How to RP?

You came here and think: ‘well, this is very nice, but how do you RP? What’s an RPG?’ Well, in that case it’s good you came here! Here is a small guide about how to RP. This guide includes some tips. They are handy when you don’t have any inspiration, or when you just want to make your posts longer.

So, let’s start with what an RP actually is. RP stands for Role Play. This is actually a Forum Role Play, because you type the actions of your character, just like in a book. Still we call this a Role Play, or Role Playing Game (RPG). When Ruby burns a tree, I type: “Ruby burned a tree.”

But how do you RP? There are several existing methods to RP, but here we’ll do it the 3PaT and the 1PaT way.

The 3 in 3PaT stands for the third person, that means ‘he/she/it’. This means that the 1 in 1PaT means first person (‘I’). Because of this, nothing is wrong but the second person (‘you/we’). Of course, this is about your character, not the reader of the story.
Wrong: You burned a tree. You enjoyed it.
Right 1: I burned a tree. I enjoyed it.
Right 2: Ruby burned a tree. She enjoyed it.
In the second case, it’s better to use the name of the character one in a while. However, if you RP with a character of the same gender as yours, it’s necessary to do this. In the first case, this isn’t necessary, unless the other character is called ‘I’.

PaT stands for Past Time. This means that we’ll use the Past Time to RP. You write things as if they happened before (I was) and not as if they’re happening right now (I am).
Wrong: Ruby burns a tree.
Right: Ruby burned a tree.
I can’t give you a ‘better’ here, as only one way is right.

We’ll try to make longer posts here. Close to four lines is good.
Wrong/Less good: Ruby burned a tree. The tree fell on the ground. Ruby was happy.
Good: Ruby nearly growled at the tree. That tree stood in the way! Angered she burned the tree. It took a while, but in the end the tree fell on the ground. A black spot was the result of Ruby’s attack. Satisfied and happy, Ruby walked away. Finally!
Better: She stared at the massive tree in front of her. She nearly growled at the gigantic plant. Why did all the trees stand in the way? Ruby sighed. Very well then. She stood up, concentrated, and fired a big flame at the big tree. It took a while, but she didn’t give up. She had to do this, the tree should fall! In the end, the tree fell on the ground, with a black spot on it. This was the result of her attack. Satisfied and happy, Ruby walked away. Finally!
So it’s better to be more in depth and to use more description. More information at the tips.

Do think about your grammar and punctuations. It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you are understandable.
Wrong: ruby buurnd a three dat waz a verry big three
Good: Ruby burned a tree. That was a very big tree.
I can’t give you a ‘better’ here, as only one way is right.

When you’d like to let your character talk, you should use quotation marks (“ ”). Then, it’ll look like this:
“I like to burn trees,” Ruby said.
When you’d like to let your character think, you should use [i.][/i.], but without the dots. Then, it’ll look like this:
I want to burn trees, Ruby thought.

The tips! Finally! What to do when you ran out of inspiration?
1) Put some small details in your story. For example, tell us how big that tree is, or how that beautiful flower smells.
2) Describe the world around you a little bit more. Where is your character standing? Upon a house, in a house, next to a house or is there no house near your character?
3) Use the history of your character. What has he or she done before? Did he/she eat or sleep before your story happened?
4) Say and think more. You can use the feelings of your character!
5) Use an NPC (Non Played Character). You can do a lot of things with an NPC!