All the World's a Stage: A little help from my friends
by David Bowers 
Jan 20th 2008 at 3:00PM
Roleplaying a new character can be hard, even for advanced roleplayers. Usually you only begin with the fragment of a character, some vague idea of what you want your character to be like. Even if you have a pretty clear idea of your character already in mind, you may discover that actually playing that role in communication with others causes issues to come up that you never could have thought of all on your own.
Thankfully, roleplaying is a cooperative activity. Unlike PvE and PvP, there is no "versus" in RP. Even if two characters are bitter nemeses, still their characters must cooperate with one another to share an interesting story. Otherwise, they will find themselves "god-modding," or roleplaying in such a way that they don't give one another any room to improvise. (Two god-modders may fight something like this, using custom emotes: "Darkmystery stabs Elfman and cuts out his heart," followed by, "Elfman dodges Darkmystery's sword and then rips his head off," and so on.) These people aren't really roleplaying in the same way that two people shouting at each other in different languages are not really communicating. Roleplaying's very nature requires that each person work together with every other person, or else it isn't really roleplaying at all.
Though the rare "god-modder" can attract a lot of attention, in fact most roleplayers are quite eager to cooperate and assist one another as much as possible. For every one drama queen or king who simply must be the center of attention at all times, there are 5 roleplayers standing in the background listening quietly, wishing that someone else would talk, and 15 more who went off to roleplay their own stories instead. Most roleplayers reach out to each other for support, suggestions, background story ideas, and are more than willing to lend a helping hand in these areas to anyone who asks. Such mutual reciprocity forms the foundation of what roleplaying is all about.
The inspiration for a new character, however, always has to come from the individual. This inspiration forms the core of who a new character is going to be, and it usually won't work if one plays a character based too much around someone else's idea. That said, your idea doesn't need to be necessarily very complicated, and it is more than likely inspired by something you saw someone else do sometime, whether in roleplaying or in a story of some sort. But no matter what awakened that certain feeling or idea within you, your own character comes from your heart -- not some book, movie, or old myth you heard once.
You can use a simple method with two key words to focus in on the essentials of the character you want to play, or you can use Jim Moreno's "Five W's" method, asking certain key questions about your chraracter -- whatever works for you. Once you've got a basic feeling of who your character is, the next step is to interact with others. Sometimes this will go off with no hitch whatsoever, but often the logical holes in your idea will begin to appear. You may soon realize that actually the lore doesn't support some part of your story, or that what you thought would be a very engaging character quirk is actually driving people away.
No one should feel shy to ask others for support in this kind of situation. It's very rare that a roleplayer will laugh at your idea or say "that sucks!" You may hear roleplayers share horror stories about some of the worst characters they've ever seen in the game, but chances are that if a newcomer came to roleplayers sincerely looking for advice and suggestions, the roleplayers would gladly give it to him in a polite way. Because roleplaying is, by its very nature, so very cooperative, it is in every roleplayer's best interest to support others around them to the extent of his or her ability. Besides, asking someone for advice is a sign that you respect them, and showing people genuine respect tends to bring out the best in them.
If you're part of a roleplaying guild, there's usually a space in the guild forums to ask questions and get suggestions. If not, even if you know one roleplayer on your entire server, chances are that he or she is connected with other groups of roleplayers, and among his or her friends there will be some who are pretty good at studying the lore and helping other players. You'll likely eventually find plenty of intelligent people, each with a different viewpoint on how best to roleplay, but nonetheless all able to contribute something valuable to anyone's creative process.
Whenever I'm feeling stuck with a character, I find I learn a great deal from listening to a variety of opinions on my problem. Out of five different suggestions, I can understand my problem in a new light, and easily discover one or two suggestions that I really like. I can see what it is about my character that causes miscommunication or doesn't get me the response I was hoping for from other players. A number of people may give me answers which are quite interesting and insightful, but nonetheless don't feel like they fit exactly right, whereas the perfect insight may come from a totally unexpected source. Regardless of which friend's suggestion I find most suitable, the very act of asking gives me a chance to discover so many beautiful and interesting ideas and perspectives from my fellow roleplayers, that I find myself enriched and educated by having interacted with them. Each roleplayer is a mine rich in gems, and each one has something interesting to share with you, even if it's just a little bit.
