A Roleplayer's Handbook

[The Academy]

Before I begin, I'd like to say that this is Mizuki Haruka's work at SRGX, along with help from Xenneth Hikari and Amy Morrison.

And now to begin.

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With this guide, I can reassure you of one thing.

You will never have the excuse "I couldn't think of anything" for a post under five words EVER AGAIN.

With this guide, you'd just be plain lazy to have one under five words.

With this guide, I have seen people post ON AVERAGE what was about 3 pages PER POST in Microsoft Word.

The least you can do is take a few tips.

[The Academy]

Step One: Who, What, When, Where and Why

A good way to expand your posts is to post different details about the situation. Let me give you an example.

Written by Desirae LeMort, Victoria

A dance was being performed behind a rock under the light of the rising moon by a girl of serenity. Her dance steps took her through the edge of the water with large ripples disturbing the surface. It was a girl dancing to the music of her own heartbeat and of the waters around her.

To say that Desirae LeMort was a little odd wouldn't stretch the imagination at all. She was a very compulsive young woman of fifteen and though she didn't raise her voice at all and she wasn't all that hyper, Desirae would sometimes do the little odd things like break out into enthusiastic humming or snapping of her fingers. It was an odd habit that she would probably break out of eventually but for now, that was just Desirae.

The girl had a light red ribbon holding back one side of her violet hair. Her hair was a deep violet which was almost black in colour. Oddly enough it had been a genetic trait and she had had violet hair since her birth. Another odd thing about the girl born in the country of love, France.

Her eyes were dark blue orbs of delight when they opened, reflecting the moon in their dark wells. The stars set the eyes glittering as she looked up at the starry skies. A joyous laugh, like the sound of a singing lark went through the skies.

She danced and danced her way around, trying many interpretive dances, some of the very erotic variety. This was also enhanced by the fact that she wore nothing but a blue halter top, black tight-fitting leotard shorts and a sarong skirt that was white. Her feet were bare and white against the moon.

But this serenity was to be interrupted momentarily, for no one could be this lovely and have no faults.

"WHAAAAA!!!" The girl tripped over a rock on the ground and she went into the water with a huge crash, making even bigger ripples then when her feet had been grazing the ocean in their delight. She was soaked from head to toe but she thought for a moment. And since she was so wet, hey? Why not stay there?

She smiled and kicked off using her feet, now floating in the water. The ocean's light tide, which was manipulated by the moon's gravitational pull she knew was rocking her gently back and forth, back and forth, like her own personal cradle and she was the child within it.

To dream of this romantic situation was a very nice thought and feeling. Now all the perfect situation needed was the perfect man or woman. Desirae couldn't care which. A friend or a lover, it didn't matter to her... but which was the friend and which was the lover? The man or the woman?

Well, again it didn't matter to Desi, as some of the people who knew her called her. Love was love, and whether it came in the form of a reproductive organ that could insert or be inserted into, she couldn't care.

But that seems rather blunt for a story of romantic ideals.

For surely, that was what this story would turn into, woudn't it? She would go to this Academy for a few years, find love, get married, have lots of kids and live happily ever after, would she not?

Alas, that was not necessarily meant to be. After all, a girl once said, "When the conflict of life leaves your life, there's nothing more to live for. That will be the only time when I will truly want to leave this world, when there's peace, because I know that my job is done."

The odd girl did the backstroke and frontstroke and went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. She didn't have to fight against the waves today. But she never had to fight against the water. The water was her friend. Old Man had told her that after all. Her affinity was Water - her sign was Pisces. She was the fish... but whether she was a fish out of water remained to be seen.

Though my dear Vicky (who has now retired from RPing, don't bother trying to look her up) has a little bit of a Mary-Sue complex, she covered a lot of points in this post that literates do do. Since I don't want to write up a post myself, I just asked her if I could use it. She agreed.

Now, a good thing to remember is the five W's when posting a post:

• Who
  
• What
  
• When
  
• Where
  
• Why
  

She states the who. Who is this person? She states that her character is Desirae LeMort, and writes in painstaking detail what she looks like... which can be summarized with one picture.



She states the what. What is the character doing? Her character is dancing in water. Now, considering who her character is (unfortunately I know who she is since I took over Desirae for her), it fits. Her character is the girl who has been posessed by the Demon of Water, Cagnazzo. Thus, she's attracted to water, and even has two duel spirits, Penguin Soldier and Crystal Seer. She's even a Pisces, which gives a good impression of what her birthday is. Cleverly done.

