I decided I need help, with role-playing

Neat! A person hoping to become a better roleplayer!

Well you've taken the first step towards perfecting the art of ACTING my friend!

I can't say I'm a stellar example of a roleplayer, cause I'm not, but I do have a few years of experience under my very metaphorical belt! So take what I say with a grain of salt.

There are a lot of ways of becoming a better roleplayer, and some of them may be a bit too tedious, but let's get on with it:

It's not wrong to base your first character around your own personality. After all, it makes it easier to roleplay, because you know what you would do in situations that are presented in RP scenarios and it doesn't require for you to think outside the box. But it can get stale and, more often than not, serve as catalysts for the fulfillment of your own fantasy.

Of course, once you realize that, like you have just done, it can open up other paths in roleplay, and to do that you gotta think outside the box. Think in other perspectives. In order to be able to do that it's best to observe other more experienced RPers.

Often you'll find that some experienced players' characters' personalities can differ greatly, not just in that regard but also in how they speak, what quirks they have, what clothes they wear, and their moral compasses. Good roleplayers tend to do their homework on types of characters they want to play. They read books, guides and articles outlining the character. They sometimes borrow some ideas from existing characters from other games, enough to be able to know how will they respond based on their own different and original mentality but not enough to be a complete insert of the character it was based on.

For example, if I want to play a philanthropic pacifist doctor, I will read up on the ideology of philanthropy and pacifism and the characteristics of people that are associated with such traits, as well as try to find real or fictitious characters that fit that criteria in order to imitate or at least learn their way of thinking.

I will also look for and educate myself on my character's profession and expand my vocabulary by learning the methods and key terms used in that profession in order to further better my roleplay and make it a bit more engaging and immersive. It's usually best if you look for some sources other than just wikipedia for that, though, as it tends to be very misinforming.

Expanding your knowledge is key in learning how to roleplay.

It also doesn't hurt if you better your grammar and spelling as well.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

Fuck Yeah Roleplay Advice - Roleplay Resources

 

Following up on what I said before, there are a few guides written by existing members, and I'd say they're pretty useful!

I know they're meant for newbies but it never hurts to review the basics. Might learn a thing or two!

Kazyyk's Character Guide | Starbound Roleplay

A Newbies Guide to PlaystarboundRP | Starbound Roleplay

A Helpful Alignment Guide | Starbound Roleplay

Antares RP and You: In-Depth Beginner's Guide | Starbound Roleplay

 

Hey Fluffeh. I know exactly what your talking about, and it really is a very tricky thing. Playing A character similar to yorself can actually be very good practice for RP at first, but it sounds like you've done plenty of that.

First, lets start with making a character. If you want to play someone different from yourself in real life, you should probably think about /you/. Think about what your like in real life. Think about your personality and how you were raised, and try to make the character a little bit different from that. He doesn't have to be a complete opposite, just different. It also doesn't hurt to try and make it original. He/she doesn't have to be a total odd ball, just a little quirk or two to make her/him stand out.

Next, lets talk about character alignment. Probably the most important part of a character. If you are aiming for a Good character, go out of your way to help others. Anything from helping old ladies cross the street to saving the world would be about right. For a neutral, try not to do anything risky that you don't benefit from. I'm not saying don't help old ladies out of kindness, just don't risk you're neck to save someone else unless you have motivation. e.g. He is a friend, you are getting paid, you will greatly benefit in some way or another. An evil character is also a little self explanatory. One thing you have to remember for an evil, is that he/she is still a person. Just because your evil doesn't mean you're gonna kick every puppy you see. Your evil, not heartless.

Other parts to discuss is if you are chaotic, neutral, or lawful. If you are chaotic, you are probably not a law abiding citizen. A good example of a chaotic good character would be a vigilante, someone who Breaks laws to do good. Chaotic evil /IS/ someone who would go out of there way to kick a puppy. Those guys suck. A good example is an arsonist. Chaotic neutral could be anything like a mercenary, or crazy person. Not good, not bad, and definitely not law abiding. Lawful people obey the law. Simple. Lawful good can be anything from a citizen who helps old ladies cross the streets, or a hero who saves the world. Obviously, he tries to do good things like build an orphanage. A great example of lawful neutral is a solder who follows his orders. He does what he's told, no matter what it is. For lawful evil, think someone who plays by the rules, but without care or though for others. You obey the law, but you're not very nice. At all. Then there is neutral again. A blend of lawful and chaotic. The law is not your biggest concern, but you might follow it out of self preservation. Maybe you will break it when you benefit from doing so.

That's about all the advise I can give you. Let me know if you need anything more specific. Hope i helped, and i'll see you on the server!

 

A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. Mine was just kind of an example, but you do have a point.

 

It's not a bad thing to have a bit of your personality in your characters. Here's a look at how I've played my characters. Well, my characters that people would know.

Smokestack-
My most well-known and 3rd character introduced to the server. For personality, I made him a near copy of who I am. He's driven by morals, willing to change for the better, driven by companionship, determined, emotional, eccentric, blunt, and overly trusting. I added traits of my dad as well because I felt that it'd be good for a mechanic avian to have traits of my mechanic dad. So I made him someone who learned better hands-on training, not bright with other things, and adaptive and quick to learn. I also drink lots and lots of soda, specifically coca-cola, in real life.