Even after you feel more comfortable with your character, as if he or she is a regular extension of your own mind, you still continue to rely on the constant support of others. You may discuss with your friends what sort of event should happen next. Or you may discover that you actually share some important element of your story in common with someone else -- both born in the same part of Azeroth, for instance. You can whisper one another for details that your characters might already know about, such as a possible childhood nicknames they might have used, and quickly fill in the blank spots in your story that both characters would have shared.
What's the best roleplaying advice you've received? Do you have any constructive suggestions or interesting tips you often share with others, or any cooperative tricks you use to make your roleplaying that much more interesting?
Filed under: Virtual selves, RP, All the World's a Stage (Roleplaying)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Hennkra Mar 2nd 2008 7:35AM
One of the problems that has arisen in my role playing experience: finding my niche. Usually, I never get to role play. Ever. And when I do it is fleeting, usually people I randomly come across or people I know through my sister. All in all, I find myself extremely displaced and bored when it comes to the role playing aspect of the game, for lack of others to enjoy it with.
Something that I find enjoyable in my characters is defying the stereotype or just a silly and random theme, and it usually garners attention or appreciation of others, either from amusement or appreciation for seeing something out of the ordinary. An example of this would be my Druid, which I hardly play anymore. She was my first character, and regetably a Night Elf, since my mother, and then my sister {Yes, three females who all play WoW in the same household. Amazing. } had made elves. At first, she was friendly and kind enough, but taking on the feral regime that I've seen become common amongst druids. After I learned more, and I got past that arc in her story, I decided to redo her personality, now that a giant weight was off of her shoulders. She is now rather dwarf like in behavior, with a large alcoholic tolerance, curt and crude way of thinking, and a heavy Dwarvish accent.
Another interesting quirk one can add to character is speech. In Azeroth, there are enough accents around to make a person dizzy, so utilize them into a character to give a little pizzaz to your role play, and maybe even grab a passerby's attention. At first, it can be rather slow to get the hang of using one, especially a thick one, but after practice, it's easy. There's also the quirk of being mute, having to write on little post-its and sticking them on people or on your palm and putting in people's faces. One of my Horde's guildmates { Mainly playing Horde-side now. I'm old school Horde though, no Belfs.} is an undead without a lower jaw, and speaks in a garbled dialect we all jokingly refer to as 'Pattanese'. Some of us can even understand what he says most of the time, but that's only after spending enough time around him.
When I'm bored, I also make 'silly' characters. They are characters I never level, and camp down in some city. The two silly characters I have are both down in Silvermoon City, which I rather dispise. But it's worth seeing the reactions. The first one I made was on Moon Guard, where my sister and her friend were checking out the role play after The Burning Crusade came out. I rolled an undead, but role-play wise, he is a Wretched. I made a belf rogue, sent him the armor in the mail, and then farmed certain mobs in the Eversong area for neat items, like Crystalized Mana Residue, Mana Residue, and my sister farmed Bloodthistle on her test character. Now he slinks around Silvermoon, harrassing people and as high as a kite, often speaking complete nonsense, and being an all around druggie. I have dubbed him 'Your Average Shady Dealer'.
My other I made to mock the blood elves in Silvermoon on my home server. She is a fat, ugly, slightly old, and heavily accented blood elf baker. I've gotten giggles out of it, and cash. Not much, since she charges a copper per piece of bread, but she generally gets tipped very well. All in all, it's fun.
So, if you have a serious, dour character, give a silly character a whirl. If you need ideas, you can ask me or anyone you know. I'll put a few ideas down here, and I also don't mind if any readers would like to give one of the above ideas a shot.
Incorrect Prophet : A person who allegedly has the ability to see the future, but everything is distorted into rather odd and peculiar ways.
Just Some Crazy Person : 'Nuff said.
Not Another Malfunction! : A person of one race, who is an avid engineer, accidentally changes bodies with a person of another race { Cross-side would be rather silly. "OH DEAR LIGHT, THERE'S AN ORC COMING RIGHT AT ME!" "... But you ARE an orc." "Um... Err." }.
Darkmoon Faire Entertainer : Something you can cart out everytime it comes around.
