Advice/Help Transitioning from groups to 1x1 RPs?

[Kipsy]

Hello! This is my first time posting on the site, so I hope I'm doing things right!

Anyways, I wanted to ask if anyone could give me some tips for 1x1 RPs. I've done some forum-based group stuff before, all very slow-paced but with lots of people. It was easy to reply there, and I always felt like there was something for my character to do. Rapid fire, short, and fun. Recently, though, the other players in my RPs have gone fairly inactive. Instead of looking for new groups to play with, I thought it'd be cool to try a 1x1.

The problem is that I have no idea how to do that. I'll have to write more per post, but it seems like it'd be so hard to keep the story moving. I don't want to leave my partner trying to fix any mistakes I make. I also don't want them to feel like they have to "carry" me around. I'm naturally a very meticulous person and, as a result, I love to plan. Thus, I'd like to take an active roll in the storytelling, but at the same time, I'm worried that'll come off as me wanting to control every little detail.

What's the proper way to handle a 1x1 rp? Does anyone have any examples for how it might go, or what the posts typically look like? How do you keep things moving nicely? Building a story isn't so much of a problem for me; it's actually writing the thing that has me on edge. The balance of power, so to speak. This is a totally unfamiliar territory for me...

I'm also always an anxious mess, so half of my concerns are probably just in my head. But, I'll feel so much better once I get this off my chest. (If anyone has advice for controlling social anxiety while roleplaying, I'd love to hear that too.)

Anyone willing to help a newbie out?

 

[Onmyoji]

Good you decided to ask for advice, but there is no need to be worried!

In fact, 1x1 doesn't differ that much from group. Just that instead of many people there are only two players. Which totally doesn't mean there have to be only two characters. You can play more than one, and there are also NPC!

For the examples, you can check out the 1x1 subforum. It's where people who decided to play 1x1 post their threads.

Now, you also have an option to play 1x1 in PM here, which means only you and your partner will be able to read them.
Many people do that as well! It is something you decide with rp partner at the start.

The pace of the rp will depend on you and your partner. You don't *have to* write longer posts. Usually you agree on the post length with your partner. And pick whatever is comfortable for both. Which can range from 1 paragraph to a novel. XD

Most important thing about 1x1 - discuss things with your rp partner.
If you don't like the way the rp is going, tell about it! If you need a break, tell about it! If you want to kill off your character and make a new one, discuss it together! If you want to add a plot twist, suggest it and discuss together! If you don't like a plot twist your partner is suggesting, discuss it and maybe find a compromise that would make you both happy.
That basically to answer your question on how to create and move the story. Discuss it with your rp partner.

Also, a bit of personal advice. Since you said you like planning in advance, I recommend you find a rp partner who likes it too. Just from my experience, if you play with someone who doesn't like advance planning, they may not like the rp because the story would feel too rigid with little room for improvisation.
But again, these things need to be discussed and a compromise can be reached. No need to worry!

Also, it's okay to stop the rp. But it is just common courtesy to let the partner know and not suddenly disappear. But that's like... basic etiquette. Not that it's exclusive to 1x1 rp ^^

To start, all you need to do is either make a 1x1 rp search thread in Partner Search subforum or look through existing one and contact the person who you'd like to play with.
Basically, same interest checks as for group rp.

If you're unsure what to include, look through the current threads. There is no set rule though, you can include whatever you feel is necessary!


Maybe talking to just one rp partner rather than many will be easier for you, since you said you're anxious... because it is just one person. so maybe a thing to keep in mind. Just give it a try!

I almost exclusively play 1x1 myself and I prefer that to groups. The pacing suits me more because it depends on just you and another person, you can agree to reply every day or once a week or even once a month and no one else will interfere ^^

I think I gave the basics from my own perspective. Which is not necessarily what you should agree with.
But if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Me, or other people who, I am sure, will add more insights and advice for you here.
The rp community is generally very understanding and full of friendly people!

 

[rae2nerdy]

Onmyoji covered a lot of tips but I will say planning is definitely a thing in 1x1s. I do most of the planning for my roleplays and I’ve never found it to be a draw back.

As for replies as Onmyoji mentioned there is no universal post length. Some 1x1s work on quick rapid fire exchanges and some are page long posts once a month.

The important thing is to be open about what you want out of the roleplay and listen to your partner.

