I've been wondering for a while exactly how you all RP in your own ways. So, I started this thread with one goal in mind, it can be a place for you all to post the ways you RP, post ideas on different RP'ing ideas, give advice to people just beginning to RP, and perhaps propose RP challenges. Have at it guys!


Cheers,

Grizzly

I'll start it off. I RP a noble Paladin named Sir Michael. I won't start the rest of the main quest until I am very powerful (high level). I set certain limitations to what I can carry, such as a certain number of potions, lock picks, torches, repair hammers, etc. I eat three squares a day, so i carry around different types of food items for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Such as grains, meats, vegetables, fruits, etc. I also carry drinks, such as 399 brand of wine for Dinner, and fruit juices for Breakfast and Lunch. I create fruit juices by mixing together fruits and berries with alchemical apparatus' and labeling it, "Fruit Juice." I make sure I get eight hours of sleep a day, so before 10 o'clock, I find an Inn or I set up camp, and sleep from 10 p.m to 6 a.m. (to set up camp I just find an open area, throw down lit torches using the glitch to keep them lit while on the ground, and wait for eight hours). I take very good care of my black mare, Corsair. (thanks for the name idea Acadian ). I make sure I stop and let him rest every five minutes (real world time). When I stop to let him rest, I set up a basket filled with apples for him to snack on. I do the same, the basket of apples, when I arrive at a city and walk my horse into the stables. I "wash" every day, by finding a stream, taking off my clothes, and swimming in the water. When I sleep, I take off every clothing item. When in towns or my castle, I wear a Black and Burgundy outfit and Gold Trimmed shoes, with my sword sheathed at my left hip. To save money, as I spend a lot of it on food, rooms in Inns, etc., I create all of my potions from scratch. Why buy a Strong Potion of Healing for about 400 gold, when you can simply create a Restore Health potion, that, with a high alchemical skill, can heal 700 to 800 points of health over time?

I also RP with the potions I use, which include Restore Health, Restore Fatigue, Cur Disease, Cure Poison, Frost Shield, Fire Shield, and Shock Shield. For example, when in snowy environments, I pop a Frost Shield potion to shield my character from the harsh element. On extremely hot days, I pop a Fire Shield, and when it rains, I pop a Shock Shield so that I don't get struck by lightening. :dance: :goodjob: I also carry a black rain robe to wear during storms. Just like in real life, I love, and I mean love, literature. I carry tons of books, and when bored in game, I'll stop on the road, or find a nice Inn in a city, sit down, and open up a copy of one of the wondrous books in game. As a noble Paladin, I help out the poor. Whenever I see a beggar, I give them 100 septims. (yes, I press the "Have a coin, beggar," speech option 100 times). Along the way, I will think of many more RP ideas, so now, I leave it at this. I ask you all to share how you RP, if you do, if you plan to, or just to ask advice on how to RP if you've never RP'ed before.

Cheers,

Grizzly

I can only relate my own experience, but I happily roleplay. My character and I have traveled together for over 500 hours. This post is a tad long, and I have posted its content before - - so feel free to skip it if you are familiar with our story or simply not interested in such things.

I really went through a lot of chars of different types my first couple years with the game. Kind of did everything with big strong macho chars, but was never quite 'right'. I noticed with lots of practice, that the game was becoming easier as well.

I hit upon the idea of building a vulnerable char that could only use a bow and some magic - not a hero type. Keeping with the vulnerability theme, I made a little Bosmer she-elf and tried to roleplay. My style of roleplay had always been to try and 'become' my char, but that failed miserably with Athena. I was intrigued by her style, but this old warhorse just couldn't 'become' a vulnerable she-elf, so I abandoned the project and went back to mighty rangers.

After awhile, I decided to try again with a different twist. Buffy was born - a Bosmer-Breton little mystic archer. The difference now was that I didn't try to 'become' her; rather, I just traveled with her as a guide or mentor. The difference was shocking, and over a year of daily play later, we are still together. She has wormed her way into my heart like the granddaughter I never had.