And Cynra, the whole class/personality thing varies, really. It all depends on what the creator is going for and how they came up with the idea.
Littlemouse Jan 21st 2008 3:23AM
Realize your character is fluid and don't lock yourself into a mold that you can't adjust as needed. I used to make huge, elaborate backgrounds for my characters back in my tabletop/LARP days and I can tell you that most of them ended up with some serious changes; either a stronger archetype or a complete revision. An example is my first Gnome Warlock; she originally started out as a evil little thing who got abducted by some bad shadowpriests. Somehow she underwent a complete revision and now is a bumbling pirate who looks down (ok, up if you want to get technical >.>) on too-talls, speaks in a gutter-rat accent and had the misfortune to be well known to the port authorities (my way of explaining why the boats always leave when I get there). There's tons more story there, but you get the picture.
This is also true if you plan to do events; your well-thought script will likely not survive the combined effort of multiple interractions. This doesn't mean that people will ruin your event, but someone always comes up with something that you didn't think of. This is really more of a problem in a more static environment like tabletops, but I've attended events where something went wrong and the sponsor was upset about deviations to the script that they had thought out.
My advice here is to plan more along the lines of an outline rather than a script. This allows you and your crew to respond to those situations that you didn't expect. This doesn't mean you can't script certain events, just a warning to expect the unexpected:)
Now I do know people who script heavily, create elaborate backgrounds for their characters and are able to pull it off; most of them have had extensive practice though:) In other words, the above was my own experiences and what conclusions I've drawn from failed toons and events; both as a participant and the host. Use or disregard as you desire:)
Theserene Jan 21st 2008 4:25AM
The best advice I got from my years in RP was:
Don't always be the centre of attention.
The storyline has room for people like Arthas etc. but it is wise to know your limits for your character and to know that not everyone can be as central as the Lich King.
Calybos Jan 21st 2008 7:55AM
Even the simplest turns of phrase can add to the RP experience. My Holy Priest troll greets all fellow trolls with "Greeting, my brother/sister." And orcs and tauren get, "Hello, cousin." Forsaken? They're not part of the "family of life," so even when they help out she says "My thanks, Dark One."
Cynra Jan 21st 2008 10:09AM
The second best advice I can give to neophyte roleplayers is to pick a character/personality that you can roleplay easily. If you're a naturally vivacious individual and delight in interacting with others, you might have difficulties initially roleplaying a brooding, pessimistic character. I know that I was originally a bit overwhelmed - and even embarrassed - roleplaying when I first joined a roleplaying server and was afraid to make mistakes that would brand me the newb that I was to other experienced roleplayers. Fortunately, I chose a very uncomplicated character at first and so eased my way into roleplaying to where I am now (a stable to ten different, unique girls).
One of the tricks that I like to use is to pick some sort of inherent personality trait or idiosyncrasy (or two!) in myself and use that as the backbone of all of my characters. Not only does that give me something in which I can relate with my girls, but it also gives them a definite area in which they all differ. The healing priest is enthusiastic, but suffers from a fear that her performance is always subpar; the hunter is confident but aloof; the Discipline-specced battlepriest can best be described with the phrase "cantankerous bitch" (she's a fun one to be when I'm feeling cranky); the refined warlock is elegant but hopelessly single-minded when it comes to getting a task done: all of these are characteristics of me as a person, but I've expanded on them in each character in order to make it easier to be them.
To me, roleplaying is like acting, but with the universe your stage and every single person you encounter not only a member of the audience, but also potentially a fellow performer. I actually think of it as slipping into a character, like an article of clothing. Some of my characters are like a pair of sweatpants; familiar, comfortable, and easy to understand. Others are those skinny jeans that you keep in your back closet and try pulling on every once in a while, even though that extra pound can make just enough of a difference to make it difficult.
