Idea Those who are fans of High School Roleplays, what have you always wanted to be a feature of them?

[virgilrey]

I have been trying to think of a way to make a realistic high school RP to please most players. What would you like to be in a HSRP?

 

[nerdy tangents]

1. school events!!!!
Every single successful school roleplay I have ever been a part of (we are talking roleplay that lasted for years) has focused on school events.

Depending on the type of school these will look very different but some universal events ;

1. field trips
2. final exams
3. Festival/school fair
4. School dance
5. Club Activities
6. Detention

 

[Jules8008]

To add onto nerdy!

1. Parent-teacher meetings
2. Sport events
3. Some events like: Something got stolen and the teacher accuses the class baddie to be the culprit and tries to get them expelled.

 

[Idea]

Character arcs and inter-character dynamics. A lot of the issues I've found in school roleplays have to do with a lack of player initiative, but they can be great ground for all sorts of character drama, but there's so often just such a lack of interest in that, and a lack of set-up.

 

[Gowi]

Do. Not. Lock. In. Routes.

The films and shows we grew up with (Degrassi, 90210, etc.) tended to allow for a lot of "spoiler" type characters that blocked routes, created drama, and so forth. I've run into so many Slice-of-Life RPers who enforce picking "routes" and for those of us who want to make character who cause mischief and drama it becomes impossible and the RP as a result is rather stale.

 

[natsukashii]

In addition to pre-planned events so players can build plots around, I would say don't rush it. Of course, if your RP is very active and multiple people are posting multiple times in a week, then it can absolutely follow a 1-3 month tenure per skip, but in the case of slower rps, don't rush through skips. Being able to allow players to flesh out their plots icly without any pressure is one of the greatest pleasures I've had in high school rps.

Also I would say don't limit similar character personalities/tropes. It's okay if you have a couple hbic's and/or a few rebels-without-a-cause. The way I've always approached it is this: if there are 2-3 of each, that allows the potential for drama. Clique wars icly can be fun.

One last thing I think should be encouraged are free days. Those kinds of days where characters can go to the mall, to the beach, maybe sneak into a strib club with the fake IDs their older siblings made for them. Or if they want, go beat up the punk that talked shit about them on twitter. Those little things enhance the rp so much.

And while not relating to the IC aspect of the roleplay, listen to your players and be open to their suggestions. If they have ideas for plots, ships, or even events, let them be apart of the discussion and maybe, if it gains enough traction, maybe their character(s) could even host the ic event (i.e. a party set at their house, leading the charge in organizing an event, etc).

 

[nerdy tangents]

Oh time skips are important actually. Make sure if you see people start stagnating your move to the next event/scene. You don’t want people to spend a month IRL just introducing themselves.

 

[Gowi]

Oh time skips are important actually. Make sure if you see people start stagnating your move to the next event/scene. You don’t want people to spend a month IRL just introducing themselves.

Unless that's organic and the best way to approach things. There's a difference between stagnancy and fluid pacing. IMO its about recognizing what your group gels with.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Unless that's organic and the best way to approach things. There's a difference between stagnancy and fluid pacing.

I am talking about when you are losing players and people stop posting because it’s basically just one long dialogue between two people.

Know when to move your plot along so you don’t alienate your players.

 

[Gowi]

I am talking about when you are losing players and people stop posting because it’s basically just one long dialogue between two people.

Know when to move your plot along so you don’t alienate your players.

Oh yeah if you only have Ted and Sally posting back-and-forth, then maybe its time to either cut your losses or make some decisions.

 

[Idea]

I am talking about when you are losing players and people stop posting because it’s basically just one long dialogue between two people.

Know when to move your plot along so you don’t alienate your players.

At the same time though, you shouldn't overly rely on this tool. For one thing, you might break up genuinely good interactions while prioritizing players that aren't trying to put in their own input. On the other hand, the issue might not be that the specific scene isn't conductive for players to act of their own accord, but something in your approach to scenes itself is an issue. The latter is quite common in school RPs even, when a GM keeps moving from scenes focusing only on a specific small set of characters at a time, where characters are too restricted or the opposite, a scene that's quite open-ended, and often this is done in a group of players who need directions on where to go and what to do, and thus the scene keeps moving but never onto solid footing.