We roleplay extensively. Yes, the eat, sleep, drink, change clothes and all that kind of stuff seems to come fairly naturally, but that is not the key. The key is listening to her and allowing her to make choices that keep her true to her heart. She won't hesitate to risk her life for her friends, but also will quickly wrinkle her nose at what she considers unsavory quests. I don't mind that she doesn't want to do some quests since I have seen them all anyway. She is not above assigning herself the role of judge, jury and executioner and has a notable streak of vengeance and cruelty that she does not apologize for - she simply does not kill innocents.

We do use a few mods, but none of them really add content or change gameplay. Heck the most 'play-impacting' mod we use simply allows her to set up a bedroll and campfire when she needs to. Anyone who can read a map better than Buffy could easily plan trips to stop at bandit camps or inns, so it is not a critical mod.

I find with deep roleplay, things really slow down (I like that). It can take us forever just to travel from her home in Bravil to Anvil, with loads of distractions, fights, discoveries and visits to friends along the way. For example, if she finds a dead Legion soldier with his surviving horse, she will deliver the horse to the nearest stables and the Legionaire's shield to the nearest guard or soldier so his family can be notified. She can never pass a waterfall without spending hours playing in the water.

We tend to prefer things that are neverending (or respawning if you will) like traveling, exploring and dungeon diving. Buffy and I have agreed that if we ever run out of things to do, we will simply start her anew - anything is possible in Tamriel.

I don't know if any of this rambling is of any help for you, but I have certainly hit upon something magic for me. My character lives.

A Khajiit named Mr Fluffington who collects soul gems filled with Rat souls. He has a dislike for M'aiq, and is often running between Chorrol and Cheydinhal, though sometimes going down to Bravil for a visit.

I just have character specific rules, and their basic personality decided:

Ra'vena is a black, female Ohmes-Raht khajiit assassin. USed weapon are bows, daggers and shortswods. only Leather or equivalent modded armor. No spells, even from scrolls, enchantments and alchemy is acceptable. Memeber of Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood, decisions based on what is good for her (though her allegiance to the aforementioned guilds is absolute).

K'shara is a white female Ohmes-Raht khajiit Spellsword. Uses longsword (prefers katanas), claymores and magic staffs. Uses Heavy armor, but only boots, cuirass and gloves, occasionally shield too. Memeber of only Mages Guild. Quite naive, and always ready to hep people, tries to avoid killing as much as possible, though is quite skilled in combat.

I stick to core ideas,, a birth, childhood, emotional state of mind then build of that.
So my Ohmes raht is both compulsive and reacts first thinks second.
Decorating houses, to leaping into combat and seeing what happens, she is good but touchy with others oppinions when it comes to race.

My Altmer is more relaxed, plans everything but tends to get seriously injured by not looking were she is going.
Has a tendancy to look down on others and places order above being nice.

So its a mix of formal idea from start, and waiting to see what happens in game.

My Khajiit Ra'Sava is a Renrijra Krin infiltrator. I always use shortswords, bows and light armor and a hood and never carries more than 75 pounds but I try to keep it less than that. I never ever use any magic except summon scrolls as a distraction when retreating and enchanted amulets and rings but not enchanted weapons and armor. I never use shields (Ra'Sava finds it cowardly to hide from your opponents behind a shield). He is skilled in stealth and with his chosen weapons but also in lockpicking so he can steal, somewhat in alchemy to create poisons, speechcraft so that he may influence others to his cause and to help him when needed and acrobatics so that he can take stealthier routes to his target. He always carries the Ahzirr Traajijazeri as a personal guide, he eats and sleeps(http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24605) and always has a steady supply of moonsugar. No using the local map or map markers (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26389), No fast traveling (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26389) he uses a horse to get around quickly but it often ends up becoming his dinner if money is tight. He attacks with stealth to gain a surprise attack advantage from a distance with his bow then closes the distance to attack with his khajiit cutlass (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11056). He is cautious and never initiates combat until the opportune moment.

He knows no love for Cyrodiil or it's people unless they are Khajiit and will murder for profit but not without reason so he does not draw attention to himself. He helps his own kind whenever he can and only helps those of the other races if it may help him gain influence for his cause (like helping the count(ess)s with their problems). He has a house in Riverhold in Elsweyr (mod) and when he is in Cyrodiil he stays in a shack on the Niben Bay near Bravil (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16513). He keeps little treasure for himself except spare armor and a few unique trinkets and sells the rest. He distrusts mages and magic in general. He is currently working his way up the ranks of the Blackwood Company (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17448) so that he may use them as pawns to take back Leyawiin for it's rightful owner Elsweyr; currently he is only a lieutenant but can at least get a few lackeys to follow him on the dirty jobs.