I recommend if you want to make a search yourself to consider the following things

When and how often you can post
What length of replies you can make
What length of replies you want back
What is your time zone
What themes do you not want to roleplay
What plots are you currently interested in
How much you want to interact with partner outside of the roleplay.

 

[Kipsy]

Good you decided to ask for advice, but there is no need to be worried!

In fact, 1x1 doesn't differ that much from group. Just that instead of many people there are only two players. Which totally doesn't mean there have to be only two characters. You can play more than one, and there are also NPC!

For the examples, you can check out the 1x1 subforum. It's where people who decided to play 1x1 post their threads.

Now, you also have an option to play 1x1 in PM here, which means only you and your partner will be able to read them.
Many people do that as well! It is something you decide with rp partner at the start.

The pace of the rp will depend on you and your partner. You don't *have to* write longer posts. Usually you agree on the post length with your partner. And pick whatever is comfortable for both. Which can range from 1 paragraph to a novel. XD

Most important thing about 1x1 - discuss things with your rp partner.
If you don't like the way the rp is going, tell about it! If you need a break, tell about it! If you want to kill off your character and make a new one, discuss it together! If you want to add a plot twist, suggest it and discuss together! If you don't like a plot twist your partner is suggesting, discuss it and maybe find a compromise that would make you both happy.
That basically to answer your question on how to create and move the story. Discuss it with your rp partner.

Also, a bit of personal advice. Since you said you like planning in advance, I recommend you find a rp partner who likes it too. Just from my experience, if you play with someone who doesn't like advance planning, they may not like the rp because the story would feel too rigid with little room for improvisation.
But again, these things need to be discussed and a compromise can be reached. No need to worry!

Also, it's okay to stop the rp. But it is just common courtesy to let the partner know and not suddenly disappear. But that's like... basic etiquette. Not that it's exclusive to 1x1 rp ^^

To start, all you need to do is either make a 1x1 rp search thread in Partner Search subforum or look through existing one and contact the person who you'd like to play with.
Basically, same interest checks as for group rp.

If you're unsure what to include, look through the current threads. There is no set rule though, you can include whatever you feel is necessary!


Maybe talking to just one rp partner rather than many will be easier for you, since you said you're anxious... because it is just one person. so maybe a thing to keep in mind. Just give it a try!

I almost exclusively play 1x1 myself and I prefer that to groups. The pacing suits me more because it depends on just you and another person, you can agree to reply every day or once a week or even once a month and no one else will interfere ^^

I think I gave the basics from my own perspective. Which is not necessarily what you should agree with.
But if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Me, or other people who, I am sure, will add more insights and advice for you here.
The rp community is generally very understanding and full of friendly people!

Ahhhh thank you so much for this You've helped so much! This addressed all of my concerns.

I actually already have someone who said they'd like to RP with me, and that was part of the reason I got so worried. I didn't know what to tell them or how to respond, but I'm feeling much more confident now. Thanks to you, I DMed them and so far our planning is working out quite nicely. I hope the actual RP part of it it goes just as well!

 

[Kipsy]

Onmyoji covered a lot of tips but I will say planning is definitely a thing in 1x1s. I do most of the planning for my roleplays and I’ve never found it to be a draw back.

As for replies as Onmyoji mentioned there is no universal post length. Some 1x1s work on quick rapid fire exchanges and some are page long posts once a month.

The important thing is to be open about what you want out of the roleplay and listen to your partner.

I recommend if you want to make a search yourself to consider the following things

When and how often you can post
What length of replies you can make
What length of replies you want back
What is your time zone
What themes do you not want to roleplay
What plots are you currently interested in
How much you want to interact with partner outside of the roleplay.

This is good advice... I was under the impression that because there would be only two people, I would have to write a lot more to fill in the gaps. Whoopsies haha

I will talk to them about a few of the things you've mentioned. Thank you!

 

[rae2nerdy]

Your welcome. Yeah post length doesn’t really change. I mean I write the same for 1x1 that I did for groups.

I do a lot more planning though since I’m groups most of the planning is done by the GM whereas in 1x1 you have to do it yourself/ with your partner.

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned that is different honestly is

1. The amount of talking you have to do. Since it’s just two of you there needs to be a lot of talk about expectations and comfort levels.

2. Time zones. It’s a small thing but when you want to do faster replies it really is important to know when your partner is likely to be on.

 

[Onmyoji]

Ahhhh thank you so much for this You've helped so much! This addressed all of my concerns.

