Character Role-playing

What is role playing?

Role playing is basically pretending to be something which you are not, but I think it goes much deeper than that. For some role players, it's actually feeling the emotions your character might feel. It's becoming the person in which you are pretending to be. Getting to that point takes some serious motivation and practice, but for those who are interested in getting to that point, please read on. If you are just interested in basic techniques then read on. But if you laugh at role players or think that they are losers, then I suggest you read it any ways, because you will be interacting with those that want to role play. If you are interested in learning how to speak Britainnian or how to translate it, that can also be found here.

This page is designed to help the new players of Dawn feel more comfortable Role Playing and also to guide them on how to do it properly. I think that Role playing is a great way to make your online experiences much more enjoyable.

When starting a new character, you're completely anonymous, born into a new identity. That face you see in the mirror in the morning isn't what people see in Dawn. You've cast off all the real-world expectations people have of you, and a whole new attitude can go with your new appearance. When you enter the world of Dawn, your world changes. Why shouldn't your role? It can, however, be surprisingly fun.

Adopting a Fantasy Role

If you write down a few simple ideas about your character, you'll have a much easier time presenting him or her in a consistent way. One popular way of approaching any character role is to determine your motivation. What do you want? Do you want friends? Do you want to help people or have them dote on you? Would you rather be admired for your wit, or your bravery?

The computer supplies all the trappings of this heroic fantasy world, but you won't really enter the setting until you assume the role of a native. Fortunately, that's not hard to do. Simply avoiding references to the real world and real-world slang will identify you as a citizen rather than a tourist.

Archaic Speech

You certainly do not have to use unusual speech to role-play effectively. You don't have to say "Hail!" to be a role-player -- just "Hello" can do nicely. ("Yo dudez!" will not paint you as a dedicated role-player.) However, some players find that an archaic speech style adds to the game ambiance. If you'd like to encourage archaic speech in your group, you might want to start by speaking in polite, curt English, and only gradually introduce a few archaic phrases. See which expressions your companions spontaneously pick up and start using, and abandon ones that don't seem popular.

If you're the Leader of a Faction, you may even want to suggest some speech conventions in your contract, but understand that you'll alienate some players. No matter how willing your vassals are to join you in role-playing, don't be too high-handed about defining the way they should speak. Your group will evolve its own speech conventions, and its members will feel more valued if they can contribute.

Thou, Thee, Thy, and Thine

Those who know how to use these words will be pained if you use them not only constantly but constantly and incorrectly. First, be aware that "thou" and its other forms are second-person familiar -- that is, they're informal, not formal. Saying "thy majesty" to a king is an insult, implying you're buddies; even kings don't address each other this way. It's "your majesty" or it's the gibbet. On the other hand, if you're pretty sure you're not vastly outranked, using "thou" occasionally can be friendly, and less stilted than "you."

As far as the grammar goes, comparing the appearance of "thou" and "you" can be puzzling. You can say, "I gave it to you," but not "I gave it to thou." The correct grammar is "I gave it to thee."

Subject of the sentence: Thou givest.

An object in the sentence: I give thee money.

Possessive: I ate thine apple and thy pear.

Notice that you use "thine" when the thing that's possessed starts with a vowel. You also use "thine" where you'd normally use "yours": "The apple is thine."

Deciding what form of a verb to use with "thou" is a little tricky. With most verbs you merely add "est" or "st" on the end, but "to be" and "to have" are irregular: "thou art" and "thou hast," for example.

You don't have to get it completely right to use the familiar address -- the idea that there's a correct way to speak is itself a fairly modern idea -- but if you don't show at least some awareness of the meaning and forms of your words, people will think you're ignorant, and that can dull the gleam of any heroic persona. Good luck with your alter egos; may they be both fun and enlightening!

Guide Lines

1) Learn how to do as much as you can, so you are not always asking other players how to questions.

