[RP Discussion] How To Run a Roleplay

[Aix]

Let's discuss how you host, what you see has worked, and what you see hasn't, so that we can piece together some ideas on how to properly run a roleplay so that people retain interest and keep posting. Then, finally, a guide can be written up.

 

I think things won't get too messy if I list a bunch of major articles up for discussion rather than going at them one at a time, so here are some things that need to be covered.

1. Okay, first of all, a big killer I've noticed are open/sandbox situations where the YCM RPers aren't sure what to do and thus don't take initiative to do anything. Nai linked me to a really nice guide on GMing [ http://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101 ] and I believe a lot of these concepts can be adapted to roleplaying. For those open situations that often hurt RPs, the Three Clue Rule seems like a good idea to be translated into RPing so that a host has to have 3 paths in mind, and hint at them in the GM Post, rather than making it completely open. Does everyone feel this is a good idea on how to approach things? On the other hand, text-based roleplaying is different from tabletops, so I see it as possible to just push the players in one certain direction.
2. Next, I'd like to note that a way to keep people interested is to acknowledge their characters' backstories in the RP, whether by integrating it into the plot or making mention of it. How have you gone about this or seen people go about this? How important is this?
3. On YCM, we do railroad RPs, and there's nothing actually wrong with it, although many from other places may disagree. However, this style of hosting can make RPers' characters being unimportant since they're just tagging along for the story. What I've been thinking of in my planning for the next RP I'll host is to give out roles in the plot, sort of. Basically, in the plot, I need X important thing to get done, and the opportunity to take this important role will be given to a suitable player character so that they can take the lead and the spotlight. These X important things can have multiple ways of accomplishing them and I will discuss with the RPer as to how to get it down. I'll try to make plenty of these opportunities.
4. What are some other do or don'ts of hosting RPs?

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Well from what I've seen so far in my experience of co-hosting two RPs and hosting one that's just started I can say not much but at least a little.

 

A big thing is that the host has to actually stick around and do things. If the host goes the RP goes. Both the RPs I'm co-hosting the host has essentially vanished from the RP and it's tough to try and get people to keep up with posting.

 

I am currently doing a somewhat sandbox RP and so I'm experimenting with various ways to run it. So far it's slow going. Having options seems all well and good yes. But a big thing that is important is getting RPers feedback. Without that you can't do anything really. In any RP but especially sandbox.

 

That's all for now, just woke up so throwing a bit out there and seeing if it makes sense.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Regarding the Three Clue Rule, it definitely will work best in an environment where things are more clearly defined. The main fault of the usual open/sandbox situation in YCM RPs is how usually there's too little information of the sandbox available, and thus, RPers are forced to invent way too much details.

Also, to be honest; in-universe time is a fickle thing to play around with. As RP time progressed erratically, it's often the case that host needs to employ a mandatory short timeskip to progress things, and this pretty much makes an open-time situation (think sandbox, but instead of physical space, it's freedom of time in-universe) a far harder thing to manage than the usual sandbox.

[Yosuke-kun]

Also, to be honest; in-universe time is a fickle thing to play around with. As RP time progressed erratically, it's often the case that host needs to employ a mandatory short timeskip to progress things, and this pretty much makes an open-time situation (think sandbox, but instead of physical space, it's freedom of time in-universe) a far harder thing to manage than the usual sandbox.

I actually got around this once a while back by having RPers post the time at which their character performed certain actions. It's not really a perfect fix, but it helped to get people less disoriented when time skips occurred. That being said it became somewhat tedious after a while.

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

Let's discuss how you host, what you see has worked, and what you see hasn't, so that we can piece together some ideas on how to properly run a roleplay so that people retain interest and keep posting. Then, finally, a guide can be written up.

 

I think things won't get too messy if I list a bunch of major articles up for discussion rather than going at them one at a time, so here are some things that need to be covered.

