambling or drinking too much or any number of other things.

Ideally you'll want to try and strike a balance between creating a character that starts off small in some way so that he or she may grow as their time in Eorzea passes.  They should have some positive qualities as well as some character flaws.  There are a myriad of wonderful combinations, and then you can even begin to think about the reasons for these characteristics.  This may even help you flesh out the character's history, as you think on it.  Really, the sky is the limit!

But no matter what you ultimately decide for yourself and your character (or characters), you will certainly want to understand the people with whom you will be RPing, and the best way to do that I've found is just to kind of quietly lurk and observe.  By all means talk, and engage in friendly conversation, but it is often wise to hold off on making any grand plans for your character without fully understanding how he or she will fit into the rest of the puzzle.  Showing interest and asking questions will also help you get a feel for things and may help fill any "dead air" if it happens to be a group that is quiet or isn't as active.  You will probably know when the time is right to step up participation or introduce more of your own character's story to the rest of your friends.



Communication

This is that two-way street that is vital for avoiding unnecessary conflicts between RPers.  Some RPers have thicker skin than others, and some tend to be offended more easily.  While I tend to think nobody has bad intentions, disagreements do happen, and keeping an open channel of communication when RPing can help keep these conflicts down.  I should clarify that I'm speaking of the OOC flavor of conflict.  The in-character sort or friction is what makes for interesting rivalries and fun stories.  Sometimes you may want to shoot a /tell to someone to reassure them that the conflict is strictly between the characters and that you're having fun.  This may seem unnecessary, but there are times when that line between what is in-character and what is out-of-character can get blurred and re-establishing that sort of clarity is helpful in preventing misunderstandings.

There are also times in RP where clarification may be needed.  So long as there's not a large number of participants, it's usually not a bad idea to ask OOC for more details.  This should be done privately unless there is a concern that others are also confused.

RPers by our very virtue tend to be dramatic souls, and misunderstandings can easily give way to arguments and hurt feelings.  I cannot stress enough the importance of communication between RPers.



Respecting Other RPers

Most every RP group I've belonged to has had a set of rules, and at the top of this list is almost always some blurb about showing respect OOC to your fellow RPers.  This should almost go without saying, but it bears keeping in mind that they are not merely sub-characters to your story, but rather the main characters in their own story.  Trivializing others will make it so that they don't want to spend time RPing with your character.  I have encountered some characters in my time that seem to want to always be at the center of things; to always have the spotlight on them.  This is fine, sometimes.  But there should be an understanding that other RPers want to advance their own stories as well, and that you may be, in fact, a supporting character in their story arcs.  While it is plausible that two events may happen concurrently, it's usually considered disrespectful to begin RPing something in the middle of someone else's event if it's totally unrelated.  What you may consider would be asking the other RPer if they minded if you took the opportunity to try starting something of your own in the middle of their event.  The worst they could say is no in which case you could still perform your story ideas at a later time.  And in the best case you may be able to find some way to integrate the two stories together in some way.

One thing to bear in mind is that a character is not the same as the RPer behind that character.  That distinction can easily get muddled sometimes - such as when another character is having an argument with your character.  While there should be no expectation that any character must respect another character, there should be an expectation of respect from the people behind those characters.  If there is ever any confusion about the source of a character's disrespect, a simple /tell to inquire would certainly be recommended to help clear any confusion (please defer to the 'Communication' section just above this one for more information.

Moreover, in roleplay it's always good manners to keep your proverbial hands to yourself, especially when it comes to laying those hands on another roleplayer's character.  Confused?  Allow us to explain.

You know by now that in roleplaying you take control of your character and no one else's, but what happens when you find yourself in a situation where your character is trying to interact with another person's character?  Suppose you are attempting to have your character grab another character by the arm and pull them into a room.  You can ask the other player OOCly if he's all right with your character pulling his into the room if you want, but are you going to bring the roleplaying to a halt every time your character touches another?  That could grow to be very annoying and tedious, especially if you're doing something as involved as a fight scene.

This is where we would recommend using something we've dubbed "unassuming language".  Here's how it works: Suppose we were going to have our character pull another player's character into a room.  Normally we would write something along the lines of:

"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs Zed's arm, pulling him into the room."

