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- Role-Play Terms -
RP - Role-Play
Role-playing is just like playing pretend. In this subforum, everybody gets to pretend to be their own character. House elves get a chance to role-play as house elves. Students get a chance to role-play as students. etc.......
RPG - Role-Playing Game
A game with role-playing... "Hogwarts" is one such game that involves several different threads, your character can move into one thread and out into another simply by role-playing it with a post. Threads with an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the name are RPGs separate from HPGoG's " Hogwarts" universe.
OOC - Out of Character
The term refers to speaking out of character. Usually this talk happens when there is some confusion about what is happening in the role-play plot or if someone simply wishes to comment on something outside of role-play. OOC words are usually indicated by placing the acronym before the words...
Quote:
OOC: Heyy... what does that word mean? Cute avi btw...
...or encasing the words in double parentheses or some other kind of obvious boundary...
Quote:
(( Heyy... what does that word mean? Cute avi btw... ))
[[ Heyy... what does that word mean? Cute avi btw... ]]
[[ Heyy... what does that word mean? Cute avi btw... ]]
...You could also mix and match...
Quote:
(( OOC: Heyy... what does that word mean? Cute avi btw... ))
...it really doesn't matter how you do it so long as it indicates the words being out of character.
IC - In Character
The opposite of OOC. In Character is when you are role-playing. Sometimes if one is currently having an OOC conversation, a person may mention the acronym to indicate that they are going back to IC chat.
PC - Playable Character
This is the character YOU control. Generally it is your main character.
NPC - Non-Playable Character
This term has several meanings.
It refers to characters that cannot be role-played by anyone else. In this guild everyone gets their own character to role-play. No one else can control your character without your permission. Also, you may not role-play as a teacher if you are not teaching. In the beginning, you may only role-play as a house-elf, but once you meet the requirements to become a student, you can start role-playing a student character of your making.
The term also refers to any extraneous characters a role-player may introduce to his role-play in order to move the plot along. Only the role-player who introduces this character can control it unless he says otherwise. These NPCs tend to be temporary and come and go as role-players please. A good example of these NPCs would be a character's pet (owls, cats, dogs, etc.) or his family members.
- Role-Play Style -
Casual
Technically, this is not as much a style as it is a lack of style. Casual role-play within HPGoG has very little rules... or none at all. In fact, more often than not, the casual role-play areas of this subforum dissolve into chatterbox conversations. There may be a bit of role-play here, a bit of role-play there, but overall, the people in a casual role-play area neither wish, nor need, to take the role-playing seriously. There are no set rules on how the role-player must present his role-play. Frequently, IC drifts into OOC without any indication.
A good example of this kind of role-play area would be the House common rooms. While sometimes a person may role-play study habits or bouncing off walls, other people will break the 4th wall constantly.
Symbol Indicators
Another kind of role-play style requires the use of symbols to indicate which words are dialogue, and which words are action. Often role-players use key symbols like the asterisk ( * ) or double colons ( :: ) by surrounding their actions with them like this:
Quote:
*lights a match*
:: lights a match ::
:: lights a match ::
In HPGoG role-players are not restricted when it comes to choosing what key symbols will indicate their actions. As long as the action words are made obvious, role-players can use whatever key symbols they wish.
Point of View
Role-play is usually done in either 1st person or 3rd person, though, more often than not, people choose to use 3rd person. Here is an example of the difference:
Quote:
1st Person:
*I light the match*
3rd Person:
*Professor Slyth lights the match*
*He lights the match*
*I light the match*
3rd Person:
*Professor Slyth lights the match*
*He lights the match*
Many times role-players will simplify the 3rd person version to role-play without mention of name or pronoun:
Quote:
*lights the match*
Literate
This role-play reads like a book. Dialogue is encased in quotes ( "To be or not to be..." ) while all other actions are worded in sentences. There are some who feel that Literate style tends to allow for a more descriptive role-play, which could elongate into paragraph descriptions of characters, actions, and setting, though this can also be achieved when role-playing with key symbol actions.
Some RPGs require the use of descriptive role-play, however, "Hogwarts" is not one of those RPGs.
- What can you do in " Hogwarts?" -
Here, at the "Hogwarts" subforum, we promote a friendly setting for members so that those who are new to role-play can fit in without too much difficulty. As such, each common room, as well as The Kitchen , are always Casual role-play settings for your convenience. However, throughout the rest of the guild you may be expected to role-play, at least a little bit, just for the sake of atmosphere. All role-play forms mentioned above are accepted in this subforum.
