Forum Thread

This isn't only a guide for beginners. It's also a guide for pros, and everything in between. ;)

First of all, what is a roleplay? Well, according to my internal roleplay dictionary, it's basically a kind of story that multiple people take part in making, each with their own character(s) with their own abilities. Usually there is a vague plot line that the owner has in mind, and they could nudge it along a certain path, but for the most part, the sky is the limit! And remember, roleplays were invented to HAVE FUN! 8)

To start off, I'd like to clear up a few terms I hear very commonly used.

Terms

-RP- Short for roleplay. This is probably the most used term you'll find.
-SU- Short for setup. Usually only used in the thread title. Many times in roleplay there is one thread marked "setup" or "SU" where people post all the forms, ask for recaps, etc., although I haven't seen this being used much in Pokeheroes yet.
-OOC- Out of Character. In other words, it's talking in the RP thread to the other users, and is usually above/below the body of your post. It should be surrounded in parenthesis, ( ) or double-parenthesis (( )), and I have seen people use brackets [ ].
-Power-playing- Taking control of another person's character, making them do whatever you want. It can even be something very subtle, such as, "Everyone turned toward the Haunter."
-Godmodding- This is making your character god-like, as in super-powerful, dodging every attack that comes at him, knocking out foes more powerful than he is in one blow, etc. People don't like it.
-Gary-/Mary-Sues- The "perfect" character. Most likely beautiful, nice, friendly, and so forth. However, just because a character has one of these traits, it doesn't make them a Gary-/Mary-Sue. More on that later.
-One-liners- Posting only enough to get one line of text. It is frowned upon a lot in advanced RPs.
-Non-lit- Non-literate. RPers are expected to have at least basic grammar and spelling. One-liners are okay.
-Semi-lit- Semi-literate. RPers are expected to spell great and have good grammar. Anywhere between 3-7 sentences (most requite 3-4) is a minimum post length. These types of RPs are very common.
-Lit- Literate. (Usually it has a period, unlike the others, to make "Lit.") RPers are expected to have perfect or near-perfect grammar and spelling. Every post should have at least 2+ paragraphs, but the maximum varies with the RP. It may sound hard, but for an experienced RPer, boy is it worth it.
-Adv. Lit- Much like literate RPs, but these tend to be much more strict on grammar and posting length. Everything should be detailed and fancy shmancy.
-Gijinka- Putting this here just in case some people don't know what they are. They basically look like humans cosplaying as a Pokemon, and may have traits of the Pokemon like ears, tails, etc. They can almost always use their respective Pokemon's moves. Examples: Furret gijinka. Dialga gijinka. There's a gijinka for every Pokemon you can imagine. MANY RPS are gijinka RPs. I've found that they are extremely common.
-Open- This usually means that an RP is currently accepting character applications, although it can mean that the RP is currently active.
-Closed- Usually means that the RP is NOT accepting new characters, but if you have already joined, and want to make a second character, you may want to ask by PMing the RP host, or posting in the setup. This can also mean that the RP is "dying" or going inactive with no new status posts.
-Private- This means that you are only allowed to join with an invitation. However, I have been accepted into private RPs simply by asking the RP host if I could join. You never know. ;)

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Starting Off

Well, to start off, you may want to find an RP you'll be comfortable in. If you're a new RPer and are joining your first RP, you may want to find an unmarked RP, or find an RP marked "Non-lit" to find where you stand in posting length. Read through the plot and see if it's the kind of RP you're interested in.

Next, ALWAYS and I cannot stress this enough, ALWAYS read the rules before making a character! Every RP host has their own preference to rules. Many times there will also be a joining password in the rules, so make sure you read through them!

Now, for joining the RP!

The form. There's always going to be a form you need to fill out. Fill out every section of it, unless there's a part you don't understand, in which case, a) Google it, or b) ask the owner below you form: "Excuse me, I don't understand the ____ part of the form. What should I put there?" Or something along those lines. Just put something polite. Below, I've put a common form out. Things with a * in front of them are common things, but not the bare minimum. (I've also placed the parts of the form in a common and efficient order.)