For me, characters evolve. It's like my writing - I can think and dwell on what I believe my charcters will be, say and do, but in the end, they break free of my control and do what they want.

However, some starting points:

- I'm sick of prisoner charcters. Yes, I understand it's a trademark of Bethesda and I'm sure when TESV comes out ... guess what? We'll be starting in prison again. I use an alternative start mod that delays the main quest and so I rarely start in prison any more. My characters are somewhat normal people: a student at the Arcane University, someone working/serving in the Imperial Legion, the layabout son or daughter of a Count. I try create something realistic.

- To support this principle, I avoid making teenage beauty queens as my characters (no offense, guys, probably appeals more to you than I). Take Note: I am not saying everyone does this. In fact, many people don't. I try to use real faces for my faces. Naturally, I'm not aiming for ugly, but I try to base my faces on real people who are 20-30 years old (about my age). I do occassionally play guys - who tend to be older, for some reason - but I find it harder to get into the character.

- Every character has a weakness. Others have said this and it's good roleplay. No one's good at everything. Pick a skill they're just not going to use.

- Every character has a backstory. How they came to be where they are as the game starts. Often it's written out in detail.

- Some characters are created for specific purposes. I created a Nord female to do the main quest; I created a Bosmer female to do the OOO Shadows in the Struggle for Power quest.

- I don't use hard and fast rules like "this character never uses magic". I play with a global 5x slowdown, so casting a couple of spells once in awhile isn't going to level up my skills anytime soon. It allows me to avoid what I feel are unrealistic moments like - opps, my bow broke. Guess my only option is to run or let this goblin beat me to death. So, most of my characters don't use blunt weapons, but if that's all that's available, she'll certainly defend herself.

- Using the global slowdown, nGCD and Progress, my levels advance very, very slowly. (Example: it takes over 5000 potions to just get to expert alchemy status - let alone master). Instead, I train my characters. This allows me greater and more unique character development. So, if I have a character that doesn't use a sword, and she never trains with blade, odds are ... she'll never get good enough to kill anyone with a blade, just by using one once in awhile. The things she will get good at are what she trains. I put limitations on training, but their not hard and fast. It's more like - train for five or ten levels, then go clear out four dungeons. Or go finish that quest X told you about ...

- My characters get paid for their work, thanks to the console. While this may seem like a cheat, I play - played, actually - with Living Economy set fairly hard. 200 septims for clearing out a bandit cave gives my character a place to sleep, a good meal, and a few gold to bank. A lot of the armor is, basiclaly, worthless. Of course, I just installed Enhanced Economy and was a little heavy-handed in my install. I might have to losen it up a bit if my character has NO money.

Stuff like that is what I do. Weird, I know. Just paint GEEK on my forehead.

~ Dani ~

Okay-- first (without even reading through the rest of the responses on the thread), there are two different concepts of what it means to "role play."

The first is to basically insert yourself into the game and do whatever is necessary to add to the realism of that-- to walk, get tired, sleep, get hungry, eat, get thirsty, drink, come in out of the rain, carry only as much as a person could legitimately carry, and so on.

The second is to create a detailed and fully developed character and basically just follow along and "play" that "role," whatever it might be-- to give the character desires and hopes and dreams and fears and then to just follow wherever that might lead.

I do the second, but I do it by very deliberately creating characters with just the barest outline of an idea, then simply following along and adding details to their personalities as the game goes on.

The one I generally use as an example is Bogmok, the Orc Mage. I created him as "an Orc mage." That's it. That's the only idea I had going into it-- he was an Orc and a mage.