2) Keep your character to yourself, don't let anyone know how good / bad you are. If you've ever played D&D, you would know what I'm talking about. Only two people know the DM (dungeon master) and you. Don't let anyone know what your skill levels are. It gets annoying to see people saying in town. "I HAVE 88% such and such skill". It would be better to say ( If you were an arrogant character ) " I am the greatest blacksmith ever to walk the streets of Khraytonn, ye(meaning "all of you") would be wise to purchase my weapons, for they shalt not fail ye in battle."

d) Try to kill the internet lingo as much as possible. e.g.. the smiley faces, :) :( ,etc.. LOL.. brb.

e) use emote messages instead * like this * e.g. * smiles *, * waves * ,etc....

If you can do this for one hour or so, you are ready to go one to bigger and better Role Playing techniques.

Why should we role play anyhow?

The only reason anyone should role play is to have fun. Dawn is a game after all, and we play games to have fun. If you aren't having fun role-playing then you shouldn't do it. But the bottom line is role-playing is a way for you to develop your own character and a personality that is not your own. The internet completely allows you to screen your true personality from others. Use the anonymous nature of the internet to your advantage, this is part of role-playing.

Tip's on Role-playing

This is optional for the role player, but you may want to read it over if you don't understand some of the things that other role players may say in game. This is a must read for any role player that wishes to speak 'forsoothly'.

Role-playing speech is sort of, kind of like an adapted old English.

here are some basic translations and usage's.

Aye: yes, sure, ok,

Nay: no,

Hail: hello, hi, hey, dude

Well met: response to Hail

If you keep practicing with these simple (and very limited) variations over what you would usually type, eventually you will pick up new words and usage's as you use them. Just practice! You might sound like an idiot for a few days, but I personally am impressed by those that can carry on a full conversation without ever sounding anything other than a Dawn citizen. Hell, if you get good enough, some of the other PC's might think that you are an NPC.

This guide is intended to serve a purpose for those players of Dawn who are interested in speaking as the natives do.

Most of the characters in Dawn will have traditionally spoken with something akin to the Elizabethan language Shakespeare used, and I choose to do the same. (There might even be, of course, regional dialects in Dawn, adding a richness I've not seen in other games.

This certainly adds something to the game for me, and I hope it does the same for those with whom I speak.

Of course, I've noticed that many people choose not to speak that way, and although I will occasionally comment in game that "I am having difficulty understand thee, friend," I really don't object. People should play a game as they please, and if that means dotting their speech with dudes and bite me's and the like, who am I to object?

I suspect, though, that there are some who would prefer to speak as the natives of Dawn would. Also, there are people who make a good effort, but do not fully understand the grammar after all, Elizabethan English is the ancestral tongue of English speakers, not the mother tongue. I invite comments and criticism, rants and raves, follow-ups and corrections, and any other words people care to throw at me. Dawn might be very similar to English, so there's really not a lot to learn. The greatest differences between the two languages are in pronouns and verb forms.

Pronouns

Most people will eventually know the pronouns that Dawn PC's/NPC's might use that we speakers of modern English rarely do. However, somewhat fewer know how to use the pronouns correctly.

In particular, thee and thou are misused. This is easy to understand. In modern English, we do not distinguish between the subject and object case of the second person. In other words, it doesn't make a difference whether the you is doing something or having something done to him or her. Only the second person has lost this distinction, having been replaced with a simplified version of the second person plural. There are also some niceties of the use of possessives that do not appear in modern English but could be common in Dawn.

What follows is a list of guidelines for using pronouns properly. (Don't worry about the verb forms yet; they're discussed in the next section.) At the end of the list is a table which formally outlines pronoun usage, a useful quick reference for grammarians.

Thou is the Elizabethan English pronoun used for the person to whom you are speaking when that person is the subject of your sentence.

Example: Thou art a knave and a lout, and thou shouldst not anger me.

It may help to think of thou as the second-person equivalent of I.

Thee is the Elizabethan English pronoun used when the person you are

speaking to is the object of the verb of your sentence.

Example: Whilst thy head was turned, the dragon did attack thee.

You cannot use thee as the subject of a sentence.