*Username: (Usually this is because the owner is collecting everyone's form to put in a large pool of characters in the first post, and they need to know who's who.)
Name: (You character's name. Not to be confused with username. Name is always your character.)
*Species: (This is crucial in any Pokemon or gijinka RP. Even in an animal RP that features multiple animal species.)
Gender: (Male or female. If it's a Pokemon RP, even genderless Pokemon like Shaymin and Magnemite have genders.
Personality: (Very few RPs DON'T have this part of the form. What's your character like? Are they shy? Friendly? Rude? Sarcastic? Do they have traits that make them different, like weird things they like/hate, or maybe they can only speak in Morse Code? Get creative!)
Appearance: (What do they look like? If it's a Pokemon, are they shiny? Do they wear any accessories? Battle scars? One green eye and one blue eye? Just remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially with people and gijinkas, or if they're wearing a necklace with a charm that's really hard to describe.)
*Team: (Crucial in Pokemon Trainer RPs. What's their Pokemon team? There may also be a separate form space for "extra Pokemon" such as Pokemon in boxes/storage.)
*Password: If you saw a password while reading the rules, that goes here! The rules is the most common place to put passwords, to make sure people read them, although I have seen them hidden in the plot. If you put an incorrect password, the owner will likely reject your form until you fix it, and let them know. Sometimes the password changes, or you'll need to put your favorite song, movie, Pokemon, etc., so you can't just copy it from the last person that joined!)
*Crush: (Who do they have a crush on, or will develop a crush on? You can put any character here who has already joined, or edit it later when a new person joins. Most of the time, you will want to ask the person with the other character by PM or in the setup thread.)
*Other: (This is usually in case your character has something about them that doesn't fit in any of the other categories, like if they're blind, for instance.)

Remember, this is just an example form, but I've used forms similar to this one for a lot of RPs I've made in the past. And remember this too: there may be things other than what I've included, such as alignment (straight, tomboy, etc.), family relations, rank, moves (for gijinka and Pokemon), and lots more.

Familiarize yourself with the other characters. This one is REALLY important to be a successful RPer. Go back and read everyone else's forms, and take time to remember names, and the user who controls that character. It's worth the effort, because then you can keep up, and won't get too lost in the RP. Also read forms of people who join after you. It's important to know where everyone stands in the RP.

Patience is key. All of your forms need to get accepted before you can start RPing. If your character doesn't get accepted right away, don't push it. The owner is probably away from the computer, or if they're on the computer, they're probably busy with other matters. If a week passes, and you know they've been online, they probably looked at it, but forgot to let you know they've accepted or rejected it. And if your form gets rejected at all, they'll probably give you a reason. If not, go ahead and ask them why. Then you can fix your form, and hopefully get accepted next time.

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Participating in a Roleplay

With everything going on in a roleplay, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, people hate godmodding/power-playing! It really sucks, especially when your character is on the receiving end. Controlling other people's characters is also a big no. Even small things. For instance:

Everyone turned toward the Emolga.

What if you wanted your character to ignore the Emolga? It's not fun. It's also not fun when characters get awesome stuff seemingly out of nowhere. In a past RP I was in, it was pretty fun, until one person's Emolga suddenly got smoke bombs and gas masks from out of nowhere. Her party started to infiltrate the camp that mine and several other people's characters were in. It just got so unrealistic. I ended up unsubscribing after that. I'm not sure if they realized I quit or what, but I haven't gotten any PMs about it, so that's nice. See what godmodding/powerplaying does? It makes people quite. Sometimes rage quit, depending on the person.

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How to avoid Gary-/Mary-Sues. Well, it's actually quite simple. Did you put in their form that their a model, or maybe that they're known for their beauty? Balance it out with a rude or sarcastic personality. Or instead, make them unable to talk, and have them speak sign language/Morse Code. Do they have the sweetest, kindest, most forgiving personality ever? Make them secretly evil. All of their kindness could be revealed to be an act as they show their true colors as cold and demanding. Just state in their form that they "Have a well-hidden secret." If the owner still rejects them, explain via PM what their secret is. They may even let that character be the main villain, because almost every RP has trouble finding people who want to play evil characters.

