Drache

Has anyone actually completed an RP before?

I have finished many RPs. In some cases it's because a character dies, but most of the time the two main characters in the RP simply part ways or we stop playing because the characters go on to "live happily ever after." Sometimes we will start new stories in that same universe but sometimes my RP partner and I decide to part ways.

Maybe I'm the odd one out here because my RPs here are more likely to "end" than on other forums I have been on.

Let's Gush!

Shout out to @The Grey Dust for being a great RPer and a wonderful conversation partner. I get a rush every time I see one your posts.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@HeySeuss

No, I understood that. I was more talking to the people who make it sound like a long post is simply a lot of purple prose or internal monologuing and while long posts can be like that, they usually aren't. When it comes to group RPs I expect posts to be a bit shorter than my 1x1's. 3 paragraphs sounds pretty reasonable. In the case of group RPs in the Advanced section I feel like a lot of that "Advanced-ness" comes from how in-depth the world lore is, the complexity of plot, and the ability of the GM to keep up with that shit and encourage players to build their own characters and even do side-rps amongst themselves.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@HeySeuss

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. :)
It's annoying when people won't break out of their comfort zones and end up falling victim to the same tropes over and over. But then again, that may be the only thing they like about RP, it's just frustrating when you're here for story-telling rather than having the plot so rigidly pre-defined.

I get the feeling that a lot of people are mistaking "length" for "quality". It's not hard to write a long-ass post that contributes nothing to the RP. Length isn't the only factor when classifying an RP as Advanced, but it's definitely contributory and it's very hard to put something Advanced together without your post length growing to reflect that. So much so that when someone is looking for an Advanced level partner they can weed out a lot of the people they wouldn't want to RP with by saying "no one-liners". I mean how often are you going to get someone who is genuinely contributing to world-building, character development, plot development, etc and still only replying to you with one line? I've been RPing for 18 years and I've never seen that happen so if someone sees my Interest Check and is a great RPer but is turned off by my "no one-liners" clause well then...that's a risk I'm willing to take.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@HeySeuss Not sure why you mentioned me? My own interest check is a list of plot options and pairs with rules...

I enforce a zero-tolerance policy of "no one liners" in my 1x1's. Unless I am literally RPing in a chat room where there is no expectation for anything resembling "good" RP, there is no way that one line posts can give me the character depth and world-building that I expect in my RPs. This is why I only hunt for games to join in the Advanced section and I make my expectations very clear in my 1x1 Interest Checks. Even if the characters are engaged in dialogue or blow-by-blow combat it doesn't take much effort to describe how a character says what they are saying or what their body language is doing, the sound their sword makes when it hits flesh or the feeling of horror they experience when they miss.

I find that when I am forced to "fill in the blanks" of all the things my RP partner doesn't make an effort to describe about their own character, this leads to a type of miscommunication that ends up requiring a lot of OOC discussion and back-tracking. This spoils RP for me. Especially in my 1x1's I don't mind it at all if my partner takes a couple of days to put a decently-sized post together. My own posts average 4-6 paragraphs but I have been known to throw down 15k words for something especially epic.

When I have spent a majority of the RP being descriptive and basically building the world for my partner and I get a two line response, that's a slap in the face. It tells me that my partner is either not interested enough or just lazy, or some combination of both. If my partner has such a lack of imagination that they "don't have anything to contribute" then they aren't the kind of person I want to RP with.

Everyone gets something different out of RP. Putting your preferences in your rules or interest check is not being rude or exclusive. If anything it's doing everyone else a favour by helping them save time. If you like one-liners and you're reading an interest check that says "no one-liners", pass to the next one. It's not that difficult is it?

When it comes to group RPs I take the opposite approach to you @HeySeuss. If people are going to only post once per week I'd rather their posts be longer and cover more material. Speeding up a particular scene with shorter posts (for example, dialogue) only works out well if people post more frequently.

Play with Fire!

