Intro to Role Playing

Intro to Role Playing Games
Wikipeida defines Role Playing Games as :
A role-playing game (RPG; often roleplaying game) is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
The players create characters whose roles they will play in the game. As well as fleshing out the character's fictional background, they assign numerical statistics to the character; these will be used later to determine the outcome of events in the game. Together, these notes tell the player about their character and his or her place in the game world.
Freeform
Freeform role-playing games are played with minimal or no formal rules and a greater focus on character or plot development, with the organizers as referees. Most free-form games are also live-action games, though they exist in both traditional and computer-assisted forms. Free-form games are most often seen at gaming conventions, though they are also sometimes run by gaming clubs or a dedicated team of independent GM's.
Role playing games are fundamentally different from most other types of games in that they stress social interaction and collaboration, whereas board games, card games, and sports emphasize competition.
Both authors and major publishers of role-playing games consider them to be a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player at a role-playing game makes choices that affect the story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story.
Getting more specific to RP in a CCS SIM
Freeform Roleplay Defined
Freeform roleplay is a system of play in of which there are very few actual
static rules. The actual roleplay occurring is spontaneous and not pre-planned.
While the City of Lost Angel's recognizes the systems and static rule sets of
other roleplay communities, the City of Lost Angel's itself does not practice any
form of static VTR/VTM roleplay. If we were to classify the city, it would be
classified as more or less full of wild vampires, demons, gang members, lost
souls and very possibly a Sabbat stronghold...but not entirely.
Freeform itself is about self definition of your character. You decide your own
role, you decide who your character is. You decide the stories and interactions
you're going to have.
This kind of play requires a fairly experienced and self constrained player. In
self definition it is very easy to make yourself unkillable...godlike, the most
powerful force in the known universe....it takes a GOOD roleplayer to NOT do
this.
Taking some time to consider your vulnerabilities and play with them in mind is
important. Your character may not be mortal of course...but being omnipotent
is very boring to play against and tends to frustrate people and make them shut
out your character.
Freeform also requires you to be willing to concede to other characters their
abilities and strengths....so when interacting with others, it's best not to
immediately assume you are the most powerful character in the room.
It requires maturity, cooperation, and a quick mind. But once you get used to it,
you should enjoy it.
Out of Character
Out of Character (OOC) refers to a situation where you aren’t talking through
the role of your character, but rather as the player behind the role.
If you are speaking OOC, then use parentheses ( ) or brackets [ ] or some
scripted tool to indicate as such. This way your fellow players know when your
are talking or when your character is talking. All speech is assumed to be IC
unless otherwise indicated.
information that the player may know but the character may not. It can range
from skills (you are a computer hack playing a biker) you have but your
character would not, to information gathered in a way (SL tags, SL client,
character profiles, etc.) that your character would otherwise have access too.
This is illegal. Try to RP any information gathering.
Keep in mind that a character is a character and the player is a player. Keep
issues between characters in the game. Do not take them out of the game. Do
not let issues with a character's player come into the game if you can help it.
Turning your CCS off or removing it does not mean you are OOC. You must act or
indicate in some way that you are OOC. You may not abuse OOC by trying to
listen into conversations, interfere in RP or hang around factional bases. If you
are OOC and asked to leave an are due to RP going on then you must do so.

Meta-gaming
From Wikipedia: http: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagaming
A broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a
game which transcends a prescribed rule set, uses external factors to affect the
game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. A
player is meta-gaming when they use knowledge that is not available to their
character in order to give them an advantage within the game, such as
knowledge of the mathematical nature of character statistics or OOC
information the character does not have. This also includes things such as
“hearing” a conversation through walls, a building roof or other objects because
SL lets you hear everything in a 20 m radius.

Godmoding
From Wikipedia: http: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godmoding
There are two type of Godmoding.
Passive Godmoding—Godmoding can occur when a character describes an
event or a series of events he or she has taken against another character or
interactive object, most often with the purpose of rescinding negative effects
previously encountered or granting some other effect inconsistent with an
innocent view of the narrative. Some players will create a brand new character, and that character
is automatically gifted with skills, and nearly impossible to take on right from
the start. This happens when a newer character goes against an established
one, and the newer character god-modes themselves as if they've been around
the same length of time.
Active Godmoding—Godmoding can also refer to the case where a player
definitively describes the outcome of their own actions against another
character or interactive object. For example, if player A states, “A strikes B and
B takes damage”, they could be considered to be godmoding. Another example
of this might be where a character is facing multiple enemies, and they redirect
one foe's attack onto another. For example, Player A states, “B misses A
completely, and strikes C instead.” It is always best to state your intention and
let the other player dictate their response.
Remember always that this is a GAME. Everyone is here to have fun. The is not a
game about winning or losing. Any such apparent “wins” or “losses” are
fleeting. This is about the stories being told. Accept that both good and bad
things will happen to your character. Do not take insults or negative actions
done to your character personally. Look up the things that happen to your
character as a chance to allow the character to grow and develop.

