This is as honest a post as I think I can make on me advertising myself. So, here we go.

This is a tentative step into this forum for me. I've thus far restricted myself to sending a couple PMs on very rare occasions because while I want a relaxed, flexible pace for a roleplay - such as that which may be afforded to me by a one-on-one roleplay - I haven't seen exactly what I've been looking for in a roleplay. And I'll admit, too, that what I want is probably going to leave a fair few folks disinterested. I say this not because my ideas are "weird" or "unique" or anything that might be condescending, but simply because my interests probably differ from a lot of folks.

Let me provide some very basic information on myself before I proceed. I've been roleplaying since I was six years old, and I'm twenty-four presently. I've roleplayed in a variety of mediums: tabletop games, video games, chatrooms, forums, Google Documents, even drawing for a very brief period of time. I suppose I'd consider myself "experienced" at roleplaying, and I definitely would think I'm a decent writer. However, that's for you to judge, I suppose. My writing styles certainly aren't beyond reproach.

I want to try a more direct, more individual style of cooperative writing for a time. I've been engaged primarily in nation roleplays on this website: big affairs full of constant communication between the different folks in the thread, and sometimes full of conflict as well. I love that. But what I want to fill in my spare time is something more relaxed, something which has a pace that can shift according to the availability or scarcity of my free time and that of whoever else is engaged in the story. This is easiest to pull off with a one-on-one approach, I feel.

Let's get to talking about what I'm looking for and what I'm NOT looking for. I'll go ahead and cover these topics one-by-one, in the order of the most likely to disqualify me from being someone folks might want to roleplay with. I'll follow that up with a general description of what I'm willing to do and consider, etc.

Well... Here we go.

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On the Topic of Romance:

I like reading about romance as much as the next person, but I've always found it to be rather clunky to portray correctly in a roleplaying setting. I've discussed this in OOC threads on this set in the past, and via PMs as well, but the bottom line is this: I don't want to jump into a story with the goal to be romance.

See, I believe that certain aspects of character development should do just that: develop. And they should develop naturally, as befits the setting and their personalities and their unique perspective on life. Romantic engagements between two characters (or more, I suppose) should make sense. If they don't make sense, if the characters don't click, then there's no point in forcing the matter. In my opinion, trying to force romance just makes it feel... wrong.

Thus, the first point I'm trying to make is this: romance can't be the driving force behind any roleplay I participate in, nor should it be the goal, but it can be a potential theme. That is to say that I'm willing to consider it, and indeed I'd be absolutely thrilled if a sensible romantic relationship were to develop between characters in the story. That's a rare thing to happen; I'd love to see it. However, you need to be willing to accept that romance may not occur.

Let me reiterate: I'd love to see it work out and make sense in the context of the roleplay. I just don't think I'm going to be able to force myself to make it happen if it comes to that, and I certainly don't want to waste anyone's time if they expect something from me I can't provide as a writer. That's why I'm being up-front about this: to respect you and to respect myself.

On Matters of Pacing

As I said above, I'm looking for a relaxed pace. What I mean by that is I want a no-pressure style of roleplay where I won't upset folks if I can only post as often as once every few days or once every week or so. But if I have time, I'll happily post more than once per day, or join whoever I'm writing with in a Google Documents page or similar program to write out a nice, collaborative piece. But life gets busy, and sometimes I need to study for class, or look for a job, or actually go to work if I'm lucky.

Likewise, I'll give you the same benefit of the doubt. If life is busy, there's no rush and no pressure for anyone I'm writing with to get a post in. Relax. Take your time. Post when you're ready. I can wait.

The one thing I'll note here: if you aren't posting due to disinterest rather than due to a lack of time, please let me know. Roleplaying is about having fun. If you aren't having fun, you shouldn't feel obligated to post or feel afraid to say so. I'd rather be told you're taking leave of the roleplay rather than be told nothing at all.

On Mature Content

This section will probably be brief, as my thoughts on the matter are pretty straightforward.

