Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:32:05 GMT -5
The Ultimate Roleplaying Guide
Hello everyone! If you have stumbled upon this thread and have never seen me before, then my name is Spottedleaf. I have been an active member on these forums since October 2011 and a moderator (also known as a Falconstar's Helper) since May 2013.
Enough with the self-introduction, though. If you clicked on this thread, then it is likely that you are wanting to get into roleplaying. Maybe you are completely new to it, or maybe you are just looking for tips. Regardless of what level you are at roleplaying, you have come to the right place to pick up on a trick or two.
Welcome to The Ultimate Roleplaying Guide! First, in case you are unfamiliar with the concept of roleplaying, then it is similar to writing a story, except with multiple people. You create a fictional character of some sort, and who or what your character is depends on what kind of roleplay you are participating in. Once you have your character created, you and other roleplayers will interact with each other's characters along some sort of plot. The plot is typically decided by everyone involved in the roleplay, though it is usually lead by the owner of the roleplay. From there, the story continues.
If you are still confused, then that is not to worry! That is what this thread is for. In this thread, you will find plenty of information regarding roleplaying. Specifically, it will provide guidelines on how to create a successful roleplay, how to create a good character, how to interact with other characters, as well as some naming guides. More specifically, this guide is centered around Warrior Cats roleplaying, and any examples in the guides provided here will be for that type of roleplay. This is a Warrior Cats forum, after all. Despite that, some of the information provided here might be able to be used in other types of roleplays too.
Below you will find hyperlinks that you can click on to skip down to the roleplaying topic that you would like to read about. This way, you do not have to scroll through walls of text just to find the one you are looking for, as not everyone is an absolute beginner. A lot of you might keep coming back only to refer to specific guides, so that is what the hyperlinks are for.
If you have read through all the guides and would like to see a new guide about a certain topic, you can always leave requests in the comment below. Additionally, you can ask questions, or offer your own tips to new roleplayers. Otherwise, thanks for taking the time to look through this and happy roleplaying!
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:32:49 GMT -5
How to Make a Successful Roleplay
Before you can create a character or do anything else related to roleplaying, you have to have a place to roleplay. In other words, you either have to join someone else's roleplay or start your own. Not much goes into joining another person's roleplay other than reading the information and making sure you follow along with their expectations. However, creating your own roleplay is not quite as simple. That is what this guide is for.
I. The Setting
It might seem like the place to start should be with choosing the name of your Clan, followed by writing the introduction. However, writing a detailed introduction can be difficult without an idea about where the roleplay will take place. This is why it may be better to start with determining the setting of your roleplay.
Ask yourself, where do you want the characters to live? Do you want them to live in a forest, mountains, a desert, or some other setting? No matter what you decide, make sure you are specific about it. For example, if you decide on a forest, narrow it down more and decide on what type of forest it is. Is it a tropical rainforest, a temperate forest, or another type? Either way, once you determine the setting, you can move on to the next part in this.
After you decide on the setting you want, you need to be able to describe this setting in a way that your participants will be able to picture it in their minds. If necessary, you can do some research on the setting you picked on the Internet to help you with the description. Find out what the climate is like in your chosen area, as well as certain types of vegetation that might grow there. Additionally, you can use pictures to help you visualize it even better.
Next, it is important to outline specific locations in the description of the setting. For example, in the Warrior Cats book, they recognize certain landmarks as borders or other important places. Referring to the forest territories, there was the Sunning Rocks, which was a boundary that separated ThunderClan from RiverClan. Then, there was also Fourtrees and the Moonstone. Roleplays generally have places similar to this. These locations can be large trees, rivers, stones, roads, or something else. The important thing is to name these places so they can serve as landmarks. Landmarks are important in a roleplay because they help roleplayers understand where to go when on patrols.
Once you have considered all of this, it is necessary to note what other creatures are found in the area. The characters involved in the roleplay are not the only inhabitants. Prey and predators roam around there as well. You can refer back to your research on your chosen area if you want to get more specific, or you can list general types of prey and predators that are found there and go from there.
Finally, there is the camp to keep in mind. Camp descriptions do not need to be as detailed as the rest of the territory's, but it is still important to provide enough of a visual so that roleplayers can picture where the characters call home in their minds. At the very least, include details on where inside the territory the camp lies, what protects it, and the general layout of the camp. The rest of it can be determined as the roleplay goes on.
Although this is a lot to consider when starting a roleplay, once you have done the brainstorming for the setting, you have gotten the longest part of the roleplay building process out of the way. Once this is done, you only need to put the information you have gathered and put it together.
Here is everything broken down, along with some examples:
A. Describing the General Territory a. Remember, when describing the territory, you are essentially answering these basic questions: i. What kind of territory is it? ii. What is the climate like there? iii. What plants and herbs grow in the area? iv. What other animals roam this land?
b. Here are some example answers to these questions: i. What kind of territory is it? Temperate rainforest ii. What is the climate like there? Very wet and mild climate iii. What plants and herbs grow in the area? Along the forest floor, there are mostly ferns and mosses. There are also various common herbs such as horsetail and dock leaves. As for trees, the main ones that are found here include oaks, beeches, and walnuts. iv. What other animals roam this land? In terms of prey, mostly birds, frogs, and mice. As for predators, there are a lot of foxes, and larger birds such as hawks and owls.
B. Choosing Names for Landmarks a. As a reminder, landmarks have various uses when creating a roleplay. They are specific places in the territory that can provide a sense of direction when visualizing the area. Moreover, these are typically what serve as borders in a clan.
The following are some examples of what can be used as these landmarks: i. Bodies of water ii. Roads iii. Trees iv. Villages v. Stones b. With this in mind, you can pick what land feature serves as what and go from there to determine names for these landmarks. When describing these places, describe it in a way so that it gives a clear explanation on where in the territory they are located. Additionally, names should make the special location easy to remember and identify. i. For example, if there is a creek in a forest that receives a large amount of sunlight, despite all the trees, a good name for it might be "Sunlight Creek." ii. The description for Sunlight Creek can be something like "Sunlight Creek is located on the eastern part of the territory. It runs through much of the area, and it serves as the clan's main source of water. Sunlight Creek receives generous amounts of sunlight, considering it is located in a forest, which is the reason for its name."
