RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

illust · **08-01-2017, 10:17 PM**

Playing through SB I've been smitten by the Qestir tribe and would maybe kinda sorta wanna RP one.
Would constant sentences like this, be annoying to RP with?

Illust beamed brightly as if to say, "[line of dialogue]"Â

So kinda cheating but heyyy video games.Â Cactuar

Gegenji · **08-01-2017, 10:23 PM**

I had a character for another game a while back that, while he wasn't mute or anything... was very, very taciturn and believed actions spoke louder than words. Not quite Qestir-level, but it was something close to it. And, actually, I felt it an interesting challenge to try and write a character who barely spoke at all - implying things through motions and gestures. I mean, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with your approach... but I figure it could also be a fun literary challenge to write the character completely through emotes without just adding what they would be saying if they could.

So, to use your example, rather than...

Illust beamed brightly as if to say, "[line of dialogue]"

I'd have...

Illust beamed brightly, seemingly pleased by this turn of events.

Or, technically, just leaving "beamed brightly" by itself could work... and leave it up to the other player to figure out what she's so darn happy about.

Arashin Kujqai · **08-01-2017, 10:48 PM**

The above post follows pretty much what I was going to say. I was taken by them as well but don't have the time/money/patience to level an Au Ra... However when I pictured RP'ing with them, I imagined it being a blast considering everything they do or "say" is left up to interpretation. The fun would be in portraying the character's emotions through expression the lack of words would be up to who you RP with to understand rather than blatantly stating the sentence as if you could speak. In a way, it'd help me immerse to do it like that, considering their tribe idea is that all words are lies and that intention is shown on action and through the eyes. The more details you say, the less imagination the RP'ers around you have to play around with, "less is more" in a sense :p.

Erah'sae · **08-02-2017, 02:54 PM**

Honestly, and this is going to sound a bit blunt, the original example would leave me asking. Â "Why bother?"

I agree with the other posts though, this is a chance to exercise your creative mind and your descriptiveness. Â It is also a rare opportunity to explore the world of one who is mute in a world where most people don't understand ASL.

There are other concepts at play here as well. Â I believe the idea of "all words are lies" applies to others as much as the self. Â So I don't think there would be much conversing even through gestures. Â It seems to be a culture of 'doing' instead of 'telling'.

I wish you luck if you decide to play with the concept. Â It's caught my mind as well, but I have no desire to roll another character.

Es'mena · **08-02-2017, 03:57 PM**

I concur with Gegenji. While it wouldn't particularly annoy me if everything was written with the subtext inferred, I would enjoy RP far more if it was written in a more creative way. I write with a lot of body language and few words for my main on WoW and I can tell you that body language can almost entirely replace speaking all together. So rather than something like

She frowns as though saying, 'Are you serious?'

you can write something like

She frowns and her brows pinch together, lifting somewhat in the center. With a small shake of her head and a small puff of a sigh through her nose, her lips purse into a thin, thin line.Â

But in the end, it's all your RP! So however you feel most comfortable writing, I suggest going with that. Or, heck, even mix up the two forms!

Kilieit · **08-02-2017, 04:30 PM**

(08-02-2017, 03:57 PM)Esmena Wrote: She frowns as though saying, 'Are you serious?'

you can write something like

She frowns and her brows pinch together, lifting somewhat in the center. With a small shake of her head and a small puff of a sigh through her nose, her lips purse into a thin, thin line.Â

Personally I would go middle ground - show don't tell, but (assuming we're talking in-game, dialogue-heavy RP here) abbreviate actions to keep your reader's attention.

So I'd go with any 1 of the following - short sentences using adverbs and adjectives to help the reader along with interpreting, instead of "thought-emotes". (Because ad-words read more naturally, and help people to visualise, rather than making them feel like their character has to be a mind-reader.)

â€¢ She squints with skepticism.
â€¢ She frowns, doubtful.
â€¢ Her tail twitches with frustration.

Followed up by the character taking another, more concrete action to display their opinion, as Qestir are wont to do:

â€¢ She squints with skepticism, then simply turns to walk away.
â€¢ She frowns, doubtful. She casts her gaze to the suspect item and picks it up, turning it over - and pointing straight to the counterfeit maker's stamp.
â€¢ Her tail twitches with frustration. Making brazen eye contact, she rips up the missive, placing the torn pieces back on the table between them.

Ultimately the difference between my suggestions and Es'mena's are aesthetic, but hopefully one or other of them makes sense to you. Either way, Qestir are the ultimate in "show-don't-tell" types of characters, so I think that's a good mantra to bear in mind!

Verad · **08-02-2017, 05:28 PM**

Every time somebody offers the advice "Show, don't tell," a dead Modernist steals a baby's soul.

