Hosting Your Own Role Plays

Though this forum does not require you to have taken part in any role plays to start your own in the Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert sections; it is a good idea to join in a few RPs here on ExRPG before trying to host your own. This way you understand how we role play here and how we set up our threads.

So you are ready to start your own RP, you’ll need a couple of things.
† A storyline.
† A Sign up thread.
† People to join.
† You need to know what level of RP you want to host.

Once you’ve got your story ready and know what the goal of the RP will be, you can decide what level RP you want. There are three levels; Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. To learn the differences between them, go read This Thread.

After you know the differences between the RPs, and you know what level you want to host, you can make your sign up thread in the Interest Checks sub-forum inside of whatever difficulty you want.
There is a difference between the different levels of signups, however, so one form will not fit all levels of RP skill; below I’ll go over basic forms and guidelines for each level of RP.


To start a beginner Role Play, you’ll want to follow something like this when setting up the sign up thread.

Code:


Name of RP
[Link to Role Play Thread] (if it is already open)
Description of RP/world
Joined players
Number of spots left open
Sign up form
Any extra rules.


You should be able to set up a simple description of the RP, but I’ll tell you what you should try to accomplish with the description anyways.
† Define the time period.
† Define the world (is it earth? Or something else?)
† Define the abilities available (Is there magic? Or superhuman powers? Etc)
† Define what is wrong with this world, or the theme. (Are you characters stuck in a haunted house? Or fighting a giant robot cat from space?)
† Define where the players come into the equation.

When writing out who has been accepted into the RP so far, write their Character’s name, and then in parentheses () write the user’s forum name.

Code:


Ala Tune (Cross)
John Smith(Drag)

After you define how many spots are left open, you can write out a sign up form that users will use to describe their characters. The basic beginner form is as follows; though you can customize it to whatever extent you like.

Code:


Name:
Age:
Basic Description:
Starting Weapon:
Gender:


So what makes a good Beginner RP Admin?
† Lighthearted and fun.
† Doesn’t put heavy restrictions on the RP.
† Moves the RP along at a steady rate and keeps things interesting.
† Always keeps the end game in mind when adding obstacles.
† Lets the players rely almost completely on their imaginations.
† Ends the RP with a bang.




To start an Intermediate RP, you’ll want to follow a tad more in depth Sign Up Form, but setup for the thread is basically the same as in the Beginner RP.

Code:


Name of RP
[Link to Role Play Thread] (if it is already open)
Description of RP/world
Joined players
Number of spots left open
Sign up form
Any extra rules.
 

But here is where things begin to differ.
When describing the RP and World, you’ll need a few extra things different from Beginner.
† Define the time period.
† Define the world (is it earth? Or something else?)
† Define the abilities available (Is there magic? Or superhuman powers? Etc)
† Define what is wrong with this world, or the theme. Also describe the world itself in greater detail. (Are you characters stuck in a haunted house? Or fighting a giant robot cat from space?)
† Define where the players come into the equation.
† Give the players an immediate purpose after joining the RP.
† Define the weapons and items available to players at the beginning.
† Short history of the land and main characters (mainly the villain)

When writing out who has been accepted into the RP so far, write their Character’s name, and then in parentheses () write the user’s forum name.

Code:


Ala Tune (Cross)
John Smith(Drag)

After you define how many spots are left open, you can write out a sign up form that users will use to describe their characters. The basic Intermediate form is as follows; though you can customize it to whatever extent you like.

Code:


Name:
Age:
Gender:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Height:
Description:
Starting Clothing:
Starting Weapon/Item:
Personality:
Backstory:


So what makes a good Intermediate RP Admin?
† Fun but serious, keeping things on track.
† Doesn’t blatantly tell someone when they’re getting off track or doing something they don’t want; instead narrates the story a bit to alter it to their liking.
† Moves the RP along at a steady rate and keeps challenges coming.
† Rely on more realistic circumstances, most prevalent: travel time.
† Keeps their mind on the end game, and adds obstacles that tie heavily into the end game.
† Ends the RP with a bang.




Most Expert Role Plays are in depth and tied heavily to their end game (decided by the RP admin). The people will be playing seriously and hard, writing long, well-constructed actions; so, the Admin has to give them a good game, this can be a challenge in Expert RP.

When setting up the thread, it varies very little from the other two difficulties in format, though may include extras thrown in (as shown below).