But I also made him things that I'm not. I'm not confrontational. I hated ships and piloting (before I played as Smoke). I hate racing. I wasn't good with girls.
But what made Smoke work was that I knew how to be the things that I am. With everything else, I based it on stuff that I did know. I based Smoke on Falco Lombardi from Starfox and had Smoke's voice in my head be a Boston accent. I played a bit of TF2 and that's where pally came from.

Smoke worked because I know how to speak as myself and knew how to put my voice into words and what I do into written actions. Do things in real life now. Can you describe them by typing them down?


Jazz-
I made him for fun based on the jive man in Airplane, the movie. The guy speaks jive and is a pharmacologist. That was the basic concept. Always start basic.

Now what would be associated with jive? I thought jazz, funk, and disco. So I made his personality a very mellow, comfortable in his own skin, soulful and eccentric man. I'm none of those things.

So how do you play as something you're not? Personally, I just listened the hell out of specific scenes from Airplane, listening to jive and listening to different funk artists. I'd repeat lines, and get a feel of how they act.
From there it's just learning how you'd put what you'd say and do AS THEM to typed words.


Haywire-
I really liked Haywire. He's my first Glitch. I had him as a single idea. A chef with a speech malfunction and unpredictable tendencies. Start basic.
I then had him be a kingdom chef who was abducted and rewired as a slave. He broke out and was psychologically damaged and physically tinkered with.

He was overly polite, quick to get angry, and loyal to a fault. I'm not quick to get angry and I'm not too polite. I took the qualities that I knew butlers would have and put them into Haywire. I searched how a stereotypical butler would act and imitated.


I'll just name those three. What did I learn from them? I learned that it's okay to use your personality in your character (from Smoke), that it's okay and I learned how to be not me while still being me with Jazz and Haywire.

Now how did I do that?

• I started simple. I get a simple idea for a character. Smoke was an Avian mechanic with strict morals. Jazz is a jive speaking pharmacologist. Haywire is a mentally damaged chef glitch with delusions of grandeur.
• I picked the traits that I saw appropriate and put them into the characters. I put a lot into Smoke. I put my mellow side and music taste into Jazz. I put my sense of loyalty and past anger management issues into Haywire.
• I then picked traits that would make the characters interesting, whether they be not me or me. Smoke was overly trusting and blunt. Jazz is secretly tortured inside. Haywire has a hard time balancing his new life and old life.
• I put time and research into them. I ask my dad for help with certain mechanic procedures with Smoke, and I research mechanical/electrical engineering. I apply what I learn in Physics class. I take time to understand accents. I listen to voices and keep in mind behaviors. I learned the composition, cost of components, and procedure for the production of certain medicines and drugs. I learned how to mix drinks. I learned how to cook certain foods.

Think of it like this. How do people do impersonations so well? They take the time to see what makes the person they're trying to be the person they are.

So you made a bunch of characters. Did you truly try to see what they would be like? Why not try basing them off of something else? Smoke was based on Falco Lombardi+my dad+Scout from TF2. Jazz is based on that awesome pharmacist lady in that Stop n Shop I go to and the jive man from Airplane.

So here are some questions to ask yourself.

• Who or what do I want them to be like? Do I know someone like that already?
• What are traits I want seen?
• How can I best represent these traits?
• What can I do to learn these traits?
• Can I put them in words?

 

Then think of your most like-you character you have, and just flip every single choice or moral compass direction he has. Having a you-char and an anything-but-you char are two whole opposite ends of the spectrum, and after playing the latter for a bit I think you'll start to better understand how to play a character, not just a digitized version of yourself, ya know?

 

Read the posts, Fluffy. Don't just reply to the segments that you want to reply to. Personally I believe that if you can't get a grasp of how to describe your actions as yourself than you will not be able to roleplay as someone else entirely.

 

You can also inspire yourself from already existing characters(not from the server though), what I mean is you could take inspiration from Aladin and then Elsa and mix up something....frightening..

*Slams door and barricade*

 

my personal tip:

pick up creative writing -- write a short story, a novel if you will. really get into a character of some description youve never seen. someone youve never been.

an example character of mine is president william orbeta. (from a novel ree)

i know a bit about politics, i know a lot about dystopian futures.
william orbeta is basically someone ive never been or seen, hes an (accidentally) oppressive man who tried to help everyone and in the end helped no one.
hes got all the power and money a man could want but nothing to do with it because everything is how he wants it, his people are safe and thats what he wanted. so, really, it just depends on how one looks at a character and one's own imagination.

the other part of making someone youve never been is making a completely different backstory than yours.
william orbeta was the kind of richboy who got bullied and stuff in school, he went to a private school for the gifted & such.
this does not relate to me in any way.
i lived in lower middle class, fought most of every day with people, both physically and verbally, and went to a public school in the ghetto.

it really just boils down to "look at people around you, and things youve read, and pick ideas and concepts from there". roleplay is as easy as writing a novel. time consuming, mind numbing (i use this phrase in a good way), and entertaining.

i hope you had gotten what you wanted out of this thread!