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Page name: Role Playing for Dummies [Logged in view] [RSS]
2010-11-07 17:04:29
Last author: Lunnie
Owner: Lunnie
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Role-Playing for Dummies


<img:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Lunnie/Roleplaying.jpg>





My little contribution to the world of role playing. Please enjoy.


Welcome to all you readers who have bothered to read and better yet click on my little wiki link. As stated previously, this wiki has been built to help both experienced and inexperienced role players. I am not forcing anyone to role play by these rules. The content here is only a guidebook to help those who need it to gain a better understanding of what role playing is.




NEWS


11/05/2010 - For some strange reason I keep coming back here every two years around the same time going "Hrmmm, I should fix my wiki and update it" and then I never do.

It's hard for me to believe this thing is over 7 years old to begin with. I'm very happy that people still use it too.

I've spent some amount of time reading over some of the wiki and I've noticed a good part of it is me ranting about my dislikes for some people's role-playing habits. For that I apologize deeply and I've worked on fixing up those sections into more constructive articles on how to tackle and fix the problem rather than just complaining about how you shouldn't do it.

My intention with this entire wiki is to help people that want to learn how to role-play. I want to give them guidelines and solutions on how to fix situations they may run into. I am under no circumstance suggesting that should absolutely follow what I am writing in this wiki.

Role-playing is like writing a story after all. Aside form the basic guidelines given to construct an outline for what you're trying to accomplish, there are no set limitations. You should not feel forced to write 3 pages for your character sheet or a 1000 words for your posts. What you write is what you write and it will be good as long as you keep in mind the advice given in this wiki tutorial.

As of this moment I will be updating the wiki on and off. I don't really know how much time it will take or exactly where I intend on going with it, but I'll do my best to fill it with good information that will be useful. Sections may move around and others may be removed entirely. All will depend on what I am trying to say.

I've been doing this role-play business for over a decade and a half now and I'm still learning more and more about it. I don't think this wiki will ever stop growing or changing.

As it stands I've made some updates on the first three chapters. Feel free to go through them again if you're interested.

For now, this is all I have to say. See you all in another two years.


12/17/2008 – Alright, as I had stated in my previous announcement, I am revealing what it is I am planning for this wiki.

I've been gone for about 2 years or so. During those two years I've tried a bunch of role playing games and methods and I have returned with a bagful of knowledge. I intend on re-writing most of the tutorial. I'll also be working on those new sections, possibly be adding more images and working on making the whole thing look nicer.

12/16/08 - I've been gone for a really long time. Hell, a really really long time. I'm actually quite surprised people still read this wiki and comment on it as well. I'm quite happy about that.

Now, I'm not sure for how long I'll be back, but I've got me some big stack of knowledge to add to this wiki. I am considering a few projects for it as well. More on this will be coming up shortly and I hope you can all continue to benefit from this tutorial.

02/20/06 - This wiki needs to be nominated. *hint hint*

01/30/06 - Yay! Role-playing for Dummies is now officially exported.

01/19/06 - The dice chapter has been added and as you can see many other sub-sections that are to be added soon enough. Enjoy.

01/14/06 - It's been a good year and a half since I last updated this place. Currently, I'm just spell checking everything on my tutorial, sorting out links and pages and finding new links. I'm likely to rewrite Kiva's article sometime and will add a new section on dices and such.

06/14/05 - I've added a link to a new example to character sheets as well as links to a good role-play and some more advice on role-playing game creations.

02/10/05 - New likes to some helpful pages added. Enjoy.

07/20/04 - Added a new chapter sub-section. It's more of a rant but I figured it could be of use after what I've seen! Horror! The salt!

06/11/04 - Just wanted to say, there are actually some people who have bother to ask me some fabulously wonderful questions! Yes, it's a miracle!! Even I had not thought of mentioning these things in the tutorial so I've added them to the FAQ. Eventually I'll include them in the tutorial itself but for now make sure that, if you have any questions, to visit the FAQ first before asking away. That's all. Soon I'll be coming up with the actual Elftown RP system they included on the wiki pages and give it a section of its own.

[Lunnie]




INDEX


Chapter 1. Introduction to role-playing
- What is role-playing
- Types of role-playing games
- Definitions
Chapter 2. How does free form RP work?
- Free form role play systems
- How to play "the right way"
- About free form fighting
- Posting
Chapter 3. Building my character.
- Things to remember
- The either/or rule
- Character sheet (going to be updated and have extra link to different examples added)
- Describing your character (coming soon)
- Equipping your character (coming soon)
- Elements and Powers
- Personalities and things seen too often
- Character history commons and don'ts (coming soon)
Chapter 4. Building a free form RPG
- The storyline
- Rules!! What kind of rules should I make? Do I really need them?
- Advice on making a role-playing game
Chapter 5. About dice roleplaying
- Dice Based Games
- Dice Game Definitions
- Dice Based Battles
Chapter 6. Conclusion
Chapter 7. Role-playing for Dummies FAQ




Other Helpful Guides and Tutorials


Things to consider about weapons - This mainly explains the cause and effects, advantages and disadvantages and things to consider about weapons. It's good help when the times comes of equipping your character with both weaponry and armor.

