SuperPichu
Pokémon!
If your RPG characters are Pokemon, then what do you put for description?
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RPG Forum Advice
- Thread starter RaZoR LeAf
- Start date
Avenger Angel
Warrior of Heaven
Usually anything that distinguishes them from other Pokemon of the same species. Such as being taller, having certain scars, whether they're clean and orderly or unkempt and messy, whether they're more agile and evasive than other members of their kind, or whether they might be a little slower but a little more burlier instead. Definitely don't treat it like the games where Pokemon are essentially just cookie cutter copies of each other. Take the Pokemon character's personality and apply it to their physical description, such as a wild and carefree Raichu appearing to be a bit messier and dirtier in appearance while a socially conscious Gardevoir may try to keep herself as clean and refined as possible and make sure she only looks her best. A Pokemon that likes to fight and compete might have a few more scars and injuries from all their days of rough and tumble, while a Pokemon that likes to race may be leaner and athletic in appearance.
Again, it depends on the character, what their personality is like, and what they would be like as a Pokemon.
Psychic
Really and truly
Totally nitpicky, but I just wanted to mention that a character's speed is generally unrelated to their physical appearance. That said, you can describe how they hold themselves - stance, posture, facial expression and such. I suppose you can stretch it to the physicality of how they move, whether it's stealthily, with a limp, lumbering or with quick, sporadic movements.
You can also include accessories - it's not too big a stretch to imagine vines wrapped around a Pokemon's middle like a belt or around its wrists like sweatbands, or a Wigglytuff wearing an earring they once found. A Meowth may like to toss a coin it found between its paws, or a Munchlax could always have a Berry in its hands. Pokemon also have held items in-game, so a Murkrow can be wearing BlackGlasses, a Banette with a Spell Tag attached to its head that billows in the wind or a Machoke could wear a Macho Brace.
Heck, you can have something as simple as a Pokemon with different-coloured eyes, or with fur slightly darker or lighter than usual. But really, it's not always necessary to make your Pokemon character look different or unique. A Butterfree can just look like an ordinary Butterfree. But you have lots of options. :>
~Psychic
Psychic
Really and truly
Hey, all! Since this thread is over 10 years old (wow!), I am working on revamping it to include more advice on creating, running and participating in RPGs! What would you like to see covered in a new RPG Advice thread? Is there any advice you would like to pass on that can be added to help other members? Post about it here!
~Psychic
~Psychic
When an RP is made, the GM will have a sign-up template put up. RPs are made in the Sign-Up subforum
Just copy-paste and fill in your stuff. Then post as a reply on the thread.
Dragalge
"Orange" Magical Girl
This might sound silly but is this a thread where I could ask for advice as well? I had some questions/advice I wanted to ask related to RP posts (and maybe SU's as well) and I saw this thread but judging from the first page, it looks like this thread seems to be more of people sharing their own advice to add on to a huge list of other advice given in the past so I'm not sure if I could ask for pointers here.
Aura Of Twilight
Forever Clueless
I've been thinking...What are some ways we could improve this part of the site? Any ideas? There used to be a moderate amount of people come through here with rp ideas and such. When did it slow down exactly? I've only been back on serebii for a few weeks after a long break, so...Is it because its not the summer maybe?
Samayouru
Rabid Dusclops Fan
I have noticed the same lack of activity in the other Fan Works area, which is a shame, because it was the fanfiction area of Serebiiforums that everyone I know came to the site for. I went ahead and did a little digging on why that could be.
Something that could've had a major impact on traffic here is, well, this site could be seen as old news. I say this because a lot of rping tends to take place on sites like deviantart and tumblr now, so forums aren't really as popular as they used to be.
Another factor, I've noticed, could be the standards this forum has. A lot of modern RPers don't hold the same standards that serebiiforums does and will stick to simplistic RPs, rather than more complex ones that require more than a few sentences at the most. I wish it wasn't this way, but that's just how it seems to be right now.
As for ways to improve? Not sure. I guess a more active mod team would be nice? Maybe some more forum events like the Winter Ball, too? The problem for me is that the biggest draw to the RPG forum was the amount of variety and the sheer volume of rps you could choose to sign up for was phenomenal at times, so it's tricky to suggest stuff without having to really think about it for a few days.
Monster Guy
Fairy type Trainer
What we really need to make this place more active is an influx of a bunch of awesome new RPers. 
Preferably active ones, that won't disappear within a week.
Preferably active ones, that won't disappear within a week.
Psychic
Really and truly
Hiya! This may warrant its own thread since it isn't necessarily related to RPing advice, but I wanted to pop in to reply!