Incorrect: Thee smellest as foul as a sewer doth smell!

It may help to think of thee as the second-person equivalent of me.

Note: There are some dialects in which thee serves as both the object and subject case of the second person pronoun. In the real world, the old-style Quakers spoke this way-particularly to one another.

Ye is a tricky word, and should be used with caution. It is used as the second-person plural subject pronoun (the second-person equivalent of we). However, most people do not use the word, instead preferring to use you for both the subject and object second-person plural.

Example: (When speaking to a group) Ye adventurers are heading toward

Britain and did miss the turn for Skara Brae. Hear ye! Hear ye!

Ye and you are also sometimes used as "polite" second-person subject and object pronouns in some dialects. Thus, you can use thee and thou when you would use to in Spanish or French, and ye and you as you would the Spanish Usted or French vowels. (It is from this usage that Quakers adopted using thee, the familiar, when addressing everybody-to show that they held all in equal esteem.)

Ye is also used in some dialects rather loosely, as you in both singular and plural, subject and object. This usage has more to do with accent than grammar; imagine pirates who just say ye when we would say you.

Finally, a note on the word ye in the phrase "Ye Lode Weapons Shoppe." In this case, it does not mean "Your Old Weapons Shop." The thorn, þ (a letter which is not part of our modern alphabet), represents the letters th. The word "the" was often abbreviated "þe" on signs, and was later corrupted to "ye." Ye in this case has nothing to do with pronouns.

Possessives in the realm are pretty much the same as possessives in modern English, with the addition of thy and thine for the second-person singular (to go along with thee and thou).

My and thy indicate that the following noun belongs to me or you respectively.

Examples: My sword is sharp, but thy dagger is sharper. Thou dost make my [or mine, depending on your accent] heart beat with passion, for thy smile doth affect me as strong drink.

Mine and thine serve as possessive pronouns, referring to that which belongs to me (in the case of mine) or you (in the case of thine), used without a following noun as a pronoun.

Examples: The gold in this creatures pack is mine ; but the bread and ale are thine.

Mine and thine are also used whenever the following word starts with a vowel (or the letter h, if you speak in a dialect in which the h is not pronounced, as most Khraytonnian's do).

Examples: With mine arrows I slew a wretched orc. To thine own self be true.

Old English Pronouns

Person	Number	Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun	Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun
First	singular	I	me	my/mine	mine	myself
First	plural	we	us	our	ours	ourselves
Second	singular	thou	thee	thy/thine	thine	thyself
Second	plural	you/ye	you	your	yours	yourselves
Third	singular	he/she/it	him/her/it	his/hers/its	his/hers/its	himself/herself/itself
Third	plural	they	them	their	theirs	themselves

Verb Forms

Verb forms are trickier still than pronouns, mostly because there are countless irregular verbs in English. What follows is a very simplified discussion of how to get your regular verbs to agree with their subjects. Following that, a few useful irregular verbs are conjugated.

First person: Pretty much exactly the same as in modern English. There are some peculiar Elizabethan English constructions-for example, "I needs must improve mine ability to craft bows"-but such constructions are more a matter of vocabulary and diction than grammar.

You should not add funny endings to first person verbs in any tense. This is one of the most common mistakes. Just remember, when you're talking about something you did, the verb in Britainnian is the same as in Modern English.

Examples: I want gold. I walk to Khraytonn. I plan to kill many monsters.

Incorrect: I wantest gold. I walketh to Khraytonn. I planst to kill many monsters.

Second person: Here's where most of the trouble arises. Fortunately, it only really arises in the present tense, and only for second-person singular subject. Unfortunately, most conversation takes place in the present tense in Britannia, and almost always involves the second-person singular to some degree, so you have to learn to do it right.

With regular verbs in the present tense, add -est or -st to the end of the root to make it agree with a second-person singular subject. Add the -est if the root ends in a consonant; add the -st if the root ends in a vowel.

Examples: Thou eatest as a pig eats, knave. Seest thou that city yonder? Whither walkest thou? And whence comest?