But this assumes we have permission to yank the other player's character into the room, which is not what we want.  Instead we need to make it so that our character Fred is performing the action, but at the same time give Zed's player the choice to succumb to the action or reject it, as if we had just asked him for permission.  You might write something like this instead:

"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs at Zed's arm, attempting to pull him into the room."

Do you see what we did there? Instead of writing "grabs Zed's arm" — implying that the grab was successful — we wrote "grabs at Zed's arm" — implying that he made an attempt, but not saying whether or not it succeeded, allowing the other player to either allow Zed to pull away from Fred's grasp or allow him to be grabbed and pulled in.  Get creative with it too, because if you keep using "(verb)s at" and "attempts to (verb)", you're going to sound a little repetitive.  Here are a few more examples:

"Ayla slams her fist against the side of Jephthah's face." vs. "Ayla hurls her fist at the side of Jephthah's face."
"Warner puts his arm around his comrade's shoulders." vs. "Warner moves to put his arm around his comrade's shoulders."
"Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path and trips her" vs. "Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path, hoping to trip her."

One other thing to be mindful of while RPing is that often some pre-existing RP may be ongoing when you log in.  It is normally all right to actively create a scene or "borrow the focus" when it seems quiet or nothing is going on.  "Stealing the spotlight" is often frowned upon by some RPers though, if there is currently something else going on.  The polite thing to do is usually to communicate OOC (via /tell) to see if this is something you can integrate your own intentions, or otherwise just to wait until the ongoing series of events has passed.  It is realistic that multiple things may be ongoing at one time, but some RPers may feel that you're intentionally trying to take the focus away from something they've worked hard on.  Consider how you might feel if you had spent some time preparing an event of some sort and another RPer suddenly attempted to remove the focus away from that.  As with most things, a little OOC communication will go a long way to prevent misunderstandings and hurt feelings.  You should never be afraid to reach out OOC to another RPer to make sure something is all right before moving ahead with it.  It's just considered good etiquette.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Eva - 03-07-2013


Pitfalls to Avoid:

1. Godmoding - This is the over-powering of one's character in some way that bends or breaks the rules of nature entirely.  This may manifest itself as invincibility, immortality, some sort of extreme influence, or unnatural or supernatural powers that interfere with the natural laws fo Hydaelyn.  Godmode will often conflict with the game's lore in some way.  The guideline here is to keep things realistic and remember that any ability your character exhibits should be on par overall with what is accepted as the norm.  It also poses some questions in a world where there are spells and where magic may enhance your character in some ways.  For instance RPing a skilled swordsman is fine, and describing a winning streak at the collisseum makes for an interesting story.  But when he's pit against another RPer who is also a skilled swordsman, you should be prepared to make some allowances for the opponent's skill as well - perhaps communicate with them and RP a close match, a draw, or find a way to determine the outcome in advance if neither is willing to budge (/random is popular).  Accept, however, that your character is not infallible.  As a footnote to this, it is often considered godmode to tie your character very closely to some famous NPC, declare your character is some sort of highly influential governing authority like a king or princess, or otherwise expect any sort of special treatment that any other RPer would not receive.  Godmode is often a gray area with varying shades of acceptable and unacceptable depending on the situation (for instance, some "villain" characters need to be regarded as larger than life so certain allowances may be made to accommodate this).  If you are unsure whether something you are planning for your character is acceptable or not, a good idea would be to ask on the RPC "RP Discussion" forum to see how others in the community may feel about it.  It is often a subjective thing and opinions may vary from one RPer to the next.