C. Describing the Camp a. Previously mentioned, camp descriptions include brief details on where exactly the characters live. Generally, this is what a camp description has: i. Information on where the camp is inside the territory. * This typically includes what surrounds it and what protects it from predators. ii. Information about the general layout of the camp. * This can include where each den is located in the camp, and it can also detail what the dens are made out of. Here is an example of each description: i. Information on where the camp is inside the territory: * In the heart of the rainforest, lies the camp where the clan shelters. The camp is in a clearing of the trees, but it is still well protected by tall grasses, ferns, and thorn bushes. It is hard to find for anyone who does not already know about it, since that is how deep into the forest it is. ii. Information on the general layout of the camp: * When entering the camp, the first thing that can be seen are six dens that are either made out of bushes, underneath rocks, or inside carved out tree trunks. The leader's den is the smallest of them all, and it is located closest to the entrance on the right side of camp. Then, directly past it headed away from the entrance is the largest den, which belongs to the medicine cat. From there are the Elders, Nursery, Warriors, and Apprentice dens. They are all medium in size, though the nursery is larger than the other three because there has to be room for both queens and their kits to shelter. D. Putting It All Together a. After you have all the basics down, it is time to put it all together in an organized way. The organization part of it will be elaborated on more later, but for now we will focus on putting all the information together so that it flows nicely. Use strong adjectives when you elaborate on the details of the setting so that your roleplay participants can easily picture it in their minds as they post in the roleplay. For this example, everything already used in earlier examples will be put together.
" _____Clan lives in a temperate rainforest that is lush with all kinds of vegetation. Along the forest floor lies mostly mosses, lichens, and ferns. There is also an abundance of common herbs, such as horsetail, dock leaves, and many more. As for trees, the main ones that grow here are oak, beech, and walnut trees.
Since it is a temperate rainforest, the climate is very wet, and the temperatures are mild. In winter, temperatures rarely drop below freezing. In summer, they barely climb above eighty degrees Fahrenheit. There is a short dry season, where temperatures might climb higher than average, but that is about all. It is rare for temperatures to get to extreme levels, on either end of the spectrum.
Even though there are many ponds and smaller streams within the temperate rainforest, the clan's main source of water lies on the eastern border, where the trees thin out a little. This body of water is known as Sunlight Creek.
Deep in the heart of the rainforest, where the trees spread out into a clearing, is where ______Clan shelters. It is their camp, which they call home. Inside the camp, there are six dens. On the right side of the camp, closest to the entrance, is where the clan leader sleeps at night. It is the smallest den in the camp, since typically only one cat sleeps there at a time. Directly past that, is the largest den, and that is where the medicine cat sleeps. The remaining dens, the Elders, Nursery, Warriors, and Apprentice dens, are all medium-sized dens, with the Nursery being larger than the other three since it has to be large enough for both queens and kittens to shelter in. Those dens are all laid out in the order that they were mentioned, all along the walls of the camp. Then, more toward the center of the camp, though not directly, is a large boulder called the Tall Stone. That is where the clan leader hosts clan meetings and ceremonies."
b. Now that all the information is in paragraph form and flows together nicely, you have successfully finished the setting part of your roleplay. The rest of this is not quite as time consuming to put together.
II. The Introduction After you have the setting planned and written out, you can move on to writing the introduction to your roleplay. The introduction does what it sounds like it should do. It introduces the idea of it to your participants, and it is also the first thing they will see when they click on your thread. The introduction is meant to be intriguing so it draws participants in. You want it to encourage them to join the roleplay.
Like the setting, introductions should be well written out. It should be detailed, although it should not be drawn out for too long. Make sure it is enough to draw someone in, but also make sure it is not so long that it deters someone from joining because they do not want to take the time to read it all.
A good starting place with writing the introduction is to introduce the setting. This is why determining the setting first is important. By doing that, you have already done the brainstorming of what you want the territory to be like. Now all you have to do is bring a brief part of that into your introduction.
In addition to this, introductions tend to tell part of a story on their own. After all, they are supposed to lead a potential participant into the idea of being part of the roleplay. Typically, introductions are told in the point of view of a loner or someone who does not already belong to the clan. The loner is caught trespassing on the territory by a clan member, usually the leader or deputy, and then they get an opportunity to join the clan or leave. Another idea for the introduction is to tell it from the point of view of someone on the inside of the clan. When people do that, they usually tell it from the eyes of a newborn kit. Whichever way you go about it is up to you. Either way, be sure the introduction is something that would make people interested in the roleplay.
If you choose to write it from a loner's point of view, include details about where they came from and how long they have been away from there. Write about what happens to them when they get caught trespassing. When you do this, include descriptive information about who caught them, and allow the loner to react. The end of this usually ends with the non-trespasser inviting the trespasser into the clan or offering to show them to the border if the trespasser rejects the offer.
If you decide to go the other route with the introduction, describe what is going on around the newborn kit. Detail on what the kit's surroundings are. What do they see? What can they hear? How do they feel?
Below is an example of an introduction from both perspectives.
A. Introduction in a Loner's Point of View
"It is a bright and sunny afternoon in leaf-fall as you stroll around in the temperate rainforest. Inside the forest, it is cool and damp from last night's rainfall. The air is crisp and fresh, it is quiet, and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. With all of those factors, it is a perfect afternoon to explore. However, you are beginning to wear out because you have been out here since the morning. Not only that, but you are also beginning to get hungry and thirsty. You would turn around if it were not getting so close to sunset already. Moreover, as much as you hate to admit it to yourself, you are not sure which direction you started in. Turning back now would only be dangerous especially since night would fall long before you would make it back, even if you knew where you were going. Instead, you begin to look for water, food, and a dry place to sleep for the night. After strolling around some more, you finally find some water. You are thankful for it, and you are also thankful to find some thinning in the trees. You welcome the late afternoon sunlight as it bathes your fur. However, just as you are about to lap up the water, you realize that you are not alone. Despite that, you are too thirsty to care. Then, suddenly, as you take a drink you are pounced on from behind by a light ginger tabby tom with pale green eyes. There is no time to react before he growls at you and says, "You are trespassing on our land. Either come with me for the night or allow me to escort you to the border. If you choose the latter, you must never return."
