GUIDE to ROLEPLAYING

[/i] as a kid, if you've ever daydreamed about getting a promotion, falling in love, winning the lottery, or driving a really nice car -- in fact, if you've EVER, even ONCE, used your imagination to think about yourself as a different person or having different circumstances... then you have the ability to roleplay. Where even the tiniest speck of imagination or ambition exists, roleplay is there. It's as human as breathing, speaking, laughing, and crying. It is part of you.

Forum roleplay, such as roleplaying on Set Me Free, is as simple as taking your imagination and expressing it in writing in the form of storytelling. Group roleplays -- any act of roleplay that involves more than one person -- is basically storytelling (yes, even the guys in kilts whacking each other with Nerf swords, believe it or not). This doesn't mean you need to be a great writer or masterful storyteller to do forum roleplay; so long as you can read and write (we prefer English here, please), you can learn forum roleplaying. This guide will run you through both the general aspects of roleplaying in general as well as the specifics of roleplaying on Set Me Free.




You may be thinking that you're not very good at storytelling, that you're either a more literal "realist" when it comes to writing or that you just don't know how to make a story interesting. That's nonsense. Anyone can tell a story.

For those who doubt that, I encourage you to watch this video on YouTube. It explains the storytelling process and reveals its biggest secrets, the elements that almost EVERY story ever written have in common. These are the essentials to interesting stories.





Maybe your concern doesn't lie with storytelling -- you've seen enough movies and played enough games to know how adventuring works, but it's writing it down that you can't seem to grasp? Fear not. You don't need to have perfect grammar or award-winning writing skills to do forum roleplay, just a willingness to try and a desire to learn.

The best thing you can do to improve yourself as a writer is to read voraciously and write frequently. You can't build muscle without protein and exercise; you can't win someone's heart without love and communication. Writing is no different -- to get better you must have both input and output. Finding a favorite author is a good place to start; pick a genre or a subject that interests you and see whose books catch your attention. (To improve with roleplaying you'll get more out of fiction than non-fiction, obviously.) Once you have found an author who impresses you, read EVERYTHING of theirs that seems remotely interesting. Then find out who their favorite authors are, and read their books. This will grow your vocabulary, establish patterns of descriptive and action writing in your mind, and over time help you construct your own writing style based on the reading that you favor.





Okay, so you've looked over the Character Profile Template... and you're having trouble. Maybe you don't know what to write. Maybe you're having trouble coming up with anything creative. Maybe you're just feeling stuck.

Generally speaking, the advice found here is an excellent place to start when building a character, especially characters from scratch. Since Set Me Free is a roleplay based on the Slayers anime, however, you can save yourself a bit of time if you work out a general "role" for the character in advance. Are they a spellcaster? A warrior? Maybe a bit of both? Odds are they're an adventurer, but what kind? Do they go looting around in old crypts and dungeons looking for treasure? Do they hunt monsters? Are they wandering the world in search of something or someone?

If you're still struggling to find a character concept, Seventh Sanctum has a number of random character generators to get you started.





On Set Me Free, every character starts with certain characteristics: they have distinct aspects about their nature, advantages, skills, training, or supernatural powers. These are summed up as 'Traits' and 'Abilities'.

A Trait is any characteristic or power that is passive -- the character doesn't need to take any action or even move for a Trait to have it's effect. For example, Zelgadis is always protected by his stone skin whether he's fighting or not. An Ability, by contrast, is a skill or power that needs to be willfully used, such as Lina casting a spell. If you're unsure if something would be a Trait or an Ability, feel free to ask a veteran, staff, or council member.

Additionally, both Traits and Abilities can have ★s next to their name. A Trait or Ability with a ★ rank means it is a superior version when compared to the original (and versions with fewer ★s). For example, an average Fireball spell does a fair bit of damage to whatever it hits, but a Fireball ★★ is roughly three times as strong a spell and can justify doing far more damage. ★ ranks may also unlock extra bonuses for a Trait or Ability, such as fewer limits or broader applications. While this may sound very much like the stats-based systems of RPG videogames and tabletop, please bear in mind that ★ ranks are chiefly for description purposes and, in the rare event that disputes between roleplayers arise, providing a rationale for why certain skills or powers may overwhelm or be overpowered by others.





SMF features three kinds of roleplaying threads: regular, Adventures, and Taverns.

Regular RP threads are exactly that -- simple, direct roleplaying. On SMF regular RP threads are best served for casual interactions between characters or advancing long-running plotlines in-between "adventure stuff". The reason for this is that, even adventure is involved, rewards are to be had.

ADVENTURES are RP threads that give roleplayers not only the opportunity to be, well, adventurous, but also collect Adventure Points and Loot for their efforts. It isn't an exact science, and thus no hard-and-fast rules apply (to the adventure itself: see FORUM RULES and RP RULES for clarification), but it's recommended that you have some initial goal when starting an Adventure thread (even if that goal is as simple as 'find a good meal' or 'beat up some bandits and take their Loot'). A good practice is to post the current goal(s) of an RP thread in such a way that it stands out, such as in all caps at the top or bottom of a post; goals can change frequently as an adventure develops, so this is a good way to keep organized. It's also suggested to make a post requesting rewards when appropriate; at the very least this should be done at the end of an adventure (so you get benefits from having done so) but any time a reward is justified you can post a request. If you aren't a senior, veteran, or staff member capable of approving your own rewards, it's also a good idea to contact someone who is -- they can post in your Adventure approving or denying your desired goodies (though if denied they should provide sound reasoning why). It's worth noting that even a casual RP thread can develop into an adventure, so it's good practice to mark all Adventure threads with at the start of the thread title. (If a non-Adventure thread starts getting adventurous, ask a staff or council member to edit the into the title please.)

TAVERNS (including restaurants, dining halls, and select other assorted places) are places "where time stops" -- the regular flow of the timeline doesn't apply in these RP threads, creating zones where characters are free to mingle, discuss, plan, and usually eat heartily. Tavern threads will be marked with a [T] in the thread title and can contain their own Adventure Boards with story ideas meant to start in that very place or somewhere nearby. Only veteran, staff, and council members may create Tavern threads.
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