If you're leaving Jcink or forum-based roleplay, look for a home that keeps what forums do well, like organised threads and rich character profiles, without the dependence on one world, one admin team and constant activity checks.
Forum roleplay, on Jcink and similar hosts, is one of the oldest and most dedicated corners of the hobby: carefully built worlds, detailed applications, beautiful skins and long literate threads. Writers usually leave because of the structure around the writing, not the writing itself. This guide covers what to look for next.
What forum roleplay does well
- Organised threads. Every thread is its own topic, replies in order, easy to archive.
- Deep worlds. A forum can hold a whole setting: lore pages, maps, factions, a plot that runs for years.
- Character profiles. Profile fields, faceclaims, thread trackers and relationship lists on every character.
- Custom looks. Skins and templates make each site feel like its world.
- Literate culture. Most forums expect thoughtful, longer replies.
What's painful
- One world per site. Want to write a fantasy character and a modern one? That's two forums, two accounts, two sets of rules.
- Applications and waiting. Many forums need an approved application before you can post, and some have strict reserve and faceclaim rules.
- Activity checks. Miss a check during a busy month and your character can be archived.
- Sites close. When the admin team burns out, the forum goes quiet or shuts, and your threads may go with it.
- Small pools. Each forum has its own members. If no one there wants your plot, you're stuck.
- Canon limits. Many forums are original-only or one fandom only.
A checklist for your new home
- Threads stay organised. Each thread on its own page, replies in order, with a status like Active or Complete.
- Rich character profiles. Room for a full bio, pictures, custom sections and your own HTML.
- Every world in one account. Original and fandom characters, any genre, without a new account each time.
- Fair inactivity rules. Your characters shouldn't disappear because you missed one busy month.
- A big shared pool of writers, so you can find partners for any plot.
- A thread tracker. Some way to see what's waiting on you and what's stalled.
- Backups. A copy of your writing that doesn't depend on someone else keeping the lights on.
- Room for group worlds too. If you love shared settings, check you can still run one.
How RPL fits
Roleplay//Lives is a multi-fandom site that's been running since 2014, so you can write original and fandom characters side by side from one author account (up to 25 characters on a free account). There's no application to post and no monthly activity checks: a free account is only marked for deletion after 90 days with no activity, with a 30-day grace period after that, and supporters' accounts never are. Every character has a full profile with custom sections, and bios and posts take your own HTML, within our HTML and Formatting Guide. Stories keep threads in order with a status, Your Turn lists threads waiting on you, and Gone Quiet shows stories that have stalled for 30 days. Supporters can download backups of their writing.
What we don't do is run one shared world with a staff-led plot, the way a forum does. If that's what you love, you can still build one with a group here (see Group Roleplay and Worldbuilding for Roleplay), but it's run by the writers, not by site staff.
Moving your characters
- Save your threads and profiles. Before a forum closes, copy the threads and applications you care about.
- Bring your templates. Forum profile templates often work well as bios. Paste them into View HTML and check what the filter keeps; our bio templates are a good starting point.
- Take characters out of their world. A forum character was built for one setting. Decide whether they keep their lore, or move into an AU. How to Roleplay a Canon Character has tips on AUs that work for OCs too.
- Find partners directly. Without a forum's plotting board, you'll be looking for partners yourself. How to Find a Roleplay Partner walks you through it.
We also have guides for leaving Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter/X roleplay.