Examples of Godmoding:
  • RPing the spawn or incarnation of a god
  • Being from another world (like Vana'diel or the forest moon of Endor)
  • Having the power to level cities
  • RPing a prince with supreme influence over the nations' leaders
  • RPing a character so powerful that he can dodge every attack thrown at him constantly
  • RPing an emote which assumes control over another character in some way

2. Metagaming - Simply put, metagaming is the transferrence of OOC knowledge about some character/event/thing from yourself as the RPer to your character.  This is highly frowned upon in the RP community.  Characters have Wikipedia pages, stories, and private journals posted all over the place that describe personal information and recount events which are often very interesting and entertaining to read, but also to which your character would probably not be privy.  You must be able to separate yourself as the player/reader from your character.  This can be a as blatant a thing as your character knowing the details of another character's background simply because you as the player have read them.  This sort of thing will upset other RPers.  Metagaming may also be as simple as your character intentionally showing up someplace that you know another character will be.  While this latter example is usually fine for the sake of fostering some RP (and arrangements for this sort of thing happen often using the OOC/Intermission/Backstage linkpearl), you will want to try to at least make sure that your character has some practical reason for going to that particular location at that point in time - something more than just meeting others for RP without there being some premeditated IC discussion about it first.

3. Retconning - The rolling back of a timeline and changing of past events is considered retconning.  Each other character that your character interacts with is molded or changed in some small way through the experience.  Even simple acts may have a profound impact on another character depending on the circumstances of their backgrounnd.  To casually undo a good portion of the character's history without giving regard to all the other characters that may have touched is considered a no-no.  I encourage all RPers to try not to paint themselves into corners, but even when they do there are often creative ways out rather than to just proclaim that "all that never happened."  In some instances this may be acceptable for a very small window of time if only a few characters are impacted and all RPers agree to it.  Generally you should regard all events that have happened as being etched in stone.  Other characters may write journal entries about the interactions your character had with theirs, and to simply say it never happened is a slight to the time and energy they put not only into the RP itself but also recounting it and the way it may have changed their own character.  There are some other instances where this may be deemed more acceptable, such as the release of new canon lore which contradicts existing storyline for instance.  Some care should be exercised when making these retcons to minimize the impact upon other characters.  Furthermore, those brand new to RP may be given a little more freedom with making some changes as they are still working to develop their character's background.  In these cases, again, consideration should be given to those who might be affected by such changes to minimize the impact to their own stories.

4. Copycatting - The taking of aspects of another character's story, personality, behavior, etc.  While immitation may be the highest form of flattery, it is often frustrating when someone kind of picks an RPer's style that they like and then emulates it almost exactly.  There are plenty of niches for interesting characters and drawing inspiration from an admired character to try and create something entirely new should be more the way to go.  With a game that (at the time of this writing) has only 7 basic combat jobs, there are obviously going to be some characters who are similar in their combat styles, and may exhibit similar appearances or similar attitudes about things.  As a kind of footnote to this topic, with regard to another character's NPC's (that is non-playing characters such as those which may appear in his or her storylines) most RPers would be flattered to share a character like that, and this will often present some interesting opportunities as well, but you will certainly want to communicate this first before simply using another's NPC without permission.



Building Friendships and Relationships Between Your Character and Others

I don't really think any guide could effectively tell someone how to go about making friends.  It is just one of those things that sort of happens gradually and naturally over time whether IC or not, or in life in general.  Throughout your RP you will come across other characters who may be friendly to yours, or whom you would imagine your character would find relateable in some way.  If you think about the way that you met some of your own friends in the real world, making friends for your character in the world of Final Fantasy isn't really so different.  Different characters may have different interests in mind.  Some may even find your character to be physically attractive or romantically desirable, and may even make advances that way.  This is all something to keep in mind.  Other characters may also find qualities about your character to be a source for dislike.  This does not necessarily mean they don't like you OOCly or your style, and is something that shouldn't be taken personally.  Perhaps their character has a bias against a particular race, or something your character said may cause them to make a snap judgement.  There are any number of possible reasons why a character would like or dislike another character.  One of those things to keep in mind is that you are only in control of your own character's actions, words, and feelings.  How they are responded to is out of your hands.

My own advice would be for your character to make friends in accordance to what he or she would do naturally.  If you're RPing an attractive social butterfly, than it may make sense for her to forge many friendships with limited amounts of depth.  A sheltered, studious sort might not get out often to make friends or might exhibit a suspicious personality, but could have one or two very close-knit buddies with whom he confides in.  As your character develops a persona of their own and interacts with other characters, this will almost happen naturally on its own.

