New to roleplaying

[Magnus Frostshadow]

Like title has says I'm new to the whole roleplaying thing. My character is on mateus and I wanted some veteran pointers to help me, develop my background. Or how should I even start.

[Tregarde]

You can find many good resources here for people new to Ff14 and roleplay in general:
Now that I am here, what do I do? An introduction to Eorzea.
https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/topic/18296-now-that-i-am-here-what-do-i-do-an-introduction-to-eorzea/

For more detailed lore of FF14, you can't do better than:
Sounsyy's Lore Compilations Index
https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/topic/17092-sounsyys-lore-compilations-index/

That out of the way...

I would recommend checking out the links above. Find some topics that strike your interest and read up a bit. Don't feel obligated to read everything, you don't need to have an ecyclopedic knowledge of FF14 (that's Sounsyy's job). Just get some general background on Eorzea to give you a foundation to work from.

At its heart, roleplay is a game of 'let's pretend.' We all used to play it as children, whether it was in a field acting like our heroes, or with action figures, or Barbies, or whatever. We're a little older now, and our 'toys' are more sophisticated, but it still comes down to 'let's pretend.' In this case, we're pretending to be people of Eorzea. And thanks to the internet, we can pretend along with lots of others who in on the game with us.

Of course, you'll need to make at least one character so you can join in the fun. Read up on the lore of each race and class to see if any appeal to you. Or just start playing around with the character creator and see if you come up with something (or someone) that feels like it would be interesting to play. Don't worry if something doesn't work out, you can always make a new character, or change class without making a new character.

Some people like to make detailed backgrounds and attributes for their characters before they even start. Others jump right in and make stuff up as they go along. Some, like me, do a little of both. Being new to roleplay, don't worry too much about the details yet. Keep things simple and you can flesh out the specifics later as you get to know your character and the world better. But it doesn't hurt if you want to get detailed.

And remember, the lore is flexible. Use what is known about the world as guidelines, but don't feel you are restricted to following everything to the letter. Game mechanics only matter when you doing in-game stuff. For example, by game mechanics one of my characters is a Paladin, but in RP she just a fighter who favors a sword and shield. In RP you can even have characters who have jobs and do things that do not have a class associated with them.

It is always a good idea to keep your RP plausible. Making a character who is half-demon, half-dragon, vampire that can walk in daylight, and is the illegitimate child of the emperor isn't going to be taken seriously (and yes, I've seen someone actually do that). That doesn't mean you can't make your character special in some ways, just don't go too crazy. But if you do want to make a noble, or soldier, or whatever, then at least study the politics and social rules that person would have grown up with. Of course, there's nothing wrong with making a character from humble beginnings. In fact, I often find the humble character to be more interesting, it makes them rising up to be someone important a true journey.

And above all, remember... HAVE FUN!

Edited May 3, 2018 by Tregarde

[Magnus Frostshadow]

Thank you very much, I'll keep that all in mind.