What Not to Be: Bad RP Skills and Cliches

[ZeroKirbyX]

NOTE: This tut was written by a friend of mine who is FAR more seasoned than I.

There are certain things you just don't do in an RP... the most common and infamous is the Godmodder. However, there are many more types of unpleasantries that make the RP experience quickly turn sour. Try to avoid these like the plague, please... it'll make everyone happy.

The people who never miss a single shot no matter how hard it is (Aimbotters).

The people who can't be hit or just shrug it off (god-moders).

The people who have absurdly strong powers (twinks).

The people who 'balance' thier characters by having a massive but irrelevant weakness and massive powers (min-maxers).

The people who use Out Of Character knowledge to get an edge (Miss Cleos).

The people who do things in hindsight (McFlys).

The people who RP other people's characters for them (Puppetmasters).

The people who RP completely irrelevant things (Daydreamers).

The people who RP actions and time against others while the others aren't presant (Shoe elves).

The people who ignore or alter RPs that they don't like (Revisionists).

The people who RP an absurdly time consuming sequence occuring between other people's actions (Speedhackers).

The people who play as characters that are completely impossible (Oxymorons).

The people who arbitrarily declare themselves the winner with instant death attacks (Baghdad Bobbits).

The people who've taken actions before they start RPing (Gaseous Snakes).

The people who alter thier character as needed for the situation (Zoicite).

The people who gain abilities as they need them with no prior exposure (Trinities).

The people who pick-up things that spawn from seemingly nowhere (Quakers).

The Character Cliché Types:] Avoid using these types as characters. We've seen them all before. x.x

Silent Warrior was one of the most common characters. He/she is a major cliche of the strong, silent types.

Next was the Noisy Warrior. These characters were very social and had bold personalities, but suffered little to no penalties for it.

The Innocent but Strong was also a type of character I have seen. They are kind, little people (often girls) who are thrown into tough situations, and reveal very strong gifts.

[Uber Powerful Mages was an all to common thing in role play sites. They are very strong characters in any major skill (magic being a major one), but also know how to fight like a seasoned professional.

I-am-Still-an-Original-Character are characters that take an unoriginal character, then through the Role Play, warp it to whatever they want. These guys are really annoying, mostly to true fans of the unoriginal character.

More In-depth analysis of Clichés:

Silent Warrior

Detailed Description
This is one of the most common character types I have seen. The Silent Warrior lets out little or no information about them.

Their profiles (if any) often say what they appear to be, age wise, but "the real age is unknown". Their biography is often very, very short, which is summarized by a sentence or two about it being unknown.

A typical appearance is dark clothing, often covering the entire body. This helps conceal themselves in the shadows that are often around them.

When they role play, the character says very little. Instead, he sits back in the shadows, watches, and then makes his move. This can cause uproar in a Role Play. Some characters are not first to make a move naturally, but as the other people online are sulking in the shadows, these characters must move for the sake of continuing the Role Play.

Antidote for a Silent Warrior
If you are Role Playing him, simply tell more and more of him, and let him open up. Limit his overwhelming power, then keep him out of the shadows for a lot longer than normal. Nudge him into a social window, and the purging of the cliche shyness will begin.



Noisy Warrior

Detailed Description
This is almost as bad as the Silent Warrior. Noisy Warriors are overly social and sometimes clumsy characters. They often crack jokes, and if real people, would be intolerable. But these characters suffer no penalties through Role Play. They go on, and end up becoming overly powerful character.

Their biography is often short, showing little to no insight on the character. They often look like super buff (as they are not afraid to show off muscle) boys and their personalities are flat. If females, they are very attractive.

In a Role Play, these characters often are at the head of the group, showing off their stuff and sucking up all the glory possible. This is a pain, as other people can not get anywhere in the Role Play. They must stand back, or else they will be pushed back.

Antidote for a Noisy Warrior
Back of a bit. You are very much in people's faces, and you need to stop. Don't retreat into a Silent Warrior state, but try to allow others in the spotlight. Just ease down your character's sugar, keep him off of his too-big power blights, and let others aid you, or even do some of the stuff.



