Experiences RP's outside your usual comfort zone?

[Jannah]

I figured this would be fun to discuss.

Obviously we all have our preferred genres and we rarely deviate from that. Our "comfort zones" so to speak. However, I'm sure that at least some of us have deviated from it somewhat, or at least have considered doing so. Either because a friend wanted us to join their game or we simply wanted to try something new and expand our own horizons.

If so, what was/is yours? What is one RP you would participate in or have participated in that was outside of your usual "comfort zone" or genres of interest?

My answer would have to be RP's pertaining to sports or games competitions. Think things like chess tournaments, Olympic sports, etc. I'm not even particularly into sports myself, but I like the idea of a RP centred around different athletes all competing to reach the top. Such a premise seems like it would have a perfect balance of fluff, action, slice of life, angst, and drama. This is especially true in a tournament as prestigious as the Olympics. I can already imagine subplots about bitter rivalries, performance sabotage, and all those other juicy scandals that occur in the sporting world. Rarely do I participate in modern realistic settings, but I am willing to do so when there's more of a premise beyond slice of life.

 

[Onmyoji]

For me it would be modern/realistic slice of life. I usually do fandom or fantasy/historical rp with a lot of action and angst, and almost never touch modern settings, unless there is some magic element involved.

Also, playing female characters. I rarely do that. It's always either MxM or my partner prefers to play F, and I don't mind. I've been playing exclusively male characters for so long that it has become my comfort zone too.

However, a few months ago I decided to go wild and try something I haven't done before! Modern/realistic fluffy slice of life where I'm playing a female character!
I can say that it's still out of my comfort zone and I probably wouldn't do another modern slice of life anytime soon. But with the right partner and with the right characters, it can be a lot of fun! It's been going strong for a few months already and I'm enjoying it a lot. Sometimes it really feels like a breath of fresh air because the character I'm playing is very different from what I usually play and I need to get into a different mindset for this rp. The story is actually progressing, the relationships between the characters are developing, and we're starting to add more side characters to expand plot lines and character interactions. It ended up being a very 'feel-good' roleplay. I'm glad I decided to give it a go despite not being in my comfort zone.

 

[dangerfluff]

This is a good question. I hope to see more posts on this thread.

Medieval fantasy always feels a bit outside my scope! I've had some great experiences with it, though.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Once I joined one of those slice of life neighborhood RP because one of my friend did. Turns out I'm not American enough to enjoy that.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

- A roleplay of a Hogwarts-esque school for changelings. It was a GM-guided sandbox with politics, character growth, and other drama. The fae was a very loose concept to keep it open-ended for creativity. It was my first "hardcore" fantasy game after years of slice of life, not counting my failed attempts at joining urban supernatural games, and I have very little knowledge on mythology. Basically, my character was a frat boy whose fae self belonged to the Centzon Tōtōchtin. It was a fun meme. I struggled to keep up and I was still a flighty/irresponsible player at the time, so I didn't last for long, even though it was a very well-run game that ended up lasting for a little over two years.

- Actually GMing a game that allows some flexibility in terms of the story/setting based on the characters. It's Dragon Heist and I have lot of supporting materials for making it a sandbox, but it's been a nice way to step out of my comfort zone of actually having to lead a group in a genre that I'm still not adept in.

 

[StuartAnderson]

doing fantasy/adventure type.

I tend to go for modern/realistic type but I did have an idea for a fantasy roleplay and it had a bit of interest but it never took off.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

I wonder what is the line between "out of comfort zone" and "not interested", there's a lot of things I'm just not interested in RPing about, but I wouldn't say I'd be uncomfortable if I had to RP it, I probably would just think "this is kind of boring".

 

[Perpetual Zen]

Military or heavy combat like zombies. I just have a really hard time with them

 

[seraphsun]

fandoms that i have no interest in, also anything that's a modern setting or slice-of-life (fandoms only). i hard block anyone who wants to RP pregnancy with me or topics with pregnancy involved. i just can't be bothered to touch anything that's a modern setting. isekai bores me too.

 

[Jannah]

I wonder what is the line between "out of comfort zone" and "not interested", there's a lot of things I'm just not interested in RPing about, but I wouldn't say I'd be uncomfortable if I had to RP it, I probably would just think "this is kind of boring".

When I wrote the OP I was more so thinking things we just find boring, but I also left it open to interpretation.

 

[Lorsh]

slice of life

 

[Perpetual Zen]

slice of life

kindasortasame depending on the sort of slice of life

 

[P_Roach]

high fantasy. it's something I am interested in but perhaps a little intimitated by. modern/realistic is so much easier as we obviously know all about it. but creating whole new worlds/speices/powers/ etc can be a bit overwhelming