B. Introduction in a Newborn Kit's Point of View
"It is a sunny afternoon as you open your eyes for the very first time. As soon as you open them, you are surprised to see how big the room you are in really is. It seemed so much smaller when it was all dark, but now you can clearly see its true size. You only glance around it for a few short seconds before you hear a soft voice. You look up to see a she-cat with admiring bright eyes looking back down at you. "Good afternoon, little one. Welcome to _____Clan."
III. Additional Information
After you finish the territory and the introduction, you are almost finished creating your roleplay. However, there are a few additional things to add that every roleplay should have. These things would include a list of rules, a sign up form, and an allegiance page.
A. Rules a. Rules are important to include when creating a roleplay. This way, your participants understand what you expect of them when they roleplay. When writing out the rules, here are things to keep in mind: i. Even though it should not have to be said, it is good to remind everyone that all forum rules apply to roleplays. ii. Other rules should be about how you want the roleplay to play out. iii. Include some kind of code or password for people to put in their sign up forms. This way, you know that they read the rules. When you include this, put the password somewhere in the middle of the rules. By doing this, it helps to ensure that people will read all the way through the rules instead of just skim them to find the hidden code. b. Typically, these are some of the guidelines you might see in roleplays: i. All forum rules apply. ii. No one liner posts. Try to write at least 3 sentences per post per character. iii. You can have as many characters as you want as long as you can manage them all. iv. Keep the names and descriptions of your characters realistic. v. If you read the rules, put "Rain" in the password section of your form. vi. No doing anything major with the plot without asking permission. vii. Try to remain active, especially if you have a high rank such as the deputy or medicine cat. If you cannot be active for a certain amount of time, please give a heads up. Otherwise, after two weeks straight of inactivity, you will be removed from the roleplay.
B. The Sign Up Form The sign up form is what participants will fill out when they decide to join your roleplay. Basically, it is a way to register their character into it. This is usually posted together with the allegiance page, but it is often posted separately from the rest of the roleplay's information. Sign up forms usually ask for the following:
a. Username i. When you ask for this, you should require for the participant to give you the name that they used when they registered for the forum. This way, you can tag them in the allegiance page and others can tag them when they want to interact with their characters. b. Character's Name c. Appearance d. Personality e. Age i. In a Warriors roleplay, age is usually written in terms of moons. f. Rank i. This would be where people would put what role they want their character to be. g. Family/Crush/Mate: i. Here, participants would inform you of their character's family members, and if they are mates with someone or if they have a crush on someone else's character. h. Password i. Other i. A lot of people will leave this section blank. However, some may use it to tell you miscellaneous information about their character, such as their history. Or, they may use it to ask you something related to their character.
C. The Allegiance Page
Simply stated, the allegiance page is where you keep track of all the characters that are involved in the roleplay. This page is typically organized by the ranks of the characters. The highest ranks go first, followed by the more general ranks. Then after everything is listed, you would put your sign up form, which was discussed in the previous section. Below is what an example of how an allegiance page might look:
Leader: Deputy: Medicine Cat:
Warriors: Apprentices: Queens: Kits: Elders:
Outsiders: (Outsiders include anyone who does not live in the clan. These would include kittypets, loners, etc.)
Relationships: (Under this category is where you would put who is related to do, and you would also put romantic relationships under this category)
Mentors and Apprentices: (This is where you would assign mentors to apprentices. Having this category makes it easy for anyone with an apprentice to know who their mentor is)
D. The Layout of the Post
An organized layout is more likely to hold someone's attention, as compared to a more scattered one. Here is a general layout for you to follow:
a. Introduction b. Territory i. The territory is usually divided into parts. The general description of the territory is listed first, followed by lists that break down the special landmarks and list the predators and prey. Finally, below all of that, is where the description of the camp would go. c. Rules d. Allegiances e. Sign up i. Again, the allegiance page and the sign up sheet are usually placed together in their own post that is separate from all the other roleplay information.
IV. Other Tips
A. Formatting
When you go to create the thread for the roleplay, you should include formatting. In other words, change the size and color of the headings and subheadings, and bold the text so the words stand out. Doing this makes it easy to refer back to later, since you will easily be able to find the information you are looking for. You can see examples of this kind of formatting being used all throughout this guide.
B. Plot
Having an interesting plot is essential if you want your roleplay to be successful. It works the same way as if you were reading a book. Books that lack plot are not going to be read. That rule applies here too. If your roleplay lacks plot, people are not going to want to participate. When deciding on plot, be creative with it and make sure you include everyone when you make decisions on it. Have fun with events like battles, prophecies, natural disasters, illnesses, and other tragedies. Events such as those will certainly help spice up your roleplay.
C. Communication
Communicating with the participants of your roleplay is important. The participants are going to want to feel that they have a say in what happens throughout the roleplay. Otherwise, they may start to feel like they are only along for the ride and nothing more. Eventually, if they feel left out, they will not want to stay in the roleplay.
A good way to avoid this is to set up a group PM that includes everyone involved in the roleplay. The group PM will allow you to communicate with each other about the ideas and concerns you have with the roleplay. You can discuss events that you want to happen, and you can talk about other plans related to the roleplay as well.
If you need to narrow down a decision that is being made, such as if you are wanting to decide on what kind of event you want to occur next, set up a poll in the roleplay. Allow your participants to vote for the event that they would like to see play out.