She states the where. Where is the character? The character is obviously by a pool of water, but in the case of this, the where is stated by where the thread is located. It is at San Melina Academy in San Melina, California, close to the shoreline. Which explains the water source.

She states the when. When is this taking place? Now, as she says that she can see the stars and the moon, one can assume that the storyline takes place at night. Yes. I told you, Vicky has a Mary-Sue complex. Though oddly enough, she makes all beautiful characters with mental and physical limitations and all ugly characters the next Michael Jackson. Hmmm...

She states the.... wait. Does she state the why? No. No she doesn't. However, while writing these posts, you must remember that you have to be in the character's point of view. Would the character know why she was dancing underneath the stars like a graceful swan? No. Probably not. However, let's take the example of... Anora Avalon. She seems like the type of character that knows exactly why she does the things she does... or at least she would know more then Desirae LeMort would.

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So, now that we've analyzed that post, we realize that we must post the Who, the What, the When, the Where, the Why, and perhaps sometimes the How. But the how isn't that important really, and is a lot more vague. Granted, the 5 W's are vague as well.

Next Post: A Deeper Analysis on these points.

[The Academy]

Step Two: A Deeper Analysis

In this part, I'll be giving a list of stuff that you can keep in mind while you're posting. Not all of these need to be followed in one post.

Now, an old friend of mine at an insanely literate RP site ended up making examples of things you could use within your posts as details of the situation. I'm going to post the ones that she covered, but I'll be telling you which ones to truly keep at the top of your mind.

Written by Kitti/The White Rabbit @ Twilight-Sky

What your character sees
What your character smells
What your character hears
What your character feels
What your character looks like
What your character is wearing
The general landscape
The plantation around them
The animals around them
The weather (describe sun, clouds, wind, whatever)
What your character is thinking
What your character is feeling emotionally
Where your character is and why they are there
Where your character is in the landscape
What posture your character is in
What your character is carrying with them
Where your character was just before this
Where your character is planning on going after this

Now, I'm going to take each section and give a bit more detail.

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"What your character sees
What your character smells
What your character hears
What your character feels
What your character tastes"

The bold is me.

Anyway, this can be summarized into the five senses, sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell.

• Sight: What does your character see? This is a good way to describe the general landscape, what your character is wearing, and what kind of animals and plants or buildings are around you. If your character doesn't depend on sight (aka, is blind, doesn't have glasses on, just recovered from eye surgery, whatever the case may be), you will have to use the other senses to describe these features... but nothing definite. Instead of "She wore a periwinkle blue shirt.", it would be, "She could feel the cool touch of her thin silk shirt grazing her skin.".
  
  
• Hearing: What does your character hear? It could be anything from cars to birds to music... whatever the case might be.
  
  
• Smell: What's the smell in the air? Is it salty? Does it smell of gas? Or does it smell fresh?
  
  
• Touch: How does the things around you feel? This is a good one for the average blind character, as they move along by touch and see by touch.
  
  
• Taste: I know this sounds odd, but you can kind of taste the air if it's bad enough. Like a foul taste in your mouth every time you pass by a gas station or something. Either that or you can taste food. Or... other things. But go there and Anora will have your ass.
  

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"What your character is thinking
What your character is feeling emotionally "

This we call the mental process of your character. Some people are really good at writing this out, but some are definitely not. This is especially true for characters that aren't supposed to show their emotions, are supposed to be a mask, or something like that. It adds a whole feeling for the two writers that this person is a secret. However, some secretive character writers do write the character's mental processes. Bravo to them.

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"Where your character is and why they are there
Where your character is in the landscape
What posture your character is in "

This can vary from situation to situation. You could be sitting by the ocean drinking pina coladas while laying on a beach chair looking at the sunset because you're on vacation. You could be stuck in a tree hut, locked up by Abyssal magic, half beaten to death and lying on the cold hard ground because you've been kidnapped. It varies from setting to situation.

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"Where your character was just before this
Where your character is planning on going after this"

Again, the circumstances for posting this varies. Sometimes it isn't necessary. Only the hardcore tend to post this part. Sometimes people don't even know this information. Include it if it's important. Don't include it if it's not.

