Chat RPG - Basics

Whether you're new to RPG or not - Roleplaying in chatrooms is alto different than anything else. It requires similar skills to games like Dungeons and Dragons and Final Fantasy, but alot of completely new ideas that are vital to learn.

Lesson One: Creating and controlling your Character

So, you wanna play RPG eh? First you gotta get your character sorted. it's recommened that you do not steal characters from movies or books, because you can't be sure how they'll react to different situations. Your character has to be as unique as possible, it's also good if they are alot like you, then you can act them more personally.

Looks. They don't play a big part, but they give uniqueness and visuality ot the story. You can casually drop in a few hints of appearance as you go, or describe before you start. As for me? I draw my character.

Powers + Weapons.. Hell yea! The major upside to RPG from real life is that you can be pretty much as wild and creative as you want. You can be a plain human, or you can be a gun-toting western cowboy with a cyborg eye, no one really cares. Hell, you can even be a bloody dragon. Keep your powers limited though, or else you'll be branded a GodModer- More on that later. A good combo for RPG is natural ability + fancy weapon. Take Neci-Nox: Kick ass fire powers, and a hydraulic mace for back-up force. It's useful to stick to one type of style, and not change your weapons/powers around unless you started with more than one.

Moving around the cyber world: Not as easy as it sounds. For complicated realms, the Dungeon Master (DM) might supply a map, or description. In other cases, pick a place where everyone wil know how thigns are set out. A bar, for example. We've all been in a bar at some point, and they pretty much all look the same.

Now, you move your character using 'actions' between action marks, or astericks. Action marks come in lots of forms, and when everyone uses a different action, it's sometimes easier to see who's doing what. Below are an array of different symbols used in chatrooms:
:: Colon, doubled or not.
< /> Chevron. Increasing in popularity, doubled or not.
- Hyphen, one of the main-stream ones.
* Asterick, a good ol' classic. Probably the first one ever used.
. Full stop - Hard to see, very rare.

Any others you see are rouges, these are the main ones. Anyway, anything put between action marks is an action, it means that the person writing it is doing something, or their character is doing something. Make sure you know who is doing what. They are read as if the person's, or their character's name is stuck in before hand. Example. If i was playing someone called Emma and I said *puts a hand on Harry's shoulder* It would read the same as 'Emma puts a hand on Harry's shoulder.' . Instead of using the subject's name; in this case 'Harry', you can put you, your, his or her, but make sure oyu know that the person who you've involving knows you're talking to them - Or else you'll end up with a black eye you didn't deserve. Thats all there is to it. Actions are used everyday in chatrooms in general conversation, not just when you are roleplaying, so be careful who you start hacking at with your swords, kay?

Lesson two: Godmoding

We all hate this. You're kicking ass in your citadel when suddenly someone claiming to be immortal shows up and kills you with a death strike with his leg that has been cut of, burnt, boiled in acid and then magically grown back. It boggles the mind how these immature nobodies think they can dominate the RPG realm with invicibility and death moves. There are a few main sterotypes to look out for:

The Techno-Dweeb. This guy will come into a MEDEIVEL realm and start killing everyone with super-charged electromagnetic waves. The thing about Sci-Fi roleplay is you can make up big names for things that kill people and it sounds cool; but you gotta know the limitations of these weapons. Seriously, where would a vampire get a phaser rifel? I sure wouldn't sell one to a dude with blood on his hands.
The God. This person will claim that they are A god, or THE god, and they will never let you convince otherwise. Think about what gods are like, immortal, unlimited magical powers, and very vengeful. It just isn't fair when you're an elf-maiden armed with a slingshot.
The Devil. These guys are pathetic attention seekers and will go to any lengths to show that they are the most evil thing created, whihc usually involves eating your victims, growing back bodyparts, raising the dead. Basically it's a bad-ass version of The God. Don't confuse this with Demons. Demons are Demi-mortals and although they may posses powers, theres nothing cutting it's head off won't finish.
The Magician. So, you're surrounded by killer zombies and your brain is about to become an appetizer; what do you do? Why, you whip out a giant mega pulse cannon out of you pocket and start blasting heads. These guys will make weapons appear out of nowhere. and suddenly obtain powers they didn't start with. A fine example is a half-fish humanoid (and by gum, thats not very powerful unless you're in a lake) who for some reason, grows horns and starts breathing fire.
Gun-toting jackass. No better name for it. Guns are seriously unfair in RPG, becuase they allow instant death unless you have a snappy comback. They will try to impress you by quoting style or types of gun, when all you really need to know is that it goes bang. These are not too threatening, but they piss me off so bad.
DeadShot. Any one of these types of god moder can become a deadshot. All you need to do is think up an attack that will kill your opponent instantly. In many forms, this is usually a poorly executed 'death strike', that has no real meaning to why it causes death when it strikes you. Other forms of deadshot are axe-weilders, who will cut off your head to end it quickly. Whats the fun in that? The point of RPG is to beat your opponent, yes, but in doing so, be tactile, skillful and logical. Thats what makes it fun. When you're fighting a hoard/swarm/army/minions - this is okay, because otherwise it just drags out too long for you to get to the boss.
Ghosties. Once you kill your opponent, usually all there is left to do is bury the corpse (or incinerate it, heh heh), but noooo! Death isn't the end for these guys. They will 'haunt' you and deliver punches and attacks, even though they are already dead. when you tell them this, they will say 'I'm a zombie/i'm a ghost/i'm immortal/i'm invincibal/you missed me'

There are some cases when respectable players can go bad, either in desperation, or simply becuase they forget fair play. Death strikes are okay when your opponent is weak, and already has no chance of defeating you., but otherwise, no. If you're on a planet, don't conjure up a planet-sized ball of energy and throw it. If you miss, you'll blow yourself up aswell as your opponent. Give your opponent a chance to reply with a counter-attack, or a dodge, unless you're just carrying on with your last attack if it's got more than a few moves in it. Weapons are last resort only, please. Because they are the ones that will most probably give the death blow.