Remember, you don't need to do this for second-person plural subjects. And be sure to use the second-person endings (-est and -st), not the third-person endings.

Third Person: When speaking very formally, with regular verbs in the present tense, you must add -eth or -th to the root (depending on whether the root ends in a consonant or a vowel) to make it agree with third-person singular subjects. This is often very cumbersome, and was one of the first things to go as English got modernized, so you needn't worry about it too much. You will certainly be understood by any Khraytonnian if you ignore the "ething," but if you have the time, you might want to give it a try.

Example: She that walketh in stealth to findeth safety.

Because this is so cumbersome, other constructions are often used. Thus, the above example might more likely be rendered, "She that doth walk in stealth shall find safety." One would also more likely say, "Thou didst have much wealth," rather than, "Thou hadst much wealth."

Remember, you don't need to do this for third-person plural subjects.

The imperative mood in Khraytonnian is identical to that of modern English.

Here are the conjugations of three extraordinarily useful irregular verbs: be, have, and do.

to be

Person	Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense	Present Perfect	Past Perfect
I	am	was	shall be	have been	had been
thou	art	wert	wilt be	hast been	hadst been
he/she/it	is	was	will be	has been	had been
we	are	were	shall be	have been	had been
you (ye)	are	were	will be	have been	had been
they	are	were	will be	have been	had been

to have

Person	Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense	Present Perfect	Past Perfect
I	have	had	shall have	have had	had had
thou	hast	hadst	wilt have	hast had	hadst had
he/she/it	hath	had	will have	has had	had had
we	have	have	shall have	have had	had had
you (ye)	have	have	will have	have had	had had
they	have	have	will have	have had	had had

to do

Person	Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense	Present Perfect	Past Perfect
I	do	did	shall do	have done	had done
thou	dost	didst	wilt do	hast done	hadst done
he/she/it	doth	did	will do	has done	had done
we	do	did	shall do	have done	had done
you (ye)	do	did	will do	have done	had done
they	do	did	will do	have done	had done

Vocabulary

There should be some words which are far more common in Dawn. In order to blend in well, use following terms instead of their modern equivalents. Some of these terms predate the Elizabethan era, but they all lend a rich feeling to Dawn Realms.

Included a few insulting terms in the table, although there are many that don't fit the scope of this section. In the section on addressing others, below, is a fuller discussion of insults, as well as a link to a web site with a veritable wealth of insulting terms.

Middle English	Modern English
addlepated	being mixed up
an	one -- more at ONE
anon	at once or immediately
aroint	away or begone
aught	any, anything, or anyone
aye, yea	yes
e'en	even or evening
enow	enough
fare thee well, farewell	good-bye
fie	express disgust or disapproval
forsooth	Truely or undeniably
gramercy	express gratitude or surprise
hence	from here
hie	hurry, go quickly
hight	called, named
hither	to here
leman	lover
knave	deceitful, tricky one (an insult)
mayhap, perchance, belike	maybe
mettle	strength, stamina, courage
morrow	morning or day
nay	no
ne'er	never
oft	often
prithee, pray	please
thence	from there
thither	to there
verily	truly
wend	Travel, direct
whence	from where
wherefore	why (therefore)
whither	to where
ycleped	to cry out, called, named
Zounds	used as a mild oath euphemism for God's wounds

Contractions

Contractions are common in Britannia, and you'll find it pretty easy to get the hang of them. You do, however, need to be sure you know where the apostrophe goes. As in modern English, the Khraytonnian put the apostrophe where something is left out (unless what's left out is a space). Thus, an apostrophe appears where the I should be in contractions involving it, not after the t, but before't.

Thus, be sure to write 'twas instead of t'was, and 'tis instead of t'is. Thou'rt is a very common and useful contraction, meaning "you are."

Addressing Others

In addition to speaking properly, one must know how to speak politely. And, of course, one must be ready with insults and taunts for those who deserve no better.

