DarkDissolver — Roleplayer Guild

Summary

 In this guide we will attempt to explore all aspects of roleplaying and depict whats best and worst/ the ayes an nayes of roleplaying. Feel free to comment or PM me about anything not visited or to have me judge your roleplay or something. I hope this guide helps you.
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Fundamental Rules of the Guild

We are laid back. We let a lot of things fly. We are only here to provide a social experience for those with the common hobby of roleplaying. I don't believe in policing the community. The community can police itself by using the Report Post function that can be seen on every post.

Deal?

So here are the fundamental rules of conduct here:
1. Be cool like Fonz.

Don't be a flagrant d-bag. Don't spam. Don't advertise. Don't excessively flame others. Respect the community and the staff. Act like a civilized human being.

Fonz, here. Be cool like me. Fonz-cool.

We're even cool with things like light swearing. However, if you start swearing too much, you're probably simultaneously not being Fonz-cool, so you're breaking Rule #1.
2. Keep your conflicts private

Nobody wants to hear you squabbling with others. In fact, chances are you're only squabbling with others because you have an audience. And let's face it: You're probably not squabbling about anything that's not pathetic, so I don't want the rest of the community having to feel sorry for you. That consumes a lot of energy and I don't want a community of exhausted zombies because they spend all their time listening to pathetic e-fights.

We all come here for social interaction. Conflicts are part of social interaction. We aren't Neopets. Nor do I try to pretend like conflicts don't happen. Just have them in private messages. 

However, if someone isn't leaving you alone, DO contact a Moderator. We do draw the line between conflicts and serious personal attacks. If you're attacking someone privately, you're also breaking Rule #1 because you're not being cool.
3. Report Problematic Users

There currently isn't a Report User button; I would suggest bringing any problems to mahz either via the appropriate forum while the site is under development.

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DO Report:
- Spammers
- Advertisers
- People that are extensively flaming.
- People that don't belong in your thread.
- People that obviously aren't here to be a member of the community. 
- People disrespecting Guild staff authority.

What probably doesn't need to be reported:
- People disagreeing with you.
- People that are only moderately swearing.

We understand that you don't want to be babysat, but we DO want to ensure that you have a good experience here. Sometimes you just need to ignore other users or add them to your ignore list.

Don't worry about reporting something that you're not sure breaks any rules or not. There's almost always a grey area and by bringing these to our attention, you can help us spot users that may be more problematic in the future or point out rules that we may need to adjust or even establish.
4. Don't treat all forums like the Spam Forum

Our leniency has lead to a lot of members treating all forums as Off-Topic/Spam forums. This will get you temporarily banned and possibly even permanently banned if you repeatedly water down the discussions of our community with unnecessary posts.
5.No mature content

This is not an adult-oriented forum. Please keep such content off the forum.
Bottom line

There aren't many rules, here. Use common sense and use good judgment.

Most important of all: Report disruptive/problematic users.

We depend on you to help us keep the community clean. Why have Moderators painstakingly scan the forum for problems when we have hundreds of active users?

Thanks,
Mahz

If you ever have to talk to other Mods or myself, you'll find that we are fair and easy-going. Most of our decisions are also made collectively behind the scenes.


Admin: Person in charge of a group or roleplay. In this case the site. 
AU: Alternate Universe
Backstory: History
Canon: A collection or list of sources considered factual.
Closed Roleplay: A roleplay only open to a select few. No outsiders allowed.
Comrades: Greeters, Helpers, one of the lowest ranks of staff.
Doubling: When both you and your friend play both a male and female character.
Élitists: Advanced roleplayer/ Badass writer....
Erasure: An OOC agreement where all players agree an event never took place. 
Face Claim: Your characters face basically depicted from different forms of media or just an image
Fan Character: An original character in a canon world. 
Fade to Black: Used mainly for sexual scenes to skip a scene. Action still takes place though.
Gif chat: A mix of a gif/animation and a few sentences relating to the image used to roleplay.
Godmodding/GMing: A character/action that usually isnt allowed anywhere. Such as controlling another person character without consent. Or having limitless capabilities.
GameMaster/GM: Owner of a roleplay. 
Head Canon A belief in a possible subject/thing that could be canon that makes sense. Basically and individuals belief on what is canon or not
Het: Heterosexual
IC: In character. In control
Indie: Independent. A roleplayer group not tied to another group (usually larger)
M!A: Magic Anon. A Magic Anon has the capability of making a character do/change something usually something somewhat ridiculous. 
Mary Sue/Gary Stu: A perfect character. Capable of whooping any other character. Capable of many things. Many skills. Easily masters tasks. 
MC: Main character
Mod: Below an Admin in rank. They moderate and make sure nobody disobeys the rules.
Moniker: Alias, Nickname
Multi-para: Multiple paragraphs. 
Multiple Storyline Character: Taking one character and putting them in multiple RPs/ universes with all of them not effecting one another.
Multishipping: Different relationships with the same characters paired differently not effecting the relationships of another universe.
Mun: Roleplayer behind character.
Muse: Things that inspire the players character or the players.
NPC: Non playable character
NSFW Not safe for work. Read/watch in private.
OC: Original Character
One-liner: Posts consisting of one line/sentence
OOC: Out of Character. Out of control.
Open Post: A single post basically saying anyone can join the roleplay no character sheet usually. Just post.
OTP: One true pairing. Players favorite relationship
Para: Paragraph. 5 sentences usually
PM: Private message
PSA: Public service announcement 
RFP Removed for Privacy
RPG: Roleplaying game
RP: Roleplay
Self-insert: A character that resembles the player used in a roleplay. 
Semi-Para: Three sentences of post length
Ship: A romantic relationship. 
Sig.:Signature 
Slash: Usually meaning a same-sex pairing
SL: Story line. 
SN: Screen name
Smut: Over 18 material. 
Starter: First post starting a roleplay. 
S&C: Single and crushing.
S&L: Single and looking
Thread: Collection of posts/comments/responses
UMC Under major construction. 
UST: Unsolved Sexual Tension/ Funny as hell.
Verse: Universe