The Innocent but Still Strong

Detailed Description
This is also an oddly common character. It starts as a young or sheltered person being blasted into the radical world. However, when she gets there, she shows extreme power. This can be similar to super deadly healers, or other characters that tend not to be very violent.

The profiles have pretty bad (in both event and boring scales) biographies, focusing on how she wants to go back to normal life. The appearance is often pretty, like an angelic or heavenly pretty. The personality tends to stay on the caring, considerate side.

In a Role Play, the character gets bit angst, demonstrating her need to go home. That distracts from the plot, and sometimes even the Role Player tries to shift the plot for the character's quest to go home. It gets worse when the creator of the Role Play allows it.

Antidote for a The Innocent but Still Strong
Get your character a backbone, and let them be exposed. Sometimes the character would stay an innocent soul, but level out the scales by dropping the powers. Those characters can drain the life out of a good Role Play.


Uber Powerful Mage

Detailed Description
This is also a common character. The character is a master in a skill (often magic), and is extremely powerful in it. However, that same character may even be a master in a few other arts, like fighting. This is totally unrealistic. Some skills might be: magic, computers, science, art, music, etc.

These characters may wear robes or heavy armor, depending on the situation. They wield swords and staves, which makes little sense (considering weight and where you would store the weapon).

In a Role Play, they may hog up a huge amount of space for other players. They can cover multiple fields of skills (where a better character may thrive), and with it, they smother these characters.

Antidote to Uber Powerful Mage
Sorry, but this one is based purely on skills. To limit them, you may just have to edit the profile, removing the many skills. That is the most effective method, but not the only one. You could somehow manage to give the character amnesia (loosing some skills), or just growing old. Whatever you do, the best thing is to eliminate some of the skills.



I-am-Still-an-Original-Character

This is probably the most annoying character type of them all. This character was an unoriginal character (one that was made before the Role Play, and is not custom). A Role Player chose that character, but did not like him. So, the Role Player shifted the character through Role Play, ruining it and changing its personality and skills.

I have actually witnesses one of these characters in a Teen Titans Role Play. Someone chose Beast Boy, and made him gay. Then they made him and Robin gay partners. This would never happen in the show or comics. It was . . . insulting to Beast Boy, who is more of a ladies man.

If it is a fan Role Play, fans of the show get pissed off at the person, especially if it is a favorite character.

Antidote to an I-am-Still-an-Original-Character
Go back to the original character's personality. It is not 'your' character. If you went to far, just throw back the original character and start your own.

Mary Sues

What is it? Short Definition
The Mary Sue is a term in writing for a certain type of character. This character is an extension of the author's ego. That means it is a copy of everything (or at least a lot) of what the creator wanted. In Role Play terms, it is a powerful, 'perfect' character. There are few true Mary Sues, but there are way too many normal Mary Sues.

What is it? Detailed Definition
The Mary Sue is an ideal character. Strong, attractive, popular, and cool, the Mary Sue (Gary Stu for male characters) is a huge pitfall. Everyone wants to play one, but no one ever should. These characters are, bluntly, stupid.

The characters often have a great number of skills. They don't have to be masters, but they have a lot, and they are great at most of them. In simple terms, the character is a Jack of All trades, but is as good as someone who specializes in that sole trade.

The Mary Sue is also highly beautiful (in more than one aspect). They appear to be heavenly, and are often exquisite in many different types of clothing. Their soul tends to be 'beautiful' (to the creator, which means it may not be innocent). That can make for a wicked personality.

The Mary Sue is a huge part of any story or Role Play. They suck up the other character's roles, hogging the plot to them. The Role Play dies because of it, and the Mary Sue brought everyone down with her.

If a Mary Sue is detected, please tell the Role Player politely. If they ignore or even flame you (which is against the TOS), then you can gesture a Spork, the mighty weapon against Mary Sues, at them wildly, but realize that they may be to fearful that they made a bane of characters.

[Midnight9795]

Stickied!