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As far as I know, there's hundreds of ways to roleplay, but the most formal, most commonly respected set of rules will be adhered to here.


Cardinal Rules of Roleplay
1. Using a novel-format. Which means you write in a third person, past tense format. Sometimes falling into a third person, present tense may work, but try not to. (I do it all the time sweatdrop )
Example: Bill wandered down the street, with nothing in particular in mind. His eyes were a shade of hazel-grey.

2. In ways of talking in out of character, there's several, but let's agree upon the double parenthases for that.
Example: ((ARRRR I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE CALL THEM SAPPHIRE ORBS!))

3. When your character is thinking, generally using Italics is used. If, on odd bouts of abilities (Some of our characters have 'em) You may also use italics. Generally, I uses italics for three things. Emphasis, Thought, Telepathy. But I use all three sparingly, so it doesn't seem muddled.
Example A, Emphasis: "You call that sword fighting, mate?"
Example B, Thought: What a dreadful odor Bill thought as he mopped up the crew's cabin.
Example C, Telepathy: Since when did I have powers? Who's listening to this? GET OUT M'HEAD! demanded the pirate, his arms taken up to flail desperately above his head.

4. I personally frown upon one-liners. One-liners are posts of roleplaying that have no thought or content, consisting of perhaps one run-on sentence. If you are playing together with several people who type up some fairly decent posts, they'll feel slighted if you resort to "She looked dismal, her lips pouting." So please, avoid them for your fellow roleplayer's sake.

5. But then again, overdoing it is just as much a pain in the a** as one-lining it. Occam's Razor is a wonderful thing. Simplicity is intreguing, not superfluous wording. It may get boring, but writing "green eyes" instead of "shimmering emerald orbs" makes for a more real approach. And since when did real authors use the formula of "adjective jewel orbs" instead of "eyes"?

6. Of course, there's the basic "Don't be a d**k" rules. No Godmoding. No Powerplaying. No pretending your character is invincible, because everything has a weakness. You're playing a canon character, no doubt, so play that character to how that character is. Don't take control of the other player's characters, either, nor assume what the other players are doing.

7. A successful RP consists of two things. True-to-the-character players, and true-to-the-style setting. For Phantom of the Opera, for example, you wouldn't see Erik as Fun-Loving Let's-go-out-on-the-town dude! Keep to what your character would do, say, and keep to the goddamn period. There's no such thing as Cable Television, so Christine wouldn't have a goddamn TV to veg out on after having an arguement. (You have no clue how many people forget that there's actually a time period in which things are placed)

8. Not everyone is a master at English, nor do I (or hopefully anyone else) hold everyone up to be. Spelling mistakes, typos, that sort of junk... It's all okay in small doses.
8b. However, if your character has an accent, and you want to portray them as having one, there's a lot to be said for someone who can type out accents without making them look entirely s**t.
8c. Stick to period slang if you're in a period RP. You wouldn't see Erik going "LET'S ROCK THIS JOINT!" and start flailing on an air guitar, would you? no. (Though the mental image made me laugh)

9. Actually, there is no nine, but I'm sure there's rules I've forgotten. Help me out by reminding me of what I missed.

I like joining in RPs but I don't like the text book style roleplay... is there any room for flexabillity for my usual style? I'm sure I'm not the only one that uses it *looks at mr turner waiting for a responce*

Yes please stick to the book. I get utterly confused when someone writes



I think it's character talking to mine and I dont have a clue in how to respond.