Experiences The Things You Do That Other RPers Find Odd!

[Merciless Medic]

So, I lot of what I do that usually takes me hours to complete is what a lot of people find weird.

Not only do I try to make a really detailed Character Sheet for my character (it usually is one I have reused a lot, so it won't take much), but if it is a Pokemon or if I'm explaining the skills they have or powers, I basically grab as many resources as I can and start explaining everything.

And I mean everything.

In one of the RPs I joined, I had several people get slightly irritated and ask me "why did you put 40-50 different moves on each of your Pokemon if a good third or less of these moves ever will be used in combat? Not only that, you added what your Pokemon look like when using these moves and the actual probabilities you most likely ripped from Bulbapedia, even though life doesn't work in probabilities in the way you describe. Most people won't use the probability system. You do realize the GM has to read all that, right?"

I paraphrased multiple posts into one, but you get the idea.

I didn't think that was an issue. I thought it was brilliant and I was a little hurt that I spent six hours compiling all the moves the Pokemon would have likely learned, why or how they learned it, if it was even up their alley to learn it based on their Battle Style, and explained what the moves do and their probabilities of something happening in combat only to get people mad at me. As well as any aesthetic stuff they'd do if Contests or any other "show off my skillz" are a thing in the RP.

Along the same lines, I have gone through an extended list of applications for a character's powers before realizing I can just have the character not have this latent knowledge and develop it more organically in the RP.

I also rarely ever play characters who aren't as knowledgeable or who rarely make mistakes. I don't like having my characters look stupid or get them embarrassed, even though I don't mind seeing them suffer physically and emotionally like having their friend die or something. But I can't handle not RPing characters who aren't knowledgeable in multiple fields. Like.... I don't know why. Maybe it's because I don't like dumbing myself down to write my character like that, but I have just recently found that it is more funny to give them mistakes because then I can ruin their fake lives (mwahahaha). Then again, I'll make my characters make mistakes by giving them a lapse in memory or something. I don't mind if my characters don't know something, but it is just easier and less cringy for me if they knew just as much as I did about something (like Pokemon and remembering that Normal-Types are immune to Ghost-Type attacks). However, I can make student characters (that aren't my main ones) have as much spotlight and be as little knowledgeable and get as many things wrong as I want to without feeling like I'm losing brain cells writing it out. XD I don't mind if I read another characters' events made from another RPer either (it is actually really entertaining), I just prefer not to write my characters like that. XD

In terms of the type of characters I prefer to RP that other people find odd, it really depends on the circle of RPers I find myself in. Some of these circles really find it odd that either my characters are largely Straight (because I am that sexuality and it is more comfortable for me to play as that) even though their actions can be confused as stereotypically another sexuality, or I make them bisexual. I rarely, if ever, make them outright homosexuals (except for a few of my main characters in Pokemon-centered RPs). In other circles, I found people found it odd I had a character who was bisexual or homosexual, and yet they subverted the trope of that character so hard that they wouldn't have known if I didn't detail it in my character sheet. Other people find it odd that I make a really hyper competent trainer for battles and/or knowledge stuff and rarely do I ever make anyone "grow" or develop into a better trainer.

I also have made people think I'm some sort of fluffy bunny mixed with the penchant for sadism, mainly because I am not a fan of most angsty romance tropes and I prefer just to have people suffer brutal events instead. I can play romance, though it is usually fluffy and light-hearted, something to have characters look forward to when they just survived the many layers of the hellscape that is their new life after I put them through the ringer. While I do RP more light-hearted RPs, they aren't mine by creation and I end up trying to fit a bit of realism in the fight scenes or whatever scenes I do that makes it just slightly on the border of PG-13 to Teen. I can also play romance scenes that have love triangles, but don't expect me to drag it out as I am not a huge fan of them and they just make me cringe.

As far as types of RP I prefer to RP as that other people find odd, I get tired of playing the superhero high school RPs or those with other kinds of wacky stuff. I don't like playing high school RPs at all actually. Maybe I'll do some My Hero Academia stuff, but that's about it.

Other than that, I think that's all.

Sorry if a good portion of that was me or others complaining about what I do, but these are just experiences I have done that made people think either "odd" or "weird" whenever they do RP with me.

 

[Jet]

Merciless Medic

When you make a massive CS, you're subjecting a GM to a huge, boring read.