@GrizzTheMauler

Please PM me.

Lasgoul RP: Rhindani and Saida

Rhindani

Name: Rhindani
Race: Lizardfolk (Gold)
Age: Young adult, birthday unknown
Weapon: Claws/Teeth
Armor: Natural scales only
Alignment: Lawful Good
Religion: Draconis Rex (Gold Aspect)
Magical Ability: Divine spellcasting
Languages: Draconic (native), Common, Hand Sign (basic)
Other skills: Herbalism, Cooking, Sewing, Music (fiddle)
Special: Wings (gliding only)

History: Rhin's background is something of a mystery, even to her. Brief and confusing memories are all that remain to remind her of her youngest years, her only trinket a golden talisman pinned to her smock. As a small child she was discovered on Metallic Dragon Lands, lost and wandering very near to the Great Chasm. It was lucky for her that mithril-scaled Melanor was on patrol, as most other dragons would have found little reason to take interest in a mere dragonkin infant.

Brought to The Roost, it was the great king Aelinor who decided Rhindani's fate. All she can remember of that illustrious but brief meeting with the great golden wyrm was how he seemed to peer at her, his stare thoughtful but stern over a chinfull of long whiskers. It was a gaze that was terrifying to one so small and confused.

Since that time, Rhindani has been a ward of the Church of Draconis Rex, raised by a kindly but elderly cleric named Ki'Nem in the ways of the Gold Aspect. A quiet and pensive but perceptive child, Rhindani took quickly to the arts of Healing, her talents growing from the use of herbs and traditional medicines to asking the Blessings of the Golden Aspect to address greater maladies in those who seek the services of the Church. In addition to working in the infirmary, her years have been filled with other humble domestic toils such as sewing and cooking. What little free time can be had in the life of a vestal was spent with her friend and confidante, a copper lizardfolk female named Mahva who is as impulsive as she is deaf. It is because of Mahva that part of Rhin's daily exercise includes using her wings, because according to the young copper "there's no point in being born with wings if'n all you're gonna do is hide them under a robe until they shrivel up."

For the last three years Rhindani has been living in a small Church in the People's Conglomerate. The move away from the beauty and comfort of Metal City and the grand Church of Draconis Rex to a land of humans surprised those who knew her but wasn't exactly a shock to those who knew her best. Rhin wasn't without many doubts, but something wordless and nameless urged her to take her skills, little as they might be, to places unknown (at least to herself). Perhaps a little adventure would settle the coil of longing that comes with not knowing who you really are or where you came from.

Personality and Traits: Rhin has always been quiet and somewhat reserved, but ultimately kind and empathetic. That's not to say she is soft at heart, however, because tending to the sick and the dying instills and requires a certain amount of strength that has nothing to do with being bullheaded or the hefting of a sword. She prefers tasks that don't require much conversation, her favourite chores in the Church being tending the herb and kitchen gardens or cooking, or even sewing (though she prefers to do so outside when possible). She enjoys reading, drawing and listening to music, her prized possession a silverwood fiddle that took ten years to save up for and another ten to learn how to play with any skill. Rhindani hopes to one day discover her own origins, though long ago exhausted what little information she had to go on. She suspects that the knowledge will help her understand herself better, and explain some of her shortcomings, primarily with regards to a delayed advance in the abilities that come from worship and the strange pale opalescent gold colour of her scales that do not quite match with the beautiful rich vibrance of her fellow Gold dragonkin. She continues to pray to Draconis Rex about the former, and rubs ash soap on her skin to mute the latter. So far, the dragon God has been silent on the matter.

Lasgoul RP: Rhindani and Saida

The pale-scaled creature had just lifted her hands to pull the hood of her blue shawl back, the delicate shape of her frills and crest glittering somewhat where the firelight stuck her scales. She wasn't gold. Not really. Nor was she white exactly. Every movement dazzled with a hint of some other colour, though at present she seemed to favour the golds and reds of the flames. Perhaps the effect would have been even more striking if not for the salve that the dragonkin dutifully used to dull her scales every morning.

