RuneScape Forum Archive | In-Game RolePlay Guide & Help

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Introduction

Welcome to the RolePlay Guide & Help, World 42's not-so-little book of knowledge, rules and regulations for our hobby here. What you'll find contained within these first five pages range from universal no-no's to very community-specific pet peeves, and past that you'll find questions, answers, and roleplay announcements (hopefully). The official world for what this thread represents is World 42 , but of course RolePlay can happen anywhere! We even have a wikia, https://rsroleplay.fandom.com/wiki/RuneScape_Roleplay_Wiki where you can host your characters and roleplays nice and neatly!

Who are RolePlayers?

We are the writers that make this game feel that much more lush. We dive deep in to the tasty morsels Jagex has left us and from their scraps here and there we make a feast. Water to wine and all that good stuff, we're storytellers, actors, playmakers and so much more. We can weave words to make even the most dull things sound exciting, or at the very least, we can take something boring and make you read about it for a paragraph and a half. Our creative minds tend not to rest, as even when we aren't writing, if we're using an MMORPG as a medium, we're fussing over our fashion, and what we want to visually represent each character. Did you see a really fancy outfit yesterday? That was probably one of us.

But WHAT is roleplay?

RolePlay is pretty much fanfiction. Nine times out of ten it isn't considered canon in the universe the roleplay takes place in. It's when two or more writers get together to create a world and a story, never taking on the job alone, but instead allowing the others involved to freely affect the world as they see fit. Of course there's etiquette and general do's and dont's, but past that every RolePlay has its own set of rules. Imagine writing Game of Thrones, but your best friend or a total stranger adds in from time to time. That's RolePlay. The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:31 - Last edited on 11-Aug-2019 14:14:40 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

-----------------------------------------------------------------

SIMPLE GUIDE

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Table of Contents

1.3 How-To

1.4 How-To (Cont.)

1.5 Rules

1.6 Rules

1.7 Rules

1.8 Symbols

1.9 Symbols

1.10 All About Lore

--Page Two--

2.1 Character Development

2.2 Character Death

2.3 Spheres of Roleplay

2.4 Spheres of Roleplay

2.5 Spheres of Roleplay

2.6 Current Events

-----------------------------------------------------------------

EXTENDED GUIDE

2.7 Other Guide Threads

2.8 Unofficial Rules

2.9 Unofficial Rules

2.10 Unofficial Rules

--Page Three--

3.1 Unofficial Rules

3.2 Unofficial Rules

3.3 Text Vs. Gameplay

3.4 Scaling

3.5 Scaling

3.6 Clichés

3.7 Clichés

3.8 TBD

3.9 TBD

3.10 TBD

--Page Four--

4.1 A note on tradition

4.2 A note on tradition

4.3 Narration Perspective

4.4 Utility Threads

4.5 Borders

4.6 Tips

4.7 Mentors

4.8 Spare

4.9 Spare

4.10 Spare

--Page Five--

5.1 Spare

5.2 Spare

5.3 Discussion Rules

5.4 Special Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------- The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 21:23:37 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

How do you roleplay?

( Get caught up here! )

Getting in to roleplay can be really intimidating at first glance, but honestly it's pretty simple. There are so many different ways to roleplay, and you aren't even contracted to stick to just one style. Generally the idea is the same, though. To have the easiest time constructing a character, you should follow this sheet.

Outfit: This is the first thing you should do, is design an outfit. Anything you think would be neat to roleplay in, it can be literally anything. This becomes the basis for everything afterwards.
Name : What is your character's name? Don't worry about a last name, as this won't be important unless you plan to branch out in to a family, and you can make that thematic later on. Focus on a first name, and don't stress too much about making it "fit" the game, as NPC's don't exactly do that either.
Age : How old is your character? As a general rule, try to keep it over 18 so that you can comfortably participate in most scenes without making either yourself or other people bend over backwards to adjust for a younger character being present (Why would a child be in the Battle of Lumbridge?)
Religion: Based on your outfit, what religion does your character follow? Again, it can be ANY god you want, but it's easiest if you make it thematic with the outfit.
Race: Again, based on your outfit, what race is your character? (Example: If using Drakewing, you probably won't be human.)
Five Adjectives: The easiest way to start designing your character's behavior is by picking FIVE adjectives and applying them to them, which will develop in to a personality as you play. Whatever seems fun, don't worry about it clashing with the outfit. A quiet, studious Bandosian is just as good, sometimes better, than an aggressive stupid one. The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 17-Aug-2019 18:37:01 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

How do you RolePlay? (Part 2)

On RuneScape and most MMORPGs, there are three widely-recognized styles of roleplay. I'm going to do my best to summarize each here;

Textplay
Aside from your outfit, nothing you do involves the actual game. You type everything out, from scratching your nose to punching someone else's, like you're writing a story! This style is the most generous for imagination, however it's also entirely reliant on cooperation and understanding from all parties, which isn't always possible. When it works, it works beautifully, but when it doesn't, it's a mess. Often referred to as "advanced" roleplaying, it's not friendly to beginners in most circles.