D. Enjoy It
This may be obvious, but if you take the time to create a roleplay, make sure to have fun with it! Get creative with your roleplays and do your best to keep them active.
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:33:27 GMT -5
Creating A Character
At this point, you have probably either already created a roleplay of your own or you have found someone else's roleplay that you are interested in joining. That is the first step you take when you want to roleplay. After you have moved on from that step, you are not ready to jump right in just yet. Before you can do that, you need to create your character. In this guide, you will find tips on how to do just that.
When creating a character, keep the sign up form that is provided in the roleplay in mind. As a reminder, the sign up form usually looks something like this:
You can use this as a basic list of what you need to consider when creating your character. For this guide, only the following categories will be focused on: their appearance, their personality, and their name.
I. Appearance
You might think that the first step when creating a character is to choose the character's name. However, choosing a name can be difficult at the top of your head. This is why you should imagine your character first, and then you can pick a name.
The easiest place to start when imagining your character is with their appearance. In other words, imagine what you want them to look like. When considering looks, keep the following characteristics in mind: size, fur, eyes, and special features.
A. Size
The first characteristic to consider when imagining your character's looks is their size. Describing a character's size is more than only saying if they are big or small. Sometimes they are more in the middle of the scale. Additionally, there is also their body type to consider. With people, for instance, some are short and thin, while some are big and tall. Then, there are also those that are largely built even though they are shorter, as well as for the other way around. The same can be said for when you are considering your character's size.
To break it down, when describing your character's size, ask yourself these questions:
a. Are they tall, short, or somewhere in the middle? b. Are they skinny, bulky, or muscular?
This will all be put into paragraph form later. For now, only a simple profile with short answers will be provided.
a. Are they tall, short, or somewhere in the middle? Somewhere in the middle b. Are they skinny, bulky, or muscular? Very skinny
B. Fur
There are many characteristics that your character's fur has. Their fur is a specific color, length, and it can also be patterned in a way. Those are the factors you need to think about when creating your character.
a. Color i. When you describe your character's fur color, not only should you consider the color itself, but also think about what shade of that color the fur is. For example, cats can be orange, but there are many shades of orange. Their fur can be a light or dark shade of orange. That applies to almost any other color you can think of for a cat's pelt.
b. Length i. Just as cats' pelts can be a wide variety in colors, they also vary in length. Some cats are short-haired, while others have longer hair. Moreover, sometimes their fur can appear longer on different parts of their body than the rest. Some cats, for instance, have especially fluffy tails or underbelly fur, but the rest of it may not seem to be as noticeably long at first glance. Then, like with everything else, there are also the gray areas where their fur is neither noticeably long or short.
c. Patterns i. Finally, cats are known to have unique patterns on their pelt. A lot of cats are tabbies, for instance, but there are five types of tabby patterns: classic (splotches), mackerel (narrow stripes), spotted (spots), ticked, and patched (tortoiseshell). In addition to those patterns, there are also calicoes and cats that have one color as their base with white on their chest and/or paws. Whichever pattern you choose for your character is up to you. Just make sure that you are specific about the pattern when you describe it.
Here is the short example for describing your character's fur (again, only a short profile with short answers is being used for now):
a. What color is their fur? Light ginger b. How long is their fur? Short fur with a fluffier tail c. Are they patterned? Mackerel tabby with white on their chest and paws
C. Eyes
This may be self-explanatory, but when you are determining their appearance, remember that their eye color is also part of the process. If you want to go for something more realistic, look up pictures of cats that match what color their fur is (along with the pattern if there is one) to see what color eyes the cats in the pictures have.
The only other thing to note here is that like their fur color, their eye color can vary in shades a bit. So, if you want your cat to have green eyes, decide if you want them to be a brighter or dimmer shade of green. Also, sometimes eyes can appear to be a different color in different lighting. For example, if a cat has light green eyes, they could appear to be yellow in bright sunlight.
Example:
a. What color are their eyes? Light green eyes that can appear yellow in bright sunlight.
D. Special Features
Finally, the last factor to consider when creating your character is to determine if you want them to have special features or not. A special feature can be something like a battle scar, or it could be that your character has an abnormally long tail, or something else along those lines. The important thing to note here is that a special feature is something on your character that is permanent, such as a broken leg that never healed properly, which would cause your character to walk with a limp.
Example:
a. Does your character have any special markings or features? They have a nick on the tip of their left ear
E. Putting It Together
Once you have finished considering all of these features, it is time to put what you decided on together and to elaborate on it, if necessary, to make sure the description flows nicely. Also, make sure to decide on if you want them to be a tom or she-cat and include that. This is where the simple profiles from earlier will come together.
Simple Profile: * Size- in between short and tall and very skinny * Fur- light ginger mackerel tabby with white paws and chest * Eyes- light green eyes that appear yellow in bright sunlight * Special Features/Markings- nick on the tip of their left ear
Paragraph Form:
______ is a medium-sized tom with a very skinny build. In fact, he is so thin that it makes him appear smaller and younger than he actually is. He is not so skinny that it is unhealthy, however. It is natural for him. ______ has light ginger, mackerel tabby fur with white paws and a white chest. His eyes are light green, though they can appear yellow in bright sunlight. He has a nick on the tip of his left ear from a battle he fought as an apprentice.
II. Personality
After you have the appearance portion of your character's creation worked out, the next thing to do is to determine what you want their personality to be. Writing out a personality is more than just listing character traits. A personality should describe who the character really is and how they interact with others. A character's personality is what makes them an individual. It is what sets them apart from others, for no one's personality is exactly the same as someone else's.
When you brainstorm your character's personality, it is important to consider their character traits, strengths and weaknesses, and their age.
A. Character Traits
Although character traits should not be all that goes into your character's personality, that does not mean they should be left out. When writing out their character traits, go into details about them. Instead of only writing that your character is kind, shy, loyal, and good with kits, include when they are kind and who they are shy around. If something in particular makes them angry, write exactly what that is. The more you elaborate on your character's personality, the more you and other roleplayers can understand who they are.
