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Lesson 1 ; GMing / Introduction
Wouldn’t you love to be able to see life through someone else’s eyes? To be able to experience what they do, and to understand things how they would? Of course you would, its common human curiosity to want to. What if I told you that it’s possible, and can be experienced at any time? No doubt this would cause you to pause, confused by what I could possibly mean, ‘how?’ you might ask. The answer is simple; roleplaying. Roleplaying is experiencing something outside of your mind, and assuming the thoughts and physical motions of another. Think of it like brainwashing except the character is of your own creation; like some Frankenstein brain-washing session (yeah, that works.) How you play your character is up to you, and their world can easily become your own (for the time that you’re controlling them.) Now as a veteran of roleplaying I’ve decided to bestow upon you some helpful tips to make your roleplaying experience a lot more enjoyable and entertaining.
The first thing about roleplaying is understanding that it’s the same as writing a story, you have all the same ingredients; a cup of plot, four scoops of character, and one pinch of plot-twist (plus explosions or romance for favoring, but only if you’re into that kind of thing.) When the idea first pops into your head; ‘hm, I think I’m going to make a new roleplay today.’ Stop and pause, think about what you’re doing and ask yourself some simple questions; do I have a plot in mind? How many characters will I need to have? Will this idea interest others? Believe it or not a lot of people skip these important questions, and go straight onto building a forum. While this can still prove to make a successful roleplay the chances are much lower. A good GM (or Game Master) is a supportive foundation for your roleplay, and a ‘prepared’ one makes the roots of the roleplay twice as strong. I’ve seen many good roleplays in my day, and there’s nothing better than a roleplay in which the GM has a well thought out plot, with juicy twists that will make people sit up until two am begging for someone else to be on. Believe it or not, a good GM will have the plot thought out in his or her head before a roleplay even begins, and the more time they spend in this thinking process the more they want their roleplay to succeed.
Thinking up a good and delicious plot isn’t something that can be thought of in just one moment however, and no matter who says what never believe it. An idea; yes, an entire plot; no. Thinking up a plot can take hours, days, (even in some major cases) years. However a warning label should be put across all roleplaying plots that says “Do Not Get Too Attached – Things Change”, as you will not be the only writer in the game don’t expect all your ideas to stick. Be assertive and tell your partner(s) your ideas, but don’t be too heartbroken if it comes back negative. If you want to get a good idea of what everyone would like the roleplay to transform into, push yourself to speak with them, to get their opinions and views on the roleplay, ask them if there’s anything that they have to contribute to it as well. Chances are (if they’re being truthful) they’ll have at least a couple of small ideas to help build up the roleplay structure. Think of your roleplaying partner(s) as your romantic others; you’re going to want to do whatever you can to make them happy, and if they aren’t happy then the foundation will begin to break apart and the roleplay will end up failing. Happiness is bliss! (At least, I think that’s what the quote is.)
Surprisingly enough though, even if you follow all of the rules above, you’re not going to have a truly successful roleplay, because you’re still leaving out the most important (in my opinion) part; characters. Unfortunately for you, you’re going to have to wait until the next issue before you get me started on character development and interaction.
Wouldn’t you love to be able to see life through someone else’s eyes? To be able to experience what they do, and to understand things how they would? Of course you would, its common human curiosity to want to. What if I told you that it’s possible, and can be experienced at any time? No doubt this would cause you to pause, confused by what I could possibly mean, ‘how?’ you might ask. The answer is simple; roleplaying. Roleplaying is experiencing something outside of your mind, and assuming the thoughts and physical motions of another. Think of it like brainwashing except the character is of your own creation; like some Frankenstein brain-washing session (yeah, that works.) How you play your character is up to you, and their world can easily become your own (for the time that you’re controlling them.) Now as a veteran of roleplaying I’ve decided to bestow upon you some helpful tips to make your roleplaying experience a lot more enjoyable and entertaining.
The first thing about roleplaying is understanding that it’s the same as writing a story, you have all the same ingredients; a cup of plot, four scoops of character, and one pinch of plot-twist (plus explosions or romance for favoring, but only if you’re into that kind of thing.) When the idea first pops into your head; ‘hm, I think I’m going to make a new roleplay today.’ Stop and pause, think about what you’re doing and ask yourself some simple questions; do I have a plot in mind? How many characters will I need to have? Will this idea interest others? Believe it or not a lot of people skip these important questions, and go straight onto building a forum. While this can still prove to make a successful roleplay the chances are much lower. A good GM (or Game Master) is a supportive foundation for your roleplay, and a ‘prepared’ one makes the roots of the roleplay twice as strong. I’ve seen many good roleplays in my day, and there’s nothing better than a roleplay in which the GM has a well thought out plot, with juicy twists that will make people sit up until two am begging for someone else to be on. Believe it or not, a good GM will have the plot thought out in his or her head before a roleplay even begins, and the more time they spend in this thinking process the more they want their roleplay to succeed.
Thinking up a good and delicious plot isn’t something that can be thought of in just one moment however, and no matter who says what never believe it. An idea; yes, an entire plot; no. Thinking up a plot can take hours, days, (even in some major cases) years. However a warning label should be put across all roleplaying plots that says “Do Not Get Too Attached – Things Change”, as you will not be the only writer in the game don’t expect all your ideas to stick. Be assertive and tell your partner(s) your ideas, but don’t be too heartbroken if it comes back negative. If you want to get a good idea of what everyone would like the roleplay to transform into, push yourself to speak with them, to get their opinions and views on the roleplay, ask them if there’s anything that they have to contribute to it as well. Chances are (if they’re being truthful) they’ll have at least a couple of small ideas to help build up the roleplay structure. Think of your roleplaying partner(s) as your romantic others; you’re going to want to do whatever you can to make them happy, and if they aren’t happy then the foundation will begin to break apart and the roleplay will end up failing. Happiness is bliss! (At least, I think that’s what the quote is.)
Surprisingly enough though, even if you follow all of the rules above, you’re not going to have a truly successful roleplay, because you’re still leaving out the most important (in my opinion) part; characters. Unfortunately for you, you’re going to have to wait until the next issue before you get me started on character development and interaction.