Themeplay
This mixes writing with game mechanics. You write things you can't do normally, but the rest comes down to game mechanics. Emotes, npc interaction, PVP duelling! This is the middleground between the two styles, and arguably the most fair to all players, being that there's more needed than writing skills. However it also has its own drawbacks - Someone with a low-level account playing a famous fighter could easily get stomped by someone with a high-level account playing a regular farmer, which isn't exactly the most believable scenario.

Gameplay
Do you play RuneScape? You've roleplayed. In this style you ARE the World Guardian, and your account is your character. Generally incompatible with the other styles, but fun nonetheless! This is how most people start off roleplaying, as it functions on literally any game, regardless if it's multiplayer or not, but it can also get boring and repetitive very quickly. The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 03-Sep-2019 22:03:00 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Rules

Don’ts

Godmodding/God mode’ing : Deities are the very core of this game’s plot. Gielinor is even an anagram of “religion”. For this reason, no character of yours may be on par with the gods’ abilities. They can have some pretty potent powers, sure! But never are they allowed (in Public) to pull a Zamorak and desecrate an entire continent.

Being "overpowered" is more or less what it sounds like: giving something or someone an unreasonable, unfair, unrealistic, or unbalanced amount of power, especially when it interferes with the ability of players around you to have fun. It's very relative though. If you have a bloke in a H.A.M cult, it's not going to be reasonable for them to have any powers beyond what a Human would have. If you have a character in a Mahjarrat group, while they are naturally going to be powerful it wouldn't be fair for them to level an entire continent like Zamorak did. Zamorak was using the Stone of Jas when he did that, and your character can't just

rebuild it.

(endgame spoilers).

Lorebreaking : This is a gray area. By general consensus, your community may choose to eschew this rule for certain aspects and has indeed done that. You may have noticed it the moment you walked into this forum. Player-rulers of kingdoms and cities, mainly. A little custom lore on some species. Things like that. The thing here is...this is a cool game with lots of endearing lore and world building put into it by its developers, but the community has chosen to alter pieces in order for it to be more accommodating for roleplay. It creates more opportunities.

[cont. below] The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 03-Sep-2019 22:06:27 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

[cont. from above]

For example, the Saradominist abbey west of Al Kharid is now an abandoned guild hall that's rather forgotten. These guilds have had very interesting history to them, but now the place is empty and it will be like that until someone else moves in.

Metagaming : Taking advantage of knowledge that you know, but your character doesn't. Perhaps your character is leading an army, and you catch wind that there is to be an ambush where you're going. While it might suck for you that you cannot fairly do anything about that, if your character doesn't know, you're going to have to stay the course and deal with it. Or perhaps your character has been wounded in a small skirmish and PM your pal telling him to help you out. Now, if your character isn't capable of long distance telepathy, then it's metagaming.

Extensive Powerplaying : This refers to writing far beyond your own character. For example, controlling what NPC civilians do in another player's event, how another person's units behave, asserting your own actions as more important over another's, or refusing to acknowledge the weight of another player's actions. Seriously, this will ruin everybody else's fun in an interaction - If everything revolves around you, why bother writing with other people?

Play the World Guardian : In roleplay we have a mechanic that differentiates our characters from the player character . The player character is obviously you when you are not roleplaying. It is the person that has done all the quests, more or less. They are the hero of the story.

[cont.] The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 01-Jun-2018 20:56:31 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

And because they are THE hero, there is only one of them. Rest assured, your character(s) can also become quite awesome in their own right and be the heroes of stories not written by Jagex. Otherwise, you'd soon find that having hundreds of World Guardians would be terribly confusing and illogical.

Incorporate Elder Artifacts : The tools used to shape worlds. Enough said.

Do’s

Cooperation : Be transparent in your intentions on an OOC level. There’s no need to spoil even most of the actions within an event, but whatever is happening in any event, be sure that everyone OOC’ly knows what’s happening and why. This most often applies to IC conflicts. Think of IC conflict as a game of Capoeira. It’s still fighting, it’s still competition, but not really . You don't want people to go all UFC, because that turns into an OOC mess.

Be Courteous : Mostly common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people are not courteous. Don’t block off areas with heavy traffic for a private/sandbox play (elaboration on that later), stow away OOC chatter during a roleplay to a non-local channel, don’t actually be OOC and talk in the local channel within range of a roleplay. Those sort of things. Failure to follow this is the equivalent of someone talking on their cell phone in a theater.

