All role play is different. Different player can have different styles of writing or as it is called in this online world “posting”. Each kind has it’s own unique way of being displayed. In story role playing however the “posts” are written like one might write a book. With actions taking place outside of quotations and spoken words taking place inside of them. Here is an example:

 

 

XXXX : “I don’t know,” Kei said softly looking to the floor, “What if they find out?”

YYYY: “They won’t,” Iason shrugged then grinned. “You tell them I threatened you. Say, like, ‘He told me if I didn’t come he would hunt me down and drag me here anyhow.’ They aren’t the brightest crayons in the box.” He lifted Keis chin and kissed him lightly. “You just have to scream a bit when your with me so they think I’m hurting you. They will never figure it out.”

XXXX: Kei sighed and returned the kiss, “I don’t know. It sounds like it would make them suspicious.” He stuck his lip out a little in a pout. “Why can’t you just leave them?”

YYYY: “Because,” Iason shook his head and let out a soft breath. “They would kill me. You don’t understand, I had to act like I was one of them if I didn’t want to get treated here the same way I am treated at home. This is the only place I have at least been semi safe and it’s only because I act like them. They would kill me if they found out now that I’ve been lying all this time to them.”

 

 

XXXX is the player who set up the story line. The one Iason was created for and YYYY is Iasons creator, me. Looking at it this way it is easier to see where this version of role playing got its name. It looks a lot like a story or a book when read. In a lot of ways all role playing is is writing with a co-writer to tell a story. In this case telling how Iason and Kei started their relationship. Obviously there are more than two characters involved and usually the two players will play the others out as well, but focus mainly on the original characters they started with. As the story grows there may even become more main characters and more plot build and the ones originally used may not even stay on course. Much of role playing attraction comes from the idea that what you start with isn’t always what you end with.

 

 

Multiple characters can be shown all in the same font color and style, but a lot of players choose to change the font color for each new main character and leaves the black for less important characters. For instance Kei is usually seen in light blue while Iasons is a darker green. The two bullies are usually displayed in black. This makes it easier for both to read it and if the players are multi-tasking then to see when the other player has replied.

 

 

When you go to talk to the other person to comment on the role play, ask questions or are done playing for the moment there is even a way to signal that it is no longer your character speaking. Players decided to use parenthesis to show the out of character (OOC) or “mun” chatter. Mun has become the common term referring to the person playing the character. To help with these terms I’ll compile a list of the shortened terms and this way if you do not know what one means you have a reference tool to come back to so that you know what is going on.

 

R/P= Role Play, or R/Ping= Role Playing

Char, Charrie= Character

Mun= you the player

OOC= anything posted that is outside the story line, “Mun” Chatter or even the character

            speaking outside the role play

S/L= Story line, the story you are playing out with the character

IC= In character, this refers to the character it self “Jumping IC” means that you are going from

       Talking as the player to starting to play again

>>, name> = A character speaking out of character, either to the “mun” or to the other character

              outside the story line.

(…), ((….))= “Mun” talking

 

 

The next set of terms are used to describe usually sexual orientation and/or how much mature rated material will be involved.

 

Yaoi= gay or male with male only relationships

Shota= a younger male, any male character under 18, with an older male, any male character 18 or above

Yuri= a lesbian couple only

Loli= a younger female, and female character under 18, with any older character over 18

Hentai= any role play that takes a relationship into an ‘R’ rating

 

 

More commonly than not role playing ends up forming a character relationship, but that does NOT mean you have to explore writing that exceeds the legal limit for your age to play. Parents should be cautious what their child role plays mainly because some players over 18 may try to take the role play and use it to draw their child into the open. Some players are not bad people, in fact most are not bad people that state to begin with that the character is not them, but there are a few who have given us bad names because of their illegal habits.

 

IF you are wanting to meet a nearby player the best idea is to meet in a public place and have a parent or legal guardian present if you are underage. If you are already an adult I suggest taking your significant other or a very close and trusted friend with whom you can know you will be safe. NEVER meet another player for the first time nor anyone from the internet for the first time in the privacy of your home or theirs. It is not safe, and even other role players will tell you not to get fantasy mixed up with reality. Just because a person can play a nice guy online does NOT mean he is a nice guy in real life.

 

 

There is another common style of role playing I like to refer to as ‘Veteran r/p style’. This involves the use of colons around an action and may or may not have quotations around the spoken parts. I’ll give a sample post of both below, using the same ones I used for story or book version.

 

XXXX : I don’t know ::Kei said softly looking to the floor:: What if they find out?

YYYY: “They won’t,” ::Iason shrugged then grinned:: “You tell them I threatened you. Say, like, ‘He told me if I didn’t come he would hunt me down and drag me here anyhow.’ They aren’t the brightest crayons in the box.” ::He lifted Keis chin and kissed him lightly:: “You just have to scream a bit when your with me so they think I’m hurting you. They will never figure it out.”

XXXX: ::Kei sighed and returned the kiss:: I don’t know. It sounds like it would make them suspicious. ::He stuck his lip out a little in a pout:: Why can’t you just leave them?

YYYY: “Because,” ::Iason shook his head and let out a soft breath:: “They would kill me. You don’t understand, I had to act like I was one of them if I didn’t want to get treated here the same way I am treated at home. This is the only place I have at least been semi safe and it’s only because I act like them. They would kill me if they found out now that I’ve been lying all this time to them.”

 

 

An example of “Mun” chatter entering a role play goes like this:

 

XXXX : “I don’t know,” Kei said softly looking to the floor, “What if they find out?”

YYYY: “They won’t,” Iason shrugged then grinned. “You tell them I threatened you. Say, like, ‘He told me if I didn’t come he would hunt me down and drag me here anyhow.’ They aren’t the brightest crayons in the box.” He lifted Keis chin and kissed him lightly. “You just have to scream a bit when your with me so they think I’m hurting you. They will never figure it out.” (I kinda want to maybe switch ahead after the next few posts)

XXXX: Kei sighed and returned the kiss, “I don’t know. It sounds like it would make them suspicious.” He stuck his lip out a little in a pout. “Why can’t you just leave them?” ((Ok, but I want to at least finish this with Iason convincing Kei to come to his room and not just assume that he did it))

YYYY: “Because,” Iason shook his head and let out a soft breath. “They would kill me. You don’t understand, I had to act like I was one of them if I didn’t want to get treated here the same way I am treated at home. This is the only place I have at least been semi safe and it’s only because I act like them. They would kill me if they found out now that I’ve been lying all this time to them.” (That’s fine)

 

 

An example of Out of character play may go like this:

 

XXXX: >> Iason looks at you and rolls his eyes, “Just because you’re a mun doesn’t mean you can take my Kei away!”

YYYY: (( ::looks at Kei:: )) Kei> Snuggles into Iason. ((Well you cheated on him Iason…))

XXXX: >> “Not willingly!” (haha! You know you liked it!)

YYYY: Kei> Blinks and backs away. “You cheated??”

 

None of this took place within the story line and so when the players return to playing neither Kei nor Iason will act as if this conversation took place. A good way to upset players is to start using OOC information inside of the story. Such as if Kei suddenly knows Iason is cheating on him in the story line even though he has no proof. Most of the time this type of OOC takes place only between advanced players.

 

 

Now you have the basics of terms and play down you can start using your character to locate other players. A good idea is to set up your characters profile in your screen name profile to let others know about your character, but always put in that it is a character for others to see when you’re starting out.