Feel free to be creative with your character's personality. Although, there are a couple of traits you should keep a watch on, and that is their respectfulness and ruthlessness. Sure, having an evil character in the roleplay is fun, especially if you are the one roleplaying the evil character. However, unless your evil character was created for future plot reasons, there is a line to draw for all of this. If a character is too disrespectful or too ruthless, then they would likely get kicked out of the clan eventually. No one wants a Tigerstar or Brokenstar in their roleplay. Therefore, if you choose to make your character disrespectful or bloodthirsty, know what the limits are.
B. Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths and weaknesses play a part in your character's personality as well. Remember, every character has both strengths and weaknesses. When you see a rule in someone else's roleplay that is against having "Mary-sues" and "Gary-sues", they are asking you to not create a completely perfect character. All characters have their flaws, and every character has something that they are not necessarily good at. Creating a character with more strengths than weaknesses is fine. Just try not to overdo it.
Strengths and weaknesses can be related to skills, or they can come from their positive and negative character traits. In fact, they should come from both skills and character traits. Having both helps balance it out well.
a. Skills i. In Warrior Cats, the basic skills they learn are how to hunt and fight for their clan. These skills are usually the primary ones to put as a strength or a weakness. On the other hand, skills are not limited to hunting and fighting alone. Skills can also be something like being able to sneak around well at night because your character has a dark pelt. ii. Keep in mind that some characters will be better at certain skills than others. Also, some may only be average in everything, and there is nothing wrong with that. Your character does not have to be outstanding at anything, but that does not necessarily mean that they are horrible at everything either. Again, it is important to balance it out. iii. Finally, the last thing to note when deciding on what your character's skills are is to consider their location and their body build. For example, a cat with a bulkier build is not likely to be a very fast runner, and neither is a character who lives in a dense forest, simply because there is not a lot of space for running. Another example would be for swimming. If swimming is not a skill that the clan practices regularly, it is unlikely for your character to be very good at it.
C. Age
Although age does not have a direct correlation with personality, it should not be entirely ignored. Age has a connection with personality through maturity. For example, the maturity level between a seasoned warrior and a kit is great, and that should show through the character's behavior. In other words, a seasoned warrior can definitely be playful and enjoy having fun, but they should not be entirely childish either. If they are a seasoned warrior and still act like exactly like a kit, then in the real warrior's world, they might have been considered too immature to have become an apprentice at that time.
With everything in mind now about the personality, here is an example of a well-written out personality. This will be for the character made earlier, in the appearance section of this guide:
For the most part, _______ is a pleasant cat to be around. He is introverted, especially around cats he has never met before. When he is around cats he knows well and is comfortable around, however, he comes out of his shell a lot more. At that point, he is much more sociable. ______ has a strong sense of humor and likes to joke around and have fun like anyone else, but he easily loses patience with those who goof off too much at the wrong times. Also, ______ is extremely stubborn when it comes to his duties. He often pushes himself to or beyond his limits because he is always trying to impress the older cats of his clan, as he is still a young warrior. The light ginger tabby tom is a decent hunter, but he could be better if he was more patient with the wait. Because of that, he is much better at fighting. Nonetheless, he is not outstanding at that either. He is basically the average warrior at any of those skills. His biggest strength comes from his loyalty and determination, though they easily contribute to his weaknesses because he often does not know where to quit.
III. Name Once your character's appearance, personality, strengths and weaknesses, and skills are finished and thought out, you are finally ready to name your character. There is more than one way to go about naming your character. Some prefer traditional naming, while others may prefer nontraditional naming, which is also known as lyrical naming. Before getting further into it, here is the difference between those two:
Traditional Naming- with traditional naming, a character's prefix is based off of their pelt color or their size, while their suffix is either based off of a certain personality trait or certain skills.
Lyrical Naming (or Nontraditional Naming)- Lyrical names are names that are either made to sound pretty or to represent only part of a character, in a non-traditional way. These names do not particularly make sense when relating to the cat or their abilities. They do not distinguish them from another character as well as traditional naming does.
If you want more information on which names are traditional and which ones are not, please see the naming guides in the posts below.
For now, whichever method you decide to use, keep these ideas in mind:
A. Be Realistic
Be realistic with the names you choose. As in, avoid names such as "Rainbowshine" and "Emeraldpelt". Names like that do not really make sense because cats cannot be rainbow, and cats probably do not know what emeralds are. So, in other words, make sure the names you choose make sense.
C. Be Unique and Creative
If you can help it, use names that are not found in the Warrior Cat books. Come up with your own names instead. Also, before you submit your character in another person's roleplay, especially if you are joining after the roleplay has been going for a while, check to make sure your character's prefix was not already used by someone else. Using the same prefix as someone else should be avoided, especially if both are kits or apprentices at the time, because it would likely get confusing for both of you. You might mix up your character for being theirs, or it could be the other way around.
Along with that, try to choose a name that will make it easy to distinguish your character from another. Find something notifiable about them and use that to help you.
IV. Tying It All Together
At last, now that you have decided what you want your character's appearance, personality, and name to be, it is time to put everything you wrote together.
For this, it is easier to just go back to the sign up form that would be found or provided in the roleplay. The categories in bold are the ones that you can fill out based off of what you worked on for your character. For the rest, see the guide above about creating your own roleplay.