Character sheets are boring and uninteresting to other people, because they haven't seen your character in action yet. They have no emotional connection to your character, so a CS is just a huge exposition dump to them. Most people won't read them, or will only read the short ones, but the GM needs to read the whole thing. And let me tell you, that's not fun lmao.

To be honest, what you should've done was a bullet style move list. In that case the 40+ moves would be about 60-80 words depending on the names. That's not a problem, and anyone who complains about 60-80 words needs to get a grip, but reading a thousand word moveset would annoy me as a GM.

This comes down to another commonly accepted belief about character sheets, they're a tool. They're utilitarian, meant to give other players a vague idea who the character is. It's also there so the GM can check for broken powers or nonsensical backstory. The more work required to reach that information, the more frustrated people will be. Or they won't read, which is the most common reaction to behemoth CSs.

If you want to write a huge amount of information about your character, I suggest a personal document you disseminate once people care about your character. If they're not interested then, at least it's a handy reference for you, so either way it's a win.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Jet

Well, I understood that much. xD I forgot to mention it in my last post, but I understood why it was stupid a day after my mistake. I did do a whole bullet point list. Like this:



This is what my list consisted of, just think more moves and a full list like that for six Pokemon.

Yea, it's an extensive read and I felt bad afterward for doing that to the GMs. XD

I didn't exactly care much about my character like that, I just really like making bullet point lists and basic explanations of stuff. I made a more extensive list on a Word Document, but that's it. xD

This character sheet in general is 3 years old, so I'm kind of cringing right now. xD

 

[AppleJuice]

I personaly never describe my oc's appearance (Other than height) I just say "my profile pic"

 

[Crow]

Before I start, what do you all feel about inserting things like 'ATTEMPT TO hit' or 'HOPEFULLY dealt a massive blow' integrated into Roleplays?

As time passes, I start to feel that, while I understand why they're there, it starts to feel very... gamey persay. Not good for narrative flow.

How about things that are done for the sake of 'fairness'? When everyone gets their vague concept powers at the same time as opposed to them getting them through character arcs one by one. And yes, I am talking about assorted Persona RPs I am browsing. "No Wild Card" my ass.

Of course, that up there depends on what kind of story you want to tell. But if you're taking a preexisting concept, stay loyal to its core.

Maybe it reaches the point where no one wants to be the leader, and even the GM thinks it's unfair that they, the one who's meant to DRIVE THE PLOT, shouldn't be leader.

There's humility, and there's dooming your roleplay.

 

[Jet]

Crow

I agree that attempt attacks can be annoying sometimes, usually when the attack is complex or has multiple steps. That said you can't allow auto-hits, but the workaround is easy, just communicate OOC or do collab posts.

But if your attack is simple, like shooting a gun, you can go with something like "Joe shot at Jimmy" and the result is left to the other person. But if you're going for something like a grapple/submission attack, attempting every step could take three or four posts lol.

 

[Aoh]

Before I start, what do you all feel about inserting things like 'ATTEMPT TO hit' or 'HOPEFULLY dealt a massive blow' integrated into Roleplays?

Not going to lie, I've used these during combat scenes with people I have not been writing with long. Even communicating about it, if you call hits some people feel like you're controlling their character so I'll usually keep it to their discretion if the attack lands.

 

[Crayons]

Before I start, what do you all feel about inserting things like 'ATTEMPT TO hit' or 'HOPEFULLY dealt a massive blow' integrated into Roleplays?

As time passes, I start to feel that, while I understand why they're there, it starts to feel very... gamey persay. Not good for narrative flow.

I don't mind it at all. It shows intent, gives them something to react to. In a fight/battle the opponent should be able to read the intent of the blow from body language and such like so it makes sense to include it in a succinct way verbally. Roleplay does have a game element. If narrative flow is all that is required there are other media that work better for that.

Maybe it reaches the point where no one wants to be the leader, and even the GM thinks it's unfair that they, the one who's meant to DRIVE THE PLOT, shouldn't be leader.

There's humility, and there's dooming your roleplay.

In GMing as in RL I find myself relunctantly taking leadership roles cos no one else wants them. XD

 

[Merciless Medic]

Before I start, what do you all feel about inserting things like 'ATTEMPT TO hit' or 'HOPEFULLY dealt a massive blow' integrated into Roleplays?