The steaming bowl appeared, held up by the slender hand of the elf, the melodic voice speaking to her in a question. Rhindani took the proferred serving and looked down at the simple fair, the thin nostrils at the end of her snout flaring slightly to inhale the weak scent. Well, at least it would warm her even if the taste was bland.

"Of course," the cleric nodded cordially, following the elf with her eyes, which appeared dark now that the sun had fled. There would be room next to the other woman, but before Rhindani moved to join her she reached up to unpin the golden dragon brooch over her left shoulder. This caused the heavy but smooth blue fabric to slide free, caught by her tail before it could land in the dirt.

Rhindani's wings stretched, unencumbered by the garmet that had contained them, like a butterfly freed from a caccoon. Behind her, the back of Rhindani's simple green dress was designed so that a long panel down her spine could be laced to either side, eliminating the need for her to leave her back bare to accomodate those long appendages. For the most part the healer seemed solid without being overly athletic or built, the primary exception being the sinewy muscle that held her wings to her body.

Sitting down next to Saida, she was careful to not brush the elf with her wings or her tail, which curled politely around her feet as she pulled the robe into her lap and sitting the bowl on top.

"I'm Rhindani, of Metal City. I appreciate your kindness," she went on, nodding towards the bowl, "but in the future I might suggest not using your gifts on me without asking first." It wasn't as if she was an injured or dying fighter too far gone to assent. In spite of her request for the future, she used her fingers, each tipped with a small claw, to fish out whatever gristly meat might be swimming around in the stew and popped those into her mouth first.

"I've heard that elves have a natural kinship with horses and other beasts. Riding can't be as painful as all that all the time or no one would do it. Before today I've only ridden a few times and never at such a pace. I do most of my traveling on foot." Though perhaps one day her wings would be of use. After fishing out all the meat from her stew, the dragonkin began to sip the remainder, the warmth filling her belly even though the taste left a lot to be desired.

The 'Explain The Appeal Of......' Thread

@PlatinumSkink

Sorry but nothing you really said made me inspired to commit to watching Anime. Maybe you could provide examples of what might be considered good.

As for GoT/ASoIaF.

I can only answer for the books because when the show started to diverge a lot from the book storyline I stopped watching.

For one thing, it's a low-magic medieval fantasy that isn't overly similar to anything else we have already seen a la LOTR, etc. It's also written for adults with a lot of mature themes and for many of us it filled the literary void left for us when Harry Potter was over and when we outgrew things like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms.

For another, there is a lot of political intrigue that can be complicated to follow, which makes the story a lot more fun, and to me it seems well-balanced with the combat/action and fantasy elements. Yes, people die, and they are often people who you might have grown attached to, but it has a very hyper-reality/visceral horror to it that only makes you wonder who is actually going to make it to the end. I don't know about you but part of the joy of reading is the genuine sadness when a character I like dies. Stories that are happily-ever-after are boring and unrealistic. I think a lot of people who read a lot as kids are enjoying having these books as adults.

Also, there are a lot of memorable moments and phrases from it that are fun to share. "The night is dark and full of terrors." "Oh, my sweet summer child."

Also it has dragons which pretty much automatically sold me. ;P

The only thing I don't like about it (apart from the show going completely off-script) is that the author is taking a long time to finish it up. I believe there's been some concern about him actually completing the series.

Also, Peter Dinklage is fucking hot.

The 'Explain The Appeal Of......' Thread

Can someone please explain the appeal of anime? I have only seen one or two movies and few episodes of various shows in my life but I just don't understand the allure. The animation seems jerky, the graphic style often over-simplified and childish, and I either have to watch with subtitles or listen to it badly-dubbed. Sometimes the storylines are interesting and unique but in those instances I'd rather just read the books than watch all the bs flashing quirkily across my screen. Explain?