Creator's Guide to NFRP Roleplaying 101

[The Creator]

.:: Creator's Guide to NFRP Roleplaying 101 ::.

Welcome to Creator's Guide to Roleplaying 101! Even if you do not wish to be one of my students, I will tell you everything I know about roleplaying right here. I plan to give you the greatest resource you could possibly have when it comes to having trouble roleplaying here at NFRP.

We'll start with my golden rule of roleplaying:

HE WHO LOSES THE FIGHT IS ALWAYS THE BETTER ROLEPLAYER

Now, I know what you're thinking. My S-Class shinobi just took out some punk D-Rank shinobi and you're saying he's the better roleplayer? That's not it at all. I'm saying that whoever loses, whoever succombs to their own character's weaknesses and willingly accepts that they lost the battle is, by far, one of the greatest rpers. In my experience, many roleplayers have lots of trouble comprehending the fact that the characters they create have weaknesses. They think them invincible and unstoppable.

This brings me to my silver rule of roleplaying:

EVERY CHARACTER HAS WEAKNESSES AND FLAWS

Every character in existence has a weakness. This weakness can be exploited and used to defeat even the strongest and most unstoppable of opponents. Do not make or think that your character is without flaws, because everyone has flaws. Now, even though your character can be defeated in combat, it's not who gets the W at the end of the day, but the visual experience that you and your combatant made.

This brings me to my last rule, my bronze rule of roleplaying:

ROLEPLAYING IS MADE TO BE FUN AND TO CREATE AN EXPERIENCE FOR THE READER AND WRITER

There, don't you see? That's the reason we roleplay. To create situations that are not supposed to happen in real life. To make fantasy reality, and to enjoy our imagination to its fullest.

With those three rules in mind, going into the world of Roleplaying isn't all that bad. If you do nothing but follow those three rules for the rest of your life, then I have already made you a better RPer.

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[The Creator]

Common Problems!

In the first chapter of my textbook, Creator's Guide to NFRP Roleplaying 101 (Copyright pending), I am going to list out the problems which I see far too much. This section is going to basically be simple grammer mistakes that can be fixed to make one's writing that much better.

to, too, two
This has to be the most annoying problem to ever exist in the english language since changing from olde englishe to modern english. The three words: to, too, and two all sound the same, but they are used as if interchangable. They are three different words and I'm about to show you when to use them, and when not to use them.

• Two -
  
  • Noun
    1. a cardinal number, 1 plus 1.
    2. a symbol for this number, as 2 or II.
    3. a set of this many persons or things.
    4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with two pips.

Good example: I played two games today.
Bad example: I want to come play with you guys two.

One should use "two" when describing a quantity of something, nothing more. I don't see much problems with the word "two" as much as the other two, but there are always those who surprise me.

• To
  
  • Preposition
    1. (used for expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place, or thing approached and reached, as opposed to from ): They came to the house.
    2. (used for expressing direction or motion or direction toward something) in the direction of; toward: from north to south.
    3. (used for expressing limit of movement or extension): He grew to six feet.
    4. (used for expressing contact or contiguity) on; against; beside; upon: a right uppercut to the jaw; Apply varnish to the surface.
    5. (used for expressing a point of limit in time) before; until: to this day; It is ten minutes to six. We work from nine to five.
  
  
  • Adverb
    23. toward a point, person, place, or thing, implied or understood.
    24. toward a contact point or closed position: Pull the door to.
    25. toward a matter, action, or work: We turned to with a will.
    26. into a state of consciousness; out of unconsciousness: after he came to.

• Too
  
  • Adverb
    1. in addition; also; furthermore; moreover: young, clever, and rich too.
    2. to an excessive extent or degree; beyond what is desirable, fitting, or right: too sick to travel.
    3. more, as specified, than should be: too near the fire.
    4. (used as an affirmative to contradict a negative statement): I am too!
    5. extremely; very: She wasn't too pleased with his behavior.

Good examples: I went to the park.
Justin came along too.
It was too dark to play ball.
After Sakura hit Naruto, we thought he would never come to.

Bad examples: I went too the park.
Justin came along to.
It was to dark to play ball.
After Sakura hit Naruto, we thought he would never come too. (This sentence could work, but not standing alone.)

There are all the rules for using to and too. If one is going towards someplace, use "to". If something is going to accompany something or there is too much of something, use "too".



their, there, and they're
This is the second most common problem I see grammatically in young people these days. Such a shame. Once again, they are two different words yet people seem to think that they are quite interchangeable. Well, they're not, let me tell you.

they're - a contraction meaning "they are". If you use this word and cannot replace it with "they are", then there is a problem. Take the sentence below for example:

We are going to they're lake house. Sounds simple enough. But is it right? Let's replace "they're" with "they are" and see if it fits.