Misconceptions in fantasy roleplaying - Give a nice sense between weaponry and realism, what you can and cannot do in real life with your weapon. (mainly talks about swords)

RP: Bad Bios - Mainly some ranting about bad character sheets and some elements GMs see frequently.
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm - A great test that asks you questions you should ask yourself about your character and lets you know if your character is a plain sucky mary-sue or a good ranged character.

Elftown Open Marketplace - A wiki sponsored by the WFR for people that are new at role-playing.




Support and Affiliates


<img:http://elftown.eu/img/drawing/4731_1137626591.jpg>

Here's an amazing RP out there that has been known for supporting my tutorial. It is ran by the amazing [Figgy] and assisted by the wonderful and talented [Duredhel] (I heard a rumor that he's apparently giving free art of your character if you join). Check out X-Men RP.
<img:http://elftown.eu/img/drawing/5555_1077402534.gif>




Link to me!


You can link to me using the banner at http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Lunnie/Roleplaying.jpg on your own house.

You are free to use any bits and pieces of my tutorial as long as you link back to the tutorial itself. Thanks.




This wiki is owned by [Lunnie].

Username (or number or email):

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2004-05-31 [Jeesum Crowe]: This place is great. I laughed, I cried, I had to leave to throw up... Major cool-ass shizzit man! I do something to you which shows my affection, but it's nothing physical.

2004-06-01 [Lunnie]: Lol ^^; Thanks for your comments~

2004-06-01 [zinny]: i like fire. it is warm. thats a chapeter all of its own in the mad dilusionl

2004-06-01 [Lunnie]: O.o;;;;;;;

2004-06-01 [Jeesum Crowe]: that was weirder than me...

2004-06-01 [Lunnie]: Yeah well zinny is the king of weird sometimes I ahve trouble understand his weirdness xD

2004-06-01 [Shishiru]: XD *cant stop laughing*

2004-06-01 [Lunnie]: O.o; whats so funny? xD

2004-06-01 [Jeesum Crowe]: probly the place *points up* like with the shit and the funny and stuff. It's like. I laughed until I cried when I read it all. And yes, I had enough time to read it. All.

2004-06-01 [Lunnie]: Wow yay I'm happy people read it fully ^__^

2004-06-01 [Jeesum Crowe]: Yeah. *passes out* XD

2004-06-02 [Lunnie]: i'll be changing a few things on it thought ;P because well I need to

2004-06-02 [Jeesum Crowe]: not the funny things!

2004-06-02 [LonelyTylenol]: Just an idea to the creators of this wiki. Scout out some role-playing wikis around elftown for people to try this stuff out on. Just an idea...

2004-06-02 [Lunnie]: Well the tutorial isnt quite perfected yet I'm planning on putting it on the text page since I had permission to do so once I fixed what I had to fix ;P and the funny things will remain don't worry ^__^ it's more

2004-06-02 [Duredhel]: wow ^_^ awesome tutorial. Really t in Reafunny too. mind if i place a link to ilms of Lemire?

2004-06-02 [Duredhel]: wow ^_^ awesome tutorial. Really funny too. mind if i place a link to it in Realms of Lemire?

2004-06-02 [Lunnie]: Nope I don't mind at all ^__^ the page is for all to learn from thought it's not completed.

2004-06-02 [xido]: Oh, good...a constant work in progress....the best kind. I am nominating this for WFR material, and is the owner Darkfire?

2004-06-03 [Lunnie]: Yep I'm the owner ^__^ and proud at it I yet must still work on explaining the ET system itself and for that Ia hve to go see how exacly t works since I don;t personally use it. This is more of a totaly free form RP tutorial

2004-06-06 [xido]: I say just make links to the info pages....  I think they are guide to the pseudo HTML on Elftown and Wiki FAQ, or something similar......you don't need to rehash old info. Yours is going into the details that they leave out. It's good. What do you say, then? Do you want this as a guild page, and you can promote it for rookies. You should start a forum for it, or at least use the comments as a Q&A for players/applicants. Maybe. Or you could just post a RGP guild tag on it, and call it happy.