Just be a nice person : Really. Have some chill.

Take action against rule breakers : A healthy server starts with you. If someone you see is breaking rules or otherwise engaging in behavior not conducive to fun for everyone, investigate why. As mentioned with blacklists - sometimes an individual may have to be a little harsh because someone else never learns. That doesn't mean apparently toxic behavior will always be justified, though.

Lastly, we have our forum specific rules. These are additional JAGEX rules. AKA; Word of God. The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 08-Sep-2020 21:45:13 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Symbols

To make coherence out of all types of character interaction, we use several special characters in order to save space and to make distinctions easy.

Actions
Used to show your character's actions to others. Be sure it’s YOUR actions though. You don’t control anyone else’s character! Some players favor -hyphens-, and others even eschew action marks altogether as though they were writing for normal prose.

Example: -Jeoffrey knocked back a drink of ale, casting a wary glance down the bar.-

Commorb
Many devices exist in Gielinor for long-distance speech. Enchanted gems, commorbs, and faction banners among them. Use of any such device should be mentioned in Public chat, while you speak with it over PM, Friend's Chat, or Clan Chat. Brackets used for this, but they are hard to distinguish from parenthesis in game so some may prefer special brackets.

Example: {{They have breached the gates!}}

Telepathy
The equal sign is typically used for telepathy. Only characters capable of it, namely powerful magi, can understand it and use it. When used in a multi person channel, it is a good idea to indicate to whom this message is directed to.

Example: (@Player name): =Should we kill them?=

Whispering/Yelling

Not all characters will speak in a normal volume of speech. >This translates to soft speaking< <While this means you are yelling!>

Example: >Damn gurl, what is up with her shoes?<

<Your fashion sense is horrible!>

Emphasis
Due to the lack of italics in game, to put emphasis on a word, slashes are often used, but keep in mind this substitute is notorious for causing glitches with the censor.

Example: "I said /STOP!/"

Language
Not all characters speak the Common tongue of Runescape. If you are using another language, such as Kharidian, Karamjan, Elven, or Fremennik, use one pair of square brackets.

Example: [I can only understand Kharidian.] The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:36 - Last edited on 18-Jul-2018 20:06:14 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

OOC Note
Used for quick OOC discussion while IC. Extended OOC chatter should be stowed away outside of local chat.

Example: ((I don’t think I OOC’ly understand what your character is trying to express.))

Thought
A way to show what a character is thinking.

Do note that Lunar Mages can read surface level thoughts.

Example: ~I wonder if Gwen is up for a game tonight…~

Speech
Many players use quotations to avoid confusion with normal speech. Some players who do this also drop their *-Action-* symbols, so keep your eyes open!

Example: “Sorry Abraxas...I forgot my wight snacks at home.."

Mental Persuasion
Though not commonly used for fear of inciting complaints of being "overpowered", specific species have this ability, such as Mahjarrat or Vampyres.

Example: +You will turn around and stab your friend.+

Note: Sometimes the in game censor may mess with these marks, as some of them are used in website URLs and Jagex does their best to censor those. If this happens, just try to rephrase. The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:37 - Last edited on 06-Jan-2018 11:58:24 by RiDaku

Oct

2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,008 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Lore: Bends, Breaks, and Custom Content

Playing in this world as we do, we have a respect for the lore of it. Although we alter select bits of lore, we still wish to maintain the majority of it. Otherwise, there’d be little point in using the game.

Lorebreaking is when a character breaks lore (wow), which is anything that likely affects a character or scenario. The basis for these commonalities is origin, culture, and known historical events. For example, a non pureblood Vampyre that is unaffected when crossing the holy Salve barrier is a lorebreak because turned Vampyre revert to feral (or human) when crossing the Salve post-River of Blood. Most lorebreaking is a no-no in public roleplay.

Lorebending, in obverse, is to create something that doesn't break lore, but such a concept isn't at odds with pre-established lore. Lorebends come in many, many different shades from ''My character lives in this house'' to ''My character is in a noble family in _____.'' to ''My character has conquered this much of RuneScape.'' Notice, how much more the lore bends with each example given. None of that is baseline banned. No one is going to get mad at your character for having a house on the overworld, but having an alien creature crash down from outer space in the middle of a war will be laughed at and probably ignored.

Custom content is the result of a lorebend being used to, within reason, craft a unique experience within RuneScape lore that could not be achieved otherwise. Many clans, groups, and even species reside within the realm of custom content in one way or another. Some people have created distant continents, some have even created concepts for characters before such concepts were in official canon, like liches or C'thonian demons. (Pretty sure Jagex takes some of our ideas.) The Sicarius |

They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:03:37 - Last edited on 06-Jan-2018 15:13:20 by RiDaku

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