Forums in general are definitely less popular than they used to be. Serebii as a whole is a lot quieter than it once was. A lot of fan communities are using sites like Tumblr these days, especially younger fans, who might consider forums to be old news.
Our RP forum has always had pretty high standards - that didn't used to be such a deterrent, but trends change over time, and it's very likely that less people are into that these days. If members want the rules to be more lax about things like word-count, then that is definitely something that can change! Please speak up if that's the case!
A more active mod team is a very fair request! This is something I can put more effort into. In terms of events, members can run events, too! The Fan Fiction forum especially has all kinds of members pitching events, which adds a lot of variety. If you have an idea for a forum event, please say something!
Unfortunately, getting new members is a tough problem to fix. We don't have the resources to advertise - but that's not to say that you can't! If you're on Tumblr or DeviantArt or even Twitter, feel free tobrag talk about the cool RP community on Serebii and get people excited about it!
~Psychic
Forums in general are definitely less popular than they used to be. Serebii as a whole is a lot quieter than it once was. A lot of fan communities are using sites like Tumblr these days, especially younger fans, who might consider forums to be old news.
Our RP forum has always had pretty high standards - that didn't used to be such a deterrent, but trends change over time, and it's very likely that less people are into that these days. If members want the rules to be more lax about things like word-count, then that is definitely something that can change! Please speak up if that's the case!
A more active mod team is a very fair request! This is something I can put more effort into. In terms of events, members can run events, too! The Fan Fiction forum especially has all kinds of members pitching events, which adds a lot of variety. If you have an idea for a forum event, please say something!
Unfortunately, getting new members is a tough problem to fix. We don't have the resources to advertise - but that's not to say that you can't! If you're on Tumblr or DeviantArt or even Twitter, feel free to
~Psychic
Vern
Why not both?
I'm not sure about any of the other stuff, but I really do like the fact that the standards here are high. I prefer it this way, personally. When you get these super short 1-2 paragraph posts with no detail (as I've seen on a lot of other forums), it's just not as fun to read or participate in.
Hiya! This may warrant its own thread since it isn't necessarily related to RPing advice, but I wanted to pop in to reply!
Forums in general are definitely less popular than they used to be. Serebii as a whole is a lot quieter than it once was. A lot of fan communities are using sites like Tumblr these days, especially younger fans, who might consider forums to be old news.
Our RP forum has always had pretty high standards - that didn't used to be such a deterrent, but trends change over time, and it's very likely that less people are into that these days. If members want the rules to be more lax about things like word-count, then that is definitely something that can change! Please speak up if that's the case!
A more active mod team is a very fair request! This is something I can put more effort into. In terms of events, members can run events, too! The Fan Fiction forum especially has all kinds of members pitching events, which adds a lot of variety. If you have an idea for a forum event, please say something!
Unfortunately, getting new members is a tough problem to fix. We don't have the resources to advertise - but that's not to say that you can't! If you're on Tumblr or DeviantArt or even Twitter, feel free tobragtalk about the cool RP community on Serebii and get people excited about it!
~Psychic
I agree with Vern above as well. I actually rather like the stricter rules here because it deters people from posting these extremely short one sentence posts as their rpg reply. Something along the lines of: "____ walked towards the group and said hi." is something I see a lot on other roleplay sites, because they have extremely lack rules where word count and stuff like that doesn't really matter. I really like roleplays (even outside of Serebii) that enforce a word count and want you to make these strongly detailed characters.
Personally I don't think that aspect needs to change at all.
I love the idea of members running events! I remember the Serebii roleplay ball thing that used to happen around Christmas time a few years ago. Something like that would really bring out some new, and old faces. I think something like this could be done soon considering people are getting out of school.
I'm just giving my two cents here, but I really like your ideas Psychic!
Aura Of Twilight
Forever Clueless
While I can definitely understand keeping the writing standard high, I also feel that it might be seen as intimidating for those first getting into rping. They may not feel as motivated or confident as more experienced rpers, possibly in their eyes seeing 'big walls' of text that they'll really have trouble coming up with at least a few paragraphs of their own. I'm not saying that rping should always be easy, but it should be fun too. A few written sentences may not be enough though and I can see both inexperienced and experienced rpers frustrations.
I suppose I'm just rambling, but when I first started getting into rping I only wrote a few sentences. Yet I gradually got more detailed and am still working on that to this day. I dunno, it's probably just a matter of different perspectives. Surely however, there must be some way of reaching a middle ground, so to speak? I realize this site isn't dedicated solely to rping, but maybe we could do something like that? Like, have there be a minimum amount of words one can post based on the rp, for instance, 'casual' rps until one is more confident to write more and then 'detailed' rps? Maybe we could have rp games of sorts, unless those already exist in the game section, which I don't frequent that much.