1. Okay, first of all, a big killer I've noticed are open/sandbox situations where the YCM RPers aren't sure what to do and thus don't take initiative to do anything. Nai linked me to a really nice guide on GMing [ http://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101 ] and I believe a lot of these concepts can be adapted to roleplaying. For those open situations that often hurt RPs, the Three Clue Rule seems like a good idea to be translated into RPing so that a host has to have 3 paths in mind, and hint at them in the GM Post, rather than making it completely open. Does everyone feel this is a good idea on how to approach things? On the other hand, text-based roleplaying is different from tabletops, so I see it as possible to just push the players in one certain direction.
2. Next, I'd like to note that a way to keep people interested is to acknowledge their characters' backstories in the RP, whether by integrating it into the plot or making mention of it. How have you gone about this or seen people go about this? How important is this?
3. On YCM, we do railroad RPs, and there's nothing actually wrong with it, although many from other places may disagree. However, this style of hosting can make RPers' characters being unimportant since they're just tagging along for the story. What I've been thinking of in my planning for the next RP I'll host is to give out roles in the plot, sort of. Basically, in the plot, I need X important thing to get done, and the opportunity to take this important role will be given to a suitable player character so that they can take the lead and the spotlight. These X important things can have multiple ways of accomplishing them and I will discuss with the RPer as to how to get it down. I'll try to make plenty of these opportunities.
4. What are some other do or don'ts of hosting RPs?

 

I guess i'm going to put my two cents in and go down the list numerically. This is stream of consciousness so i apologize in advance for the typical Zai textwall.

 

1. The three clue rule is something devised to solve a common problem in tabletop roleplaying, namely the PCs either missing an important piece of information/item necessary to progress along the adventure or otherwise doing something that throws the GM for a loop and makes most of their planning useless. I've been subject to it plenty of times and it usually grinds a campaign to a screeching halt while the GM grasps at straws and tries to get the party back on track. I don't really think it applies here for a couple of reasons. First is the fact that subtlety of that sort honestly has little place in our particular brand of text-based roleplaying. There's a greater degree of communication between GM and player(s) here than in a tabletop, and more often than not our GMs are playing a PC themselves, and can use them to steer things in the right direction without having to leave breadcrumbs for everyone else. Our text based style also allows Players more freedom and means in what their characters can or can't do. There are no skill checks to mess up, and basically that means that characters will almost always have an easier time finding/getting/doing the necessary shit to have the plot progress. Alternative solutions/paths for the plot to take are great and can definitely work, but in terms of the three clue rule they solve a problem that we really don't have to deal with. Hell, I'd wager that we more often have the opposite problem in that the Host/GM hasn't planned enough/doesn't know where to go and the players are getting through shit too quickly.

 

2. In my experience there really isn't an exact science to this. We all want different things out of our characters/RPs and so keeping everyone engaged can be galactically difficult, especially here where our collective attention span for RPs rivals the goldfish in its brevity. That being said, having the cast and their players all active and invested in the plot is uber uber important, and its honestly something I've only been able to do once so far as a host here on YCM. In that instance I'd attribute it partially to my own investment in the RP itself (SF is a mecha RP and my love of giant robots is obsessive, excessive, and well documented here) and more importantly to the RP's own narrative structure, which relies heavily on its character interaction and the cast's relationships. In laymen's terms the RP is more about its cast than it is about its own overarching plot, and the main driving force behind said plot is more often than not something one of the characters does or experiences rather than a plot point I had planned out. As an example SF is going to have an upcoming story arc that i A. didn't plan for at all, and B. is catalyzed entirely by the actions of a few cast members who are just doing what they do and being themselves. I don't pretend to be an expert on doing this (and indeed its basically the holy grail of keeping an RP alive here) but as a host the best advice I can give on it is to have your cast of characters come first, and whatever plot or story or plans you have for the RP itself should be subordinate to and dependant on what actions the characters take. Basically let your players' actions guide your story, even if it changes things you originally planned on doing.

 

3. I'm a little iffy on giving characters defined roles in the cast and/or the plot. Setting in stone when/how/why PC X is is going to be important doesn't really allow the RP to grow organically. Characters oftentimes don't turn out how they were originally intended, and this sort of feels like stifling that growth so that a character can fill X role. Imo i would rather see a PC step into that role on their own accord and have the host work around that so long as it isn't detrimental to the RP

 

4. As a host there are some things you definitely have to avoid doing. For starters, don't steal the spotlight from your players. Your job as the host is first and foremost to flesh out the setting and play the NPCs, and your PC should most of the time come secondary to doing that well. That's not to say that your PC shouldn't have their moments. Rather, what I'm saying is have the RP be about the cast/party, rather than about Your character & friends. I know this seems obvious, but it actually happens a lot more than people realize and plenty of hosts (myself included more than a few times) tend to be unaware that they're doing it.

 

As a caveat to that, your setting should be as detailed, and more importantly, accessible as possible. To use a metaphor, your goal when creating a setting should always be to make a rich and detailed fabric that's easy for your players to weave their characters into. Make it interesting and put little story hooks into the backstory and lore so that a player can go "that's cool, ill have my character be involved with that!". It goes a very long way toward getting peopel interested in an RP, and its handy at keeping them engaged too. 