Username: Character's Name: Gingerstripe Appearance: Gingerstripe is a medium-sized tom with a very skinny build. In fact, he is so thin that it makes him appear smaller and younger than he actually is. It is not so skinny that it is unhealthy, however. It is natural for him. Gingerstripe has light ginger, mackerel tabby fur with white paws and chest. His eyes are light green, though they can appear yellow in bright sunlight. He has a nick on the tip of his left ear from a battle he fought in as an apprentice. Personality:For the most part, Gingerstripe is a pleasant cat to be around. He is introverted, especially around cats he has never met before. When he is around cats he knows well and is comfortable around, however, he comes out of his shell a lot more. At that point, he is much more sociable. Gingerstripe has a strong sense of humor and likes to joke around and have fun like anyone else, but he easily loses patience with those who goof off too much at the wrong times. Also, Gingerstripe is extremely stubborn when it comes to his duties. He often pushes himself to or beyond his limits because he is always trying to impress the older cats of his clan, as he is still a young warrior. The light ginger tabby tom is a decent hunter, but he could be better if he was more patient with the wait. Because of that, he is much better at fighting. Nonetheless, he is not outstanding at that either. He is basically the average warrior at any of those skills. His biggest strength comes from his loyalty and determination, though they easily contribute to his weaknesses because he often does not know when to quit. Age: Rank: Family/Crush/Mate: Password: Other:
V. Extra Information
Lastly, here are some additional tips for when you are creating your roleplay character:
*Use a picture to help you describe your character. You can even post the picture here for others to refer to. If you do this, just make sure to provide both the picture and a written description for your character.
*When choosing a rank, keep their age in mind. This especially goes for if you are wanting to be considered for a deputy position, or if you are deciding whether to choose apprentice or warrior. An apprentice normally earns their warrior name once they are 12 moons of age. A deputy would need to be old enough to have reached their warrior ceremony, gained more experience, and to have successfully trained one apprentice. 30 moons or older is typically the age people look for in a deputy character.
*It is acceptable to have shorter personalities for kits because kits do not have a fully developed personality. If you want, when you post forms for kits, you can go ahead and write out how you want them to be when they are older. Otherwise, you can write a short one and allow their personality to develop more as they get older.
*Do not make more characters than you can manage at a time.
*Have fun and do not be afraid to try out new personalities.
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:34:57 GMT -5
Traditional Naming Guide
If you are stuck on choosing the name for your character and would like to use the traditional naming style, then this is the guide for you. Below are all the traditional prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes will be sorted on the left by color, and suffixes will be on the left in alphabetical order. If you need a reminder on what traditional naming is, see the Naming section of the guide above this one. Otherwise, look at the table below to find the prefix and suffix that is fit for your character.
If you want to read more about a prefix or suffix, click on it. All of the prefixes and suffixes are actually hyperlinks to another site that explains each one in details.
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:36:06 GMT -5
Non-Traditional Names
If the traditional naming style is not all to your liking, then there are plenty of other names to choose from. Below is a list of prefixes and suffixes that do not follow the traditional style. Prefixes are on the left and suffixes are on the right. Each of them are in alphabetical order.
A
Acacia
Almond
Amber
Arch
Aurora
Azalea
A N/A
B Bark Bear Berry Big Bird Bitterling Blood Blossom Bracken Brave Breeze Brim Bounce Bumble
P Panther Pea Peach Pearl Pecan Peregrine Phoebe Pig Pitch Polecat Pomegranate Pond Pool Pounce Prickle Primrose Pumpkin
P Pad Patch Path Petal Pool Poppy Puddle
Q Quick Quiet
Q N/A
R Raccoon Recluse Ripple River Rubble Ruddy Rue Running
R Root
S Salamander Salmon Salt Sandy Seed Sharp Shimmer Shining Shiver Shrimp Siskin Six Skunk Sky Slate Sneeze Soft Splash Sprout Straw Strawberry Sun Sunny Sweet
S Scar Shade Shadow Shine Sight Sky Snow Song Spirit Splash Spot Spring Stem Strike
T Tall Talon Tangle Thorn Thunder Tide Timber Tooth Tumble Tundra Turtle Twig Twilight
T Talon Thorn Throat Tooth Tuft
U Umber
U N/A
V Vine Vixen Vulture
V Violet
W Warbler Weaver Web Weed Wet Wild Wind Whisker Wolf
W Watcher Water Whisper Willow Wind Wing Wish
X N/A
X N/A
Y N/A
Y N/A
Z Zimb
Z N/A
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:36:58 GMT -5
Writing a Roleplay Post
When you have your character and a place to roleplay, you might think you are all set. Despite your thinking, before you can roleplay, you have to know how to write a roleplay post. This is especially so if roleplaying is new to you. However, this guide is not just for beginners. This guide is meant to be helpful to roleplayers of all levels. If you are not new to roleplaying, then you can use this guide as tips on how to increase the length of your posts when roleplaying.
I. Describing the Scenery
When roleplaying, people sometimes forget about this part of their post. They might do leave it out to save some typing, or they might not think it is a necessary part of their roleplay post. However, think about it as if you are reading a book or a fanfiction. Do you want the writer to just write what the characters think or say to each other, without knowing where they are? Probably not! For a book to be any good, you want to be able to picture what is happening in your mind. You want to know where they are when they are talking, and you want the details behind their conversation.
Similarly, this should be your goal when writing a post in a roleplay. You want to be able to paint a picture so that other people reading and replying can imagine where they are. When describing the scenery, you will want to keep in mind the time, weather, and the location of the roleplay.
A. Time One of the factors to consider when describing the scenery is the time. Remember, time does not have to be limited to whether it is day or night. Seasons should be factored into the equation as well. After all, seasons are going to affect what the terrain looks like. This especially goes for locations that see wide changes as the seasons change from one to another.
In simpler words, here are some questions to keep in mind: a. What time of day is it in the roleplay? i. Is it early morning, just past noon, sunset, or late at night? b. What season is it? i. Spring, summer, autumn, or winter?
To help guide this along even further, here are sample short answers to the questions above: a. What time of day is it in the roleplay? Late at night b. What season is it? Winter
B. Weather Just like time, the current weather in the roleplay has an affect on the way the scenery would look. If it is cloudy and about to rain, for example, the sky would look gloomier than it would on a sunny day because of the dark gray clouds. It would cast a darker look over the land, without the sun shining. If it was sunny, on the contrary, the land would appear much brighter and cheerier. No matter what the weather is, you can put those details in your posts to add imagery into them.