I could just hear the godmodders and trolls rejoicing that this is getting attention. XD

On a more serious note, I do agree with everyone here stating that auto-hits shouldn't be a thing. Given that there are some people who are control freaks about their characters or understand their abilities far better than the other RPers who aren't RPing that person's character (or you know having a player vastly super OPs or overexaggerates their character's abilities, but that's a different story), it's probably a good idea not to force hits or to control their character outright. Talking about it OOC and then collabing is usually the best way to go if you want to do multiple step executions.

If OOC is not available for whatever reason, I usually list the future actions of what that character would take and see how far the other person will allow how much of that action to slide.

Spoiler: Example

Player A: Assassin lady runs at the barbarian woman and goes for the exposed stomach with her dual short swords, slicing her daggers in the air to slice the other's stomach open. If the barbarian goes for an attack, she's prepared to dodge out of the way and will do so.

Player B: Barbarian woman grunts in pain, but keeps it together as her rage is initiated, and she kicks towards the assassin lady to make her fall backwards, but sees that her attack was missed due to the assassin's awareness. Enraged, the barbarian rushes forward and swings her warhammer towards the assassin, aiming for the torso.

Player A: Assassin lady goes low again, using the opening created by the barbarian to slip around before going at the ankles, hoping beyond hope the barbarian didn't have the reflexes to move her ankles out of the way of her stabbing motion. If the barbarian woman does move her ankles, she'll just slice upwards.

Player B: Barbarian woman attempts to move her ankles out of the way, and misses the first attack. However, the ensuing slash made by the assassin had caught up her calf and she hissed a little before swinging her torso around. Using her warhammer as an aid in grappling, she attempted to take the assassin's body and squeeze it between her own body and the warhammer. If she succeeded, she will immediately ram her head into the assassin and also twist the warhammer painfully across the spine, hopefully preventing the assassin from attacking if she tried anything funny.

Player A: The assassin didn't dodge out of the way fast enough and was squeezed between metal and flesh as she felt the air rush out of her lungs. She got her swords ready, but felt the twist of the warhammer on her spine and she felt a muscle get pulled before a sudden bash to the head sent her reeling and dropping her weapons. If she were standing up by herself, she would have fallen over. That didn't exactly matter though, as she passed out between the head trauma and lack of air.

Yea, narrative isn't exactly the greatest (also I made this really fast and it's like... 1 am XD), but this is an RP with other people who want to RP their characters. You have to give them a chance to respond back. If you have a string of actions planned and don't want to spend really short posts making them and OOC is rather difficult to establish for whatever reason, then just do a string of hypothetical actions that could still happen if the other player wishes to indulge in them or disrupt the sequence by dodging.

I have done so many of these (especially for more real-time Pokemon battles) that it's practically ingrained in my writing style. XD Almost to the point where it bleeds into my own stories But yea, it's doable. While it may not sound good, there are other ways to say "attempt" or "hopefully" like what I showed above. Of course, it also requires a bit of trust and/or respect to make sure the characters' abilities and feats are showcased to their fullest extent instead of going into a pissing match. XD

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

I use the same characters over and over, tweaking their personalities and other such things to fit their backstories and the rp, itself. Why? 'Cause it's fun!

I love exploring how many different directions my OCs can go! My doctor character with the strictest morals snapped in one of my rps, and that was the first time any of his versions had killed anyone, and it was just like I was playing a new character, except my writing was good!

Writing new characters for me is often a rocky process because I need time to let their personalities and mannerisms set in. I trade quantity for quality, there, because I don't like cardboard cutouts.

 

[ScatheAriiasqDrayceon]

Before I start, what do you all feel about inserting things like 'ATTEMPT TO hit' or 'HOPEFULLY dealt a massive blow' integrated into Roleplays?

As time passes, I start to feel that, while I understand why they're there, it starts to feel very... gamey persay. Not good for narrative flow.

Usually, this might just be me, but I leave the sentences kind-of... cut off, I guess.

So like

Spoiler

Jet ducked into a roll, digging his staff into the ground as he neared and kicking out a leg aimed for Char's midsection. He didn't even have the mind to check if the hit landed, though, already shifting into his next motion.

Jet is a very fast fighter, so his actions are quick and he doesn't even finish the first one before moving on to another, which lends itself well to such things as open moves.

 

[Empress]

Sometimes I actually like or even prefer one-liners.