Regarding romantic relations, I'm not really qualified to give advice.  I have borne witness to a number of instances where a relationship between a character and his or her significant other breaches that in-character realm and that line between what is IC and what is OOC gets blurred.  Depending on the RPers involved sometimes this is fine (I know some happy couples who have met this way), and sometimes it is not.  It may be important to spell that out early on (please refer to the section on Communication above) in order to prevent any misunderstandings or uncomfortable situations.  In the directory on the RPC forums there is a helpful template which includes a place to post your attitude as a RPer towards your character's romantic involvement with other characters.

One other thing to be mindful about is extensive RP with only that significant other can almost inadvertantly isolate you from the larger group.  If that is what you are going for than that's great, but in many cases RPers can lose sight of the bigger picture and find that they are more difficult to approach when they are spending a lot of time exclusively with their "+1".  It is just something based on my own past observations that you may wish to be mindful of if you should find your character in a relationship.



Events and Event Planning

Events can be a lot of fun for all involved, though planning them can be stressful.  The RPC features a calendar on which global events (i.e. those open to the overall RP community) may be posted, or individual linkshells/companies may feature a forum on which events may also be posted.  Often the planner may welcome some assistance since there may be a lot to be mindful of (attendance, various NPC's, timing of certain incidents within the event, etc.).

Generally speaking, some sort of announcement with a fair amount of lead time is appropriate.  Maybe your event will have a certain cut-off limit in order to help keep it managable, in which case a sign-up sheet with a limited number of spaces may be a good idea.

Events can turn in new directions suddenly, particularly if the organizer has some sort of idea in mind for a pre-planned disruption.  If you wish to use the event for some sort of personal agenda for your character, it may be a good idea to reach out to the organizer first to make sure they would be all right with that.  Often there's some way to link up your goals with those of the organizer.  Sometimes there is not, but then again there is nothing to prevent you from setting up an event of your own.

If you are organizing an event and working from a pre-arranged sort of script, you may want to be prepared to deviate from that in the event that someone does something you hadn't accounted for.  For example, if someone if the event is a trek into a dungeon and someone is wounded and incapacitated, it may be folly to assume that everyone would go on ahead in search of an exit when one character may feel strongly about remaining behind with the injured.  Being flexible and able to adapt your plans around those unexpected actions of the participants in your event is what often makes for good RP.  Often the most memorable of past events are the ones that were spontaneous and unplanned.



RPing Combat Effectively

This has been a touchy subject for a lot of people, and in your time RPing you may not ever need to RP a fight with another character.  Moreover, PVP will be introduced in ARR which may offer another feasible alternative to RPing out a battle between two characters.  A thread about PVP as an RP element for combat was recently created in the RP Discussion forum if you'd like to see what some other RPers think.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are RPing a physical conflict, it helps to communicate with the opponent.  Most of the time this can be done using the /tell channel and you can kind of figure out roughly how the fight should go.

Use of the /random (random number generator) feature can also help determine the outcome of either the overall fight, or just one particular round of combat.  Often this is best conducted in a turn-based manner where each combattant responds to the previous attack, and initiates one of their own.  The ability to play nicely and realistically is important here, and being willing to lose a battle gracefully (at least OOCly) goes a long way.

As an example, if there is a sparring match between a seasoned marauder and someone who has been practicing with the axe casually for awhile, the advantage would likely go to the seasoned marauder.  If you wanted to add the random element to give the underdog a fighting chance, you might use the /random to determine the outcome of each round.  There are a lot of different methods that describe how this can be done so I won't go over them in detail, but a helpful link that describes this method of combat may be found here:  http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=1166

Alternately if you're comfortable enough with the RPer with whom you're sparring, you might just talk out the outcome in advance.  A simple tell proffering something like, "I'm happy to lose this bout since you're more skilled with hand-to-hand fighting than I, but I do have some skill so let me get a few shots in, perhaps give you a black eye before getting knocked out?"  The rest can kind of happen naturally over several lines of emoted text.  Continuous communication as you go may or may not be warranted, depending on the situation.  If you're ever not sure though, or if something seems unclear in their emote, it's always best to send a quick /tell and ask before responding.



Death versus K.O.

