Characters
Perhaps the most important thing that is an absolute must for me is interesting characters. In order to grab my attention a story needs to have good characters that stand out; not because they’re so amazing but rather because they are realistic, flawed and believable. I absolutely hate characters that are just cardboard cutouts of whatever they’re meant to be; hero, damsel, villain etc. Characters should have reasons and backstories and their own logic that they abide by. Thanos isn’t an awesome bad guy because he’s so powerful, it’s because he’s an awesome character who isn’t trying to murder half the universe through hate, but rather because of his backstory and his logic.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s often good to have an archetype in mind for a character, but then they should be developed from there to give them some backstory and a good, believable reason for doing whatever it is they do.
As for the kind of characters I like to play, I’m pretty easy. I will play anything and everything. I don’t think that the fact that I’m a Pansexual white male in the real world at all limits what I am able to write as. As such I write as men, women, futas, non-human creatures, whatever as long as I can use said character to tell a good story.
The same kinda rules go for the kind of characters I like to play against. I’m pretty easy, though I do have a weakness for powerful, confident women. Damsels in distress who are content to wait for their rescuer do nothing for me. Women who know what they want and take it, in my personal opinion, are the best kind.
Genres
Slice of life. Normal people living normal lives can be some of the most interesting. But then it doesn’t just have to be entirely normal and mundane; there can be plenty of drama. Perhaps we follow two people in a taboo, forbidden relationship? Maybe somebody sees something they shouldn’t and they find themselves wrapped up in a conspiracy. Or maybe a character discovers that their other half is secretly a hitman? All still set within a normal, mundane world devoid of magic or fantasy.
Fantasy. As well as escaping into other magical worlds, I also love the sheer possibility. Perhaps we tell a modern fantasy tale with our characters travelling from our world to another and back again. Maybe it’s a high fantasy adventure with dragons and monsters and knights in shining armour clashing with dark lords. We could have an apocalypse brought on by the discovery of magic, or a gritty dark ages world at war with monsters for no other reason than they are different.
Post Apocalyptic. Seems to be a very popular genre in a lot of media lately and I can see why. It offers a lot of possibility, especially in the realm of character development. After all most good post apocalyptic stories focus on how characters adapt and change to the end of the world. What are they willing to do to survive? Will they cling to their morals or become brutal and savage monsters just trying to survive? Some of my favourites are The Last Of Us, The Walking Dead and the Fallout series.
Science Fiction. Lots of way this could be done, whether it’s epic space operas with alien races and space battles, or something closer to home with fledgling A.I. Hell even certain superhero films could fall under he genre of science fiction.
Historical. Whether it's a plot set in the dark ages, the viking invasions of Britain, either of the World Wars or something older or more recent all together. I'm something of a history page
Steampunk. Probably the genre that I know the least about, but would love to explore, ideally somebody who understands the genre a bit better than me.
World-Building
Another thing that I really enjoy is building the world within which our characters will exist. Because I really enjoy fantasy and science fiction there can be a lot to discuss about the worlds or galaxies that our story will take place in. How does magic work? How many races exist? Who’s the dominant power in this world? These and loads more questions are often fun to discuss and work out for our plot and we can even continue to discuss them OOC whilst starting to write our RP together. Either way I just find it very fun and satisfying coming up with ideas for different worlds, settings etc.
Narrator/Storyteller POV
While for the most part I tend to write in either a third or first person point of view, with no preference between the two, sometimes I also enjoy a storyteller point of view, or a Game Master. So basically one of us would take on the role of, well, the story. They’d control the world around the main character, the people they meet or fight, and often give the main character options which can influence how the main stay will unfold. I quite like writing as a narrator, how I'm also more than happy to play against a narrator if anyone feels like doing that for me.
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