That's just my two cents. I also like the idea of members running community events.
I suppose I'm just rambling, but when I first started getting into rping I only wrote a few sentences. Yet I gradually got more detailed and am still working on that to this day. I dunno, it's probably just a matter of different perspectives. Surely however, there must be some way of reaching a middle ground, so to speak? I realize this site isn't dedicated solely to rping, but maybe we could do something like that? Like, have there be a minimum amount of words one can post based on the rp, for instance, 'casual' rps until one is more confident to write more and then 'detailed' rps? Maybe we could have rp games of sorts, unless those already exist in the game section, which I don't frequent that much.
That's just my two cents. I also like the idea of members running community events.
TheCharredDragon
Tis the Hour to Reload
Personally, I think the standard is fine. I barely met it in my very first post but I've improved over the years. And I like that. I like this place because it's basically like a sandbox for me to try out my writing and constantly practice it.
I do like your idea Aura, but just one thing...how would one classify a casual RP and a detailed one? Well, we have a general idea yes, but I think a definite definition would help avoid confusion in the future.
As for the other stuff, I might have some ideas for events. Maybe. Like a contest or something where each week or month or something challenges you to make a post for a character and their reaction and the judges have to judge how in character the post was and how good the writing was. ...that idea came up as I wrote this by the way... Don't have much else to say other than that. And maybe some sort of practice thread for new RPers to give their hand in writing stuff and getting advice? Maybe? These ideas just come along as I write...
I do like your idea Aura, but just one thing...how would one classify a casual RP and a detailed one? Well, we have a general idea yes, but I think a definite definition would help avoid confusion in the future.
As for the other stuff, I might have some ideas for events. Maybe. Like a contest or something where each week or month or something challenges you to make a post for a character and their reaction and the judges have to judge how in character the post was and how good the writing was. ...that idea came up as I wrote this by the way... Don't have much else to say other than that. And maybe some sort of practice thread for new RPers to give their hand in writing stuff and getting advice? Maybe? These ideas just come along as I write...
Okay, this post goes way out of hand in terms of length, and so I apologize. I’ve attempted to shrink it down via spoiler tags.
I can definitely speak to life circumstances changing and altering the amount of free time available, and just drifting away from the site from time to time. I think it's been a year or three since I've been around here seriously, although I've stuck my head in a few times to see if anything grabbed my attention, but life concerns have mostly kept me away for a while.
High standards of writing are something of a double edged sword, to me. On one hand, they keep threads from turning into endless streams of one-line posts and encourage more detailed and comprehensive posts/characters. On the other, it can be a bit intimidating to jump into something as a newbie (drudging up the memories of 2012 or whatever it was me), especially in the SU threads. For example, of the three RPs that have sign up from the last 30 days (and at some point, I'll try and go back farther, but I want to get this post done before I have to go eat), only one of them has any particular length guidelines for fields like History, Personality and Appearance, in that case requesting at least 100 words for each field (The forum mandated minimum). One says 'detail is appreciated', but that is kinda vague. Most of the names I see in the threads these days are names I remember from back when I was active, and so are pretty old hats at the sign up creation process, and produce sign up that are substantially longer than that. Just for example, the SU I just posted in Dunes is just short of 3,000 words, which isn't even close to the longest in that thread. Thinking back to when I first joined, I think the first SU I ever posted was.... probably a third of that, which was actually pretty par for the course back then.
I think some of this might scare off potential new (as in 100% new to RPing), because it seems like there is an extremely high barrier to entry, when perhaps there really isn't. I apologize for using you as my example Hydrangea, but I have the tab for Dune open so it's quickest to compare. Within Dune, we've got sign ups ranging from just short of 1,000 words, to upwards for 4,000 that have been accepted. Now, that is not to say that any one of these is better or worse than the others, from my perspective they all seem fine, and they obviously meet the requirements, they've been accepted. But if a new person shows up in a thread, and is reading through it, and clicks on a link to an accepted character to see what is expected, because there are no suggested guidelines for SU length in the first post, and gets a 3,00-word character sheet, that's going to be rather intimidating, and reasonably might scare them off. Probably would have scared me off back in the day.