On his first day out of the sewers, he went into Rindir's to sell off loot and buy a robe. I settled on the Tattered Robe, since I had this idea that he would be sort of humble and grungy. He put on his "new" tattered robe and walked out the door and the first person he met was Rochelle Bantien. He tried to engage her in conversation, and she dissed him-- gave him the "What do you want?" response or something like that. And right then, part of his personality was established. I just knew that he was hurt by that-- that he suddenly felt little and ugly and dirty and unwanted and that that dejected him. And it just spiralled from there. When he went to Cheydinhal and the Orcs there were rude to him (and yes-- they're rude to everybody), to him it was because he was an Orc mage and they looked down on him for that reason. When he finally made it into the Arcane University and tried to talk to one of the mages there and the mage said he didn't have the time to talk to him (and again, they say that to everybody) to him, it was because he's an Orc and they looked down on him because he's an Orc. And, honestly, not a very good mage. When he went to Leyawiin and met Mazoga (and that was love at first sight) and she was rude to him, she was rude to him. I know that she's rude to everybody, just because that's the way her character is written, but to him, yet again, she was rude because he's an incompetent, unattractive, shabbily dressed Orc mage. When he finished up helping her and they were made knights ("God's goolies!") and she was suddenly nice and friendly to him, his hope surged. To him, there was a chance after all-- he was going to win the love of this beautiful and powerful Orc maiden. Then when she just ignored him, other than to say she was going to go off and get herself some black bows and he could tag along if he liked, he was crushed again. She really didn't care about him at all. And he just felt that much worse because the last thing he really wanted to do was go off and deliberately pick fights with Black Bow Bandits-- an Orc could get hurt that way. Especially a poorly skilled Orc mage.

And so on.... All along the way, whatever it is that happens to any of my characters is interpreted through their eyes and their mind and means whatever it means to them. Even though I know that it's just a game and that the NPCs are doing what they're doing because that's what they're written to do, all of it's new to the characters, and all of it is seen by them according to their own personalities-- their own quirks and fears and doubts and desires. In the beginning, I generally have little if any idea of what those quirks and fears and doubts and desires might be-- that all just unfolds as I get to know the character. Sometimes they're established relatively early and then just built upon-- other times it takes a long time before a character demonstrates any really notable uniqueness. Sooner or later though, they all develop personalities of their own, and then I can just sort of sit back and watch as they live their own lives in Cyrodiil-- I just push the buttons necessary to get them to "play" the "role" they've fallen into.

And that's how I role. Play.


*edit to add* Now reading through the thread-- the alternative start mod that Dani mentioned is http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=25591. It's far and away the best alternative start mod I've ever seen, and I'm taking this opportunity to both thank her for linking it here in the first place :bowdown: and to share it with anyone else who might be interested.

I read every word, even though I've read it before.

You and Buffy (or maybe more accurately, Buffy and you?) were what originally inspired me to treat characters the way I do. Like you, I originally just played "myself" in the game (okay-- a buffer and more handsome version of myself), but that just got old. After reading about Buffy, I created Claudia, and that opened up a whole new world to me. I couldn't just make believe that I was doing all that stuff, because there was no way that I could make believe that I was her. SHE was her, and SHE was doing all that stuff, and all I could do was watch and push buttons. And since she was the one who was doing all that stuff, I had to figure out who she was and what she thought about it all.

Though Claudia's still around, and still one of my favorites (she's currently parked outside the Priory of the Nine, after a long series of adventures that I've outlined before and might just write out someday), as you've noticed, I have a bit of a short attention span with characters and an insatiable appetite for new ones. So Claudia just led to Kyla (a character for whom I have more respect than most of the people I know) and Bogmok and Vorlin and Dave and Hale and Mindi (and oh how I love Mindi) and Lydia and Clive and Sees-Two-Fish and Z'ren and Jibran and......

And that's what's kept me interested this long.


I think that's a good thing.........

It's fascinating how many dark assassin type roleplays there are.

Well, mine's not really dark, just ...complicated. After she'll come to realise her ways are not the way to go, abandons her evil ways and join the bright side (They have cookies! :cookie:) by the way of the

I try to make unique classes/builds, stuff like Argonian Witchdoctor, Nord Hunter/trapper, Imperial beguiling vampire ala interview with a vampire, High elf necromancer, wood elf Illusionist, breton Daedric archaeologist, Orc Crusader, Khajiit pirate/skooma slave smuggler, just to name a few

Me too.

The legendary Acadian and Buffy simply does not get old.

My relation to Angel is a similar one although she wasn't really planned ahead of time. I had just lost Sarrah, my 'Girl-Next-Door' who had been shoved into a world she didn't understand. Her hormones were just kicking into high gear and suddenly the activity of the day was not love but killing. She reacted by going a little crazy. Not the Shivering Isles kind of crazy. She closed 38 Oblivion gates by killing everything inside them first.

