RP Battling ~ A Guide for All

[Azanulbizare]

RP Battling ~ A Guide for All

Welcome! I’m sure you’ll find your stay here quite pleasant, *cough* and a bit painful. *cough* So! Shall we begin? First, let’s go over some common terms. It may help enlighten things for some of you.

RP- This basically stands for Role Play. It refers to a situation of fictional context whereby you portray yourself as someone you are not. It allows you to be whatever you want (within limits of course) as though you were playing a part in a large multi-leveled interactive movie. Eg, you can be anything from a sword wielding elf or Orc (for ease of explanation) to a mind-fraying God (provided you are happy to be scoffed at as a “power-player” or “god-modder.”

Character - the fictional person/being that you portray whilst roleplaying.

IC - Stands for In Character. If you are talking "IC" it means you are speaking with the voice and words of your character.

OOC - Out Of Character. This means you are speaking with your OWN voice and not the voice of your character. In a roleplay battle this is often denoted by a set of double parentheses on either side of your statement. eg ((My computer just stuffed up...sorry guys)).

Rper - Anyone that RolePlays. Being that anyone who has a character in a roleplay environment. Usually used to describe someone that roleplays reasonably often or well.

NPC – Non-playable character. “Filler character” that is often used as a dummy for ones display of power.

Power-playing - This describes a fighting action whereby a character is attacking another character and ASSUMES to have hit them without the other characters response being considered. eg "Murdock swings his sword through the air and slices Forcen's guts open like he was splitting a ripe melon." This sort of action is unanimously frowned upon in RP communities.

God-modding - A god-modder is a roleplayer whose main interest revolves around going on a power trip. They often enjoy portraying characters such as Gods, Ancient Red Dragons, and anything of that nature. Though, the problem with these guys comes to their weaknesses. They have no flaws, no limitations, and as such are unanimously frowned upon in the RP Battling scene.

Now that we have the terms out of the way, let’s move on to actual Battling. I’ve heard it been called “WaRPing” from time to time (Ya’ know, “War RPing”… <_< ; >_>) Well, let’s just call it RP Battling. Simple enough, eh? First things first. You need to have something called a “Template”, or a description of your character. Now, there are 5 KEY COMPONENTS to a “Template.”

First, the Name. The name is important because it identifies, and may sometimes shed light on mysterious qualities of your character.

Secondly, his/her Weapons. An opponent needs to know what he’s up against. Really. It lays foundation for the rest of the battle.

Thirdly, the Abilities. These range from anything to everything – whether he can shape-shift, move objects with his mind or meld armour from thin air, they need to be said. We really can’t trust you guys.

Fourthly, the Personality. How he/she acts, his/her mannerisms. This adds a lot of life to the battle, giving it that “genuine” quality. Before I continue, I’m going to go over some of the different personalities one might have.

Types of personality flaws ~ Adding CHARACTER to your character :D

These are just a few of my favourites to give you an idea of what you can add to a character. There are loads more out there, and everyone has their favourites. Use more than one. A character can't just be a kleptomaniac... let her be clumsy and sarcastic, too.

Sarcastic or cynical. Maybe it's just me, but I'm a sucker for guys who are constantly insulting everyone in a very funny way. Try to decide why the character is sarcastic, though... What makes him moody or bitter in his humour? What happened in his past to make him insult everyone now? Is he afraid of relationships or wary of trust?

Egocentric. Let the character think she's better than everyone. If other people can do something, she can do it better. She’s also much more intelligent than everyone, and, of course, the most beautiful. She’s fun to write and fun to read, because you love to hate her.

Easily fascinated. I just love a character who will stare at balloons forever and delights at a passing butterfly. They're flaky, they're shallow, they're generally useless, but they're so funny to watch. They spout off the randomest pieces of knowledge and don’t know when to shut up.

Fierce or hot-tempered. This one is becoming a bit overdone, but I still enjoy a girl who’s more likely to knock you out than allow you to rescue her. If you go for the gender-role-reversal thing, a fierce girl is a lot more fun to write than the usual damsel-in-distress. Hot-tempered guys can be great, too - he may be easily provoked or loses his temper at the mention of his father. But don’t overdo it. How many people got really annoyed by Harry’s constant angst in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

Mysterious. You have to be careful with this one, but sometimes it's interesting to have a character who you can't predict and who's thoughts and actions you don't understand. It can get annoying, though, if the character knows more than the reader. So be careful.

Hyperactive or flamboyant. A character that never seems to run out of energy or questions can be amusing. Maybe he has an obsession with trying to get the other characters to dance with him. This is a fun one if you like gender-role-reversals. Guys who are easily excitable and like to give big sloppy kisses don’t come along too often, and we love to laugh at their antics.