Firstly, I'm not a fan of smut. I won't write about it. It's just not enjoyable for me. I'll happily write a "fade to black" scene I suppose, but keep this in mind.

Secondly, I'm not much of one for things like torture, excessively descriptive gore, or anything of that nature. I like serious, dramatic stories, but I prefer to achieve that through different story elements. This isn't to say that death, gore, and torture can't be parts of the story, but I don't want to write about someone's eyeballs being drilled or someone spewing blood like a sprinkler. It's just not fun for me.

On Roles

I'll go ahead and say outright that I'm a dude. But I've written about a wide variety of characters, male and female, of different races, species, societal positions, etc. I've written about different ages, too: ancient women, ten year old adventurers, forty year old retired soldiers, etc. I consider myself to be a flexible writer.

But I know there are folks who'd like to know the gender of the person behind the characters in the story. I also know it can be a deciding factor in whether folks want to write with someone. So, there you go: a clarification about my identity.

I'm willing to write a lot of roles, though I'll point back to the section about romance and the one about mature content and add that I'm... Okay, put bluntly, I'm not a very sexual person. It's not in me to write about characters who have a strong drive of that nature, no matter the gender. That's probably the one sort of role I can't play. But I can write about life that isn't actually living at all, like an AI program, a sentient rock, a talking sword, or what have you. I can also write, as I said, about characters of various ages and genders. Just... not sexual characters. I've got a mental block there.

On My Expectations

Okay. So, I may be capable of writing huge, multiparagraph blocks, but I don't necessarily need to write in that fashion to have fun. That is: if you'd prefer to write shorter rather than longer pieces, I'm game with that.

Something that I was taught early on in my roleplaying career is that acting elitist toward my fellow roleplayers is a bad thing. Therefore, I won't turn anyone down based solely on their ability to write. I like to think that we can all develop as authors, and that no shame is had in writing with someone who may be "better" or "worse" at it than you. If you're uncertain in your writing abilities (such as thinking your writing style lacks something or that you can't write a good story), that's fine. I'll write with you. And if you'd prefer to write in shorter blurbs rather than 10 page epics, that's fine, too. I'll write with you.

If you DO want to write 10 page epics and think you're a magnificent writer, I'll also happily write with you. I'm confident I can match that.

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Okay, so all of the above is a list of things that I'm pretty sure might make me someone folks might not want to RP with - and I can accept and sympathize with that. Just as there are topics I don't want to write about, you might find yourself feeling limited by what I've just said. There's nothing wrong with that. If that dissuades you from wanting to RP with me, we are both blameless, for we both have our preferences.

However, if you're still considering roleplaying with me, I'd like to discuss what sort of subject matter I'd like to write about. I won't provide very specific scenarios, but will focus largely on themes and settings.

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Settings

By and large, I can work with whatever setting you give me. I've got preferences, though, so I'll go ahead and make them clear. These aren't specific settings, but rather general types of settings I'd probably be interested in.

Medieval Fantasy
Ancient Fantasy
Arthurian Fantasy
Mythological-Themed Fantasy
Modern Fantasy
Science Fantasy
Renaissance Fantasy
Cyberpunk
Space Westerns
Space Operas
Superheroic Settings

Any of the above would tickle my fancy, and I'm totally keen on mixing and matching this stuff. (Yes, I love Fantasy, by the way.)

I'll note that I'm not really an anime-loving guy, but I wouldn't be completely averse to writing in an anime-esque setting. It's just not my forte, and I personally feel folks would enjoy writing with me more if they went for a different type of setting.

If there's a setting type I didn't list but you're interested in it, just let me know. I'm flexible - the above are just my favorites. If I like your story pitch, I'll probably nod and jump in.

Themes & Elements

As I said before, I'd like to avoid romance as THE central theme. However, it could potentially become a part of a story whose chief theme is any of the following ones I list.