How you address others is based on your relative positions in Dawn society. Social structures in Dawn will differ from other realms like UO, AC and the like, so it can be difficult to judge exactly where you fit in. Of course, if you've decided that your character is a noble, then so he/she is. If you've decided that your character is a ranger who remains largely outside the social structures, then so he/she is. That's entirely up to you to decide.

The trick comes in judging how you relate to others. Once you've decided that you're a lesser noble, you have to decide if the person you're talking to is your equal, your "better," or your "inferior"—and you have to decide how you feel about that.

You can use notoriety, if you want. If someone is a Great Lord, and you consider yourself of good alignment, then you should probably treat that person as your better (unless you, yourself have earned the title, in which case you still may want to show respect). If someone is Dishonorable, and you're neutral, you may want to treat the person politely . . . but warily.

Clothing can also be an indication of rank. Someone bedecked in finery should be considered of substantial rank—even if he's a tradesman. Someone clad in rags—be she the greatest swordswoman who ever lived—is but a knave to those who seem themselves as nobility (though maybe a knave deserving of pity).

Obviously, you just have to role-play as you see fit. Using titles and proper address, though, will enhance the role-playing. Here are some titles and how to use them appropriately:

Lord/Lady: Term for addressing people of greater rank than yourself. People of equal nobility, while expecting a Lord or Lady from the lesser classes, will probably talk about each other without such honorific except on officious occasions. Technically, Lord and Lady should be saved for people of actual noble rank, not just people whom you see as your social betters.

Milord/Milady: When speaking directly to someone who deserves the honor of a Lord or Lady , you can address them as Milord or Milady without using their names.

Sir/Lady: Traditionally the terms used to address those who are considered knights of the king, they are used by when speaking to people who deserve respect, but are not of truly noble rank. In other words, if you want to show respect, but you don't think the person quite qualifies for Lord or Lady , use Sir or Lady.

That's right, there's no distinction between forms of address for women deserving of respect and truly noble women. Sure, there are female in all professions, but the language doesn't accommodate this.

Liege: Someone who has the right to command another. When you address someone as "my liege," you imply that she has the right to tell you what to do, that he/she is your commander.

Maiden:You're better off not using this term unless invited to do so. It is impolite to assume anything about a woman's sexual history.

Your Highness: A term of utmost respect, to be used for people whose high rank is widely recognized, like a prince or a king.

Your Majesty: A term reserved exclusively for the reigning sovereign of a kingdom. In Britannia, the only person worthy of this title is Lord

Insults

Insults are important. The taunting bard, the disgruntled warrior, the angry shopkeeper all use them, and use them often.

Role Players won't know what you mean if you use words like f@#k and s^%t (although such words did exist in Shakespeare's day), so s^%head and f@#k you won't go over very well. Instead, swear and insult as the ancient done.

Instead of cursing at someone, really curse them. That is, wish aloud for evil things to happen to them. "A pox on thee and thy family" is a common curse. You can get really creative, too. For example, if you're really angry, you might say, "Knave! May thy hair fall out and thy teeth all rot; and may thy well-known ugliness be visited upon thy children, and their children, unto the tenth generation; and mayst thou find that the purses of the beast thou dost slay are empty; and, most of all, may orcs and lizardmen always look upon thee with lust in their eyes!"

Dialects

There are many dialects in use by Khraytonnian's. The language outlined here is the formal tongue spoken by the educated and noble classes. However, not only will you find characters who choose to speak in a different dialect, but you may wish for your character to speak with an accent as well.

The most important thing to remember when speaking in a dialect is to be consistent. If you use "ye" in one sentence, "you" in the next, and "thou" in a third, you won't sound convincing. You can learn something of the common dialects by finding NPCs who speak that way and engaging them in conversation. Or you can make up your own. Just be consistent.

Also, if you're making up your own, try to avoid anachronisms. A dialect in Dawn could be a sort of variation on the language outlined in this document, not a mysterious transplant of modern English into the language used in Dawn.