Melodramatic. The drama queen (or king). This is a character who exaggerates everything and makes tiny events seem like huge catastrophes. She’s fun to write and even more fun to read. This is the character who jumps to conclusions and thinks everything is way funnier than it is.

The bully. Personally, I like the guy that pushes everyone around. He thinks he’s cool, but maybe he’s secretly really insecure. A good example would be Sirius Black and James Potter from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
T
he nerd. Okay, so it's fun to have a girl who rattles off physics equations in the middle of battle and tries to predict events based on scientific calculations... espcecially if she's wrong or no-one ever listens to her. Another variation of the nerd is the kid who’s rather the swot and always likes to be right.

Accident prone. She screws things up because she trips over her own feet. She's clumsy. She gets in the way, and she can’t be stealthy no matter how hard she tries. She drops things.

Forgetful or Absent-minded. He’s sort of dim, gets teased a lot, puts his shoes on the wrong feet. Perhaps he’s brilliant but can’t remember more than two things at once. He can’t remember why he’s in the kitchen or where he put his glasses.

Compulsively lies. She rarely tells the truth. Lies are so much more interesting - and it’s not really lying, it’s just a form of acting. She may give her companions wrong directions and after awhile they may not trust her very much. Useful if you like the boy-who-cried-wolf type of story, where she doesn’t tell the truth until it really matters, and then no-one believes her.

Awkward. He’s nervous and a little paranoid and doesn’t know what to do with himself when a girl is in the vicinity. He may trip over his own tongue or be fearful of revealing anything about himself.

A hypochondriac. She’s convinced she’s dying. A splinter becomes life-threatening, and she cannot travel if she has bruised her knee. Occasionally she crashes into hard surfaces “on accident” and sustains grievous injuries. She always thinks she’s ill or coming down with something contagious.

A kleptomaniac. He compulsively steals things. His companions don’t understand why their shoestrings and coins seem to disappear. Most of the time, he doesn’t, either.

A pyromaniac. It doesn’t get much better than a fire-obsessed girl who likes to experiment. Whoever knew that the hero’s boots burn such a strange shade of blue? Or that unicorn hair won’t burn unless you douse it in beer?
Anything that ends in -iac. Noticing a theme, aren’t we?

Clichés: What NOT to do, you Cloud Fanboys

The classic hero (brave, handsome, and has a tendency to save kitties from trees. Bonus if he’s good with swords and used to be a farm boy.)

The classic damsel-in-distress (beautiful and completely useless. Has no idea how to do anything for herself. Submits woefully to her downtrodden position.)

The princess (beautiful, docile or snobby, and likes elegant gowns. Bonus if she has blonde hair.)

The prince (snobby, handsome, brave, or sweet - no matter what guise you put him in he’s still a prince)

The loner (rugged, silent, and tortured by his past… we’ve read him a million times.)

The amnesiac (especially if she’s royalty, a powerful mage, or fulfils a prophecy)

The orphan (especially if he’s royalty or the one to fulfil a prophesy)

The Woe-is-me (“mummy just died and daddy wants me to be just like him but I just can’t because I’m afraid and what will I do and I think I’m gonna cry…”)

The seductress (“you are rugged and handsome and even though you have a wife at home I will tempt you with my sex appeal because I am beautiful and like to wear leather thongs.”)

The Fallen Angel (“I’ve been cast from Heaven, my wings are broken and I will despair.”)

No emotion (“Blink. Blink. I kill you why you make me kill you)

AND SO, ON WITH THE KEY TEMPLATE COMPONENTS

, kk?

Numero five, the Biography. Every character you create, and I mean EVERY one *closes eyes in irritation* needs to have a past. He’s not a real person if he doesn’t have one, and she doesn’t matter to anybody because she doesn’t have one. Make the past, people.

**Note: I personally believe they should give a reason before fighting it out with another, but that's just me.

So, let’s finish things up. My fingertips are bleeding. D: Now that we have a good, memorable character, and are knowledgeable of the laws, rules and terms, what next? Uh, kill someone. I’d say Silent O- Wait, wait, I said I would point fingers. So, yeah, we kill someone. Or something.

Establish which type of fight. The types are Melee, Power, and a mixture of both, which I like to call “A Mixture of Melee and Power” fight. Man, I’m so good at naming things. So…

Your basic melee fight is all muscle, no powers. That’s right, no magic, only your fists and your weapons. Requires a bit higher level of tactics, and is a style I prefer above the other two.

Then there’s Power, which is exactly the opposite. You aren’t limited to just your weapons.

SO, uh, that’s all. Decide who’ll be the one to make the opening post, and get on with it. Kill ‘em softly for me, kids.

((If any of you lovely Mods find this appealing and helpful, sticky it for me?))

[Electropop]

Dude, I can bearly read this. xD Make it larger for the blind people!

