Since I know RP isn't a big thing on Elendilmir, I decided to post this guide here for the kin. This is my take on RP.

Quick Tip: Anything in italics is Fogo speaking somewhat in-character about my current topic or an example of dialog spoken by Fogo.


What and Why

The first question some people ask is What exactly is RP? RP stands for Role-Play. As most people know RP is a way for players to enjoy the game more and get more out of it. It is the act (and art) of getting into your character's head and having him act the way he normally would.

How to get inside your character's head.

This is quite simple really, you just have to ask yourself a few questions about your character.

Where is he/she from? Would his geographic origins affect his personality?
I'm from the Shire, which generally mean I don't like you big folks bumblin' about in the affairs of hobbits!

How does he/she see his/her self?
I'm rather sa'isfied with meself at the moment. I've done good with me life and I don't expect others to respect me but I do enjoy it!

What does he/she do when not adventuring?
Me? Hrmph...well I guess a good pipe and some good food always makes my day, a little fishing, but being the hobbit that I am I always love social events.

The Past

Your character's past is possibly the most important. Your past is what makes you who you are today. Spend a good amount of time on this. A good way to start it off is think of a joyous moment in your character's life and a horrible one. Add those to their story and then once they combine, see what kind of person that creates.

Quick Tip: Any text between (()) (i.e. ((lol, nice)) ) constitutes as OOC chat, while in character.

Classes: The Mould

Classes are a great way to to begin shaping your character. Captains for instance are leaders, hunters like the wilderness, lore masters are bookworms. For beginners this is HIGHLY recommended, but as an experienced Role-Player I try not to stick with it so much.

Theif? Yeah, I suppose I am...but from the right people. See I don't steal from the rich, I steal from the enemy. I'll sneak into the goblin's camp and steal their weapons supplies to keep them from hurting me beloved Shire.

Things to Watch For

There are a few role-play downfalls. First of all is meta-gaming. Meta gaming is when your character knows much more than he should. For instance if Fogo were to know that Gollum was going to ambush Frodo and Sam on Mt. Doom. Now there is no way Fogo could know that, I, the player, know that, but Fogo doesn't!

Another common downfall is god-moding. God moding is when nothing hurts you and you can do everything, you are superman. Say Fogo's background included killing 4000 goblins during a battle. There is no way he could do that!

You can also be too much of a hero. It's good to have challenges, some people IC (in character) have to solve every problem. Father missing? He's in the back corner. Problems with brigands? I'll kill them. Things like that, it gets annoying.

Final Notes

HAVE FUN.

EXPERIMENT.

NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU ROLE-PLAY. If you don't want to, don't.



I hope this helped a few people!