The Roleplayer's Handbook

We acknowledge there are several different kinds of roleplaying as well as different places to roleplay have different standards. On Kingdoms of Kahara we want to clearly communicate what successful players do.

The earlier steps are for those largely new to the hobby while later parts of the guide are meant for those looking to improve their craft.

This isn't meant to be a definitive or exhaustive list, but it is informed by decades of roleplay experience in a text based format.

Level 1

At this stage most players are excited about roleplaying and enthusiastic, but have little idea how to channel that enthusiasm.

1. Avoid powerposing. Powerposing is where you write something which says what someone else is doing. For example, "Cai kicks Noelani in the face sending her flying back into a wall." This is a problem because Cai is not only saying what he's doing, but defining Noelani's response. If this is hard to understand, imaging how rude it would be if another player did that with your character.
2. Avoid inner thought posing. "Cai thinks Noelani is an idiot." This is a problem because characters can't read minds, knowing what others are thinking. This means Cai insulted Noelani and left her without any way to respond to it. "Cai listens to Noelani, then rolls his eyes and sighs heavily," would be a simple, but much better way to get the point across. That's because these are specific actions which Noelani can react to.
3. Learn the skill system basics. We understand new skill systems can be hard. On Kingdoms of Kahara we try to keep the system simple, but know a new system often takes time and use to understanding. Knowing the skill system basics helps you understand what your character is capable of and may inform your character's actions, leading to a better roleplay experience.
4. Learn setting basics. While lots of areas have their own individual lore and setting, a new character needs an idea of where their character comes from and where their character spends the most time.

Level 2

At this stage a player has the basics of roleplaying on an environment like Kingdoms of Kahara down and can start working on some more aspects of their play.

1. Latch onto hooks! Players often have their characters mention things because they want other players to interact with them. By learning to identify and interact with hooks you're starting to expand on the stories which can be told in an environment like Kingdoms of Kahara.
2. Don't be shy! In real life it may be more polite to keep opinions to ourselves or avoid interacting with people we don't know, but this is, fundamentally, a game about players interacting with each other. If two characters are in a tavern and just pose doing their own thing that's rarely fun, so instead try approaching other characters. Similarly it's okay for your character to voice opinions a little louder than you as a player might in real life.
3. Make excuses to do things, rather than excuses to avoid doing things. While not every plot or hook is for every character on Kingdoms of Kahara, players are better served by making excuses to get involved in something rather than making excuses to avoid it. This is a game about interaction so learning to make excuses for characters to do things and interact is important.

Level 3

Most players tend to settle in around the second level, and that's fine! Advancing into the later steps is less about learning how to play your characters and more about helping other players.

1. Don't glorify your own characters. Anyone can come up with scenarios which make their characters look awesome. It almost never works. Players often know when another player is puffing up their own character. Just about everyone thinks their own characters are the coolest or best. Trying to glorify your own characters, especially at the cost of others, just makes you look silly.
2. Make other characters look good! Give other players opportunities to look awesome! Popular players on games like this are those who make other players feel good. The player portraying a fighter willing to lose is likely to be more popular than the player who makes a warrior and is unwilling to ever let them lose on screen.
3. Give others plot hooks. Throw off plot hooks, things for other characters to do. Players often want to do things, but they need players to give them things to do. This can be as complicated as sending a group of characters on a quest, to as simple as asking another character's opinion on something.