Most RPers have invested a good amount of time into their characters and will not approve of another character taking their life in any fashion.  That Directory is a good place to check this, and to establish your own preferences.  If you want to RP as a murderer, consider using NPC's as targets rather than other RPers' characters.  Or perhaps orchestrate something like a failed murder attempt instead.  If your character does kill several NPC's for some reason, you should consider also that if such deeds become known, they will influence how your character is perceived by others and they may contact authorities and such.  And having witnessed this happen to a character once, that is a pretty slippery slope on which to tread.

What happens in fights when we get defeated is not regarded as true death, but as being "knocked out" and we have the choice of either waiting for someone to raise or revive us, or we may "return" to the last aetheryte to which we attuned ourselves, or sometimes the start of a dungeon instead.  This is the game's mechanic and we respect that as such.  We do not treat it as a character's death in the true sense of the word, though OOCly it's common to hear people say they got killed by <whatever> and need a raise.



RPing Injuries and Healing Methods

Another frequent point of contention between RPers of differing styles is the handling of physical (and sometimes non-physical) injuries and the various methods of treatment.  Our characters live in a world where magic is real if not everyday/routine, and healing can be performed by anyone with even minimal skill in white magic.  This sometimes trivializes the process for those who make it their life's work.  Moreover there are less magical means of healing such as herbalism, field medicine, first aid, nursing, etc.  There is a lot of discrepancy about how healing works, but at the end of the day I've found the most effective "doctor-patient" relationship is one where there's some sort of communication between the healer and the wounded.  There are some circumstances where a wounded person may want to remain wounded for an extended period of time (such as taking a brief break from the game for a week for vacation or such), and this is usually not intended as a slight to the healer's ability.  There is often some middle ground - albeit it sometimes a fine line - between what is acceptable to the healer and the patient.  I find myself once again deferring back to the earlier section on "Communication", as once more this will help ease any potential misunderstandings.

There was a discussion on the RPC some time ago pertaining to healing which may offer additional insights or prompt some further thought.



Teleportation

Eorzea is unique in some ways in that it gives us teleportation as an option for travel.  According to the game mechanics, teleporting requires a certain number of points (called Anima) to perform.  I've seen some make use of what they call an "aetherstone" to facilitate this process, though this is hardly necessary.  Simply tapping into the aether and teleporting should be fine.  The animation and disappearance is often enough and need not be emoted unless you really want to.

Regarding anima (which is probably best described as a character's self-replenishing life-force) - and really any attribute that is quantified, such as HP or MP or Strength or Vitality - keeping a more abstracted explanation rather than referring to "points" is generally preferred.  Rather than saying, "I'm unable to teleport because I only have 1 anima point left," you might opt for, "I have a headache from teleporting so much recently," - possibly coupled with an OOC explanation that your anima is mostly depleted.

In the future the requirements for teleporting may change, and if that's the case this guide will be modified to reflect that.



The Echo

This contains some allusions to storyline spoilers so I'm going to encapsulate it in a spoiler tag.  If you are new to RPing than you will learn about this before long through cutscenes and possibly via interactions with other RPers.  If you do not mind reading about it before that time, by all means please proceed.

Show Content



Gil and Wealth

The currency of Eorzea is gil.  And most RPers I have spoken with do not treat this as a true measure of the character's wealth.  A wealthy character may RP that they've inherited a fortune from their ancestors.  Or many characters prefer to RP humble beginnings and aspirations for fame and fortune.  Even upon acquiring a great deal of gil, you may want to regard this separately from what your character possesses ICly for the sake of continuity in your storylines.

If you are starting a new character, consider carefully how they will be regarded if they are wealthy, comfortable, impoverished, or middle-class.  Think about how this will affect their attitude towards other characters, their decision-making process, and their regard for possessions and things.  Consider also what other characters may think of yours depending on his or her financial standing.  You may also think about what sort of attire your character would wear in various circumstances as well.