Now, I’m not saying that lowering standards is really the right way to go, I agree with a lot of the previous posters, higher standards are better. But it’s possible that outside of any suggestions what is expected from just the Sign Up, there seems to be an artificial barrier of entry to those new people who aren’t sure what’s going on, or are still learning. There is, of course, the Psychic’s “How to Craft A Character + Sign-Up Review Thread” from 2014, that is an excellent resource for things to include in Sign Ups and the like. However, being that it’s from 2014, I’m sure some people will overlook it, or assume it’s out of date.
Perhaps providing some resources for new people, (that is to say those new to RPing) might help with new people acquisition. (See the second spoiler tag for my thoughts there). TheCharredDragon beat me to the punch on this suggestion, but thougth I’d put my thoughts out there. The only real ‘Newbie Resources’ we have at the moment is that Sign Up thread I mentioned above, and the rules. Otherwise, anyone who wants to join up here is essentially diving in blind, aside from reading other RPs and things like that.
Of course, I might also be talking out my ears here.
Speaking of Sign Ups, one of the things I had noticed before I drifted away from Serebii due to IRL stuff, was a substantially lower volume of Sign Up threads being posted. I’m not 100% sure why this is, but something I noticed then, and when I actually tell the forum to show me threads from father back than a month, seems to be a continuing trend. I don’t really have a reasoning for this, or a ‘suggestion’, this is more of an observation than anything else. Some of this might be just a symptom of the general downturn in forum traffic.
I’m behind community events as well.I have a few ideas possibly worth tossing out, but I want to think about them, and clarify them a bit before throwing anything out for general consideration. See the spoiler below.
I think I’m out of immediate thoughts, and food is calling, so I’ll leave this here, and come back to it later tonight.
I can definitely speak to life circumstances changing and altering the amount of free time available, and just drifting away from the site from time to time. I think it's been a year or three since I've been around here seriously, although I've stuck my head in a few times to see if anything grabbed my attention, but life concerns have mostly kept me away for a while.
High standards of writing are something of a double edged sword, to me. On one hand, they keep threads from turning into endless streams of one-line posts and encourage more detailed and comprehensive posts/characters. On the other, it can be a bit intimidating to jump into something as a newbie (drudging up the memories of 2012 or whatever it was me), especially in the SU threads. For example, of the three RPs that have sign up from the last 30 days (and at some point, I'll try and go back farther, but I want to get this post done before I have to go eat), only one of them has any particular length guidelines for fields like History, Personality and Appearance, in that case requesting at least 100 words for each field (The forum mandated minimum). One says 'detail is appreciated', but that is kinda vague. Most of the names I see in the threads these days are names I remember from back when I was active, and so are pretty old hats at the sign up creation process, and produce sign up that are substantially longer than that. Just for example, the SU I just posted in Dunes is just short of 3,000 words, which isn't even close to the longest in that thread. Thinking back to when I first joined, I think the first SU I ever posted was.... probably a third of that, which was actually pretty par for the course back then.
I think some of this might scare off potential new (as in 100% new to RPing), because it seems like there is an extremely high barrier to entry, when perhaps there really isn't. I apologize for using you as my example Hydrangea, but I have the tab for Dune open so it's quickest to compare. Within Dune, we've got sign ups ranging from just short of 1,000 words, to upwards for 4,000 that have been accepted. Now, that is not to say that any one of these is better or worse than the others, from my perspective they all seem fine, and they obviously meet the requirements, they've been accepted. But if a new person shows up in a thread, and is reading through it, and clicks on a link to an accepted character to see what is expected, because there are no suggested guidelines for SU length in the first post, and gets a 3,00-word character sheet, that's going to be rather intimidating, and reasonably might scare them off. Probably would have scared me off back in the day.
Now, I’m not saying that lowering standards is really the right way to go, I agree with a lot of the previous posters, higher standards are better. But it’s possible that outside of any suggestions what is expected from just the Sign Up, there seems to be an artificial barrier of entry to those new people who aren’t sure what’s going on, or are still learning. There is, of course, the Psychic’s “How to Craft A Character + Sign-Up Review Thread” from 2014, that is an excellent resource for things to include in Sign Ups and the like. However, being that it’s from 2014, I’m sure some people will overlook it, or assume it’s out of date.
Perhaps providing some resources for new people, (that is to say those new to RPing) might help with new people acquisition. (See the second spoiler tag for my thoughts there). TheCharredDragon beat me to the punch on this suggestion, but thougth I’d put my thoughts out there. The only real ‘Newbie Resources’ we have at the moment is that Sign Up thread I mentioned above, and the rules. Otherwise, anyone who wants to join up here is essentially diving in blind, aside from reading other RPs and things like that.
Of course, I might also be talking out my ears here.
