Advice/Help What do you look for in a 'Town Rp' and what do you avoid?

[TerrorKitty]

The reason this is advice/help instead of discussion lol, because I'm making an RP, and I want it to be good, not supper complicated or overwhelming, but quality.
I've never been really successful in making my own but I want to put a lot of effort into this and make it as good as possible, so I have a few questions and would like feedback on my current idea

So far the bullet points of the premise are as follows (Haven't written backstory/plot yet, but I have some ideas in mind)

- Public Garden Project
- Small Town RP
- All Ages though generally 17-21
- Mature
- Economic classes
- RP starts at an event, possibly a beach party and something happens (a body washes up? Murder?) but a good way of getting everyone in one location off the bat, even if they don't want to be there
- Late Summer
- Large forest with a few abandoned buildings
- Beach
- Possible Forest Fire Event Arc? (Doesn't have to be RIGHT against the town, but would add depth a timescale of events)
- Lighthouse
- Time shifts and other events (Literal town events, and arc events)
- Diner
- Library (maybe some hidden secrets? Nothing crazy)
- The Bluff (Seaside cliff, maybe caves)
- Small Shopping Center
- Etc



These are the technical
- 500 word minimum target
- Discord
- Fake Social Media
- Co-GM?
- Code CS and IC (Not Required)
- Etc

Any suggestions? Maybe a gimmick for making character sheets/planned interactions?
Or ideas for events? Etc?
I want to know, what would you want to join? What would make you not want to join?

Spoiler: Visual Ideas

 

[Idea]

Could you define what you mean by "A Town RP"?

 

[TerrorKitty]

Could you define what you mean by "A Town RP"?

Rather than school based, it's more open

 

[nerdy tangents]

So if I am understanding this correctly you want a slice of life roleplay set in a made up town with pre-made events to get through to keep the story going?

 

[TerrorKitty]

So if I am understanding this correctly you want a slice of life roleplay set in a made up town with pre-made events to get through to keep the story going?

Essentially, I'm just trying to pin down what people would like in an RP like that

 

[nerdy tangents]

So this used to be my bread and butter. A few things that will help ;

Discord is probably not the place for this. Offsite role plays at the technical level you want aren’t going to do very well.

I would say if you want a “fake social media” (could you give an example) I would just provide a roleplay sample on here for other people to follow.

Otherwise flesh out enough events to fit into a full year. I would start with what you have then make the interest check. Then have your players help flesh out the rest of the year. You will get engagement right off the bat.

It’s best to set a specific IRL time period for each event “ we are doing a garden party for one IRL week” that way you aren’t stuck in one event for long periods of time. Plus realistically not every event is gonna be attended by every person in town so it won’t matter if people can’t post in that time period.

 

[TerrorKitty]

So this used to be my bread and butter. A few things that will help ;

Discord is probably not the place for this. Offsite role plays at the technical level you want aren’t going to do very well.

I would say if you want a “fake social media” (could you give an example) I would just provide a roleplay sample on here for other people to follow.

Otherwise flesh out enough events to fit into a full year. I would start with what you have then make the interest check. Then have your players help flesh out the rest of the year. You will get engagement right off the bat.

It’s best to set a specific IRL time period for each event “ we are doing a garden party for one IRL week” that way you aren’t stuck in one event for long periods of time. Plus realistically not every event is gonna be attended by every person in town so it won’t matter if people can’t post in that time period.

Discord would just be for OOC purposes

 

[Cross]

I participated in an rp like this. A big problem was that people had roles. Every player had a 'dark secret' that was supposed to launch the rp forward. But rpers with important roles ditched the game early on and killed the momentum.

Like the murderer character vanished after a couple of posts and kind of wrecked the plot because a lot had been built around that. So, be aware that people ditch even if they have an important role in the story.

 

[remi-forrester]

Ooh I love Town RPs! What I like about them is the jobs and positions given to each character. So you've got a teacher, a blacksmith, a gardener, whatever. Add some murder mystery and watch the town people turn on each other. That's what I like to see.

 

[Lone Star II]

These are my kind 'o people lmao

 

[readfoxes]

I love small town roleplays!

This might be an unpopular opinion, because I do see it in just about every one I scope out these days, but "social media" channels are a surefire way to make me want to leave the Discord server. I don't know what it is about it, exactly; it's usually just people posting pics of their FC from their FC's Instagram/Tik Tok/Whatever. I think what bugs me about that is it feels more like they're roleplaying that person rather than an OC at that point. It also sort of gives off a, "whoever has the hottest/most popular FC is going to get the most RP" energy that doesn't vibe with me. But again, that's just me and my preferences; I'm not saying it's wrong to do it this way and the social media channels may be an appealing feature to your target audience.

