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Hello! This is my Roleplaying guide based on my time on paradise combined with a lot of tabletop roleplaying experience. I hope it can give some interesting ideas. If it doesn't, I'm still happy you took the time to check it out. This guide doesn't dwell a lot on what you SHOULD do but rather HOW you do it. It's easy to tell someone to roleplay. It's harder to tell someone how to roleplay. This guide tries to amend this by providing traditional roleplaying and improv techniques. It also gives a lot of examples on how you could accomplish the three steps detailed below. The guide in 4 words: Build, do not destroy. The three things that make you a good roleplayer in this game are the following, in order of priority: Create interesting situations Be Interested Be Interesting Creating interesting situations Difficulty: Hard Note: As always, any interesting situations you create should follow the servers rules. The hardest, but also the most interesting part. It's hard to define an interesting situation but it's something that involves player characters somehow interacting with something. The classic example is an antagonist trying to kill you. It is immediately interesting because it's your character being hunted by a threat. You wanting to survive versus the antagonist wanting to take you down. However, interesting situations can be bigger than this. The bartender can throw a date night for the lonely hearts, the librarian could have a poetry competition, a civilian could try to get a permit to build something in the maints. The possibilities are endless, it just requires imagination. They also require initiative and work. Creating something means you have to try and risking failure. This is, combined witht he imagination required to come up with interesting ideas, is what makes this the hardest thing in this guide. Push yourself and go for it. Examples of creating interesting situations Here are some suggestions for different jobs to initiate interesting situations. Note: This skill depends heavily on the round and whats going on. If you're currently to busy doing your job to initiate interesting situations, do your duties first, then start getting creative. If you got skills, you might be able to do both. Captain: HOP: Sec Officer: Detective: Therapist: Civilian: Be interested Difficulty: Easy Be interested in other characters. Ask them about stuff. Ask them about their backgrounds and whatever else comes to mind. This is appreciated by everyone who has made a Character. They want people to know about their character. Let them show it off. By being interested, you can also show off your character. I've heard SS13 being called a "glorified chatroom" and it struck quite a cord with me. Talk to people. Ask them about their day. Being able to smalltalk as a made up character is a pretty high level of roleplay. The 4 techniques used to be interested are: "I heard a rumour" Yes/Yes And/ Yes But Have an excuse to start a conversation Join in on the action "I heard a rumour" One of the easiest and best conversation techniques to use in this game. As long its harmless, you can make stuff up about OTHER player characters like rumours or facts. Bonus points if you make this flattering or interesting tailored to their personality. They could play along using yes/yes and/ yes but or just say you're totally wrong. Either way, they get a chance to small talk about a possible previous event. Maybe even add something to their backstory. Try it. Examples About a Badass: About a Captain: About a Detective: About a Quartermaster About a Clown: About a Mime: Fill in the blank examples: Yes/ Yes and/ Yes But: This is a classic Improv technique. Someone comes to you for something. Clown wants all access, the chaplain wants to bless you, Sec wants to arrest you, Captain wants you for a special mission. In most cases, you should avoid saying no (Unless you really don't want to do it). It's better to say Yes/Yes and/ Yes but. All these answers will lead to MORE roleplaying and MORE interactions. A No will in most cases lead to less roleplaying. However, you should obviously still follow the server rules and apply common sense to the situations. Examples below. HOP example: Chaplain Blessing you example: Sec Arresting you example: Captain wants you example: Have an excuse to start an interaction When you make your character, consider how they interact with certain people. Different people want different things out of an interaction. What would your character be interested in finding out? Some are focused on the job/personal life/love life/interests. More detail on how to create excuses for your character is in the character creator in the next post. Examples, based on types that can be found on the station.: The young CentCom goldenboy/girl The Gossipy Grandmother The Naive Newcomer The Flirt The Badass The Preacher Join in on the action If you see someone announcing something, like a private investigator, a fun religion or a scientific experiment being announced, interact with it in some way. Just stopping by is good but if you can contribute, taking it in a different direction or building upon what's already there, it's even better. Create interaction. By talking with someone, you can start a series of events that could make someones round a lot better. Don't be afraid to ask people for things or ask about things. Be Interesting Difficulty: Medium. To be interesting means you have a character people are curious about and want to interact with. Your character changes you from just your job to an actual person. This step also happens before you've actually started playing the game. In my next post I'll post a character creator, designed specifically for Paradise, to help you create an interesting character. Some shortcuts to be interesting are the following: Have a unique or odd style/appereance. Speak in a distinct manner. Off hand mentions to previous events in your life. If you came this far, thanks for reading. I truly hope it gave you one or two ideas!