Speaking of Sign Ups, one of the things I had noticed before I drifted away from Serebii due to IRL stuff, was a substantially lower volume of Sign Up threads being posted. I’m not 100% sure why this is, but something I noticed then, and when I actually tell the forum to show me threads from father back than a month, seems to be a continuing trend. I don’t really have a reasoning for this, or a ‘suggestion’, this is more of an observation than anything else. Some of this might be just a symptom of the general downturn in forum traffic.
I’m behind community events as well.
I think I’m out of immediate thoughts, and food is calling, so I’ll leave this here, and come back to it later tonight.
Weekly(Or Monthly) RolePlay Challenge:
Each week someone, (Me (if I posted the thread), Mods, Various GMs) post a situation. Each respondent then provides the solution their character might take to the situation (probably with a link to the character sheet). The idea to solve the problem in an unconventional, but still in character way. I’m not sure if I’d say it would be judged, or if maybe someone(s) offer their thoughts about how in character and creative each post was. This is vaguely based on a thing I’ve seen elsewhere.
I can mock up a thread idea for this is anyone wanted, and some more details, this is just throwing stuff at the wall.
Winter Ball:
Someone mentioned the old ‘Winter Ball’ thing that happened, which I remember seeing but not participating in. Unfortunately, I’m not all that great on what the details where, so I can’t speak to reviving it again.
Contests:
Maybe something along the lines of You are given a basic character idea, let’s say: Nerdy Guy whose terrible at sports. And your job is to put a fun and unique spin in on that idea? Or write a short response to some other kind of post. Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
Some kind of judging panel or voting system choose the winner?
That brings a question of what winners get, if anything, and so on. These probably have the most 'overhead' so to speak.
Each week someone, (Me (if I posted the thread), Mods, Various GMs) post a situation. Each respondent then provides the solution their character might take to the situation (probably with a link to the character sheet). The idea to solve the problem in an unconventional, but still in character way. I’m not sure if I’d say it would be judged, or if maybe someone(s) offer their thoughts about how in character and creative each post was. This is vaguely based on a thing I’ve seen elsewhere.
I can mock up a thread idea for this is anyone wanted, and some more details, this is just throwing stuff at the wall.
Winter Ball:
Someone mentioned the old ‘Winter Ball’ thing that happened, which I remember seeing but not participating in. Unfortunately, I’m not all that great on what the details where, so I can’t speak to reviving it again.
Contests:
Maybe something along the lines of You are given a basic character idea, let’s say: Nerdy Guy whose terrible at sports. And your job is to put a fun and unique spin in on that idea? Or write a short response to some other kind of post. Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
Some kind of judging panel or voting system choose the winner?
That brings a question of what winners get, if anything, and so on. These probably have the most 'overhead' so to speak.
Newbie Resource Threads:
Something that contains example Sign Ups. Maybe even some feedback on each one as well. Make sure to contain a variety of lengths, and things like that.
Somewhere to get feedback on RPing, in a constructive manner. This is a hard one to figure out. Maybe some of us dig back into our old RP posts, (like from way back when we first started RPing, if possible), and critique some of our own work. Talk about things that those old posts can do better? Might be easier or harder, depending on how many posts each person has, for instance. I’m not sure how to apply this for situations outside that though. Maybe a thread where someone can post a link to ask for feedback on what others think might be worth improving?
This might almost be worth a bit of collaboration with the Fanfiction Folks. Just general writing advice stuff. Things like advice on description, and general writing. Obviously doing FF is different than RPing, but there is some common ground to be tread. Or maybe there is a thread in the FF section we can point people too. I don’t frequent there much, even if I should, so I can’t say for sure what might or might not exist there.
Something that contains example Sign Ups. Maybe even some feedback on each one as well. Make sure to contain a variety of lengths, and things like that.
Somewhere to get feedback on RPing, in a constructive manner. This is a hard one to figure out. Maybe some of us dig back into our old RP posts, (like from way back when we first started RPing, if possible), and critique some of our own work. Talk about things that those old posts can do better? Might be easier or harder, depending on how many posts each person has, for instance. I’m not sure how to apply this for situations outside that though. Maybe a thread where someone can post a link to ask for feedback on what others think might be worth improving?
This might almost be worth a bit of collaboration with the Fanfiction Folks. Just general writing advice stuff. Things like advice on description, and general writing. Obviously doing FF is different than RPing, but there is some common ground to be tread. Or maybe there is a thread in the FF section we can point people too. I don’t frequent there much, even if I should, so I can’t say for sure what might or might not exist there.
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