Below are some questions to answer related to the weather in the roleplay: a. What is the temperature? i. Is it hot, cold, or somewhere in the middle? b. How does the sky look? i. Is it cloudy or sunny? Or, if it is night time, what phase is the moon in? c. What is the weather doing, if anything? i. Is it windy, rainy, etc?
Again, here are some sample answers to these questions: a. What is the temperature? It is cold. b. How does the sky look? Clear night sky with a full moon c. What is the weather doing, if anything? The night is still, but there is snow on the ground from earlier. C. Location Finally, after contemplating on the current time and weather of the roleplay, you also have to reveal where you are when writing about the surroundings. If you are in camp, write that, but also include what the camp looks like at the given time and in the current weather. Same goes for if you are not in camp. The key is to describe what is around you, keeping the first two factors in mind. Again, you want to be able to describe it in such a way that other people can recognize or picture where you are in their minds as they read your posts.
Again, here are some basic questions you can answer to guide you in this: a. Where in the territory is your character? i. Are they in camp or away from camp? ii. If they are in the camp, where are they in camp? Are they in a den or outside? iii. If they are somewhere in the territory, where are they in the territory? b. What can your character see? i. Answers to this could be certain land features, or it can be another character or something else that moves. c. What can your character hear?
Below is an example of short answers for these questions: a. Where in the territory is your character? In camp b. What can your character see? Nothing other than the camp and the trees that surround it. c. What can your character hear? It is silent for the moment.
II. Developing Your Character Although scenery is important for an imagery effect in the roleplay, it is not as important than what this next section is about. Scenery just adds to it, that is all. However, without any character development, there would not be much of a story.
Therefore, developing your character in your posts is highly important. Developing your character in a roleplay means making their personality shine through their actions and emotions. What your character does and how your character feels in certain situations of the plot defines who they really are. You might know your character, but others do not. That is why it is important to include details about how they behave.
A. Actions Actions are essential in making the roleplay move forward. Without action, there is no plot. With no plot, there is no story. Without a story, there is no reason to roleplay. In other words, actions are part of what make the plot interesting. Therefore, it is important that you always include some sort of action when writing a post in the roleplay.
An action is something that your character does in the roleplay. Actions can be anything from speaking to sleeping. Whatever the action is depends on what is happening in the roleplay and how your character would act in the situation. How your character would act in the situation also depends on their personality. Nonetheless, the action itself matters less than making sure that the action being performed is written in your post. The point is that your character needs to be doing something that will contribute to the plot, in order to make the post worthy of writing.
To help you write what your character is doing, keep the questions listed below in mind: a. What is happening in the roleplay right now? b. What would your character do in the situation? c. What was your character doing until this point?
Again, below are some example answers to the questions above: a. What is happening in the roleplay right now? A warrior named Ivytail emerged from their den and approached you. b. What would your character do in the situation? They would greet Ivytail. c. What was your character doing until this point? They were guarding the camp and occasionally gazing at the moon and stars.
B. Emotions Actions are not the only thing that contributes to making your character who they are. Their emotions also play a part in it. Emotions display your character's mood. They describe how your character feels in given situations. Like actions, your character's emotions will be unique to someone else's. How they feel in a situation depends on what the situation is and your character's personality. This is why it is important to give details on how your character feels in every situation.
The questions to consider are basically the same as the ones above, except they are reworded to ask about how they feel in the same circumstances: a. What is happening in the roleplay right now? b. How does my character feel when this happens? c. How did my character feel before this happened?
The questions with example answers: a. What is happening in the roleplay right now? A warrior named Ivytail emerged from their den and approached you. b. How does your character feel when this happens? They feel surprised because of how late it is. c. How did your character feel before this happened? They felt calm and at peace.
III. Interacting With Others Finally, you have reached the last major element that goes into writing a roleplay post: character interaction. Even though it appears to be the last major topic covered in this guide, that does not dismiss its importance. In fact, its importance is equally tied with character development. Character interaction is where your character speaks to or interacts with someone else's character in the roleplay. The whole point of a roleplay is to create a story with multiple people and their characters. Without any character interaction, the whole purpose of roleplaying is defeated. That is why you must understand how to interact with people's characters in your posts.
The way you interact with them depends on whether you are the one starting a conversation or if you are the one continuing a conversation that someone else started.
A. Starting a Conversation If you are the one starting the conversation, you first need to decide who to start a conversation with. You might think that this part of it is rather easy, but you cannot interact with anyone you want to all the time. You have to consider who is available for interaction. This leads into the first point.
Before you choose someone to interact with, pay attention to what other people's characters are up to. Unless your character is just outright annoying and nosy, you should not just go interrupt someone else's conversation that has already been started. That would be considered rude, since that disrupts what someone else already started. Instead, read other people's posts to see who is available to interact with.
Once you have found someone to interact with, you should remember to not just rush into it and start speaking to them immediately. This is especially so if that person's character is not in earshot of yours. You have to approach them first so that you are right there with the other character. After you approach them, then you can start talking to them.
However, before you speak, think about what you want to say to them. Maybe you are just saying hello to them, or perhaps you have a question to ask them. The point here is that there should be a reason to speak to them. Sometimes it is best to start with a greeting and then start a casual conversation or tell them what needs to be told. On the other hand, it might be better to get straight to the point. The way you decide to start the conversation would depend on your character's personality. If they are more straight-forward and are not fond of small talk, then they would talk to them in that manner. The bottom line here is to decide what you want the conversation to be about and how you want to start it. Once you have that figured out, you can begin speaking.
After you have started the conversation, you should end your post by writing the tone you want your character to say what they said. Noting your character's tone in the conversation is important because you want the person replying to it to understand how your post is meant to come across. Whichever tone you choose depends on what the conversation is about, and the mood and personality of your character. After the tone is set, you can end your post and wait for other the other person to reply.
In shorter words, the bottom line is this: a. Choose an available character to interact with. b. Make your approach before you speak. c. There has to be a reason behind starting the conversation. d. Decide on what you want to say when you start the conversation and how you want to say it. e. Make sure to set the tone of what your character said so the person replying to you can understand how what you wrote is to be understood.