Chat
Main chat in RP area is considered to be In Character (IC). Any conversation that
takes place out of character (OOC) must be in [brackets] or (parentheses) of
some kind. All OOC conversation has not bearing on IC interactions.
Keep in mind that because a character is doing something to you, that does not
mean the player is. Keep the two separate.
Freeform character abilities
Invisibility, for example, is a tough ability to RP. There are devices that allow you
to go invisible. As long as it is for RP it is fine (not during or to initiate combat).
You should RP some hint that there is someone lurking about so others have a
chance to respond. If another character present has an ability to detect an
invisible person (e.g. heightened sense of hearing or smell, magic spells, psychic
ability, the ability to detect living beings, etc.) then that person should RP using
said ability to try to detect the invisible person.
Work together to make it a fun RP. Do not engage in brinkmanship! If a person
uses an ability to counter yours then don't immediately claim it won't work for X
reason. That just leads to frustration and anger. If there are certain abilities you
know will not work then RP it out before hand.
For example, Damia emotes something like “Damia Savon sneaks into the Lycan
Den using her invisibility spell, trusting it to negate their superior sense of smell
and hearing.” Any Lycans present know Damia is there and that its doubtful their
enhanced sense will work. Notice, Damia has not stated that their sense “will not”
work. Its possible her spell is not perfect. She is trusting that if a Lycan wishes to
use smell or hearing to detect her that they will RP a reason why that sense is
stronger than her spell. Damia has also not stated other abilities will not work. If a
response comes “The Lycan Shaman senses a disturbance in the magic field of
the Den” then that is a legitimate ability and needs to be accepted as such. From
there Damia and the Lycan Shaman can IM each other and work out any issues.

External Resources
This website has five lessons on role playing:
http: http://htrp.wikispaces.com/
• What IS Role Playing?: Yes, there's one or two people who haven't even
heard of role playing.
• Terms used in Role Playing Areas: Ok, time for all that role play slang
some people just don't seem to understand to well.
• Role Playing Styles: role play styles are several types/ways of role
playing.
• How to make a decent Character for role play: There are 2 kinds of
Profiles you can make.
• Races for role playing: Ok, you've got the Template and basic ideas.
Now what should you be?!

Overview: role playing
• Game masters award experience at their judgement based on
good role playing.
• GMs theoretically can also remove experience points for bad role play,
but this is not as typical.

Playing a role in a CCS Sim
Playing a Freeform Role
Freeform role play is a system of play in of which there are very few actual
static rules and the actual role play occurring is unscripted, spontaneous, and
not pre-planned.
Freeform role play requires maturity, cooperation, and a quick mind. But once
you get used to it, you should enjoy it.
Freeform itself is about self-determination. You decide your own role,
personality, and background. You decide who your characters are, what compels
them, repels them.You decide the stories and interactions you're going to have.

Thoughtful consideration
Unscripted role play requires a fairly experienced and self constrained player. In
self definition it is very easy to make yourself unkillable...godlike, the most
powerful force in the known universe....it takes a GOOD role player to NOT do
this.
Vulnerabilities—Taking some time to consider your vulnerabilities and play
with them in mind is important. Your character may not be mortal of
course...but being omnipotent is very boring to play against and tends to
frustrate people and make them shut out your character.
Concession—Freeform also requires you to be willing to concede to other
characters their abilities and strengths....so when interacting with others, it's
best not to immediately assume you are the most powerful character in the
room.

Mechanics of Role Play in CCS Sims/Second Life
Chat vs. IM—Chat in role play areas is generally considered in character (IC).
Any chat that is Out of Character (OOC) is generally inside of some kind of
brackets or parentheses, for example
Molly Switchblade smiles fiendishly and slices open your stomach with a
glint in her eye. ((oh shit i just spilled wine on my cat))
Instant messages are considered by some to be always OOC and by others to be
IC (telephone, telepathy, or electronic communications). If you are unsure, ask
the other person IC or OOC, and avoid nasty surprises.
In character vs. out of character (OOC)—All interaction between
characters that is considered in character has NO BEARING on OOC commentary.
So while a character may be verbally abusing you...that does not usually mean
the player behind the character is. Please keep this in mind when dealing with
confrontational role play.
Note If you show your role play sessions to others you could get banned from Second Life. The Linden Labs terms of service (TOS) explicitly states that distributing copies of chat logs or pasting snips of chat from one person to another is a violation unless all parties in the chat log agree that it can be distributed.