Although the second-person pronoun has been shortened to u, the words to and the speech is rife with insults and swear words which make your ears burn. When someone addresses you thus, you can smile, and nod, and maybe they'll go away. Or you can chide them and try to correct them. Or you can do your best to understand their speech and ignore their strange dialects.

Or you can adopt it yourself. As I said, I speak as I please, and I hope you all will do the same.

Phrase book

In the form of conversations illustrating different diction and grammar issues. Pronouns and verb forms are demonstrated throughout.

Coming and Going (Prepositions)

Well met, milord. Whither wendest thou?

I came hither from Britain, Lady, and am making for Covetous this very minute.

Wherefore goest thou thither?

For to rid the labrynth's twisting passages of the evil that doth lurk therein.

And when thou returnest thence?

I shall again to fair Britain, the bounty of mine hunt for to leave in the bank there.

Well and good then, milord. Hie thee hence! Hie thee hence! And may the Virtues smile upon thee.

And on thee, milady, and may thou not be troubled overly by mongbats.

The Rapier Wit (Insults)

Begone, vile knave!

Thou callest me a knave? Why, thou'rt a bastard and a yellow coward.

An I'm a bastard, thou'rt the abominable spawn of a lizardman and a gazer.

Poor lad, that thou'rt so addlepated. If thy wit were but a wee bit quicker, thou wouldst mayhap have the sense to stay indoor so as not to inflict thy face on the rest of us.

Zounds! But thou'rt rude, Oh Leman-of-a-Liche. Prithee tell me, wherefore thinkest thou that aught but thine own abhorrent self doth care to listen to thee. Or hast thou again mistaken the size of thy sword for the measure of thine importance.

Thou'rt a sewer-slurping vandal!

And thou a harpy-loving hothead. Have at thee!

I Love and Have My Love Regarded

(Courtly Forms of Address)

Good morrow, Lady Ygraine. Thy father, my liege lord, did tell me that thou art melancholy.

Alas, 'tis no good morrow for me!

Wherefore, milady? What grief doth assail thee, and is there aught I can do to aid thee?

I fear not, sire, for 'tis only mine heart that is breaking, and for all thy mettle and might, thou'rt not well equipped to battle with lost love.

Who is the knave who hath grieved thee? Give me but his name, and I will bring thee his heart, and he not give it thee willingly!

Oh harm! Thou needs must not! Faith, I love him, though he doth not know, and 'would grieve me sorer still to hear that he did suffer the least wound, than to know that he loved me not.

And doth he love thee not?

I'truth, Garrick, I know not. I dare not tell him of the longing in my heart, for fear that it is not returned.

Prithee pardon, but if thou dost keep so close with thy feelings, they can never be regarded.

But an he not love me . . .

His name, Ygraine. Tell it me.

Very well, sweet Garrick. I see thou'rt a true friend as well as a noble retainer to my father. Garrick, verily, 'tis thee that I love.

Highway Robbery (Dialect in Action)

Halt!

Wherefore, lady?

Gimme yer money er taste mi blade!

By the virtues! A thief!

Aye, a thief I be, and ye my victim are. Now drop yer gold and if'n ye wants ta live.

But I have nothing. I'm just a simple peasant.

A lying peasant, at that, I reckon. I heard the sweet jingle of coins as ye approached.

Oh harm, milady! Spare me. I have worked so long as a tailor for these few coins. Prithee, leave them to me, or I'll have no food.

I be a workin' man miself, lad. Think ye that this is easy? ... Hey! Stop! Run and you die!

Oh woe! Thou hast wounded me sore!

Yer money, lad, and now.

Here, scoundrel. Take it. And may thine ill-gotten wealth buy thee nothing but misery.

If it buys me a mug of good ale, that'll suit me full well. No get ye from me, lad, afore I decide to take yer tunic, too, and send ye barebacked into town.

For the advanced Role Players

Now that you've mastered Middle English lingo and stopped real world internet lingo, you can start developing you personality for your character. Practice one simple things like pretending you have a minor speech impediment.