I actually already have someone who said they'd like to RP with me, and that was part of the reason I got so worried. I didn't know what to tell them or how to respond, but I'm feeling much more confident now. Thanks to you, I DMed them and so far our planning is working out quite nicely. I hope the actual RP part of it it goes just as well!

ayyee I'm glad I could help!
Good luck on your rp! I hope it goes smooth and you enjoy it!

Just remember that if it doesn't work out for some reason, you shouldn't get discouraged. There are still many more people who would be happy to rp with you, just gotta be patient till you find them ^^

rae2nerdy made a really good point about the amount of OOC talking. Some people will want to talk OOC a lot and become friends outside the rp, some people would resort to having only rp-related conversations. So you should also discuss that and agree on comfortable levels of interaction. And time zones may be important, especially if you want fast-paced conversations (both OOC and rp).

 

[yanastyboi]

What's the proper way to handle a 1x1 rp? Does anyone have any examples for how it might go, or what the posts typically look like? How do you keep things moving nicely? Building a story isn't so much of a problem for me; it's actually writing the thing that has me on edge. The balance of power, so to speak. This is a totally unfamiliar territory for me...

Okay so in general it doesn't function any differently than a group RP just less people. Same shit different pile kinda situation. But my tips are:

1. Communicate with your partner. I recommend planning scenes out before you write them. Planning gives you a general idea of where to go with the narrative and keeps your writing focused. For example if you jump to page 6/7 of this document you'll see how my partner and I planned. The scenes we planned often didn't happen exactly as planned, but because we planned we knew where to go with the story. Whatever happens in between the beginning and end of a scene can vary and not be planned, but having a start and end goal helps with focus.

2. Multiple characters. You don't have the play all of them at once, I would highly recommend not doing that, but I usually have a main cast, secondary cast and NPCs.

Main cast are your primary focus characters that the story revolves around. Usually I have 2-3 primary characters, as does my partner, so you have a main cast of around 4-6 characters.​

Secondary characters are supporting characters that come and go from the story and help move things along. Their importance can vary but they're significantly more fleshed out than NPCs and appear far more often. How many you have depends on how many you need to get through each scene. In one RP I did we had about 18 secondary characters. Here is a character list from a 3 year old one on one I did.​

NPCs appear randomly, used to move things along, and generally fill the space. They don't take any real narrative focus they're just tools and often you and your partner can control the NPCs together as needed.​

Having multiple characters gives you the ability to shift the narrative focus, it mostly lets you have dynamic stories and generally you always have something to do. Example if characters A/B/C are captured and locked up, you can tell the rescue story with characters D/E/F. Which is a whole lot more fun than narrating characters in a jail cell!

3. Write posts of varying lengths. I stand by the idea that if a scene needs a single paragraph to move it along, then that it what I write. If you just need to have a conversation, let the characters converse, don't bog things down attempting to describe shit you don't need to! Rapid fire, slower longer posts, medium posts they all happen in a one on one. Sometimes you write more and sometimes you write less. Sometimes you're writing for 3 characters and sometimes you're writing for 1 character.

Here is an example of a 3 year long roleplay. We wrote posts that were multiple paragraphs with 6 characters going at once, and we wrote posts where just two people where talking. It is a MASH of back and forth, focus shifts and jumping between different characters and scenes.

 

[yanastyboi]

ayyee I'm glad I could help!
Good luck on your rp! I hope it goes smooth and you enjoy it!

Just remember that if it doesn't work out for some reason, you shouldn't get discouraged. There are still many more people who would be happy to rp with you, just gotta be patient till you find them ^^

rae2nerdy made a really good point about the amount of OOC talking. Some people will want to talk OOC a lot and become friends outside the rp, some people would resort to having only rp-related conversations. So you should also discuss that and agree on comfortable levels of interaction. And time zones may be important, especially if you want fast-paced conversations (both OOC and rp).

TOTALLY THIS TOO!! One on ones can be:

I was ghosted on rp never started.
We each wrote one post. They left / I left.
We RP'd for a week or two / month and it ended randomly.
We RP'd for months.
We've been RPing for years. <---- the gem of all one on one RPs that everyone wants and happens rarely, but when it does OH HOT DAMN does it make an Rper wet!

So I agree don't get discouraged, finding partners and finding the RIGHT partner is a long series of trial and error. It's just part of the process, but trust me you do find the gems.