2004-06-06 [Lunnie]: Well I was thinking of first off making a little banner for it and posting it on the text page since I got the eprmissin to do that O.o; as for the forum I ahven't thought about it so I'll go do that right away ;P and add a FAQ to my tutorial would be a nice idea. I could also add links later on to other tutorials and such that explain things Ia hvent, I'm prety sure there are a few. Making this guild page O.o; isn't something I've considered maybe you could elaborate on that abit more ^__^

2004-06-06 [xido]: It just means it's 'advanced' in nature, and it DOES explain free-form and story-based plotlines, so it fits the bill. It means you can post a WFR banner on the page, and it would be listed on the WFR main page.... You could do both Text and WFR, since it's pretty neutral to ALL RPs.

2004-06-06 [Lunnie]: Ok I'm linking banners all over now XD and post a topic in the forums O.o; eventually...

2004-06-07 [Jeesum Crowe]: I am confoosed.

2004-06-08 [Lunnie]: what?

2004-06-08 [Jeesum Crowe]: exactly.

2004-06-08 [Lunnie]: O.o;....

2004-06-08 [xido]: lol

2004-06-09 [Lunnie]: Lalala~

2004-06-12 [Jeesum Crowe]: I nominated ya'll on the wiki nominations

2004-06-12 [Lunnie]: Whee ;P

2004-06-16 [SAHS]: Just gotta say, this was a really good idea. I should go back and add a link to this page on all of my RP's. ^-^

2004-06-16 [Lunnie]: ^__^ that would be great ;D

2004-06-18 [xido]: :)

2004-06-18 [Lunnie]: Well hello you ^____^

2004-06-19 [Carol Lynn]: would of been great if I knew about this sooner...I have explaind to well, well over a dozen people how to make diffrent kinds wiki's, and characters, and most of the things on here... I don't mind explaing but now I can send them here...sometimes, i like to help. ^.^

2004-06-19 [Lunnie]: ah its a great idea ^__^ basiclly hwy I amde it, to avoid people from having to waste their brain explaining ;P

2004-12-21 [Shining light]: Having read your guide, I wouls like to say that I wholely and completely support and/or agree with the context. Could you please add the Alternative Wiki League as a supporter, and we will link to your page.

2005-01-10 [xido]: Hi! Yeah, I stop in every so often, to make sure I'm well informed.... or not.  ;P later

2005-01-10 [Lunnie]: Lol o.o; mwell you people are funny. XD Anyway, sorry for my long absence, just passing by I'll add the supporter. Thanks a lot. ^^

2005-01-26 [Sagacious Turkey]: *plays with a roll* is this how?

2005-01-26 [Wes Foxx]: about time we had a place to teach these people who cant do anything more creative than ~matrixes around the (insert EXACT verb that the person used to attack with)~

2005-01-26 [Sagacious Turkey]: uh huh... it isn't hard to role play!!! assuming you aren't on drugs or mentally retarded...

2005-01-26 [Wes Foxx]: the funny thing is some people can be great writers and all in theory, but since they're just authors they'll without fail write it as an author, making the decisions for all the characters, and inevitably win with a ~stabs~ or ~kills~ or heaven forbid, ~k!llz~

2005-01-26 [Lunnie]: -smirks-

2005-02-11 [rhapsody55]: Thanx lots Lunnie this has made a HUGE difference to how I will play, I didn't evn know about role playing now I do XD yey! Thanx again...

2005-02-11 [Wes Foxx]: I originally made my wiki to bring people into rp but then i find this place that gives us all newbies need short of experience, vocabulary, and improvisation

2005-02-11 [Lunnie]: Not a problem guys. I'm glad you enjoyed. ;D

2006-01-21 [Duredhel]: pweeee either/or rule! XD!

2006-01-21 [Lunnie]: Yeah, lol

2006-02-06 [xido]: HUGE FAVOR TO ASK EVERYONE: Please check out the Elftown Water Fountain Design Contest for me, and see if you have any ideas, comments, or questions about it, so that I can have a sort of FAQ about it before it is opened.... when I have three other people's approval for the layout and format of the contest, it will be opened soon after... Thank you, and please msg me with these comments, etc. I would prefer to have them in my mailbox instead of on this page, or even that one.... send your words straight to [xido]....... awesome, thank you immensely.

2006-02-06 [Lunnie]: Why you advertising in my tutorial's comments? XD -eats your face-

2006-02-06 [Lunnie]: I was just messing around anywyas, jeez. And I did go help.

2006-02-06 [xido]: yes, you did... ;) I'm not worried... it's just that the contest is being opened for an open RP environment, and I'd like CREATIVE roleplayers' ideas and comments before it goes up for good.

2006-02-06 [Lunnie]: -nods- I understood that as soon as I went to the contest wiki page, but I'm a complainer so I had to just whine about how you advertised on my tutorial despite the obvious affiliation to the WFR guild. Some people simply don't know how to mind their own business so I felt the need to justify myself. ;3

2006-02-07 [xido]: lol, nice... Looks like it's in its final stages....  I even gave it an entry page, to make sure it didn;t get too crowded too fast.