Also, if your character is strong, make them slow. In the RP, take the attacks! They're strong. They'll be able to take a hit or two. If they're agile, make their attacks fast, but not quite as powerful. You can dodge moves most of the time, unless your opponent is faster. You can also make a well-rounded character, who sits squarely in the middle. Just make sure it's balanced!

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Respond correctly to the situation! If a person sneaks up to you silently (like a NINJA!), you're character is not going to turn around and be like "Hey, I heard/saw you coming!" That said, if you stated in their form that they have super-sensitive hearing, they can do that. If a character releases a blast of powerful energy at you, let yourself take a hit, especially if your character is not a world-class acrobat. If you're fighting, give the first half of the attack, and let the other person take or dodge it.

P1: Nova fired a hot fireball at Navi. "Nobody calls me stupid!" She yelled.
P2: Navi barely dodged the fireball, inhaling the scent of burnt hair. "You'd better not have singed my eyebrows off!" She yelled back at Nova, while lunging at her.
P1: Nova tried to move, but before she knew it, Navi was on top of her, pinning her down. She kicked Navi's gut with her legs.
P2: Navi felt something hard connect with her stomach. The next thing she remembered was falling to the ground next to Nova. I-I...lost...how...?
P1: Nova spat on the ground next to Navi. "You should have known better than to pick a fight with someone bigger than you," she said, with slight disgust in the words.

This is just an example, so I didn't spend too much time on it. (*cough* Really short. *cough*) You can also PM the person you're fighting with, come up with a few things that happen during the fight, and then have one person write it out. This is useful in Literate RPs, because it's hard to write 2+ paragraphs when things are moving fast.

P.S. Italics are also good for writing out thoughts. ;)

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Coincidences are cool! When starting out, coincidences are very useful.

Character A is walking through a forest, enjoying the scenery and eating a sammich.
Character B is also walking through said forest, and happens to stumble across Character A.
They talk for a bit, and learn each other's names.
The adventure begins!

This is actually how a lot of RPs start out, with a gathering of people. Eventually the group may stay together, but most of the time, it break up, because smaller groups allow better conversations, as characters won't have to respond to over 3 or 4 other characters at a time. Many times the groups may meet up, only to break up again with different groups, or maybe even stay together.

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Use good spelling and grammar, even if it's a Non-lit RP! Using words like "ur", "u", "ppl", "plz", and so forth, contrary to widespread belief, do not make you look cool. It makes you look like a total n00b who's stupid and a complete idiot that can't even spell "you" right. And what's more, it doesn't even save time! Studies even show it only saves and average of about 26.7 seconds per day (considering each time, it only saves about 0.14 seconds). Also, remember the difference between your (ownership: your bike, your cat) and you're (contraction "you are": you're cool, you're nice). You have no idea how much this bugs the crap out of some people. (Like when my OCD part takes over...gah...)

Don't use 1337 6|-|475734|< (1337 chatspeak), txt tlk, or not using punctuation when youre talking It can get confusing for people reading. And remember, COMMAS SAVE LIVES!

Lets eat grandma
Let's eat, Grandma!

See what I mean? Punctuation should not be overlooked!

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Make sure people understand what you write! I've come across this too many times to count. Write in an RP as if you were narrating, or writing a book/story.

A) Navi walked trough the forest im walking she said her pkplup said piplup!

B) *walk through teh forest* Im walking right now "piplup!"

C) Navi strolled through the forest, her bag hitting her leg as it swung back and forth. She brushed a hair out of her face. "Piplup, my loyal partner!" She announced boldly, "Onward! To victory! And glory!" Piplup jumped up in agreement. "Piplup!" It said with determination.

