Some Basic Role Playing Problems and How To Solve Them

**Damxge** Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:47 am

When playing an RPG, you'll encounter situations set up by other players, meaning you have to be flexible in how you approach the game, not get to set on one storyline, and be ready for any new challenges the other players throw your way.

But overcoming the challenges or continuing the story might be difficult for several reasons.
The words you need just aren't coming to you.
You're not sure where the admin or other players are going with the plot twist and you don't want to disrupt the game.
You're not sure what to do in general, more specifically when someone has directly handed the next post to you and expects you to continue the storyline.
You don't like where the plot is going, but don't know how to change it.

While these can cause problems for anyone in an RP, they can also cause problems for the other players if you just don't post. This can hurt the story and deprive your character of a larger role.

So how can you overcome these challenges?

The words you need just aren't coming to you.
This is extremely common and can cause alot of grief if you feel you're not getting the right words. Mostly, this happens when you're trying to describe an area or a building, or even a person; and you just can't find the words.
How do you overcome this?
There are many ways of overcoming it. First off, I would suggest getting your hands on a thesaurus (gives antonyms and synonyms of most words). This can be extremely helpful should you know a basic word for what you want, but desire a more artful, more robust word.
One good online thesaurus I use is thesaurus.com.

You can also take a break. If you've been looking at your screen for a while, you have been busy and you're mind's been working overtime, you might just want to calm down, relax a bit and get your mind back to its normal speed. While writing longer articles, I get brainfreezes every two hours or so. To kick these, I enjoy going for walks outside, if the weather's bad, running on a treadmill or doing pushups. You'll come up with your own way of getting rid of these annoying writers' blocks.

If neither of these solve your problem, go find yourself a dictionary (if you really, really want to post in this RP) and start reading off words. I've learned most of my vocabulary through simply leafing through my Webster's Dictionary. You'll be amazed at the inspiration you can find through the random collection of words.

You're not sure where the admin or other players are going with the plot twist and you don't want to disrupt the game.

You're in the middle of a heated part of your RP, say, monsters are attacking and the Admin of the RP is pushing the story along while the others are filling in what their characters are doing through the events. You enter a castle, monsters on all sides, and the admin puts up a little twist that must be answered or continued to further the story, but no one else is stepping forward to do so.
How do you overcome this?

Its really not difficult to overcome, though people (like me) will hesitate to continue for fear of ruining something the admin has set up or wants to happen.
DO NOT BE LIKE ME! If the admin wanted something specific to happen, they would have posted it. Take the lead, continue the story.
For example, the admin has left this: You enter the castle, the monsters swarming from all sides, climbing through windows, trying to break down the door, even climbing over the roof. The stairs are blocked and there's no way out of the courtyard.
You would charge right ahead, trying to escape the courtyard:
"I take my shirt and tie a rock into it, I then take the rope I carried and tie it to the arm, hurling the rock onto the balcony, I pull on the rope until the rock loops through one of the rails, pulling hard, I made sure it was sturdy and began climbing, pulling myself onto the balcony, the others following my lead."

See what I mean? Just keep the story progressing and others will respect you for it. If the admin wants something to happen, they'll make it happen. Don't worry about it, just react to the current situation.

A trick as well; set your action up so that you're just handing it off to someone else. One good way of doing this is to mill about.
"I charged the walls, hopping and scraping, hoping to find a niche where my fingers could slip and I could climb onto the higher floors. I found no such niche, spinning back to face my companions, I stared wildly around, looking for any way out."
See? Nothing was accomplished with that post, but you gave yourself an action, showing how scared you are, as well as handed it off to the next person to post. Posts like this can be annoying and some would argue, if you're just going to post something like this, don't post at all. But its up to you.

You're not sure what to do in general, more specifically when someone has directly handed the next post to you and expects you to continue the storyline.

Someone has directly handed the next post to you. They can do this in several ways.
"(Your name) what do we do?!"
"(your name) slowly crept around the corner, looking for guards."
Both of these tell the others who is to be the next person expected to post, and that they are expected to further the story.
How do you overcome this?

Pull something from your arse. I cannot stress enough, if the admin of the RP, or the other players, wants something specific to happen, then they will make it happen. Do not be afraid of screwing up the story or the RP. So long as you stay within the bounds of whats acceptable in an RP, you're fine, and if others have a problem with your action, they can get it back on track of where they want it to go. If they wanted something to happen, they should have made it happen, not leave it to others to decide, and then get angry about it. This can get a bit heated when several people want the story to go their own way, and begin battling it out, trying to force their storyline.
IT IS THE JOB OF THE ADMIN (creator) OF THE RP TO STEP IN. If two players are trying to force two different plots or changes, the admin should step in and go with one or the other; a great admin will even seek a middle ground between the two ideas.

You don't like where the plot is going, but don't know how to change it.

Do you dislike where the other players are taking the plot? Is one player trying to make them-self more important, or more powerful than everyone else and you don't find it acceptable? So long as it is not the administrator doing this, then you have a right to express your concerns. Godmodding can be a serious problem if people try to make themselves superior to everyone else in the RP. Some people even do this unintentionally, giving themselves lucky breaks or upgrades without actually meaning to disrupt the play.
How do you overcome this?

Since this is a real problem for RPs, I would suggest PMing the Admin of the game (creator of the RP) with your complaint. Now don't be all whiny and say:
"He gave himself super powers and no one else has superpowers and he's being a meanie face,"
Try to present your side of the argument so that the admin doesn't decide that you're just a whiny idiot complaining about another player.
A more proper response would be:

Code:: In your RP (RP NAME HERE), (OFFENDING MEMBER)'s character (CHARACTER NAME) has been getting increasingly better super powers that really make the rest of us seem inferior and weak. He takes over all of the fights and makes himself stand out more than anyone. If you could talk to them about it, it'd be really appreciated. Sincerely, (YOUR NAME HERE)

This is a mature and even way of handling a godmodding player. The admin can talk directly to the person and tell them to remove their ability or whatever is causing the problem, or, they can go into the RP and continue it, removing the offending abilit(ies)y.

If anyone has any questions or anything to add, don't hesitate to comment.