|The Academy of Featherdown Moors RP| discussion

Roleplaying is where you pretend to be another character in a make-believe setting. There are three main types of roleplay: text-based, live-action, and tabletop. Text-based roleplaying takes place online and focuses on writing. Live-action roleplaying takes place face-to-face; you interact with other people through talking, acting, and occasionally combat. Tabletop roleplaying can be done in-person or online, and focuses mainly on verbally describing your character's actions. All three are fun, immersive, and a great way to meet new friends.

Choose text-based roleplaying if you like to write fiction or fanfiction. It is essentially the same thing, except that you will be writing the story with at least one other person. When you do text-based roleplaying, you take on the role of a character, and write his or her actions and reactions to other characters and events. Here is an example of what a roleplay might look like:

fanfiction4ever:
Jane was breathless as she hurried to school through the pouring rain. She had forgotten her umbrella at home, and it was too late now to go back and get it. She was soaked and cold.

roleplay_queen:
John saw Jane dash across the school yard, and ran over to her. "Hey, Jane!" he called, "Wait up!" He then pulled out his umbrella, and held it over both their heads. "Here," he said, "Let's walk to class together.

fanfiction4ever:
Jane blushed as John stepped closer to her, so that both of them could fit under the umbrella. She had always had a crush on him, but too afraid of rejection to admit it. "T-thank you, John," she said, and slipped her arm through his.

Find a place to roleplay on and obey its rules. There are many websites that allow roleplaying. Some of them are entire websites dedicated to roleplaying, while others have roleplaying sub-forums, such as GaiaOnline and Neopets. Pick a site that suits your interests the most. You will be prompted to create an account and log in.
Some websites are geared towards only certain types of roleplays, while others allow a broader spectrum. For example, you may find a site that focuses only on vampire-themed roleplays.
You can play with people you already know, or play with people you don't know. Roleplayers often become best friends!
Wherever you choose to roleplay, be sure to read the rules and respect them. Breaking these rules can result in suspension or even banning.


Learn the terminology in the roleplaying community. The terms might vary depending on where you choose to roleplay, but in general, they are the same. Here are some common terms you might see:
RP stands for roleplay. You will often see this in search threads.
OC and Canon: "OC" stands for "original character," while "canon" refers to a character from an existing book, game, or movie, such as Harry Potter, Cloud Strife, or Tony Stark.
Pairing: this refers to two characters in an rp; they interact with each other the most, and often end up in a relationship.
OOC stands for "Out of Character." It is usually followed by a colon to signify the writer him/herself speaking. People use these for comments and questions about the rp.
Literate, Semi-literate, and Advanced-literate refer the amount of writing expected per post. These terms are arbitrary, as every one has different ideas of what means what. In general, "semi-lit" refers to posts that are less than a paragraph, and "advanced-lit" refers to posts that are several paragraphs long.