You picked C, right? The first one had a few spelling errors, and the only capitalized word was the first one. It's also a bit hard to get what's going on until you read it several times. In the second one, you can't even tell who it's about, and it takes a bit of time to realize that the words with no symbols around it is her speech, and without the implied Piplup from example A, there's no way to tell who's talking after that. Example C has not only proper grammar and spelling, but it also has quotation marks around speech, and explains who's talking. It's also much more interesting to read, even if the other were to have correct formatting.

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In Non-lit RPs! It's important for people to understand what you're saying, but for the most part, it's quite relaxed. It's okay to post one line, even if you're an advanced RPer, but remember, you can still post as long as you want, even as much to go in a literate RP. Here's an example of how long most posts are in a Non-lit RP:

Navi looked at Nova. "Yeah," she said, "I guess you're right." She smiled.

In Semi-lit RPs! You should at least type 3-4 sentences. You can also use thoughts, and describe what the character is noticing around them to add a few lines of text to those one-liners. ;) Since the plain text is in italics, thoughts are in regular font. I also make a new line when someone talks, with a space in between, but that's just me.

Navi pawed at the ground. She listened to a Pidgey sing in the background for a few seconds. She turned to Nova.

"Yeah," she said, "I guess you're right. I was being a bit of a jerk before." She smiled. Maybe Nova will forgive me, and we can go back to being friends. She flicked her tail. If only they hadn't become enemies in the first place.

P.S. Remember, you don't only have to post this much! I often post anywhere between 2-5 paragraphs in Semi-lit RPs!

In a Literate RP! You should consider being an author if you're committed to writing 2+ paragraphs through the entire RP. Don't forget to congratulate yourself when it's done for all of your effort! Let's use our favorite character Navi one more time, shall we?

Navi pawed at the ground, nervously. What should she say? She wasn't really the best Pokemon around when it came to words. She should probably just leave. But, Chigo had given her encouragement, and he probably wouldn't let her leave until she made up with Nova anyways.

"Look," she started, "I know I was being a bit of a jerk earlier. I think we both kind of were. I think it's maybe just that we're so different. I'm an ice type, and you're a fire type. We just don't mix." She sat down next to Nova.

"But I think, maybe if we tried, like if we really, really tried, we might be able to work something out." Her tail twitched, quivering with nervous energy. What if Nova decided that she just didn't like her, no matter what? I'm gonna get burned... she thought to herself.

In an Adv. Lit RP! Forgive me if I don't cover as much as I should, I've never been in an Adv. Lit RP, and most of this is second-hand.

In these RPs, your grammar and spelling should be absolutely perfect, and your writing should be as detailed as you can make it. Because these RPs often require posting length to be multiple paragraphs, certain RPs *may* allow people to control another character. Of course, this all depends on the RP and the RP host, so remember to read EVERYTHING that is posted in the setup. Introductions, rules, character lists, EVERYTHING.

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Try not to get too far ahead of the RP without the others. This also comes up a lot. 2-3 RPers start making a lot of posts without stopping for the other people. Often more than 5+ pages are typed up within a day, or even a couple hours. Anyone else who gets online after that - guess what - are going to have to read through all of that. If you notice that you and another RPer have written a lot going back and forth, but no others have posted, just stop posting for a bit. The other person won't be able to post until you respond, and it lets the other RPers catch up.

If you've been gone for a while, and have 10+ pages to read, just ask for a recap in the setup, or OOC in the RP. Make sure you state what page you were on. (Example, "Can I get a recap from page 44?") Other RPers who are up-to-date will be glad to give you a recap, just ask. ;)

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Creating a Roleplay

First thing's first, when you make a roleplay you're going to need a plot.

Come up with something interesting that will make people want to join! I've seen this too many times:

Gijinka live in the land of Giworldlandia. There are people and Pokemon who don't like gijinkas. Are you a gijinka running from them? Or are you a trainer or a Pokemon that either likes gijinkas or not? What will you do?