Adventure

The theme of adventure and exploration is one of my favorites, especially in traditional fantasy settings. I thrill in the concept of delving in ancient ruins, or scouring a necromancer's castle to find and rescue a lost friend, or embarking on some heroic quest to find someone's special McGuffin. That is the stuff which brought me to the roleplaying world in the first place.

If this is something you want to write about, consider me game. Whether it's the New World, a dungeon crawling story, a D&D-style across-the-continent adventure, a story about airplanes, 1920's adventurers, or what have you: I love adventure. Bring it on.

War

I don't think I need to explain war much, but... there's something inherently engaging about it for me. Whether it's written from the perspective of soldiers, civilians, or the politicians behind it all, I'd enjoy a story about war.

Action

I like action of various flavors. Superheroism, fantasy adventure, dudes in space shooting laser guns at each other, super campy, grimdorky, serious, comedic: again, bring it on.

Tragedy

I'll just say "I love to cry" and leave it at that.

Comedy

I can like laughing, too. Don't judge me.

Playing Child Characters

I like the idea of throwing, say, 10-12 year old characters into a variety of situations. Spooky adventure mysteries in middle school, quests in a medieval fantasy world, superheroic antics, skater kids causing trouble because they're skater kids - it's just fun to me. I like to put myself in the shoes of a child every now and then.

If that's cool to you, feel free to suggest that.

Pretty Much Anything Else

You may notice that I left out "horror." I just don't think I'm good at writing horror, and I'm tentative about offering to write about it. I'm also tentative about writing mysteries because, again, I don't think I'm cunning enough to create a really good mystery story.

If you can pitch it well, though, I'll probably be interested. That applies to most story themes. If I have trouble writing about a certain topic, I'll let you know.

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That's all I have to say, really. It's not an eloquent page, I'll give you that, but I hope I've presented myself honestly and amiably enough.

If you're interested in writing a story with me, feel free to either post here or shoot me a PM. I'll talk it over with you whenever I find the time.

Thanks for reading!

Why, pardner, I wasn't aware that discussing romance would be the catalyst for you to dive in the 1x1 shark pool.

Why, pardner, I wasn't aware that discussing romance would be the catalyst for you to dive in the 1x1 shark pool.

It's something I've been contemplating for a while. I've actually had a few conversations about the topic over these forums, though the last one finally did push me to make a thread, yes. But I've been lurking about the interest check section enough lately that I figured it's time I made my own thread.

We'll see how this turns out.

@Shorticus
I'm pretty thrilled to see you're giving one-on-one a chance! Hopefully upcoming prospective pardners don't turn you off. Someday, I'll file an elevator pitch, too.

I must say though, your roster looks pretty vague ... unless you're utmost serious about "taking on every genre except horror".

I must say though, your roster looks pretty vague ... unless you're utmost serious about "taking on every genre except horror".

That was intentional. I thought about it, and I don't want to limit myself to specific scenarios or stories. As long as I avoid horror and mystery, I think I'll be fine as a writer.

I also focused on themes and settings because I'd rather see what whoever is reading this has to suggest. Some folks have impressive ideas just waiting to break out. If I get a specific idea myself, I'll probably propose it in a separate thread, or turn it into a roleplay that fits the Advanced or Nation sections.

Hi there, Shorticus. I think we may have met briefly in Spam.

I'm interested in what you have here. I think that you and I are in agreement on a lot of these issues, especially pacing. I'm in my first year of teaching, and about to begin a masters program, so multiple posts a day will not be a common occurrence for me. I appreciate a partner who can understand that. That being said, I don't see myself leaving you hanging for extended periods of time either.

As for settings, I'm fairly flexible. Straight fantasy can be a big jarring for me, because I don't consider myself a skilled world builder. Were we to go that route, you may have to take the lead for just a bit while I get situated. I also have a neat cyberpunk character we could break out. She's been collecting dust for a while now.

If you have any questions for me, or want a writing sample (as I'm not sure I've properly written anything since switching from the old Guild), please let me know!

Howdy, Seravee! Glad to see your message.