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So, there's a few more tips for you. But there is one crucial thing to remember while writing or roleplaying.

DO. NOT. RAMBLE!

Nothing is worse then reading a five page post about what your character had for breakfast. We do not need to know just how much your character loves to paint his toenails. Keep it long. But above all, keep it relevant. That's one of the worst traps that a roleplayer can fall into. Hell, I'm even trying to refine that technique. I still ramble sometimes. It takes a while to figure out the fine line between "perfection" and too much perfection.

Next post - Step Three: Refining Vocabulary

[The Academy]

Step Three: Refining Vocabulary

Well, I suppose that this chapter would be better described as Refining Posts in General, but Vocabulary sounds prettier.

Now, there are some important things to remember when you're posting.

1. Proper spelling and grammar is your friend.
2. Repitition of words is NOT your friend.

Now, to address the spelling and grammar problem, there are some nice little links I'd like you to click every time that you're about to post something if you feel that your post isn't as up to par as you'd like.

IE Spell - A website that downloads a function into your browser's toolbar that spell-checks your posts, should the website that you are posting on not have a spell checker. I've been recommended it, though I have not used it. On this website however, thankfully for you when you reply in the big reply window (not the quick reply box), there is already a spell checker waiting for you to click it.

Thesaurus Reference - Have you been repeating a word far too much? If you just type the word into here, you're likely to get another word that means exactly the same thing. It brings a fresh new twist to posting, instead of seeing the same words repeated all the time.

- Grammar is something that just comes with time and experience. Just don't feel bad when someone corrects your grammar, and learn from it.

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Here are some more useful tips to remember:

• Take your time. There's nothing worse then a rushed post. Don't feel pressured to post, because quite frankly, you won't do your best if you rush. Everyone's pace is different, and it's important to respect that pace.
  
  
• A wise friend once told me, "In order for the quality of your posts to improve, you must pace yourself. Set goals for yourself, whether it be that you write an extra sentence every week, or one more paragraph on your posts every month." I've always taken her words to heart, and I try my best to improve myself every time that I post a RP post.
  
  
• Don't compare your writing with someone elses. Sure, you can tell the person, "I love the way you wrote that" or "WOW! You're so literate!" but don't try to be them. You're your own person. You work at your own pace. Never set someone elses quality of writing as your own goal.
  
  
• Enjoy the character you're writing. If you don't enjoy them, the likely case is that no one else will either. Unless you're me. Then the characters that you feel emo while you're writing, everyone loves, and everytime you try to write a happy joy character, they hate them.
  
  
• Find your own method for getting into character. Some people, using Shizuma Matsuna and myself as examples, use music to get into the mood of the situation. I also know people who meditate. Some people prefer to act out the situation in their own bedroom beside their computer (I use this method sometimes, don't laugh). Whatever fits you, and whatever works, as long as it's not illegal, power to you.
  

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And that concludes the guide for now. I might add more later but I doubt it. I think I've pretty much covered everything.

[The Academy]

We all need to give love to Amy Morrison, who continued Mizuki Haruka's shoddy work.

Metagaming and the Fourth Wall
There is a simple law of physics that says that an object can't be in two places at the same time. On a forum as large as this, there are tons of things going on and while the threads are going on at the same time, one can presume those events aren't going on at the same time. However, posts in one thread, be they yours or someone else's, could provide vital information that characters in another thread. Another variation is when you play as multiple characters, and one of your characters comes across some information that could really help out one of your other characters. The problem is that even though the player knows something, the character in question has no way to know that. So you need to either not use the information in character, or find a way to get access to that information without breaking the 4th wall.

Example in Practice: One of several plot hooks currently going on is that several key students have either gone missing or been kidnapped, for reasons unknown. (in game, at least) In this case through some quick reading and digging, we find that, gasp! Mizuki is being help hostage in the Twilight Realm! The problem is that as much as I know, Amy, my character, has no reason to have any of that knowledge, save the fact that Mizuki's missing. So how can Amy direct a rescue mission into the Twilight when she, by all rights, doesn't know there's anything to rescue there? I as a role-player either have to not use the information in character, or find a way for Amy to logically get that information in character. I chose the latter, but how would I be able to fit in a way to locate our resident RP dictionary? Through judicious use of what magic she has access to, I'm able to give my character a fair analysis of the situation without overtly abusing what I as a player know outside the game.