Of course, that doesn't mean that you should limit yourself! Don't be afraid to try something different or new, and definitely don't become dejected if someone comments on your roleplaying derisively. In general, I tend to conduct myself in character almost all of the time (the notable exception being raids, though I do get some in-character interaction there sometimes!), and you'd be surprised the reaction I get sometimes. I remember shortly after rolling my tauren druid I ended up in a Wailing Caverns group. The four gentlemen in the group with me were a bunch of real-life friends who has just rolled toons on Feathermoon US, but had absolutely no interest in or experience with roleplaying. I'm a roleplayer, so when my girl came across the area before the instance where you have to swim through water to get to the entrance inside the caves (she has a very strong aversion to water over four inches - that being the point at which her hooves are covered - having gone as far to have never ridden a boat and staying entirely on zeppelins for transportation. In fact, she "failed" her waterform quest and plans on making another attempt when she reaches 70!), imagine their surprise when I absolutely refused to step into the water because my girl was terrified of putting her head underwater. Their solution? This group of non-roleplaying, leet-speaking guys actually roleplayed getting my girl inebriated and then dragging her incapacitated body through the tunnel so that they could get in and she could resume her healing duties. I fondly remember that run as one of the most fun impromptu roleplaying interactions I've ever had just because of their delight in roleplaying for their first time and the success that we had that night!
The best advice that I can give is that roleplaying should be fun and you shouldn't be afraid to try things out or feel weird for being a roleplayer. There are a lot of us out there and I honestly believe that within every person is a part of him - however miniscule - that could be coerced, cajoled, or convinced to roleplay if given the opportunity, no matter how much anti-roleplaying sentiment that he throws at you!
As always, thanks for the wonderful article - and the opportunity to babble a bit!
Littlemouse Jan 22nd 2008 6:06AM
I agree with the above; for your first roleplaying experience, I'd reccomend playing a character that is basically you in real life. This allows you to be more natural in your responses and helps prevent a bit of disorientation of trying to think of what your character would do since s/he is basically the same:)
As you start to feel more comfortable roleplaying, try stretching things out a bit. An example could be that if your naturally quiet in real life, make a character that jabbers a lot. Not everything will work and not everything will feel comfortable. Learn what your limits and tastes are and refine:)
Create little hooks for your character(s) that allow for other player interractions. An example from me: My gnome mage started asking around Wetlands to keep an eye out for any crocs that were ticking (hope people get this reference >.>). When asked why, she stated that she had bonked a croc on the nose with her grandfather's clock and the dang thing ate it! It's worked wonders for me in the major cities too:) I've a Mara group in the near future when I get her a little higher to go after Rotgore (? can't believe I've forgotten his name already... I'm too lazy to go look it up on Wowhead:)) that spawned from this hook:)
Some hooks will work, some won't. Don't get too attached and come up with a few:) I create mine solely to see what rp I can fish up with them; they get incorporated in my story as background in and of themselves, but allow for expansion.
Hope this helps someone:)
David Bowers Jan 22nd 2008 12:19PM
You make some great points Littlemouse. I have one thing to add: in addition to playing a character who is basically just like an Azerothian version of yourself, it sometimes works very well to imagine the sort of hero you would like to be, the person you wish you were, and then play that. Sometimes, when my friends have imagined such a thing, and then roleplayed it, they discover that they are perfectly capable of being such a person, and they find that the game has made a substantial positive change possible in their real life.
Roleplaying as an activity has proven to be very good for many people's own real personal growth, even if they never actually intend to do anything more with roleplaying than having a good time. It can sometimes be like healthy sports for the soul.
Cynra Jan 22nd 2008 9:48AM
I caught the reference! That's an wonderful idea, Littlemouse.
One of the things that I like doing on my healing priest is carry copies of letters in my bag. As a spunky, smart, but uneducated young woman, Csilla has absolutely no ability to read or write (though she does recognize the letter C and proudly signs everything with a hastily scrabbled "C"). So when I get mail - whether it's IC or OOC messages - she can't read them. As such, I prompt roleplay by asking for people to read them for her or - even more fun - for people to write replies on her behalf! Some of the messages my friends and fellow guildmembers have gotten are hilarious.
I once received an IC message from the old GL telling her what an asset she was and how lucky The Regiment was to have her in their ranks, but the poor girl couldn't understand a lick of it! I spent an hour or so wandering around Stormwind asking for people to read the letter to her and engaging in random roleplay. Some people thought that it was weird, but other people got into the fun and read it for her. She was so pleased by the letter that she carried it around for weeks and would ask people to read it for her again so that she could feel all spiffy again. Csilla needed the bolster in confidence at the time, so she was walking on air for the next couple of weeks.