First of all, we've all seen this before BOOOOORIIIIING! Try to come up with something unique! Something NEVER BEFORE SEEN THAT WILL MAKE EVERYONE'S JAW DROP! Or just go join one of the existing RPs like the one above, instead of spamming the forums with new ones. Here's an example of an RP intro that I've made on another site. I labeled it "Introduction":

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"W-who's there?" asked the shaking Riolu. He took a few steps back.

"I can see you. I can smell your fear. You reek of it."

The Riolu gasped. It's found me again! He ran away from the forest clearing as fast as he could under the moonlight. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shining. He stopped, and looked closer. It was a bit far away and behind thick bushes, so he pushed his way through the plants.

What he saw...

"Clara!" The shine he had seen had been the blood of a dead Houndour.

Terrified, the Riolu started to flee from the scene of his friend's murder.

He didn't get far.

The monster of the lost woods made sure of that.
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See what I did there? I made an interesting "hook" using NPCs that I'm not going to use in the actual RP. I also conveniently killed them off so I didn't have to worry about them. It also gives readers an idea of what to expect in the actual RP. To explain the plot a bit more, I wrote up a bit of background information labeled "Introduction (cont.)":

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Rumors have been spread about a monster that lurks in the woods just a short walk from town. The talk about it is ridiculous. This can't be real, right? Or maybe it can? You are a Pokemon living in the town of Alta. Will you investigate this rumor? Will you do it alone, or with trusted companions?

However true or false the rumors are, Pokemon have been disappearing lately. Even the guild members are slowly dwindling.

They say that the so-called "lost woods" messes with a Pokemon's mind. That it convinces them that they are truly alone and that there is no hope. It is unknown whether it is the woods themselves or a strong force behind it, but Pokemon have been tricked into killing others or even themselves when they get too deep. Adventurers be warned.
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Now, people joining the RP have enough information to make a form and start their character's adventure. By the way, if you want to see how I laid out the first post in that RP, click here.

It's also a good idea to have a master list of all the characters. You never know when you might want to double-check a character's form for a piece of information about them. It's either that, or make a setup thread where people can browse through forms, without having to go through page after page of RP, looking for one form that was posted halfway through. If you have a long list of characters, you may want to put them in a spoiler box, categorized with more spoiler boxes inside, with one for each user. (Helpful if you have an RP where people are allowed to have multiple characters, or characters are going to be killed off often. For dead characters, put a strikethrough over their entire form. You can remove it a week or two late, if you want, just keep it up long enough that everyone knows they're dead.)

Another good idea is to have the master list, but also to have a sort of mini, condensed master list, a bit like what this user did here:

Quote from A Gijinka Tail

How to read:

Username-Character name-Gijinka or Human(what type of Gijinka or whether or not a trainer)-Gender-Orientation

Leader Mituna-Diana (Di)-Gijinka(Deino)-Female-Straight
Leader Mituna-Lein-Gijinka(Luxray)-Male-Straight.
Umfimtsev-Rosanna-Gijinka(Minun)-Female-Straight
Death-Aramina(Mina)-Gijinka(Furret)-Female-Tomboy
Death-Artemis-Human(Trainer)-Male-Straight
aspens-Luthra-Gijinka(Luxio)-Female-Asexual (doesn't like anyone)

These are quick, and nice for when you remember a form, but need to jog your memory a bit, or forget who controls who.


Remember, running an RP isn't all fun and games. (Although that is a major part of it.) It's hard work. However, it can be rewarding to have an RP with your rules, your plot, and one that you ultimately have almost total control over. Don't try to take over other people's RPs. If you aren't happy with what's going on, make your own.

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Title: Well, there's that!

Phew, that took forever...

If there are any mistakes, something you'd like to point out, or something you want to see added, just let me know!

*Starts laughing hysterically* It's done! IT'S FINALLY DONE! HA!

