Advice/Help About controlling another player's character

[Khonsu]

If i want to control another player's character, like in a fight or similar fast paced scenario, how much should I control the character? Especially if the group has a minimum paragraph limit. And if I shouldn't, what can I use as filler?

 

[Onmyoji]

You shouldn't. People usually take it very negatively.
If there is a need to do it, discuss it with the player in advance and agree on appropriate course of action. But be prepared that they would say no, and in that case just try to agree on the outcome.

 

[Idea]

Exactly as stated above. I would also recommend doing things like stating the character’s plans, being descriptive in regards to your character’s body (I” I punched him” vs “I raised my fist behind me, clenching it. You could practically see the veins as I swung it down to his ugly mug”), thoughts and emotions, noting the state of the environment and positioning of the characters within it, and lastly you can bring up things that help show the character’s investment in the fight and their reasons for it. The why and the emotions placed in a fight often work far more towards a really interesting/ satisfying battle than just the choreography of it.

That said, I would try to get off the mindset of making “filler”. It’s a recipe for bad posts when you start thinking of the stuff you’re putting them as something you’re only adding to fill up space. Yes, if there arerequirements there are times when you do need to fill up space, but rather than approaching it as “how can I get some more lines in”, try thinking of “what haven’t I explored yet about this portion of the scene”.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

I wouldn't control another person's character, but I might collaborate with them to streamline the process of writing the fight. It can be a good way to make your posts longer without a "filler" mentality, and can also make them smoother to read. Think of it less as a competition between the characters, and more as co-ordinating something that is either enjoyable to read, good for the narrative, or both depending on what the roleplay calls for.

There are multiple ways to do it, but basically you just discuss what the roleplay calls for and either A- Roleplay the fight privately and as laconically as you need to and then merge your entries into one post OR B- Designate a roleplayer to write the fight entry based on what everyone involved has decided.

Most importantly, you should make sure anyone who may want their character to intervene in the fight is involved just as much as the characters who are initially fighting.

 

[Redfork2000]

As a general rule, it's never really a good idea to control the other person's character unless you've asked the other person in advance and have received their permission to do so. I've had this happen a lot on RPs on another site I used to be in, where some of the less experienced roleplayers would frequently write how the other person's character reacts to their character's attack, and well, it definitely led to some trouble.

Normally in a combat situation, my rule of thumb is to only describe what my character does, and let the other person decide how effective it was. So instead of writing that my character punched theirs, knocking them down onto the floor, I'd only write that my character punched them with all their strength, and let the other person decide how much their character was affected by the punch. That way I don't step in anyone's space by deciding things for them. I always like to keep that space of respect for everyone's characters, as I know I'd feel upset if someone for my character. If in any case I feel like the other person isn't being fair, I discuss it with them separately.

I agree with what StrixDesmodus said, it's important to make sure to avoid the pitfall of making it feel like a competition. Sure, the characters want to win the fight, but for the writers what matters the most is to write something engaging, that progresses the narrative, etc. Back on another site, I had someone I roleplayed a lot with, and I remember that when significant fights between main characters took place, we discussed what we thought would be the best way for the fight to go. Which character should come out on top, or if the fight should even reach a point where one character can be said to have "won", or if they would end in a stalemate, or if a third party would break up the fight before it could conclude. Sometimes we improvised and didn't plan much beforehand, but when it was a significant fight that we needed to agree on how to proceed with it, we planned it further in detail to make sure both of us agreed with how to play it out.

As for reaching post requirements, what I would recommend is to focus on more than just the raw actions that are taking place. What is the character's thought process? What is on his mind? What is he feeling at the moment? Does the environment affect the fight in any way? For example, if there's any furniture or other items nearby, perhaps as the fight progresses the characters may accidentally damage some of the objects nearby, or perhaps even use them as weapons to hit each other with. Or if a character is wounded, it might be a good idea to mention how that affects the character as well. Why are the character's fighting? What does your character feel about this fight? The character's body language, their expression, their thoughts and emotions, it all paints a lot more detail than the actions themselves. One thing I learned as I became a better writer is to not only state the actions, but to also transmit the emotions and the ambience as well. It takes a while to get used to, but it can be a great way to add detail to your posts, while providing a more intense atmosphere, and also show how your character feels about the fight.

There's also the possibility of writing the fight separately with the other person, and then posting the whole thing as a single post, which can also work if you feel like you don't have any good ways of reaching the post requirement without adding filler. So the two of you could play it out together, make a collaborative post, and then post it all as a single post. Once again quoting StrixDesmodus , both ideas are great ways to do this:

" There are multiple ways to do it, but basically you just discuss what the roleplay calls for and either
A- Roleplay the fight privately and as laconically as you need to and then merge your entries into one post OR
B- Designate a roleplayer to write the fight entry based on what everyone involved has decided. "

Agreeing with what Idea said, I definitely encourage you to explore different aspects that you might haven't considered yet. The thoughts, the emotions, the environment, the motives, everything helps to add detail and further flesh out the scene. When I started writing longer posts, I naturally found it difficult at first to keep up, but once I got comfortable working with more details and exploring more than just the actions that take place, I found myself easily reaching post lengths I wouldn't have ever dreamed of reaching before. Having the mentality of adding more detail and exploring new aspects of the scene will naturally provide you with more content and detail, and it'll make your post much more fun to write and to read than to go with the mentality of figuring out how to add more lines to your post.