The Fourth wall is a term not too many people seem to be familiar with, since it's more related to theater than role-playing. It can be summed simply, though: The RP is the real life, as far as your character is concerned. If something's happened in real life, your character has no real reason to make mention of it. This isn't as big a problem as metagaming, but it's something to keep in mind.

[The Academy]

More love to Amy Morrison, by all means.

Role Play During Duels
Dueling is a vital part of this RP setting. However, there's a certain degree of trust that has to be maintained during a duel. Most of the obvious cheats are easily noted and punished (playing more cards than you have in hand, playing cards illegally, using cards not in your deck [or during a match, in your sideboard], or just not following the rules.) But there are several subtle forms of cheating that may or may not be abused by duelists, ones that cannot be checked for. Here are some common ones:

Mutable face-down cards: A heavy storm blows away 3 face down cards you were holding back for a few turns. As it happens, they're all normal spells designed to bluff the opponent into wasting his mass removal!
Yeah right. Those cards were likely spot-removal traps that you were too afraid to lose, so a simple switch with cards in your deck prevents you from losing all your precious damage control cards. If you're *that* paranoid that you'll lose everything to a lucky heavy, run chainable removal or blocking cards.

Lucky Tutor Syndrome: I'm tutoring for a card with an effect, and wow! I just ripped 5 cards in a row to help me win! how lucky is that?
It's not luck, it's shuffling; or in this case, lack of shuffling. you search up any card you want, but while you're at it you decide to put your best cards on top of your deck, just in case. shuffle your deck every time, be it hitting control+S fifty times, or riffle and pile shuffling your actual deck a lot before continuing, just make sure you're not setting up a win for your own good.

Raffinity/Millennium Puzzle Syndrome: Down to 50 LP, nothing on the field, draw for turn...oops, looks like I win?
Named for the Magic: the Gathering deck known as "Ravager affinity" a deck so insanely powerful that even when it was down to 1 life left, it could easily draw a card, play a few things and win the game out of sheer nothingness. (almost all the major cards in the deck have been banned from thie respective formats; and bannings are very rare in the game of magic). 99 times out of 100 you're not going to topdeck a card that lets you win instantly. If you've played the game to the best of your ability and set yourself up to win, making something happen is kind of legitimate. If you've been down all game and draw 1 card that lets you win from a seemingly impossible position, that's bull.
Also known as the "millennium Puzzle syndrome" The puzzle's true ability (as explained in the anime at least) was the ability to "change fate and warp destinies". When Yugi needed a card it was less heart of the cards and more the Puzzle providing him with that card. You don't have the millennium Puzzle; you can't rip a winner off your deck every time.

Sadly, there's no true way to catch someone cheating like this. If you think they're cheating, you can talk to a moderator, but it can only be a warning. And while its morally wrong, probably the only way to beat a blatant cheater is to prove you can beat them at their own game, even if it means fudging draws and making statistically improbable plays. I wouldn't condone it and I certainly wouldn't practice it, but sometimes a little lesson goes a long way.

And then Xenneth Hikari blended the subject into ROLEPLAY AND DUELING! ZOMG.

Role Play During Duels[Cont.]

Roleplaying during duels mustn’t be forgotten. Your character’s skill and personality should also affect their dueling form. Most of the time it’s the dramatic up bringing or happenings that throw them off their game. This MUST be reflected to consider your character to be In-Character.

Some duelists might be able to duel when a bit stressed, and that’s okay, but when in doubt, they will mess up. An example would be a character that has low confidence and a fear of playing a certain card that will cause them to mess up an excellent strategy. Sure you might lose your chance at winning the duel, but there are things more valuable than a precious duel record. It’s all about the concept of being the role you’re supposed to play.

A good example is a broken heart that has been forced into a duel. She sees the card her love has given her, but refuses to play it out of pain thus making her make a terrible decision that would affect her overall strategy for this turn.

That would be an example of committed RPing. Of course this doesn’t mean you’d lose the whole match, but there are miracle comebacks. This doesn’t apply that you should however God Hand your draws to make some epic scene. A matter of fact, making that scene and losing is even more dramatic than a thought win. This shows fairness and builds tension making for an excellent RP as well as a good duel.
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Shoot me if you want, but if you can't follow this part, you're just dead to me. >.>