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I was just thinking about doing this, but it seems you've done it better than even I would have! ^-~

Well, I haven't seen this around here yet, but from my other experiences, there are two things I'd like to mention:

Around some places, there is a difference between Lit. and Adv. Lit. (Advanced Literate). Lit. may range from 1-2 paragraph requirement, with some tolerance for typos and a few jumbles by non-English speakers. Adv. Lit. tends to be harsher on grammar and what not, and really wants the writer to be good and detailed. Some even have fairly long post requirements, but because of this MAY allow some in character control of another player's character.

The other thing is Open, Closed, Accepting, and Not Accepting roleplays. In some places, thread titles may indicate where a roleplay is currently active and members are posting (open), if the roleplay is not full enough yet or is not longer updating (Closed), as well as whether or not they are accepting profiles yet (Accepting and Not Accepting). A roleplay CAN be Closed and Accepting, it means that while the story is not happening, you can still apply for a character. (For whatever reason, that combination of words always seems to confuse some people.) Sometimes these are abbreviated in thread titles.
Open-O
Closed-C
Accepting-A
Not Accepting-NA

(Usually these abbreviations are used if the thread title is getting too long, I don't see them often.)

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Thanks for mentioning those things. I'll go add them in a second.

The thing is, in a lot of the RP setups I've been in, open is for open to new applications, and closed is for not accepting, except maybe if a person already in the RP wants to make a new character.

Then there are private RPs, I should probably add that too.

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Yeah, it depends on the site. Certain sites Adv. Lit. also means that you make your posts really fancy. Like, you have a template for your post, or you wrap your text around (a) picture(s) of your character that you're posting as. I've been on so many, it's hard to get the lingo for each down for a while.

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-Power-playing/Godmodding- Most often, the latter term is used (from my experience). This is making your character super-powerful, dodging every attack that comes at him, knocking out foes more powerful than he is in one blow, etc. People don't like it.

Excuse me while I clarify this some more...

Powerplaying and Godmodding are two different terms. Most RPers don't know the difference between them, but there is a difference... Which the first post doesn't mention at all...

Powerplaying is the act of controlling another person's character. You take the power away from them and control the character making it/them do what you want instead of what the character's owner would have them do.

Godmodding, or god modeling, is taking your character and making them god-like compared to other characters. Overpowered, too many skills, no weaknesses, etc.



It irks me when there is no difference between the two given when I've seen many of the more experienced RPers know the difference but the newer ones just have no clue and it doesn't get explained well.

Hope this isn't harsh and is useful input.

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Thanks for that. I've actually always seen the two terms grouped together, so for some reason I'd always thought of them as the same thing.

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Sorry but, I just thought I needed to point this out. In the Respond correctly in the situation! section, the next is spelled nest.

Quote

P2: Navi felt something hard connect with her stomach. The next thing she remembered was falling to the ground nest to Nova. I-I...lost...how...?

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I have a RP no one RPs on any more and it was a really good RP and I made a new evil but no one RPs still can I make my RP like it was or is my RP not going to be RPed any more?

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Posting this, since I see some weird labels for RPs from time to time (such as 1x1x1x1 with _______)

A one on one RP means there are two people controlling characters. It is not limited to how many characters these people control.
Some people will do 2x2 RPs if there is a restriction on number of characters you can have in a one on one, or if it's separated into teams where two posters are on one side and two are on the other side.

Anything more than a 1x1 or 2x2 RP is a group RP. These can be under many different labels.

~ Open - Accepting new members.
~ Restrictive - Accepting new members under certain terms. [ex: Must be friends || Must be online X hours a day/week|| Etc]
~ Invite only - Only able to join that RP if you get an invite from the host.
~ Private - A closed RP that was decided upon before being posted. (All participants are a part of this RP before it even begins)
~ Closed - A roleplay that is no longer accepting new members that was never a private roleplay.

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Feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any of this, as (again) I am using terms that I learned the meanings of many many years ago.

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Title: how to start a rp

where exatly do you make rps

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You make them here (or a section of it if it's a signup, pokemon rp etc.)

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Not sure if I would ever RP on here, but this is super useful for any (possible?) future use! I didn't even know Godmodding and Powerplaying were different things, people always group them together, so it's cool to know the difference now.

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