 

I'm sure i can come up with more of these, but that's all I have off the top of my head at present.

[Yosuke-kun]

Actually one thing I thought about that helps rp's at the start and later down the road is something I learned from watching Aix. In rp's where it's highly likely that some characters probably know each other prior to the rp starting, say an rp with a high school setting in which characters are all above entry grade, it's beneficial to create a prior character interactions portion.

Basically, after the rp has started and characters are all accepted and stuff, players post a list of who they know prior to the IC launch and how they interacted with them. It makes no sense for none of the characters to have met before sometimes, and it seems better to add that bit in somewhere. It might be optional, but I feel it helps.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Man, for a discussion thread, this thread is really dead.

 

1. Three-clue rule and creating challenges in RP as a general topic. I'd say that the problems here is more two-sided than anything. An outright adaptation of the three-clue rule is of course, not needed, but at times, an approach like this is necessary, especially if the PCs are given more wiggle room to move around and try solving something. Granted, since most of RPs are relatively linear and more like a collaborative story making rather than having a game-like structure, this is not needed as much, and as Zai said, often times the problem comes from the other side, which is the players blazing through everything in a pace that the host can't manage to handle, but it's still something to note. 

 

2. Good but not absolutely important. It's something that comes naturally as you as the host build a story alongside the RPers. It's not something that's applicable to everything, since some types of stories wouldn't really benefit that much from it. But generally acknowledging the fellow RPer's works will definitely go a long way. 

 

It's really not a matter of integrating them into the backstory, since that would make it seem that it's a must to integrate everything to the bigger picture. It's simply a way of writing everything alongside your fellow RPers, and thus, giving them more incentive to continue since they get a sense of entitlement here. It's something that's not an exact science, but something that should just come naturally, as i've said.

 

3. Yeah, agreed with Zai that it's better to have the characters get the roles in story organically, although assigning roles can be pretty important depending on what role is it. Basically let the characters have enough chance to choose their future or current roles if necessary as long as it doesn't detriment the plot.

 

As for plots and railroading....the important thing is to prepare plot points AND the possibility that those plans could change. While we can't have tabletop's level of nonrailroading and freedom without mucking things up/preparing a lot of things, we should still be flexible enough to acknowledge the ability of the RPers to do something unexpected as long as it doesn't completely derail things. Be less strict with the plot progression and more adaptable. Actual, very strict railroading is something to avoid, but a limited form of it is at times really necessary. Completely railroaded plot felt like having the plot happens to the characters and how they react to it, which...doesn't really feel like a Role Play at all.

 

4. Nothing for now, I guess.

 

Ugh, I think I'm just spinning around with my points into nowhere here.

 

Actually one thing I thought about that helps rp's at the start and later down the road is something I learned from watching Aix. In rp's where it's highly likely that some characters probably know each other prior to the rp starting, say an rp with a high school setting in which characters are all above entry grade, it's beneficial to create a prior character interactions portion.

Basically, after the rp has started and characters are all accepted and stuff, players post a list of who they know prior to the IC launch and how they interacted with them. It makes no sense for none of the characters to have met before sometimes, and it seems better to add that bit in somewhere. It might be optional, but I feel it helps.

 

I think it's better be settled with communications with other players and such. No need to formalize it, but establishing past relation with each other can be fun.

 

Just my opinion on it though.

[Merci]

I have a fair amount of experience both participating in and hosting RPs since 2009, and the most notable success I recall would be Legend Blood (which was executed pretty cleanly and even made it all the way towards the end), though I also vividly recall an roleplay called Return of the Orichalcos which I co-hosted with Y-tak, along with other close-successes that I've participated in throughout the years. And of course, there's the almighty juggernaut in this section known as the Grand Crossover RP. Overall, I've learned quite a lot and formed my own opinions on this matter, so...

1. Mm, the Three Clue Rule seems to be a pretty effective way of going about explaining things and setting up scenarios. Basically it involves having a destination in mind, but having a fairly flexible road of getting to it. Not too open, but not too closed either. As for the GMing guide, there's not a whole lot I can say, only that it depends on the skills of the host to be able to interpret the provided instructions correctly, translating tabletops into Advanced Clause text-based roleplaying. Providing the guide directly to hosts who seek guidance probably wouldn't help so much, IMO.