We are going to they are lake house. Wait, what? That makes no sense, right? So, obviously, "they're" cannot be interchanged with any other word or phrase other than "they are"

their - this word simply shows possession for a third-person plural group of people. Meaning that, "their" means "it belongs to them". So, lets take a look at another sentence.

That's they're yard Oh no, not another one? We already know that the sentence can't say "That's they are yard". Hmm, so that leaves "their" or "there"

That yard belongs to them. That makes sense! Plus, "belongs to them" can be interchanged with "their", so...

That's their yard. Hurrah!

There - describes the relative location of something.

That tree over there.

That llama over there.

Put that pie up on that counter there. If a sentence has "there" in it, and is not talking about location, then it is completely wrong.

---

References:
dictionary.reference.com/browse/too
dictionary.reference.com/browse/to
dictionary.reference.com/browse/two

[The Creator]

Training Guide!

Alright, so some of you guys have some trouble with training. I see that some of you guys repeatedly get some lower numbers. Well fear no longer! I am going to help you get consistent nines and tens all the way through the rest of your training career. I'm going to give you some pointers on training in general and then I'm going to give you some examples of some good training exercises.

Okay, so the first technique I want to teach you is called Breaking-Down. It's a simple yet effective technique that I developed to help people train C, B, A, and S rank jutsus. Because they require more than one post, one should plan what they are going to do. And Breaking-Down is just that: creating an outline of the posts that you are going to make. Using this template, it makes the techniques seem like a breeze, and you won't find yourself wondering what to do next with your jutsu.

I'll give you an example that I've been using rather commonly, as I find it a pretty nice one.

***

Doton: Diyu Maze
Rank: B
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Creates a square maze from the place the opponent stands until where you stand. The walls and ceiling are immensely sturdy and being kept up with the user’s chakra.
Special: Snake
Drawback: As long as the maze is up, the user slowly runs out of chakra.
Description: Holding the snake seal and hitting it on the ground, resulting a 3 meter[10 feet] high maze to rise up from the earth and directly forming a ceiling on top within a second.
Limit: Must know the earth release.

1. Planning and Organization -- The first post should always have your character thinking, planning, and organizing what you are going to do to learn this technique. Your character should try and understand what he is about to do and how he is going to take each step.
2. Drawing Mazes -- Everything needs a first step. For this technique, it is probably drawing or memorizing mazes. You want to try and have your first step (second post) something that is very basic. You don't want to go and just try to form the technique right off the back because then you have nothing left to do but debug the problems and repeat it for another seven or eight posts. That's not a good way to get training points.
3. Forming Walls/Corners/Dead Ends -- After your character has finished grasping the idea of the technique, he should start biting off little pieces at a time that he can understand. Your character should thus focus on forming walls/corners/dead ends for the maze. Force your character to fail at this, allow him to find his flaws and fix them. It's okay to make mistakes, it just shows you're following the silver rule.
4. Creating Complex Hallways -- Okay, now that you've mastered the basics of the technique, you need to start branching out and start taking a larger step. Because a maze is made up of many different hallways and walls, you should begin to have your character try and put up entire hallways at once, controlling them with your chakra. Try and drag this out as much as possible. Try and understand the earth and how you are bringing it up. Are you pulling the earth up? Are you pushing it from below? Is your earth dry? If so, how are you doing this? Are you pulling the moisture from the earth? Etc, etc.
5. Test 1 -- By the fifth post, or somewhere halfway through, you should start to test the technique entirely. Remember to take important insight that you learned in all your previous posts and bring it out here. Remember, drag it out. The most important part of the test 1 is failure. You must create one fatal flaw in your technique. For the sake of example, I'm going to say that my character's fault is that he panicked and made the maze far too simple.
6. Debug/Problem Solving -- Here you should have your character realize his mistake. Have him mentally find solutions to the mistake that he made and make him go over that exact part that he messed up physically.
7. Final Test -- Here, you will finally finish your technique. You will play it out. It will be very similar to the fifth post, but be sure that your character puts extra emphasis on the part he failed last time on.

Leftovers: chances are you won't get perfect tens on every post. That's okay. The leftovers are apt to be pretty easy to take on. Do something much like the sixth post, except try and find flaws that you can improve on that aren't too major. For example, I can make a post on trying to create the maze faster, making the walls harder, etc. ((Graders tend to give a better grade when you ask them to grade all your posts at once, so do that!))