Lesson three : Direct vs Indirect attacking

This is a very important rule that many peope subconsiously know about, but no one has really given it a proper name. The best way to explain it, is through example:

Okay, heres the scene. Neci draws out her mace. her opponent is on the floor; not too injured, just a few minor scrapes. If this hits full force, she's a goner. There are two ways Neci could attack:

-Swings back my mace full force and swings it at you- This is an Indirect attack. It's left open for the opponent to choose what to do. The opponent could..

Block the attack, using sheild, body part (using your hand to stop a mace is not recommended) or own weapon.
Counter attack - Execute an attack that will sway the mace off course (Either attack mace, or striker)
Dodge - Roll out of the way, jump aside, duck.

-Swings my mace back and sends it slamming full-force into your chest- This is a Direct attack. The opponent has no choice but to take it on the chin.. er.. chest. It is the opponent's choice how much damage is done, and how this has moved your position, if at all. Be reasonable people. You get a siked mace into your chest - you're not gonna come out of it without a scratch. If you're wearing armour, please say beforehand, otherwise it is unfair to the attacker, who didn't know this.

A good roleplayer will always use a reasonable amount of both Direct and Indirect attacks, to give the fight more varience, and allow some feedback from your opponent other than 'ow'. There are some tips that can help you decide whether your attack should be direct, or indirect:

If you don't want to kill your opponent, just make them faint or weaken them - use indirect. Knocking something out of the way, counter attacking or dodging will waste energy and make their health wane further.
If you have lightning speed, use indirect. Your opponent should know that lightning-fast moves can't be dodged, so why make it any more obvious that you are the instrument of their defeat?
If you attack is weak, use direct. It won't hurt too bad if it hits, so why not let them decide how much they want to suffer off of your pint-sized fireball?
For very strong or special attacks, use direct. You don't wanna cook up a fancy move to let it be dodged. It just wastes too much energy. Besides - most special techniques are unavoidable of done right.
Finishing moves, that last blow for vengance. Drag it out a bit, make them SUFFER. parry alot of mild-strength direct hits, but finish with an indirect. Your opponent should know that they can't dodge an attack if their legs are broken.

Lesson four : Sparring

Oh joy of joys! Sparring is a good riot of fun when you can get it done right. the different between fighting and sparring is that the person you spar with has agreed to fight you, set time, set place. They will probably already know your attacks and you are fighting to train and win, but not kill your opponent. Many sparring matches occur between friends, or in tournaments.

There ARE some rules in sparring that doesn't reall go down well. but rules are rules. If you break alot, many people won't want to spar with you anymore, and you can lose valuable opponents this way. (No one wants to play poker with a guy who hides aces up his sleeve) Some are negligable, in my opinion, and one-offs can be overlooked.

Don't surprise attack your opponent first move - thats totally unfair! You BOTH need to be ready.
It's unfair to have mis-matched power levels. If oyu know oyu can'\t beat a guy, don't challange him. If you think you can squash a guy blindfolded, don't challenge him (Even though this is the funnest way to fight. Accepting challenges from little guys who don't know better is helarious, and by all means, I say squish 'em.)
Don't kill your opponent. If you're fighting a friend, they might not be your friend anymore. If you're in a tournament, you'll get disqualified.
Taunting is a good idea if you're weak. It makes your opponent angry and puts him off focus.. sometimes. In other times it'll make him even more angry and he'll crush you. It's a good idea not to taunt unless you're reeeeally confidant.
Who ever said that offence is the best defence was an asshole. Continuous offense will leave you short of energy and as weak as a kitten(Energy debt - more on that in a moment). A good strategy is to defend untill you see an opening in your opponents tactics, or until he's really weak from attacking. Then sock him one.
Many of the rules you can pick up on reading the godmoding chapter. This is all seriously important.

Energy debt

You've probably all seen this in action on DBZ, when Goku says that he's so weak from using too much of his energy, and wondered 'Why? Just go get some more.' Well sorry to break it to you my friend, but it doesn't work like that. The energy you use to launch any sort of attack is called youi Ki energy - Your lifeforce. This is the energy that keeps you alive, using too much of it will make you weak. Using all of it will make you die. The more Ki you have, the more powerful your attacks will be, and the more stamina you'll have. any kind of movement uses up Ki, and hte more complex the movement, the more Ki you will use.

Moving normally will drain your ki, but only negligable amounts. don't worry about it.
Punches and kicks drain a bit more, but if you punch steadily and not to often, this is also negligable.
Barrage attacks are wen you punch or kick very fast in one attack. they use up quite alot. The 'burst zones' you see on DBZ where their arms are all in a blur, thats whats I'm talking about.
Energy blasts drain the most power. Your power energy attacks, from natural abilities, wil luse up less than a full-focus raw Ki attack. Too many of these attacks and you'll faint.