2. This shouldn't be the main part of an RP, but I've gotta admit that, indeed, something like this is pretty important, as it supports and encourages the structure of the RP itself. This was a key aspect of Legend Blood and Legend Moon when I was hosting them, integrating everyone's backstories into the plot so that they're far more important to the RP than they normally would be in a Railroading RP where they just 'tag along'. Everyone needs to have a sense of importance, and just like in a normal story where every character has a role to play, the same should apply here. Perhaps not so much that the RP would collapse without their presence, but the integration of every character's own backstory into the plot, or at least the mention of it, encourages RPers to stay when they would otherwise lose interest and leave. In some cases, people have even introduced new concepts - like demonic entities, different kinds of elves, or even whole historical events, and not only did I incorporate them, I even melded some aspects in with the main villain's grand plan.

To begin with, the greatest thing about a roleplay that separates it from any other kind of story is the fact that we aren't the only ones writing it or dictating the story. Everyone is a writer and ought to have a role in contributing to the result. Our role, as the host, is to direct everyone in the right direction, keeping them interested and satisfied all the while. An RP that merely has everyone else as a 'tagalong' may be good, but an RP that incorporates everyone into its plot as though it were a dense world would be way better.

3. Hmm, I'm not so sure about this. If you ask me, rather than setting certain plot events in stone at the beginning and providing everyone roles, I'm more of a fan of adapting to the situation as it progresses. Being both flexible and creative in regards to the flow of the RP, and instead of outright giving people roles, leading the character in question towards it through use of plot events. And if something goes wrong, we can always move the role onto someone else, and none of the participants would ever know a problem occurred.

Well, I do acknowledge that the solution you propose may be effective in ways, and it'd certainly give everyone an opportunity to be in the limelight. It'd have to be put into practice first though to see how well it would work, and in my personal opinion, it'd be much cooler if we let them take the limelight on their own once they've been led into that position. Instead of giving them the role, let them seize it. I've had control over about four or five RP bosses which players have had to work together to defeat, most notably during the second and third arcs of the GCRP, and not once did I designate who would beat it - I simply fought to the very end to see who would fit that role most appropriately, and then let Broke N. and Phantom Roxas take their respective finishing blows in a dramatic way of their choosing.

4. Hmm, honestly, it all depends on the type of RP, the skill of host regarding how they can handle certain things, the level of interest, and the amount of players. So I can't say exactly... Even so, this is what I think.

Do keep players interested at all times, maintaining the flow of the plot. Acknowledge each and every character when possible, allow them to have the freedom to do what they wish within the constraints of the plot, and encourage interaction whenever possible. Interaction is one of the greatest, most distinct advantages of RPs, so take advantage of that as much as possible. Also, one important thing that hosts tend to look is that you ought to plan ahead - your fancy beginning means little if you don't have a middle in mind to direct characters towards, and you won't get anywhere near your dramatic ending either. Have an idea on what to do with each character and where to lead them, but of course, keep it flexible enough to account for other things.

Do not keep the plot TOO open or TOO sandbox-y, since while that may work on other forum RPs, it won't exactly work here on YCM judging by experience, not to exclude the possibility entirely. When people have absolutely no idea what to do or you give them far too much free time on their hands to do whatever they want, judging by experience, the RP tends to collapse outright. However, at the same time, do not keep it too enclosed or railroaded either, since if characters have no freedom of choice, users tend to lose interest. Also, don't assume that the RP will carry on if posts suddenly slow down tremendously and participants are dropping away - that's a sign that it's dying, and you're going to have to do something about that.

Well, those should cover the main things, but there are also smaller things - for instance, don't drop characters in the middle of a battlefield at the very beginning, and don't expect the users to know what to do at every little turn. Interaction is most essential at the beginning of the RP, since it establishes character relationships and gives everyone, not just you, an idea on where to go next. Another thing is, don't dramatically change the plot too much all of a sudden and confuse the hell out of everyone. The users joined for a reason, and it's important to satisfy that reason.

Other things should be more obvious, such as being wary about characters that have the potential to be OP'd, preventing godmodding, cutting down on roadblocks (like when two people are talking, but one suddenly goes inactive), and so on and so forth~

...And with all this aside, everyone has their own techniques to go about being a host, of course, and the plot & gimmicks that they themselves introduce to spice up their RP and separate it from others is also pretty important. That's something I can't give much advice about, only that you should do what you think would be best.

What do you enjoy? The key is to work that effectively into something that everyone else can join in and enjoy as well~

Overall, I apologize if this all may sound a little like vague instructions, as this is all off the top of my head, but this is the main gist of how I'd do things (my own procrastination tendencies aside, that is). While everyone, of course, has their own techniques to go about being a host, at the very least I hope I provided some useful advice~