Since you mentioned both fantasy and cyberpunk, I'd love to suggest that you look up Shadowrun. It's a pretty neat setting, and it's got a lot of variety in content, and there's megacorporations ruling the world, and there's dragons, and there's crazy gangs that dress up like it's Halloween... It's good stuff, and there'd be no world building necessary. If that interests you, we could try that.

Or we could try cyberpunk played straight. It doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to say "It's the year 2066, and the world is way different than it was fifty years ago." Or 2100. Or... name a year. I wouldn't mind doing the heavy lifting in world building.

I also wouldn't mind doing the heavy lifting in fantasy world building. I've got a flash drive that's all maps and flags I've drawn up. Just... Yeah.

Anyway, I'd be very interested in knowing what sort of plot you'd want to pursue. Feel free to narrow your choices on setting, too. I'd rather you pick than me when it comes to setting.

As for writing samples: I'll trust you'll be enjoyable to write with once we get started.

Finally, I'd like to note that I'll be fairly busy until the end of next week (my last Final is Thursday). I can do a lot of in-depth discussion this weekend, though, in preparation for RP.

EDIT: Also, folks, I'm probably going to be hopping off of the Guild for the day. I should be back later tonight, but I've got to get back to studying and writing some short papers. Hopefully this isn't bad timing for anyone. And I'll be around Friday for sure, but probably not this Thursday. (It's tabletop game night tomorrow.)

Shadowrun looks very interesting. I'd be happy to give that a run, if you don't mind my being a complete newbie. I'd never even heard of the game, but it looks very interesting. And honestly, I generally do much better when there is already a setting established. Helps with the my-brain-hates-world-building thing.

I also find it is easier to find our footing when we incorporate some sort of disaster or survival element into the story straight-away. We could work that into the setting - post-apocalyptic, maybe. But even if it doesn't last long, and is just a quick emergency that we have to respond to, it skips the typical "lets just have our characters accidentally bump into each other and strike up a conversation." I'm a lot like you - if the thread feels forced, I don't enjoy it as much. If we place our characters in a tavern and have them start talking just because we need to get a story started, I think that's a bit too convenient. But I'm sure you've already thought of that! Your Shadowrun idea seems to have a fair element of danger.

Just got back from class. I won't be on long (I don't think), but it's a good time for me to reply.

Shadowrun looks very interesting. I'd be happy to give that a run, if you don't mind my being a complete newbie. I'd never even heard of the game, but it looks very interesting. And honestly, I generally do much better when there is already a setting established. Helps with the my-brain-hates-world-building thing.

Yeah, you being new to the setting is TOTALLY fine. I can give you a brief explanation of the "what-to-know" of the setting - or, even better, we could start the roleplay off with your main character not even being a Shadowrunner at first. We could use that as an in-character introduction and let you learn particulars as we go.

The most world-building we'd have to do is A) picking a city and B) maybe fleshing it out a bit more. There's a huge variety in where we can be and what's happening in each part of the world, so feel free to make a list of suggestions or thoughts on what you want to be prominent in whatever city gets chosen.

I also find it is easier to find our footing when we incorporate some sort of disaster or survival element into the story straight-away. We could work that into the setting - post-apocalyptic, maybe. But even if it doesn't last long, and is just a quick emergency that we have to respond to, it skips the typical "lets just have our characters accidentally bump into each other and strike up a conversation." I'm a lot like you - if the thread feels forced, I don't enjoy it as much. If we place our characters in a tavern and have them start talking just because we need to get a story started, I think that's a bit too convenient. But I'm sure you've already thought of that! Your Shadowrun idea seems to have a fair element of danger.

Shadowrun has frequent city-sized apocalypses, actually. Techno-zombies in Boston, dragons waking up and going crazy, bug spirits doing BAD stuff in Chicago, wars between corporations turning cities into hellscapes, blood magic from Aztechnology gone even worse than usual, anything concerning the Renraku Arcology, sentient AI trying to take over the world, elven nations starting genocidal wars... The list goes on.

