Roleplay Basics

What is roleplay? How do I roleplay?

That is a hard question to answer, as roleplaying means different things to different people. For some it's a hobby. For others it is an escape from real life. For even more, it's a stepping stone to novels and publishing.

A far easier question we get asked by fans is "How do I roleplay?" Honestly? Just start writing. It sounds so dead simple and it truly is. What a lot of people have issues with is that roleplaying has both verbal and non-verbal components. Think of it like an actor reading a script for an upcoming shoot. You can tell them everything to say, but that's not what they're going to need to complete it. You can tell them all the actions to do, but they still need to know what to say.

I'm sure all of us are familiar with The Avengers by now, yes? Stumbling around the wide web, I came across the actual script for the movie. That is located here. If you take a quick look, you'll see that not only does a script tell people what to say, but their actions and movements. It tells camera angles, fade-outs, and special notes for fights and other important scenes information. This is because in any type of scene, the spoken words are just one part of what is actually happening.



When roleplaying, you want to remember how scripts are written. The big difference in between the two are that in roleplaying, you separate what is verbal vs. nonverbal far clearer than a script does. I chose this particular scene because almost everyone is aware of how it looks on screen. You've now read how it looks in script form. Now, let's try it as roleplaying. In this case, I would write it like so. (For this exercise, I am prefacing with who is talking as if it is two characters. Without the preface of names, it still works perfectly fine as a solo.

Agent Maria Hill- *Fury and Agent Hill walk together on the helicarrier bridge, ending up standing before the window that looks out over the world below.* Sir, how does it work now? They've gone their separate ways, some pretty extremely far. We get into a situation like this again, what happens then?

Nick Fury- *Fury pauses a moment, before he responds* They'll come back.

Agent Maria Hill- *Maria's face shows her disbelief* You really sure about that?

Nick Fury- *The sound of the agents tapping on keys in the background seems louder as Fury turns to her* I am. *Her next question, why, seemed even easier to answer. The Avengers had proven that they had what it took to work together for the good of the rest of the world. He'd known personalities would clash, but they'd managed.* Because we'll need them to. *Turning, he focused on the clouds as the helicarrier sliced through the atmosphere, a smile playing on his lips as Agent Hill began to head back to what she had been doing before the conversation had taken this turn.*

Now, I personally use asterisks (*) to separate verbal/non-verbal. Others use slashes, quotations, parentheses. It simply doesn't matter which type of character you use to separate v/nv, as long as the distinction is made. For example,



As you can see, in each one, you are able to clearly see what is an action, emotion, or thought, and what is spoken out loud. Use whatever you feel comfortable with, the rest of the roleplaying world will understand just fine, regardless of what type of separation you choose to employ.

Above all, remember that as a writer or a roleplayer, you are setting a scene. You want the reader to be able to visualize what is happening. Where it is happening. Ambient noise. The emotions, the inner thoughts, as well as the spoken words. You're simply letting readers see deeper into the "scene" as they read. The ability to draw a reader in is what sets the great roleplaying posts apart. Details make all the difference in the end.