Selling points for me would be:

• Automatic connections. Staff helping new members make connections for their characters with existing characters. Staff helping to ensure new characters are able to be introduced to a few other characters so they're not just "there" and forced to try and plot with a group of strangers. It can be daunting for shy roleplayers.
• Phone calls and texting channels. Love it. It creates a space for "script" and conversational RP, but allows the other channels to stay descriptive and longer form.
• A question of the day channel. I have had these in every server I've been an admin in. Post a character development question each day and let people answer it for their OCs. It's a great conversation starter! For example, "What is your character's biggest insecurity?"
• Well organized. A good list of existing characters (and their faceclaims) so new members can scope them out or others can find pertinent information easily. "___'s House" channels are up to date, and archived once a member has left the server.
• I personally like a minimum age requirement. Again, this might be too "me-specific," but I absolutely will not join RPs that allow people under 18 to join. They're almost never what I am looking for. I include this to suggest you consider your target audience and what kind of group is most suitable for them.
• Events! Something exciting going on in the background with optional involvement.
• A randomized matchmaker, again with optional participation. If people are struggling to get involved in the story or to find RP, they can opt to be paired up with someone else for a scene. It takes all the anxiety out of "will you RP with me?"

 

[TerrorKitty]

I love small town roleplays!

This might be an unpopular opinion, because I do see it in just about every one I scope out these days, but "social media" channels are a surefire way to make me want to leave the Discord server. I don't know what it is about it, exactly; it's usually just people posting pics of their FC from their FC's Instagram/Tik Tok/Whatever. I think what bugs me about that is it feels more like they're roleplaying that person rather than an OC at that point. It also sort of gives off a, "whoever has the hottest/most popular FC is going to get the most RP" energy that doesn't vibe with me. But again, that's just me and my preferences; I'm not saying it's wrong to do it this way and the social media channels may be an appealing feature to your target audience.

Selling points for me would be:

• Automatic connections. Staff helping new members make connections for their characters with existing characters. Staff helping to ensure new characters are able to be introduced to a few other characters so they're not just "there" and forced to try and plot with a group of strangers. It can be daunting for shy roleplayers.
• Phone calls and texting channels. Love it. It creates a space for "script" and conversational RP, but allows the other channels to stay descriptive and longer form.
• A question of the day channel. I have had these in every server I've been an admin in. Post a character development question each day and let people answer it for their OCs. It's a great conversation starter! For example, "What is your character's biggest insecurity?"
• Well organized. A good list of existing characters (and their faceclaims) so new members can scope them out or others can find pertinent information easily. "___'s House" channels are up to date, and archived once a member has left the server.
• I personally like a minimum age requirement. Again, this might be too "me-specific," but I absolutely will not join RPs that allow people under 18 to join. They're almost never what I am looking for. I include this to suggest you consider your target audience and what kind of group is most suitable for them.
• Events! Something exciting going on in the background with optional involvement.
• A randomized matchmaker, again with optional participation. If people are struggling to get involved in the story or to find RP, they can opt to be paired up with someone else for a scene. It takes all the anxiety out of "will you RP with me?"

What a great response
I do have a fully fledged social media part of my RP, but it's custom, so while you do use your FC for it, the tweets/Instagram posts/snaps etc are made by you for your character.

There is also a local open chatroom for anyone in the town to talk in character, as well as DMs with the same purpose, but phone calls that's honestly a great idea and allows for a interesting flow of conversation which would differ than texting.

And I totally agree, it's fun to have the "new" character, but it can easily be a bit awkward when everyone in an RP doesn't know each other despite having rather valid reason to know each other.

Having a character be new to a social circle, to me, should be more interesting than just moving there. For example, my main character has been a resident of the Town when they were young, but was forced into private school where they had been most of their life, but come home to live with their 'parents' (backstory stuff) who had been living there the whole time, so while my main character might not know everyone, they may have some connections from before they left and then the family that lived in the town certainly would.

Character development stuff like that is such a good idea. Having fleshed out characters we care about but are their own entities, that's one of the most fun things about an RP.

I, myself have a habit of making characters with maybe a backstory and stuff but then don't have much else, and for me, can lead to my character being unsure of themselves because I'm not sure who they are yet either xD (While blank slate build-as-you-go characters aren't bad, it's definitely good to try other approaches as well. Which is something I'm working on)

And yes, I totally agree. A lot of my current RP idea was inspiration from a really amazing town rp that I had joined but I had joined in 14 pages in and the group was incredibly hard to work my way into, and ended up spending a month trying to get myself and my character situated into the RP, with people constantly telling me to set things up but not helping when asking for help setting things up. There was a plotting thread but people kept telling me to DM others and plot there, which was more than unhelpful in my opinion. Eventually I was unceremoniously kicked out, which definitely stung a lot, because I felt like I was making headway and I was actually having fun with my character. I don't blame them for their decisions; when you're in a group for over a month, your gonna have a few bad days and I was definitely irratible about my situation one too many times. They suggested I look for a new RP so decided to make my own. Though I want to make it a point not to hold any grudges of hard feelings. RPs are social spheres and they don't always work for everyone.
Minor venting done.

Again thank you so much for the well written response and suggestions.

My current RP idea/interest check hasn't gained too much traction yet, but I don't want to give up on it, I'm definitely going to take what you said to heart and possibly revamp it with those considerations in mind while it's still in its infancy