Groups, Cliques, and Linkshells/Companies

Inevitably like-minded people within any sized community will segment into smaller groups.  This happens naturally and is simply something to be aware of.  It is not inherently a positive or negative thing.  Linkshells/Companies exist for like-minded RPers to provide an avenue for that RP to play itself out.  Some may be based on job merit, some may cater to those looking for the same goals, and others may be directed towards a certain type of alignment (a group of do-gooders or a group of thieves for example).  At any given time there are likely many different communities within the overall RP community, and there is no set rule that says that you cannot belong to more than one if you so choose.  Most communities will advocate that what you get out of the experience is what you put into it, and if you do participate in multiple linkshells/companies it is important that your actions be consistent across them, because these guilds do sometimes interact with one another, or may share common members.  So if you are RPing someone as a thief in one guild and a do-gooder in another, be aware that it may come back to bite you (which may or may not be the entire point).

Within each guild there may also exist smaller groups of people who often RP exclusively with the same few characters.  Again this is neither really a positive or a negative thing, but a phenomenon I have witnessed across a number of linkshell communities, and really any human community outside the scope of Final Fantasy as well.  For myself I try to branch out and RP with different groups.  I find it more enriching to my experience and the variety of RPers keeps things interesting and lively.  Like most anyone I do have those I prefer to RP with over others, and may be inclined to spend more time with them.  I would encourage anyone to try to at least not close themselves off to the possibility of RP with someone outside of their normal groups.  But in the end the choice is yours.



Supplements to In-Game RP

1. Forum RP - The RPC boasts a "Town Square (IC)" section which offers an avenue for those wishing to participate in a sort of turn-based avenue of RP where posts are conducted over a broader span of time which is often regarded as being condensed.  One thing you may want to be mindful of with regard to this - which can often transpire over the course of days or even weeks of "real time" - is that events have consequences and how the forum RP integrates with actual in-game RP may create some inconsistencies in cause and effect.  Most of the time, however, it's a good way to RP if you are unable to get into the game, such as from work.  Forum RP may also take place along linkshell/company forums as well if it means to draw a smaller crowd, or may be described as 'open', 'invitation' or 'closed'.  'Open' means it's open to anyone who wishes to write their characters into it.  'Closed' means a group of characters have already been selected who will be participating in it.  'Invitation' indicates that you may send a private message to the creator of the thread to request permission to join and they may accept or deny that request depending on any number of circumstances.  Some may deny after a certain number of people are already participating, just to keep things from getting too confusing.  One other thing to note is that forum RP can move at different paces depending on how frequently people are posting.  This is something to be aware of before joining.  If you are only able to post to the forum once a day and everyone else is posting several times, you may miss out on something.  Conversely if you're looking for something fast-paced and everyone else is only posting slowly you may want to seek a faster-paced forum RP thread elsewhere - or even create your own!  There are many more factors to forum RP as well.  Some RPers may prefer it to in-game RP if they feel it gives them more control over the setting.  Others may not want to spend a few hours each day trying to catch up with the goings-on.  It is another flavor of storytelling and different people will have different feelings about it and different ways of doing it.

2. Chatroom RP - Similar to forum RP but takes place over real-time.  These sessions may encompass two or more characters and be conducted usually in some sort of private setting which is treated as happening in-game, but to which no one else is privy.  All participants agree to the conditions which determine the timeframe and location of the RP.  The events of that RP are then treated as having happened in-game and may be referenced elsewhere, similar to forum RP.  This is a bit safer because it's happening in real-time.  This may sometimes happen retroactively (that is, RPing something in now which would have already happened).  If that's the case, you'll just want to be sure that any outcomes of that RP are not so influential that they would have changed the course of any actual in-game RP which may have followed.  This can also be a slippery slope, but is usually much safer than forum RP.  Both Forum RP and Chatroom RP may also be regarded as "non-canon", in which case for the sake of any ongoing storylines the events and conversations within technically never happened at all, or were at the very least inconsequential.  This is safe because it does not impede upon any ongoing RP, but if some key details were shared than they must be forgotten to the character.

3. Storywriting - The RPC "Town Square (IC)" section may also be used to share stories.  That is, if something significant happened to your character - whether in RP or something you wish to share through events described from their past - a story may be written and shared with the overall RP community.  Likewise, this can be posted on individual linkshell/company forums as well.  These are often interesting accounts of a character's backhistory, or some RP event that took place that some RPer wished to commit to story form rather than rely on memory.  In this way details may be added and the entire experience enhanced accordingly.  Unless specifically indicated, the events that transpire within RPers' written stories posted publicly should be regarded as having happened in private.

