Welcome to the
Roleplayer Guild!
Roleplayer Guild!
The Roleplayer Guild is one of the fastest growing play-by-post roleplaying communities on the internet. We try to create a roleplaying community as freeform and user-driven as possible with our simple structure, approachability and simple rules. This guide is intended to quickly get you to where the action is and dive right into the roleplaying.
For the purpose of expediency, we've presented information on the roleplaying sections, moderation and other useful links in clickable tabs that hold more information. Just click one of the tabs to get started.
Guides
What is Roleplaying (RP)?
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative. Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
In the Guild, rolelaying is a collaborative effort between multiple authors to create a story. The roles, the plot and the structure of the roleplaying differ between the threads, which are administered independently by individual members of the Guild -- if you want to run your own roleplaying thread here, you can do it.
Getting Started: The Roleplaying Sections
- Free Roleplay - No standards. For roleplaying involving one-liners, few-liners, speed-posting, and for anyone who doesn't want to worry about standards.
- Casual Roleplay - Some standards. Roleplay here if you enjoy writing at least a paragraph or two, character development, and some depth. Casual RP is more laid back and lighthearted than Advanced RP but more moderated than Free RP. It's a good middle ground. No one-liners.
- Advanced Roleplay - Elevated standards. Advanced RP focuses on longer posts that include character development and elaborate plot development. Suggested minimum of 2-3 paragraphs per post.
- Casual Roleplay - Some standards. Roleplay here if you enjoy writing at least a paragraph or two, character development, and some depth. Casual RP is more laid back and lighthearted than Advanced RP but more moderated than Free RP. It's a good middle ground. No one-liners.
- Advanced Roleplay - Elevated standards. Advanced RP focuses on longer posts that include character development and elaborate plot development. Suggested minimum of 2-3 paragraphs per post.
We also offer some niche roleplaying forums:
- The Arena - Combat-centric roleplaying duels and various other types of fights.
- 1x1 (One on One)Roleplay - In pairs. All standards are represented here.
- Tabletop Roleplay - Roleplays focused on dice rolls and stat blocks where the narrative is driven by game mechanics.
- Nation Roleplay - Create and control a nation that collides with other nations through political, economic, and diplomatic warfare.
- 1x1 (One on One)Roleplay - In pairs. All standards are represented here.
- Tabletop Roleplay - Roleplays focused on dice rolls and stat blocks where the narrative is driven by game mechanics.
- Nation Roleplay - Create and control a nation that collides with other nations through political, economic, and diplomatic warfare.
We also have 'interest checks' that function as a means of advertising one's roleplays or finding someone else's roleplay.
- General Interest Checks - A section for brainstorming new ideas and presenting them to other roleplayers. Every section has their own specific interest check (as a subforum of the above sections) also.
The Sections Explained
Roleplaying sections are arranged according to writing standards, rather than genre. This is largely so roleplayers can find partners that are compatible with one another and to simplify navigation. For example, someone that likes to speed post or post very quickly in an exchange with other roleplayers might want to go to the Free section while someone who wants something that involves more intricacy and longer posts might consider the Advanced section. Casual exists on the middle-ground between these two.
The Arena exists for combat-driven RP, such as duels and other types of adversarial combats, while the 1x1 section encompasses many different standards. (It is also easier to get an RP started here, because you have less players involved) Some players tend to venerate one section or the other as being the better section but you should choose the RP category you feel is right for you; if you are unsure which section is right for you, you should talk to a moderator or hit up the Discord for guidance.
Joining an RP: Interest Checks and Roleplaying Threads: Out-of-Character and In-Character
Interest checks exist in every category of RP as a means of advertising a new idea for an RP before committing to writing out more than a synopsis. The interest checks are a means of testing the waters and recruiting players.
The typical roleplay starts in an Interest Check which functions as a place to put a rough draft of the idea in order to gauge interest. If interested, a other players will post that they are willing to get involved in the RP if it proceeds. The person posting the idea can then proceed with further development on their RP, knowing they have some people already on board.
Once there is interest, the roleplay moves over to the Roleplaying threads where the plot is further discussed and developed and where players communicate with one another in the Out of Character (OOC) tab of the topic, which is where discussion of the roleplay occurs. The In Character (IC) tab houses the actual writing for the roleplay. The person in charge, known as the Original Poster (OP) or Gamemaster (GM) will then post a thread in its respective category, where the roleplaying actually happens.
It is entirely possible to join an RP in the topic, or even after the In-Character writing has started, but the most consistent way to do it is to do it through the interest checks -- while you can submit a character to the OP/GM of the thread, they make the final decision whether or not you can roleplay in that thread and are within their rights to reject submissions or ask players to leave -- this doesn't happen very often, because word gets around when people abuse that authority.
The Gallery and Graphics Shops
- The Gallery - A place for the users of the guild post their original work for others to check out. This sectional also hosts ‘shops’ where artists can advertise their availability via Graphics Shops or ‘requests’ a person looking for artwork can advertise their request.
The Gallery is a section of the forum devoted to sharing the original work of members outside of the RP threads; short stories, artwork, poetry and other original works are posted here. It also includes a subforum where a user can not only post their own original work but also request work be done for signatures and avatars (which can be changed in the user control panel).
A Graphics Shop is essentially a thread started by the artist where a request can be made of the artist. The artist is within their rights to turn down requests, of course. By the same token, a person looking for artwork may make a request thread in the Gallery forum.
Rules, Moderation, and Staff
- Fundamental Rules & Moderation Policy - This is the essential rules and policy of the Guild, with the other moderation policies being subforum-specific.
- Moderation Policy in the RP Sections
- Moderation Policy in the Off-Topic Sections
- Reporting Incidents to Moderators - A handy guide on what to expect when reporting incidents.
- Need Help? – For post deletions, topic renaming and other moderator functions, post a thread in this forum (Note: temporary until the site is developed further)
- Moderation Policy in the RP Sections
- Moderation Policy in the Off-Topic Sections
- Reporting Incidents to Moderators - A handy guide on what to expect when reporting incidents.
- Need Help? – For post deletions, topic renaming and other moderator functions, post a thread in this forum (Note: temporary until the site is developed further)
The Guild does not have a huge number of rules, because the founder wants the Guild to be a fun place. What rules there are exist out of the realization that certain things are highly disruptive to the mission of the guild; porn, spamming the roleplays and being mean to other people are fast track ways to get banned here, though usually it is with a warning, first.
The rules and regulations exist for a reason, and that reason is to keep the site running smoothly and effectively -- the moderation here is generally very low key, and out of your face, but if any of them do PM you, please pay attention to the request made.
Other Useful Links
- Articles & Guides - The Roleplaying Article Section, a general listing of various guides and articles on different topics.
Final Words
There's a lot of advice here and a lot of articles to read, but the reality of the rules and regulations boil down to this piece of simple advice: Just be cool (like the Fonz) and remember that this is a hobby.
If you have further questions, please feel free to use The Guild Chat (you'll need a free Discord account) to ask questions or post a thread in Suggestions/Problems.
Editing note: Thanks to @HeySeuss who wrote the guide, with help for some sections from @Genkai.
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