Code:


Name of RP
[Link to Role Play Thread] (if it is already open)
In Depth Description of RP/world
Joined players
Number of spots left open
Sign up form
Any extra rules.


Now is where the RP Level sets itself apart from the other levels.
When describing the RP and World, you’ll need an in depth description like below.
† Define the time period.
† Define the world (is it earth? Or something else?)
† Define the abilities available (Is there magic? Or superhuman powers? Etc)
† Define what is wrong with this world, or the theme. Also describe the world itself in greater detail. This can include land masses, terrain, cities, etc…(Are you characters stuck in a haunted house? Or fighting a giant robot cat from space? If they’re in the house, how many rooms are there? What is the building style of the house? How well lit is it? Etc…)
† Define where the players come into the equation.
† Give the players an immediate purpose after joining the RP, sometimes thrown them directly into a conflict.
† Define the weapons and items available to players at the beginning.
† Long history of the land and main characters (mainly the villain)
† Define regions and appearances of people, common terrain, common animals/monsters.
† Go into a few extra items and such people would be able to go after, kind of legendary things.
‡ Extra! Expert RP Admins can use Role Play Worlds in their Role Play instead of describing terrain and such.

After you define how many spots are left open, you can write out a sign up form that users will use to describe their characters. The basic Expert form is as follows; though you can customize it to whatever extent you like. Many people prefer the players to just submit a Character sheet instead of writing out a form, this can make things much more specific, helping the Admin and other players understand characters. Expert RPs are the only level of RP where the admin can DEMAND a Character Sheet on signup.

Code:


Name:
Age:
Gender:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Height:
Body Type:
Skin Shade:
Scars or tattoos:
Preferred Weapons/clothing:
Starting Clothing:
Starting Weapon/Item:
Personality:
In Depth Backstory:


So what makes a good Expert RP Admin?
† Fun but serious, keeping things on track.
† Doesn’t blatantly tell someone when they’re getting off track or doing something they don’t want; instead narrates the story a bit to alter it to their liking.
† Moves the RP along at a steady rate and creates challenges linked heavily to the end game, but rewarding in and of themselves.
† Relies on extremely realistic circumstances, most prevalent: travel time, fatigue, hunger, and skill level.
† Keeps their mind on the end game.
† Ends the RP with a dramatic, powerful climax.


Alright! So you’ve got your sign up thread up and running! And let’s say someone submits the perfect form.
You just post in the thread saying something like, “Okay! You’re in!” and then edit their character and name into the main thread under the Accepted Players.

Then someone comes along and has a flawed form, or one that doesn’t fit into the RP. You’ll have to tell them what’s wrong (saying it nicely is best since you don’t make any enemies), and wait for them to change/edit it. After it is all proper, you can tell them they are accepted.

But now let’s say someone with a reputation for having bad English, or not bothering to correct typos tries to join your game. They write up the form correctly, but you don’t want them in your game, you ARE allowed to reject their application, with or without defining the reason.
The only level of RP you are not allowed to reject people is Beginner, so long as they fill the form out correctly, they are allowed in.

After you’ve got the number of players you wanted before starting, you can go ahead and post the RP Thread in the difficulty you wanted (whatever Forum the Interest Checks Sub-forum you posted the sign up in).

When posting the thread , there is very little difference in each level of RP.
You’ll need to post these things in the thread:
† The name of the RP.
† The RP Description/story.
† A Link to the Sign Up thread if it is still open.
† The Players that are active in the RP.
The player names should be written as such:
Name of Character (Player’s Username)
[ie: Ala Tune (Cross) ]

In the title of the RP thread, add OPEN or CLOSED to the end in brackets [] depending on if you are still accepting new players or not.
Example: Grasp of the Shadow Cat [Open]
Grasp of the Shadow Cat [Closed]


From there, the story will begin! And the only way to get better at Administrating an RP is practice.

Some good threads to visit when stuck in the RP or if you need help are as follows:
† Ideas for Role Plays
† Advertise Your Role Play [deviantart]
† Example of Proper RP Sign Ups: Beginner
† Example of Proper RP Sign Ups: Intermediate
† Example of Proper RP Sign Ups: Expert
† [url=] Role Play Strategy: For RP Admins [/url] [Coming Soon]

If you feel something is missing or not very well explained in this thread, please PM me, Cross; afterall, it is hard to explain the process of hosting an RP when you already know how to do it.

Sincerely and Happy Role Playing,
Mike (Cross)