4. Journaling - Another popular supplement to actual in-game RP is a written journal which your character may keep (assuming he or she is literate - much of Eorzea may not be).  A character's private thoughts may be chronicled here.  I have found this a valuable tool to help me get inside my character's head and think how she thinks, and I know a number of other RPers have felt similarly.  It also may be a good way to chronicle events.  Some RPers who possess artistic ability treat journal entries as a sort of artistic sketch pad, and may doodle on them to describe the day's events.  The sky is the limit with this sort of thing.  These may be kept on individual linkshell forums, or a more public medium such as a wordpress site.  Most do not mind sharing their journals with the rest of the community and may link to them from their Wikipedia pages.  It bears mention that - unless otherwise stated - these journals are private and the contents should not be regarded as being known in-character lest it be considered metagaming.  They are usually for the enjoyment of the reader, but never to be known by the character.  There should also be no expectation that other RPers have read what is written in your journals and story posts.



Consistency Within RP
One other thing to be aware of is consistency within your RP.  As time goes on you may conjure up some NPC's (that's Non-Playing Characters) to help flesh out your backstory, or you may detail some events which may have happened at one time or another in your character's past.  These may come up in casual conversation with other characters, or they may be addressed within a journal post, forum RP, or along some other vein of RP.  It is a very good idea to maintain a sense of consistency with details like this.

I have found it helpful to keep a sort of log of details of my character's past in order to help chronicle the details of her backstory.  This manifests itself in the form of a timeline of events throughout her life.  I keep this available so that I can refer to it quickly in the event that I encounter some RP where someone asks her about her childhood, for example.  In addition to this, a list of NPC's that she's spoken about at one time or another is also included.  As a RPer I may easily forget what I named someone like a teacher or former employer, but in situations where it's unlikely that the character herself would forget such an important detail I jot the name and relationship down along with any other notes that seem important.  I may never need to refer to this, but I like having it available.  Obviously this isn't something mandatory, but you may find it helpful in order to keep consistent with your own character and his or her backstory.



Conclusion

I believe this covers most everything that I can think of pertaining to RP.  A newcomer to the RP community named Weffrey recently asked a barrage of very good questions so I will link to that thread.  Some of those questions may have been addressed already above.  And many of them are subject to different RPers' perspectives on what is appropriate in a given situation.  As I stated at the very beginning of this guide there is really no "wrong" way to RP and the advice above should be regarded as a series of loose guidelines which stem from my own experiences within the RP environment within Final Fantasy XIV across a number of linkshell communities.  They are in no way a set of rules meant to restrict anyone's creativity.  I hope that it was well worth the time it took you to read, and if you have any questions you may feel free to contact myself by PM or in-game /tell, or make a post on that super-useful "RP Discussion" forum.

This guide would also not have been possible without extensive corrections and contributions from both Ellie and Garaf - much of which was written verbatim.  Thank you both for all of your continued help and feedback.  Also special thanks to Kylin for reviewing it and demonstrating a number of more efficient and effective methods of formatting and presentation.  The table of contents and some of the formatting would not look quite so clean without your help and it is greatly appreciated.  Super mega-thanks to Weffrey for asking a lot of wonderful questions and kind of helping us see the need for a guide like this. Thanks also to John Spiegel and Nel Celestine who had some additional insights and ideas to offer.  And finally thanks to the RP community here in Final Fantasy XIV for enriching my life these past three years and giving me a reason and a desire to give back in some way.

Regarding my own background - I have been RPing in some form or another since 1996 or so.  I began in a text-based game (what would likely now be considered a MUD) called GemStone III where RP was actually enforced by the GM's.  I hopped around a few other games briefly before finding Final Fantasy XI back in 2003.  I RPed the same character there until 2010 when I began RP in Final Fantasy XIV.  I have strived to remain in-character as much as possible in my experiences in Eorzea over the past three years.  I have seen MANY different styles of RP.  I have seen how horribly things can go wrong, and I have seen RPers successfully re-rail themselves after what seemed like certain disaster.  I certainly don't proclaim to be an expert, nor do I think I've endured everything that RP has to offer.  I'm just someone who has seen a lot of both successful RP and also RP missteps in the various Final Fantasy RP worlds.  And I wanted to try to help pass along some of that wisdom in the hopes that someone else might find it useful in some way.