B. Replying to Someone If someone else starts a conversation with your character, then it is your job to write a response to them. Some of the advice from above can be used here, but not all of it. The person who started a conversation with your character has already done most of those steps. Your responsibility is to reply in a way that the conversation can easily be continued.
First, read the other person's post carefully and make sure you understand what their character said. Did they only give your character a simple greeting? Did they tell your character to do something? Did they ask them a question? What exactly did they say?
Once you have the answer to those questions, you are one step closer to writing your reply. There is something else you need to understand about their post, though. Not only do you need to understand what the other person's character said to your character, but you need to know how they said it. The other character's tone matters because that affects the tone of how your character would respond. If the other character was mad at yours for some reason, then your character would either reply back in an angry tone, or they might act all defensively and sensitively.
After determining what the other character said to yours and what their tone was, then you can begin writing your reply. Remember to include your character's tone into the matter, and also remember to provide something for the other person to respond back to. Otherwise, the conversation would be a dead end.
Providing something for the other person to respond back can mean your character asking their character a question, or it can mean them doing a certain action with their character. Whichever way you go about it, again, depends on what the conversation is about.
Here are the points broken down: a. Read the other person's post carefully. b. Make sure you understand what the other person's character said to your character. c. Understand the tone of the conversation. d. End your response in a way that the other person can easily reply.
IV. Bringing It All Together At last, it is time to put everything you have thought about together. Except, this time you must put it into paragraph form instead of the form from earlier. When you put it into paragraph form, remember to write it in a way that it flows nicely together. This includes adding in extra words and more adjectives into the mix so that anyone reading your post can clearly understand what it says.
Before getting on with the example, here are all the questions and answers from earlier brought down: *Where is your character in the territory? In camp *What can your character see? Nothing other than the camp and the trees that surround it. *What can your character hear? It is silent for the moment.
*What is happening in the roleplay right now? A warrior named Ivytail emerges from their den and approaches you. *What would your character do in the situation? They would greet Ivytail. *What was your character doing up until this point? They were guarding the camp and occasionally gazing at the moon and stars.
*What is happening in the roleplay right now? A warrior named Ivytail emerges from their den and approaches you. *How does your character feel when this happens? They feel surprised because of how late it is. *How did your character feel before this happened? They felt calm and at peace.
For the character interaction part of this, the main character is Gingerstripe (light ginger tabby with pale green eyes) from the How to Create a Character guide. The side character is Ivytail (dark gray she-cat with amber eyes), who was mentioned in some of the answers above.
With that being said, all of the given information above will be written into an example roleplay post:
"Gingerstripe shivered against the cold winter air as he sat by the camp entrance, guarding it for the night. Even though it was cold, Gingerstripe was not bothered by it. Gingerstripe was just thankful for a night of peace for once, after all the chaos that had happened in the clan lately. Those events were behind them now, so this calm night was welcomed, no matter how cold it was. This night was so still and calm, in fact, that it was actually beautiful. Gingerstripe could not help but admire the beauty that the moon cast over the camp. The moon was so full and bright that it made the snow, which had blanketed the camp since that morning, glitter in its light. It was a gorgeous winter night for that alone. Then, it was also hard not to ignore the sky above with millions of stars twinkling in the night. It was what kept Gingerstripe occupied as the night went on: gazing at the stars, as he continued guarding camp while staying alert for any predators.
Just as Gingerstripe was beginning to get lost in thought with the winter scenery, he began to hear soft paw steps from behind. The light ginger tabby turned his head to see Ivytail, a dark gray she-cat, emerge from the Warriors den. Gingerstripe was surprised to see her awake, since it was well past midnight and well before daybreak.
"What are you doing up so late, Ivytail?" Gingerstripe asked her, his voice filled with concern. He felt that if she was up this late, then something must be wrong. However, he was relieved when Ivytail's reply reassured him that nothing was wrong. "I was just unable to sleep, is all. It is just one of those nights where I feel restless, I guess," Ivytail said reassuringly, as she gazed up at the full moon. "It really is a beautiful night tonight," she observed. The she-cat looked back at Gingerstripe, her glowing amber eyes meeting his pale green eyes, which appeared yellow in the bright moonlight. "
V. Miscellaneous Tips Finally, before bringing this guide to a close, here are some more tips that you should know when writing a roleplay post:
* When interacting with someone's character, be patient with their response. Give them a chance to respond, before rushing off into something else. * Likewise, be punctual with your responses to someone else. In other words, do not take forever with your replies. * Tag the people who own the characters your character is talking to. This lets them know that their characters are being interacted with. * If you have to say something out of character, use parentheses and write what you need to say in those. However, try to limit out of character discussions inside the roleplay thread itself. You want to stay in character as much as possible. * The length of your posts should always be at least a few sentences. One liners are only occasionally acceptable, such as if you are in a rush, or if your post only requires a simple action. Otherwise, one liners should be avoided, as they are hard to respond to. * Stick to writing in the third person point of view, unless your character is speaking. * Absolutely no texting formats. This is not an essay or English class, but writing things like "lol" or "How r u?" is just a lazy way of roleplaying. If you are going to roleplay, put some effort into it. * If you need some more post examples, look at roleplay posts written by other roleplayers who may be more experienced than you. Also, there is nothing wrong with asking for more. Most people here will be more than willing to help you! * This may be obvious, but keep practicing. Practice makes perfect in anything that you do.
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:37:48 GMT -5
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✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:37:58 GMT -5
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✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:38:09 GMT -5
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✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:38:21 GMT -5
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✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jan 10, 2020 15:38:43 GMT -5
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✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Apr 10, 2020 2:50:17 GMT -5
I'm glad you found it helpful! That's what it's there for.
✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ Member since October 28th, 2011 Moderator since May 30th, 2013 Please feel free to message me if you have any questions! [Signed! -Falcon_star] "You're my goofy friend" -✻Dawnleaf✻