And, aside from that, I absolutely loathe too much lore and/or world-building. I understand that comes down to preferences at the end of the day, of course, but I find that too much groundwork is very tedious. I'd prefer to enter with the bare minimum and develop as we write. I like to have lore, like politics or religion or social tensions, developed through characters as we go. Sometimes I teeter a little too close to having exposition dumps though and that is definitely something that I need to work on. I have a theory that every writer is stronger in a different area and mine happens to be characterization, which may also play into this.

 

[ShirenTheWitch]

A lot of my past partners were genuinely surprised by how different my OCs were to how I am IRL. I take the "role" part of role-play to heart and don't let too much of myself bleed into my OCs.

Something else that is apparently not very common is that I can work with any tense or person. I don't have a preference and can do whatever my partner is most comfortable with.

 

[grimmmy]

I can't speak for what anyone else thinks of me--whether they see me as strange--but I'm super averse to conversation with other people, and when a game dies, I don't really bother to "keep in touch." I actually just jumped a ship because someone said they wanted to DM people to plot. I only got back into RP these past few months to scratch an itch so I say as much as I have to, plot out the bare minimum, and keep to myself, which I'm content to do, but I'm sure it's at least different from how a lot of people use RP forums.

(To be fair, I'm decently social IRL, but I'm also a hard introvert so RP is like my recharge time.)

 

[Merciless Medic]

I can't speak for what anyone else thinks of me--whether they see me as strange--but I'm super averse to conversation with other people, and when a game dies, I don't really bother to "keep in touch." I actually just jumped a ship because someone said they wanted to DM people to plot. I only got back into RP these past few months to scratch an itch so I say as much as I have to, plot out the bare minimum, and keep to myself, which I'm content to do, but I'm sure it's at least different from how a lot of people use RP forums.

I mean, granted, I plot with people so people understand where the story is going and we can scratch stuff out if we need to if it sounds too weird or they don't like it. I'm pretty much down for anything (just as long as it is realistic as I RP to scratch an itch as well, but it's a different itch) but plotting stuff out helps give me an idea of the do's and don'ts of the person I'm playing with.

 

[grimmmy]

I mean, granted, I plot with people so people understand where the story is going and we can scratch stuff out if we need to if it sounds too weird or they don't like it. I'm pretty much down for anything (just as long as it is realistic as I RP to scratch an itch as well, but it's a different itch) but plotting stuff out helps give me an idea of the do's and don'ts of the person I'm playing with.

I'm not much of a plotter on top of not being a talker. Honestly, if I had an idea for what I wanted out of a plot, I'd write it myself, haha. All to say I prefer to play by ear as long as the RP isn't backed into a corner.

 

[saniachan]

I'm not much of a plotter on top of not being a talker. Honestly, if I had an idea for what I wanted out of a plot, I'd write it myself, haha. All to say I prefer to play by ear as long as the RP isn't backed into a corner.

Welp, me too. I don't really plot stuff in advance, just give me a basic premise and I'm ready to roll.

 

[Emeraude]

Apparently, I'm very chatty.

It has surprised me a lot how many people claim to be very friendly and talkative in OOC chat, but I always talk more. I end up feeling annoying because I can typically always find something to say, whereas sometimes they just...stop responding? I have to talk to strangers often in my field, so I'm used to finding things to talk about even if I don't know someone well. Hard to find someone who meets my energy.

To clarify, if someone states they don't like OOC chat, I don't try to engage. But if you state you want OOC chatter, chatter I can.

 

[Syntra]

I don't describe my characters/use FCs if I can get away with it. I don't at all care what my characters look like, as I don't visualize anything I write anyway, and it's hard for me to describe details in an engaging way. That's why I usually resort to metaphors. Tbh, I think I may be genuinely impaired in that regard because visualizing anything is almost impossible to me-- I was crying tears of blood when I was taking a stereometry course.

I also write my responses on mobile almost exclusively. Like, my relatively large, often 1k words sized posts. I get a bizarre sense of stage fright when I stare at a large, empty page that I am supposed to fill with words, so the tiny box feels comfy to me. I think it's because I've learned to associate the computer with academics/work in general. I've only started writing on computer recently, when I got my new job where I actually have to be physically present, and it typically takes me longer to produce those posts (like, 1.5 hours versus my usual 1 hour) because writing on computer is just so uncomfortable to me.