In the end, the experience is yours, and it falls to you to be proactive enough to make that experience as enjoyable as possible.  I look forward to meeting your character in Eorzea!

~Eva

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Eva - 03-07-2013

AFTERWORD:

I will expand this guide over time as more RP discussions take place, or if game mechanics change.  It does express some opinions based on past observations, and I'm sympathetic to the fact that there may be contrary opinions from elsewhere in the community.  As such, I'm happy to make further revisions to areas which may seem to warrant it, and possibly add additional sections.  I intend also to update the links as new discussions take place so that newcomers wishing to delve more deeply into a particular section here know where they can find more information.  If you feel that there is something that warrants a correction or another look, or if you've an idea for a section that wasn't included here, or you know of a link that would help illustrate a point already made and would like to see it included in the guide, please send me a PM and I'll be glad to consider it.  Please keep in mind that, while this is meant to be a comprehensive guide about RP in FFXIV, it is not intended to delve too deeply into any one subject but rather meant to give a good overview of some effective ways people have conducted RP.  It is angled towards the newer RPer, or to a player who may be curious about what RP is like and how to get involved, or even towards someone who has past experience with RP but may be new to the world of Final Fantasy XIV.  I have tried to post links to more advanced discussions of things like PVP versus emotes for combat, alternative interpretations of the lore, and discussions about how things like healing injuries or using the Echo may be viewed so that a casual reader might have a place to go to delve a bit deeper into this sort of thing.  As such, we may see some of these posts brought back from the dead, which I think is fine since it may help foster further discussion.

Finally - and I cannot reiterate this enough - this is not a rule book, and should be looked upon more as a guideline or a place from which you may derive ideas.  No two RPers will have the exact same outlook on things.

Thank you for reading.  Smile

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Arlon - 03-07-2013

Thank you for this, Eva ^^

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Dreke Lamorte - 03-07-2013

Great post! Very well edited as well. If not for the slick outline, I probably wouldn't have begun another "RP Guideline" post at all. (Well, probably not entirely true. I do love me some long-winded spiels. :>) So kudos, and thanks from all those who need a guide and eventually read yours. I definitely would have benefit from it when I started.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Lady Kaguya - 03-11-2013

Thank you so much for compiling this, you have no idea how much it's appreciated! While I've role-played for awhile I always love gaining new insight and advice, and the links you posted on lore/etc. is fantastic, it's really helping me fully grasp XIV.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Kiljax - 03-13-2013

An(many) incredibly well written post(s).  The information provided is concise and gives good examples of the how tos and how not tos of basic Roleplaying.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - soundprodigy3000 - 04-28-2013

awesome read. I just want to be a part of the community and play my character.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - AeroCura - 04-29-2013

Surprise wow that's a lot of info! Dazed thanks for putting it all together so nice! def hav to remember this thread for references later too Thumbsup Bouncy

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Magellan - 05-14-2013

This is...

wow. Just wow.

Words alone will not suffice to show my appreciation at your taking the time to assemble such a valuable resource.

So, allow me to present to you a line of cabaret cactii;

CactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarTonberryCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuarCactuar

damn Tonberry.... always sneaking into my cabaret lines.... one day I will get yo- Don't get too close! Stay awa- *splat*

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - House Sardel - 08-19-2013

This is the single greatest read ever in the history of all time! 
Seriously, I have been rp'ing for more than a decade now and I still found nuances in your words that made me think differently. Simply fantastic!

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - Kross - 09-02-2013

This is incredible, thank you so much!

It is very well done and super helpful, some of those links man...hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the stuff i'm looking for and in need of learning.

Thank you very much.

RE: The Role-Play Handbook - CrypticCuddler - 05-21-2015

Hope this isn't seen as necro posting ;w; but this is absolutely lovely. 
I'd love to see this in a book, like "A Realm Reborn: Rp Handbook" 
Very useful. ^w^ *tail wiggles*