2006-02-07 [Lunnie]: -nods- I notcied. ^__^ -petpets-

2006-04-12 [Nominal_sidus]: are there an rpgs I can just jump right in to without having to send character applications and waiting a hundred years to be accepted?

2006-04-12 [iippo]: Well Elftown Open MarketPlace and Elftown Water Fountain are exactly like that if I am not mistaken. *gets a brownie-point from [xido]* :P

2006-04-12 [Duredhel]: You can try Realms of Lemire Arena, you have to send a character bio, but you usually get in the very same day.

2006-06-25 [Fireblade K'Chona]: Hey guys, you've been nominated. :P

2006-07-02 [xido]: Yay! Nomination!  x.o)

2006-07-07 [Lunnie]: It was nominated? o___o Why am I never aware of these things?

2006-07-16 [xido]: Eh, oh well...  at least you got a brownie point....  XP   *flings brownie point into Lunnie's goodie bag of doom*  Hey, babe, any chance we can get some finalization working on the Elftown Water Fountain Design Contest badges? (I always forget the link). I will help on any issue you need to me to help on, provided I have time from school work. Let me know, babe. ;)

2006-07-20 [Sheena my girl]: hello?

2006-07-20 [Sheena my girl]: anyone here?

2006-07-20 [Lunnie]: Maybe, why?

2006-07-21 [xido]: *looks around*    nope, nobody here...  *knocks on head, and it sounds hollow* x.op

2006-08-01 [╔╬╝]: What think of my roleplaying? The Best of Bob: Volume 1...

2007-02-10 [Darian Hawke]: are you allowed to plug RPG's here?

2007-02-14 [Lunnie]: Unless it's for criticism or that your RP is absolutely fucking awesome, not really.

2007-04-04 [Hiuko]: When are the coming soon things coming exactly because I'm dieing to see them. Although I would understand if you're a protagonist

2007-04-04 [Linderel]: Don't you mean a procrastinator? (Unless there is a joke I'm missing.)

2007-06-01 [Sturmi]: join the Realms of Lemire Arena!!!!!

2008-04-07 [sexygirl696]: heeey

2008-05-10 [Atropa]: I just want to thank you for making this wiki. I came here a long while back(and haven't been back until now) because I was turned off by some bad role-playing behavior and assumed it was the norm. Not only did you show me that this was not so, but you voiced some of my own opinions about role-playing that had bugged me before. In addition to all that you instructed me in a very clear manner on how to make a second attempt to enter this roleplaying community. Thanks again.

2008-05-11 [Sagacious Turkey]: ...

2008-10-25 [Daisy le Fleur]: Thank God for this wiki.

2008-12-16 [Veltzeh]: Lunnie lives! :3

2008-12-16 [Lunnie]: I do indeed, but it's only temporary.

2008-12-17 [windowframe]: Why only temporary? :(

2008-12-17 [Lunnie]: I am an unstable freak?

2008-12-17 [windowframe]: *buys stabilizers*

2008-12-17 [Lunnie]: Mhh... I don't know how long that'll work, but it might be worth a shot.

2009-08-22 [Yume Youki]: Hey, you and me both, Lunnie! Silverfire, any of those stabilizers for me? XD Anyway, thanks a lot for this wiki Lunnie - helped me a bunch in coming up with a good RP game of my own (it's still in development, though...) X)

2010-03-09 [Roma]: Hey, X-Men RP has reopened and we are ALWAYS accepting new players. Join us!

2010-11-05 [Lunnie]: To any of you watching this page, if anything in the "Support and Affiliates" section just happens to be dead please inform me so that I may remove it.

2010-11-06 [windowframe]: WFR is dead, I think, and AWL is definitely dead.

2010-11-07 [Lunnie]: Thank you. :D

2010-11-07 [Duredhel]: Lemire and Fantasma are goners too :<.

2010-11-07 [Lunnie]: -fixes-

2014-08-06 [Stephen]: This page is now a Featured Wiki!
Congratulations! <img:44166_1164145171.gif>

2014-08-27 [Sagacious Turkey]: And then the page was revived.

2014-08-30 [Stephen]: >_>'

2014-09-22 [LunarRain]: how do i get to a roleplay chat

2014-10-23 [Sagacious Turkey]: Bob's Diner is a roleplay chat. You should check it out.

2020-08-15 [Yudan333]: anyone still come here?

2020-08-15 [Stephen]: Sure. Someone has to keep the crickets company.

2020-08-17 [Yudan333]: aww well I'll take the crickets and feed them to my Tarantula's and we can have a actual conversation.

2020-08-18 [Stephen]: I don't know, that'd be a lot of work to catch them all..

2020-08-18 [Yudan333]: Hmm how about I get a shop vac? That will make it easier XD

2020-08-19 [Stephen]: True! It would indeed.

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