****

That right there is a nice example of Breaking-Down: it shows what one is going to do every post. All he has to do now is be able to stretch such a summary out to encompass an entire post. I will give you some pointers on how to do this:

1. Chakra is EVERYTHING: When you perform a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, chakra is everything. It is what allows shinobi to perform feats that we, regular joes, are unable to. In one's training post, it is very necessary for one to not only mention chakra but to revolve one's entire post around it. Everything is done with chakra. When you expel fire from your mouth, you use chakra to combust within your mouth, allowing the fire to flow out. You must also use chakra to channel it outwards so it doesn't just sit in your mouth. You must also coat your mouth with chakra so it doesn't get burned. Fire is fueled by oxygen, but it can run out of oxygen very quickly, and so one could say that he could bring in oxygen from around to fuel the fire.

2. Mistakes are Learning: For muscles to become stronger, they must first be broken down. After that, they build back stronger and better than before. Training is just like this. Do not expect your character to perfect the move on the first attempt, because that is not how it happens. Your character must have flaws, he must fail. Not only does this help the character learn more about what to do that's right, but it takes up more space in your training post! It's a win-win situation. I understand that your character is a genius or a prodigy but the fact is that everyone, even the greats, learn from mistakes.

3. Expand on Your Learning: Learning something isn't just a sudden grasp of knowledge. One must first work it through their brain. They must prepare and thus execute. Sometimes this takes many attempts. The fact is: this step builds on the last. Don't have your character make a mistake and suddenly be "OH WE NEED MORE CHAKRA", because that's vanilla and dull. You need to think outside of the box for this. "The earth isn't holding up when it's hit. Perhaps it needs to be a bit thicker? Perhaps it needs to be a bit drier? Maybe I could create poles of earth and stick it up through the stone so it is supported underground, too." Although it doesn't have to be directly in the technique, as long as it doesn't directly modify the technique, you should be good (note that however much training, or whatever genius ideas you might have, the technique cannot be stronger than what it already is).

[The Creator]

Capturing The Moment

The sprawling city destroyed all constructs I had made of the upper limits of our capabilities. The heights of the towers were dizzying, and the labyrinth of streets was befuddling. There was something morose about the city at night: darkness flooded the streets and only the occasional road-side torch cut through the black with it's meager flashes of red-orange light. Everything cast in the glow seemed ablaze so that the light danced just as dangerously as the darkness loomed. Faces, masked with a stoic dutifulness that tainted the townspeople, would float through the darkness and into the light, casting their dull gaze upon me like that of a corpse, before disappearing once again into the blackness. Every time the glinting reflection of the torchlight would suddenly catch the whites of the eyes of an appearing face, I would flinch. Horror began to creep down my spine at the sickness the city seemed to hold; it was a dizzying disease that caught all who walked too near, like a ghostly web which silently waited to ensnare the unknowing. I paused in the torchlight, staring out into the darkness. I could feel eyes, hiding somewhere in the darkness around me, boring into me like worms into dead flesh. I shivered. The pale cobblestone on which I stood seemed to grow dimmer; the red-orange light that had fought so long against the darkness seemed to altogether give up and recede. My heart began to beat into a frenzy; something was in the darkness, waiting. It would not be much longer now; the flames that had once stood guard against the night died into embers, and embers could only feed itself for so long. The black of night invaded, conquering the light, and before long, I was soaked in it. Silence filled the air like a foul stench and I noticed it immediately. In the midst of the city, darkness and silence hung like traitors upon the city walls. My blood had become ice, I was too terrified to move. Whatever had been watching me earlier was closer. The night was thick, I could not see my hands in front of me. Something was very wrong; I would forever rue the day I entered the city gates, and never came out again

Find your theme and capture it through word choice and heavy description. Use metaphors and similes to further your story. Use all 5 senses to describe your surroundings. Do not just walk into port; feel the rush of salt as it fills your nostrils and the cool air sweeping off the ocean through your hair. Do not feel very scared, feel terrified. Do not be very interested, be engrossed. If you want your post to be dark, use dark words. If you want it to be happy, use happy words. Here I tried to use heavy imagery based upon things that are typically viewed as uncomfortable, setting the mood and the theme. The air did not hang about, it hung like dead traitors upon a city wall. If you want to be excited, to not leap for joy, tell of how your heart pounds in your chest and how warmth spread through you like hot tea on a cold day, capturing your mind with a beautiful bliss that, for a single instance, made you forget every worry you ever had. Capture the moment. Do not be afraid to go above and beyond "he walked into the house and went to the bathroom". Do not tell a story, give the reader a chance to live another life.