If you want an apocalypse, I'm pretty sure we can devise one. Limiting our scope to a single city would make that WAY easier, since cities are frequently put on total lockdown when something goes wrong. Thanks, Megacorps.

Another situation that could force our characters together? Well, everyone starts off as a SINner (someone who has a System Identification Number) - something which makes them count as a person in the eyes of governments. Without a SIN, that character ceases to be a person, ceases to be part of the system, and can become a deniable asset (like a Shadowrunner). We could easily roleplay the transition of your character from a SINner to a SINless, perhaps with some sort of goal to pursue where your character NEEDS help? Again, this would help serve as an intro to the setting.

even better, we could start the roleplay off with your main character not even being a Shadowrunner at first. We could use that as an in-character introduction and let you learn particulars as we go.

I think that's a really great approach. If nothing else, it will make it easier for me to roleplay a clueless character. Because, you know, I'm actually clueless.

We could easily roleplay the transition of your character from a SINner to a SINless, perhaps with some sort of goal to pursue where your character NEEDS help? Again, this would help serve as an intro to the setting.

I think this would fit well with the above comment. My character is new to the world, and looking for guidance. What would someone have to do to have their SIN revoked? I could keep that in mind, and structure a character around that.

I imagine the event that leads to her having her SIN removed, and the immersion into the new world, should be enough to get us off the ground in terms of conflict/good stuff. We can absolutely work in the other elements you mentioned as we move forward. I also do like the idea of being closed in a city - at least for a while.

I think this would fit well with the above comment. My character is new to the world, and looking for guidance. What would someone have to do to have their SIN revoked? I could keep that in mind, and structure a character around that.

I imagine the event that leads to her having her SIN removed, and the immersion into the new world, should be enough to get us off the ground in terms of conflict/good stuff. We can absolutely work in the other elements you mentioned as we move forward. I also do like the idea of being closed in a city - at least for a while.

So, getting your SIN removed... Okay, the best way to explain it is like this:

Think about us in the modern world. Think about how connected everyone is to the world they live in. We have credit cards which are a way of tracking our purchases. Our Social Security Number (in the U.S.) is used... well, in quite a few places, potentially, at least when concerning the government. Our pictures are in databases thanks to driver's licenses and school IDs and such. Our online purchases get stored, as do the numbers associated with those purchases; our personal information is linked to video game accounts and... and the list goes on.

It's even worse in Shadowrun. In Shadowrun, you need a SIN to get through various security checkpoints within a city. Your picture is captured and checked in with a database of known persons frequently by cameras, hidden and publicly visible, throughout EVERYWHERE you go. Basically, SINs are even more pervasive in Shadowrun than all our digitally stored information in the real world is. Normal people have no sense of what privacy is in Shadowrun. It's almost like 1984 except the Megacorps are often doing the spying as well as the government.

To get rid of your SIN, you need to get rid of all of that information. The trail that you've left behind over the years has to be removed. And THEN you need to get false trails created to use as fake SINs for you to make progress as a Shadowrunner, or even to buy a carton of milk at the store.

So, I know that was a long explanation, but the answer to how hard it is to get rid of their SIN? Incredibly hard. You need to hire real experts to destroy it, or else have your face and body 100% changed and hope they don't do blood tests or fingerprint samples to figure out who you are. (There IS technology with that level of change available, note.)

It's also far from impossible to revoke your SIN, but it's definitely an interesting story element to use, and can easily involve being indebted to someone... unsavory, such as a Triad member or <insert other criminal organization here>.

Anyway, want to take this to PMs? I'll talk to you again when I get back from my tabletop day.

Anyway, want to take this to PMs? I'll talk to you again when I get back from my tabletop day.

You got it, dude. Have a great time with your tabletop!

<Snipped quote by Shorticus>

You got it, dude. Have a great time with your tabletop!

Will try. I've been wanting to GM some Dungeon World for some time.