Around that time, I read a thread about how there were no children and someone said something about being able to set the size of a player. I got this idea that my new character would be the first and only child in Cyrodiil.

What started as a whim has been a fascinating look at the assumptions of the games 'world-view' through the eyes of a child. It also was a chance to look back at who and what I was as a boy and question whether or not I lived up to the promises and expectations I had for myself. I certainly don't measure up to Angel but she happily shares her life with me.

I based my newest Character off of a system of random number generations. I did this by rolling for personality type, birthsign, race, class type, etc. It's fun to try to put yourself into a personality that you know nothing about until you start the character.

I came up with a Khajiit Warrior by the name J'Niista, and he has been one of the most fun Characters I've had so far.

Clever approach. I tend to play only one character at a time and my choices have been generally the stodgy human types with a wild. radical. foray into a mer. After only four years of playing, I guess it's good not to rush things.

I also read all of your descriptions of Angel. She's a fascinating character, and I've been at least tempted to do the same thing-- to create and play a child. I'm not quite sure how that would work out though, and tempted though I am, I'm also sort of wary of it. We'll see....

And I did very blatantly steal your idea of "retiring" a mage character to be a researcher. I already had an arch-mage who had leveled up to the point that it just wasn't much fun to play him any more, so I just moved him into the AU and use him the same way-- since he's master or close to it in all the magic skills, he can test anything I dream up.


That's a great idea. I'm going to do that.... probably in just a few minutes-- just assign numbers to all the choices and roll away and play whatever I get.

Just like the luck of the genetic "dice".......

Just a note, Dani, but one fun area of making a character a "teen beauty queen" is that she is far more dangerous than her looks might make people assume.
:D

Think of Josh Whedon's Buffy or River Tam, or the many, many heroines of Japanese stories regardless of the target audience. Or... I guess consider a person like Morgan Webb who often has had assumptions made about her due to her appearance rather than her technical skills.

So, just saying that part of the fun of such a character is that her actual abilities are not per stereotype of "helpless princess" or anything like that. It's an interesting roleplay, I think.

... although ... I suppose it might also be interesting to try to roleplay a "helpless princess" type, but not sure how long you could survive in Cyrodiil...

Angel and Sarah predate Buffy. For it is Angel, and to an even greater extent, Sarah that showed Buffy and I the way. Thanks bobg.

I love Morgan Webb and not just becaue she looks good there's just something about a girl who has technical skills.....lol.

I think my original concept of Sarrah fell into that category. She was the typical Girl-Next-Door with dreams of being the Homecoming Queen. With her arrest for a mistaken identity, her world became a nightmare involving, secret sects, Imperial guards and world of violence.

I live in a house with five very serious female gamers, ages 17 to 50. Games that force them to play males or that force them to choose an appearance that they find unappealing are not played very long. The Witcher does not go down well in this house, lol.

"Teenage Beauty Queen" syndrome does not just apply to guys.

Very..carefully.. :ninja:
But no really, I just kind of go with the flow depending on what character I'm playing. I never cease to amaze myself honestly. ^_^

I really like the OP idea of tending to the horse at the stable. I must remember to do the basket and apples thing when my new character gets a horse.

A few things I do -
1. Swimming with armor on is a big no, no, for me. Role play characters should also change clothes regulary. When sleeping, visiting towns etc.
2. Religious characters always 'kneel' before the chapel altars before they use the cleansing function. (I click the sneak button, which makes the character feel as if they are praying)
3. After washing clothes I leave them out to dry in the sun. This makes for some fun encounters if a bear wanders by!!
4. Using a torch in the rain is another no,no. Illusion spells are allowed.
5. Speaking of rain I always seek shelter in a heavy downpour. Most times the character will put on a hood, helmet to cover the head.
6. When renting a room I use that time to mix all my alchemy. It is the last activity I do before sleeping.
7. I always talk to guards before entering a town. My character is always keen to hear the latest rumor.
8. If my character joins the Uni he/she must spend time at the lectures. Sitting down with the other students adds to the RP.

There are actually lectures at the University? I never knew that, then again that last time I gained access was before I even RP'ed so I guess I never noticed. Mind telling what times the lectures are?