Mahz: King of everything that has ever existed. Deity slayer. In short, past the maximum on levels of badassity


Interest checks
"This forum is for more general interest checks. Perhaps they span multiple roleplaying subforums."
-Roleplaying Guild.

Basically just a way to see whether or not anyone is interested in your roleplay idea. Recruit people. Et Cetera. With different levels of interests check use the one relating to the level of your roleplay. It is a useful tool. Test the waters and stuff. :3


Free
"No standards. For roleplaying involving one-liners, few-liners, speed-posting, and for anyone who doesn't want to have to worry about standards. Roleplays that don't fulfill Casual standards are moved here." -Roleplayer Guild

 A good fit for beginners or those that either dont care about or do not possess the best writing skills.
 Benefits of using Free are its not stressful. Posts can be as short as you want. If you are interested in Speed battling it is great for that also. You can join multiple free roleplays and easily manage. 

Casual
"Medium standards. Roleplay here if you enjoy writing at least a paragraph or two, character development, and some depth. Casual RP is more laid back and lighthearted than Advanced RP but more moderated than Free RP. It's a good fit for most roleplayers. Acceptable spelling and grammar required." -Roleplayer guild. 

Advantages? Great mix of fun and writing. Great character development, interaction, and legibility has to be at least decent or it'll be considered free. The fact it is the most popular of all the difficulty levels shows how good it is. Plus, more people using casual equals more chances for possible joiners. 
Disadvantages: Its pretty well rounded and great. Unless you don't have acceptable grammar or spelling.

Advanced

"Strict, highly moderated roleplay with elevated standards. Advanced RP focuses on longer posts that include character development and coherent writing ability." 
 
Good parts. Outstanding character development. Always make for good stories.
Bad parts. Not always best for roleplaying. Sometimes it is mainly character development and little interaction. Posts takes forever. But sometimes its worth it.


Arena Roleplay
"Battle-centered roleplay." -Roleplayer Guild

A roleplay focusing on combat

1x1/ Sexy time
"Two players per roleplay here."

Roleplays containing two members. 

Tabletop Roleplay
"Roleplays focused on dice rolls and stat blocks where the narrative is driven by game mechanics." 

For when you cant find games to play with someone in real life.


Well done with listing the types of roleplay here. Now onto doing it right!
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How to Roleplay well

Characters. Without Characters a roleplay is not a roleplay. There has to be someone/something to portray. This will tell you the basics in creating characters.

Name:
Your Character needs a name. Honestly, there isnt much advice that can be given here. Do not use names from already existing characters or at least refrain from doing so. Make it original. Also, make sure his/her name isn't incredibly obviously related to what they do or their power. Google translate may be more useful then you think. Translating say, air or some other element, may sound more fancy or cool in a different language and not be obviously related to something.
 A useful tool is this Name Generator. All else I can say is dont make it corny.

Gender
It tends to help to just pick the gender you are or your used to portraying. All up to you and no one is better then than the other

Age

Many roleplays differ and age is the same. Depending on the kind of roleplay certain ages are appropriate. A 64 year old doesnt belong in high school... Certain ages tend to display certain traits, older more experience and maturity, younger more foolish, rebellious and etc.

Appearance

This one of the most important parts of your character. Certain features will become your characters trademark. Not much Advice can be given here also. Just be descriptive if not using a photo and dont make your character absolutely perfect. Also, age and appearance sorta are related. Dont make an old man appear as a toddler unless your benjamin button. I'm thinking about old men alot for whatever reason... Well a few examples of your external bod are these parts: 
Height, weight, physical body type, skin tone and coloration, abnormal appendages, scarring, eye color, and clothing. Take most of these if not all into consideration when explaining a character.

Race

Much of the things that make a character a character are best decided by you. Race is one of these. Im not just talking human ethnicity but if your character is part chimera or something. Completely up to you but I will recommend some originality. Dont go with half dragons or half werewolf... Nothing too common unless you dont care about originality. 

Personality

...So much customization that would be wrong to criticize while telling someone how to make a character. Just always go with originality. Personality however, you can copy and shouldnt feel much guilt unless they are perfect/ I'm lying go originality. Characters attitudes are basically the most important thing past their name, appearance, and and everything. Personality controls all other aspects many aspects of your life whether you like it or not. This includes alignment. Good or bad? Moral or Immoral? ...So many way to describe a character. Just a few words to use.


Character sheets should include at least all of the things inside the character generator. Looking something like this:

Name:

Age:

Appearance:

Personality:

Race: 

Gender:



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