[Takushi Rena]

If you can't read it, then how can you even read mine...? D:

I've only read a bit, but it makes me only scream one thing: WIN! I love the personality flaws section. xDD; It's got too much amusement for me to even count... D:

But, you forgot one: THE SADIST? WHERE IS THAT I MEAN SERIOUSLY. Aoi is disappointed now. D8 *holds up Aoi plush* Though, I don't think there are lots of characters who are particularly insane and enjoy licking blood off their fingers... *coughhack*

Adding this to the RP guide... list... thing... xD; *runs*

[Breakdown]

A guide from someone I've never heard of...interesting enough. Though, there is a guide by LoC that I'd rather use. Though, this could help those who understand simply nothing.

[Electropop]

The princess (beautiful, docile or snobby, and likes elegant gowns. Bonus if she has blonde hair.)

The prince (snobby, handsome, brave, or sweet - no matter what guise you put him in he’s still a prince)

Lawlz. Mine isnt really snobby,more of a tomboy. XD

Compulsively lies. She rarely tells the truth. Lies are so much more interesting - and it’s not really lying, it’s just a form of acting. She may give her companions wrong directions and after awhile they may not trust her very much. Useful if you like the boy-who-cried-wolf type of story, where she doesn’t tell the truth until it really matters, and then no-one believes her.

Does my Mother count as one?

A pyromaniac. It doesn’t get much better than a fire-obsessed girl who likes to experiment. Whoever knew that the hero’s boots burn such a strange shade of blue? Or that unicorn hair won’t burn unless you douse it in beer?
Anything that ends in -iac. Noticing a theme, aren’t we?

Wow, My brother.

A kleptomaniac. He compulsively steals things. His companions don’t understand why their shoestrings and coins seem to disappear. Most of the time, he doesn’t, either.

My bird.

Okay. Im done. xD I copy paste, on my Word Perfect and I laughed,

3rd person dude: I love you so much. XD You made my day.

[Hip-Hop]

This guide is biased against the male population. It's good none-the-less, though will probably only be used by nubs (though I'm guessing that what you're going for).

[JUSTICE]

Guides usually pertain to the inexperienced, but I feel this one can easily be used by some of the mid-levels and above. In fact, there are some self-proclaimed legends that need to read this.

Marauder is cool, but I personally like this guide better. Are guides still being stickied? There's the compilation thread, but if the other RP Battling guide is going to stay stickied, then this one may as well replace it.

[Dr. Freeman]

Nice job, love it .

[Endless Devoid]

The guide seems decent, but like the other, it doesn't really help the reader understand or perform any better in battling so much as roleplaying in general, and we have PLENTY of roleplay guides.

[Azanulbizare]

Originally Posted by Endless Devoid

The guide seems decent, but like the other, it doesn't really help the reader understand or perform any better in battling so much as roleplaying in general, and we have PLENTY of roleplay guides.

This died a while ago. Bizare believes it is our battle which entices you to submit your own two cents, however tarnished they may appear to be.

[Endless Devoid]

...Excuse me? =/

Actually, what "enticed me" was the recent post in the Guide directory, which I was looking at, and subsequently noticed D2L's post that a new battle guide was posted up, and I had hoped it would be different than the last one, perhaps a bit more pertaining to battle. I didn't see much, so I made a friendly and rather simple comment.

Somebody is a little shallow and conceited I see, the same someone who obviously takes things a little more seriously than he should. =/

[Azanulbizare]

Originally Posted by Endless Devoid

...Excuse me? =/

Actually, what "enticed me" was the recent post in the Guide directory, which I was looking at, and subsequently noticed D2L's post that a new battle guide was posted up, and I had hoped it would be different than the last one, perhaps a bit more pertaining to battle. I didn't see much, so I made a friendly and rather simple comment.

Somebody is a little shallow and conceited I see, the same someone who obviously takes things a little more seriously than he should. =/

Please, don't play victim. It is an old act, and has been played out many a time.

Shallow and concited? I'd like for you to explain to Bizare how you've managed to arrive at this end, even though it is deffinetely the wrong end.

I take what needs to be serious, serious. If you want to see me serious, take a trip to PA Forums. There's some serious shit on there.

[Sir Meta Knight]

PA Forums?

Care to enlighten me w/ a link? :O I'd like to see some battles you've down.

[Azanulbizare]

Originally Posted by Sir Meta Knight

PA Forums?

Care to enlighten me w/ a link? :O I'd like to see some battles you've down.

Penny Arcade Forums

But, we don't RP on there. : / Bizare was just acknowledging ED's dry, blatant insult with a taste of reality.

[Endless Devoid]

No, it wasn't an insult, it was fact.
I didn't come here to check out the thread because of you and your petty argument.
Though, you seem to like to point out irrelevant things everywhere else, why not in an irrelevant thread as well. Playing the victim am I? That makes no sense reading my response. Stop trying to point out things that don't exist.

Or, at least, stop acting like such a child. =/