Don't worry about making actions as a Qestir so specific, as Es suggests, that you have to precisely describe every facial tic. Doing so will make both portraying and interpreting the character more of a matter of player skill than of characterization - on your part because it requires you to have an obsessive level of knowledge on facial expressions and how to describe them, and on the part of other players because they'll need similarly obsessive levels of knowledge in order to interpret that information. That's going to be a real shame for all those characters who are investigators and described as keenly perceptive and whatnot.

Regarding That Damn Phrase, bear in mind that showing and telling are different things here. The Qestir may show, but you as a writer may need to tell for the sake of expressing nuanced ideas and ease of play. Don't feel as if you are somehow failing when you do that.

Es'mena · **08-02-2017, 06:17 PM**

(08-02-2017, 05:28 PM)Verad Wrote: Don't feel as if you are somehow failing when you do that.

This as well, most definitely. No matter what route you decide to write, don't feel as though you're doing anything wrong. There's no wrong way here.

Firefly · **08-05-2017, 09:36 AM**

(08-01-2017, 10:17 PM)illustdays Wrote: Playing through SB I've been smitten by the Qestir tribe and would maybe kinda sorta wanna RP one.
Would constant sentences like this, be annoying to RP with?

Illust beamed brightly as if to say, "[line of dialogue]"Â

So kinda cheating but heyyy video games.Â

tbh this would be annoying af

I feel as if the best approach to this, is to deliberately write only what the other people in the scene would notice.

The reason being that as a Qestir, your biggest hurdle and point of interest is your character's clear inexperience with communicating.

If you telegraph or color your character's intentions/thoughts too clearly... You'd make their intentions/thoughts too clear.

This is garbage, if you're trying to RP a character that refuses to speak, because:

The reason you pick that trait is for the challenge/difficulty it brings to your character
You want people to have difficulty understanding her
You want your character to evolve and try new things based on these challenges

Therefore, you want to maintain a level of vagueness to try and encourage 'huh?!' moments.

However, don't do the suggested, hyper-detailed facial emotions.

People will just get annoyed.

There's a fine line you have to find and walk.

Erah'sae · **08-10-2017, 02:08 PM**

(08-02-2017, 05:28 PM)Verad Wrote: Every time somebody offers the advice "Show, don't tell," a dead Modernist steals a baby's soul.

I've thought on this a few days before replying, sorry for the delay.

There's a purpose to this, especially with the Qestir. Â If we're told exactly what is trying to be communicated then making the choice of responding to it wrongly becomes metagaming in a really odd way.

Some of us really don't want to know what other characters are thinking, we want our character to be mistaken, say the wrong things, take things the wrong way. Â There's a certain freedom granted via the undefined. Â A freedom of interpretation of the showing that isn't there in the telling, if you follow me. Â

More or less, being told "this is exactly x" then reacting to it differently feels 'wrong', even if all the shown context would speak to otherwise.

It kind of falls into most of Firefly's points as well.

Kerrath · **08-13-2017, 05:41 AM**

I've always wanted to RP a 'Mean Girl' Qestir.Â

See, Qestir don't speak because they believe all words are lies. In my head, this somehow works out to mean that a speaking Qestir is lying to you. Ergo, imagine meeting the nicest, sweetest Au Ra you've ever met in your life--she says things such as "Wow, you are so smart," and "That really looks good on you," and "I really enjoy the time I spend with you." Later on, you hear she's a Qestir.

As far as your idea directly, Illust, I think if you're gonna spell out dialogue directly, it sort of defeats the purpose of RPing a Qestir. Instead, you should take it as a challenge to see how well you can communicate a point without actually saying anything. I think you'll find that body language alone is a really potent means of communication for most any situation.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **08-13-2017, 10:27 AM**

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but one idea would be to think of how you'd describe a mime.

A Qestir doesn't speak, but they still have a fully working intellect and knowledge of things.

So things like like the following could work. "/em beamed with delight. The chocolate cake had been delicious." but you'd want to avoid simply placing words into your character's mouth.

"/em made a low grumble. A pair of nearby adventurers had clearly not bathed in a number of weeks. She plugged her nose and searched for a better seat father away."

"/em did not look impressed. The talkative man in front of her had continued to try to sell his wares for an extended period of time now. She diverted her gaze."

"/em pointed towards the door and gave a small half-smile. She welcomed her friends into the small apartment room she had decorated herself. She lightly patted on an available couch, motioning to them that they were welcome to sit as she prepared some tea."

My suggestions would be to think about what actions would be associated with the thoughts your character would want to portray. As a Qestir, this is how they communicate. A merchant may have a scale or an abacus to assist with measurements and value. Or if someone is overpaying, perhaps they would return the extra coin? And if underpaying, grumble a bit and keep their hand extended out.

Would this be annoying

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes