maxfromsweden Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 (edited) 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: Spoiler Hold different events and order the different departments to help out. Many captains just sit around being very passive, this would actually give you a project you could manage yourself. I do this every shift when I'm the captain. Some suggestions: Eating competition, Poetry competition, Celebrate a holiday or one or several peoples birthday, (department) appreciation day. Only your imagination sets the limits but remember that it takes skill and gumption to pull this off. You need to be very active to get the crew going. HOP: Spoiler Like the captain but on a smaller scale since you don't have the same power. However, getting the captain to help you out is a great idea. You could use the service department, especially the jobs that usually aren't that busy like Librarian and Chaplain to create some sort of event. Some examples: Chaplain vs an atheist scientist debate: "Does God exist?", special drink day, laser tag competition in the VR thingy. Sec Officer: Spoiler Become more of a "neighborhood" officer. Walk around, talk to people. Many have minor crimes they don't report due to bad experiences with security. Make sure to heal those bleeding wounds and make Sec more trusted. Detective: Spoiler This is one of the best jobs for this, because you can do your job proactively while creating interesting situations. Go around to different heads, ask them to provide information about their employees. Is anyone missing? Should they be investigated? What do the other people in the department know about them? Therapist: Spoiler Do housecalls. Try to get permission from the captain to pro-actively search out any mental issues among the crew by deep conversations. Perform your own psychological experiments: What happens if a prisoner is put into a cell with a clown? Will the happiness level of the station change if you put out flowers everywhere? Maybe hold a class in therapeutic techniques for everyone interested. Civilian: Spoiler Civilians have a lot of openness for this but it's usually on a smaller scale than a captain. Some cool ideas I've seen is that someone created a "scientific expedition" to Lavaland and had to get approval from the captain and recruit a guard, a journalist to document and a doctor to keep everyone healthy. Private investigator is always a classic. 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: Spoiler I heard a rumour you took out the greytide gang all by yourself back on Earth. How did you do it?" About a Captain: Spoiler "I heard a rumour you got into trouble for refusing a controversial order from CentCom. Can you tell me more about it?" About a Detective: Spoiler "I heard a rumour you solved the case about the Jupiter Changeling. How did you know the Captain had been replaced?" About a Quartermaster Spoiler "I heard a rumour you once declared your own state on another space station. Why did you do it?" About a Clown: Spoiler I heard a rumour you once entertained the most serious member of the Nanotrasens board. What did you do you make them laugh? About a Mime: Spoiler "I heard a rumour you were trained at the special mime college in Paris. What was that like? Fill in the blank examples: Spoiler "Oh, you're (That characters name). I heard you (make up a fact or rumour here)!" "Didn't you use to (fact or rumour here)?" "I heard (name of someone aquainted with the one you're talking to) is (fact or rumour here). Is that true?" 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: Spoiler The clown asks you, the HOP for All Access. Instead of denying them outright (which is usually smart), just say Yes, but only if you get a signed and stamped form from the captain. You hand them the form. They now have a "quest" they must complete. While the captain is most likely to say no, you created an interaction between the clown and the captain. Who knows what it will lead to?! Chaplain Blessing you example: Spoiler Letting the Chaplain bless you. A Yes result would lead to the same amount of interaction as a No result but a Yes would make the chaplain player happier so I would usually go for a yes. A yes but is also interesting. "Yes you can bless me, but then you have to give me your holy sword, since I will be the knight defending your religion." "Yes but I also want to be made a Chaplain first. I have some other ideas about your religion". Sec Arresting you example: Spoiler Sec wants to arrest you. The classic is "Yes but only if you catch me first". Other options could be announcing over Comms: "I'll agree to the arrest, but I want a lawyer present." "I'll surrender myself but only if you bring a pizza to the interrogation room". These two examples both lead to another interaction. The first one leads to sec having to talk to an IAA agent. The second leads to them interacting with the chef. In some cases they will say no, but then they haven't read this guide! Captain wants you example: Spoiler Captain wants you for a special mission: "Yes but I want a parade in my honor when I'm done." "Yes and I want my best friend to come with me" "Yes but I want to be captain for five minutes after I'm done". 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 Spoiler Only interested in talking business and about centcom. Asks everyone about their position in the company. Wants to know the hierarchy, and who is the most important person so they can suck up to them. Typical conversation starters: "Hey, did you hear the latest rumor about John Nanotrasen!?" "So who's the big boss around here?" "Who do you think is in line for that promotion?" The Gossipy Grandmother Spoiler Mostly interested in peoples love life, especially if they're about to be married. Also likes being reminded of her younger days. Can pinch young men and women on the cheek and say they're adorable. "Aw you're adorable. Are you married yet?" "Oh you're such a strapping lad. Is there a girl on the station that catches your fancy?" "You remind me of my second husband. Do you also talk in your sleep?" The Naive Newcomer Spoiler Mostly interested in the station and how it works. Will ask tons of questions about everything on the station and what it's purpose is. Is impressed by people who know a lot. Will sometimes seem a bit stupid. "Whats that?" "Why is there blood everywhere?" "Why does your arm look like a blade?" The Flirt Spoiler Mostly interested in different romantic partners. Will start conversations with some cheesy pickup line directed at someone they're interested in. Will ask deep personal questions and engage in flirty banter. "How you doin?" "Do you know how much a polarbear weighs? Enough to break the ice." "I got us ticket to the Mime show. Want to go?" The Badass Spoiler Mostly interested in really dark experiences they share with other people. Can start conversations by mentioning some horrible event that happened in their earlier life. They will ask other people if they have similar experiences. "This reminds me of when my parents were murdered with a broken bottle by a crazy clown. How did you lose your parents?" "Have you ever been face to face with death, knowing that only you or them are getting out of this alive?" "You wouldn't have lasted a second back in the slums of Kelnarr IV. How did you make it here?" The Preacher Spoiler Mostly interested in if you can achieve salvation and if they can convert you. Often starts conversation trying to expose a desire in their conversation partner such as "Are you feeling fulfilled in your life? Is there something you're missing". Some classic examples are the gossipy grandmother who wants to know about everyones love life. The older man who wants to know if younger men are interested in the same sports he was interested in when he was young. The flirt hitting on everyone to catch their eye. The preacher asking if someone has found their lord and saviour. 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! Edited November 10, 2020 by maxfromsweden 12 1 Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxfromsweden Posted November 10, 2020 Author Posted November 10, 2020 Reserved for character creator. Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/#findComment-149972 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timelessdaze Posted February 23, 2021 Posted February 23, 2021 Solid advice all around! I’ve been getting deeper into the roleplay aspect of the game lately and really finding I enjoy it a lot more than clicking spacemen. Another good idea I’ve started employing is to decide likes/dislikes for your character that actually pertain to the game. For example I have a character that loves clowns, always asks them for a joke and usually starts with 1 or 2 load out items that are given as gifts to worthy clowns. I have a character that’s a vegetarian and harasses the chef for a dish with no meat. Another good way to get characters involved is to read their description, it only takes a moment and might open up some back story information IE “what happened to your leg” or “how did you get that scar”. Anyone who has taken the time to put more than a sentence in their character description is probably on board for at least a little RP Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/#findComment-153273 Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxfromsweden Posted February 24, 2021 Author Posted February 24, 2021 Thanks! I find the roleplaying aspect to be the main draw of the game. 23 hours ago, Timelessdaze said: For example I have a character that loves clowns, always asks them for a joke and usually starts with 1 or 2 load out items that are given as gifts to worthy clowns. I have a character that’s a vegetarian and harasses the chef for a dish with no meat. Yeah I have similar stuff with my characters. Brent Savoir (https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/20023-brent-savoir-gentleman-detective/ ) always texts the journalist or librarian to offer to do an interview since he's galaxy famous. Even if they say no it's an attempt to reach out and create something fun. Having specific food requests is also cool. It also feels way more real when people want some specific food from the chef instead of gobbling down whatever dead carrion laying on the bar. 23 hours ago, Timelessdaze said: Another good way to get characters involved is to read their description, it only takes a moment and might open up some back story information IE “what happened to your leg” or “how did you get that scar”. Anyone who has taken the time to put more than a sentence in their character description is probably on board for at least a little RP Yes! Exactly. This is basically "Be Interested" in my guide. It's super easy to do. I can't belive that more people don't do it. It doesn't even have to be that elaborate. Just a simple "How's your day" or any common phrase to open up a conversation can work. Obviously you get bonus points if you tailor it to the person you're talking to. 1 Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/#findComment-153308 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CourierAsy Posted March 30, 2021 Posted March 30, 2021 This is the kind of content the server needs. All around great guide. 1 Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/#findComment-154128 Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelictactics Posted May 20, 2021 Posted May 20, 2021 This is an absolutely stellar guide for those new to roleplay! As an experienced roleplayer, it always warms my heart to see others guide those just getting their feet wet. Excellent work!! 1 Link to comment https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/topic/19718-max-paradise-roleplay-guide/#findComment-155451 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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