Pointing out that you need to avoid getting too attached to quirks is a good point; the sign of a good character in my eyes is one that evolves and changes through interaction and progression, and if something works or something happens that would otherwise change that person that means that old quirks might not work. I'm enough of a roleplayer that I often do Battlegrounds in-character (and I get flak, until people note that I'm usually double the healing of the person below me - then they join in the fun) and I remember during the late 50s shortly before my girl did the Windsor chain I got thrashed in the Battlegrounds for being a poor healer. As the only healer in the Warsong Gulch match I thought that I was doing a damned fine job, but Csilla wouldn't have taken it that way at all; she was crushed. Coupled with soloing the Windsor quest and then seeing "tha' nice-like mister Reggie fellah" getting WTFpwned by Ony, she was a morose little priestess for a while.
David Bowers Jan 22nd 2008 12:14PM
Those are some really neat quirk and interactivity ideas Cynra! I may mention this sort of thing in future articles. I find we have so many intelligent commenters in this column nowadays.
Littlemouse Jan 23rd 2008 6:31AM
One thing I love to do is to use pop culture references, such as the clock and the crocodile:) Blizzard has a ton of them, so why can't we? The real trick is trying to put an Azerothian (is that even a word?) onto it.
Here's another example that made a few rounds in our guild and was nice fodder in the pubs:
My Gnome had just seen the play "Little Gnomer Orphan Angle", starring Angle and Daddy Warbeard (dwarf of course:)). I logged onto the game one day and immediately sang the entire song "Tomorrow" (horribly offkey, my Gnome can't sing worth a darn!) in /gchat; much fun was had and we spent a few weeks trying to come up with other play conversions:)
Another bit of fun that I've done was acquire the entire twill set, a Disgusting Oozeling and the lantern from SFK and go around begging in Stormwind:) A little gross and juvenile, but I "sneezed" and popped out the Disgusting Oozeling >.> I actually made a few gold, even though I ((ooc)) told them I was kidding around and not in it for the money:)
Next up for me; digging out my Dreadmist set, going to acquire the stupid hood that never dropped for me, then Stormwind beware!! Doom, I say, Doom! Prophecies coming on a street corner near you!
I just can't play a serious Gnome, no matter how hard I try >.
Littlemouse Jan 23rd 2008 6:42AM
Bah! It's late for me and I've noticed mispelled words and symbols in my post :*( And I have to agree with Cynra on not getting too hung up on quirks and etc. I've had a few toons grind to a halt due to ideas that seemed good at the start coming to a resolution and nothing coming to me on how to progress. The story was essentially told:(
Oh well! It happens and you learn (at least I hope to) from past errors:)
Cynra Jan 23rd 2008 8:22AM
I had the opposite problem, Littlemouse, when I played gnomes: they were so disgustingly serious! I had one slick gnome lady for a while that I had originally rolled on a PvP server with my younesgt sibling. We had created a pretty decent background for the characters, but Tzigane Thistledown (how un-gnome-like is THAT name?) was serious, manipulative, fast-talking, and street-smart, but far too loyal to her plodding "I'm-just-the-muscle" dwarven counterpart - which spawned a huge story arc that eventually culminated in a tabletop gaming session. She had two quirks: she was a technophobe in every sense of the word and couldn't lock pick at all (to the point where she had to get friends to open lock boxes for her). Both quirks actually had large impacts on her story and created for me a very memorable character.
Piroska, on the other hand, was serious to a fault. I selected a warrior for her (mainly because the idea of a gnome warrior amused me to no end), but envisioned her as the "speak softly, carry a huge frickin' sword" type. She was a part of an all-gnome roleplaying guild that venerated an enigmatic gnome known only as the Old Man who had rescued many of them Gnomeregan. They focused on secrecy and was in truth more a sect than a guild; we held weekly meetings entirely in Gnomish in Ironforge, had an outfit that each member was expected to wear at these meetings and in town, and stringently expected all members to avoid talking to outsiders.
How often does the class you play influence the personality that you envision for your characters? Do you pick classes to fit personalities or create personalities that are influenced by the class you're playing? For example, is that troll rogue you see standing at a darkened corner of the bar sneaky and slightly deviant because he's a rogue or is he a rogue because that's his personality? Random question that popped into my head.