Try things like ,

A lispe: You have trouble saying your R's (like Elmmer Fudd)

Use any ascents (such as an Aussie, German, or English)

Can't say your H's quite well ( Come 'ere you)

If you like pretending to have a speech impediment then maybe role playing is for you after all. Write down on a piece of paper some things that your character's personality might be like

Town of birth.

Environment that your character was raised in. (farm, city, slum etc..)

Number of siblings and what sex they were, twins might be interesting.

General disposition. (angry, nice guy, rude, shy, dull, crazy.)

Quirks. (phobia's, inanities.. etc.)

Alignment. (Whether your character is good, bad, neutral, or selfish) I am one who does not believe in neutral evil as a bad thing because, every one want's something and will do things that will advance themselves.) I have detailed information about alignment in case you don't know what would best suit your needs. Click HERE

Obsessions. (good or bad.)

View's on magic (Your character might have a dislike for magic like the dwarves in AD&D or you might like using magic as part of your daily routine.)

Hatred towards ... (pick something) maybe your character hates bards, or healers, or miners, or even other races ( Dwarves and Elves don't tend to be friendly towards one another).

Sentiments towards city laws or rule.

Just write stuff down. Develop your character, get to know how to become them. If you want to generate a list and roll dice to randomly generate a character then all the more power to you!

Once you've written these things down, start to apply what you've written into your game play.

For Example: My character (Name) is a blacksmith who was born in (Town or City Name), he has one sister, her name is (Optional)Name)) and she is 4 years younger than I. (Name) personality could be described as a basically nice, but has a short fuse. (He gets angry or upset easy) He does have a quirk, he is traumatized by the loss of his parents. I would describe his alignment as probably a scrupulous good. Which means, (your characters name) will disobey the written law if he believes that it is right. He used to have a deathly fear of magic, but his friends have seen him through his fear, and have even gotten him to start using it. (Name) hates undead, and will not go into graveyards. (Name) is indifferent about rule and regulations, but he takes Justice as his principle and Honesty as his virtue. (Hence he lives in (Town or City Name now).

Finding Other Role Players

Now that you know a little more about role playing, and you might even have practiced it a bit. However, it will do you little good if you do not have an accepting group of friends that also role-play along with you. This is the most important part of it all, what good is having a well developed character if you have no friends to interact with. This is crucial to your character's development as well. There probably will be several role playing groups that can be found, and each one has their own "personalities."

Find some role players in Dawn, and learn where they usually meet, as having a consistent meeting place is important too.

Another very important thing to know is how to deal with 'offensive' players, those players that deliberately insult you to start a fight, or just for their own sadistic pleasure. I personally have a high tolerance for offensive players, but many players do not, and I will try to list here on ways to deal with them.

Every Role player will eventually get the cocky remark: "Speak modern English, because this is modern times" or "Why U talk so stupid" or something to the effect that they do not like to deal with a role playing individual, and they think everyone should just act like they way they really are. These remark can be discouraging to the aspiring role player, but have faith. This kind of mentality is expected. Usually if you keep role playing to these types they will eventually go away frustrated. "Oh man, I can't talk 2 u n e more." Then there is the truly offensive players that seriously try to hurt your feelings, or try to stir up negative emotions.

PKs (Player Killers): Nearly impossible to interact or role-play with. They usually travel in packs, and are very experienced in player vs player combat (PvP), role-players usually spend more time interacting with their friends and are not very experienced in PvP. They do not negotiate, they shoot first and ask questions later, literally.

Now that we're all well on the way to understanding basic role-playing, this can really help you to become masters at this most difficult yet rewarding pastime.

Let's start with a recap.

When first you arrive in the world, you are but a child, weak, poor, with nothing but your starting skills and a few paltry possessions

You learn how to interact with other players, you learn the game mechanics, you learn what actions get you killed, what actions keep you alive.

Eventually you get to the point where you feel safe, where you understand how to play. Once you get there, it's time to really play.

Develop a background for your character within the confines and precepts of the world Be prepared to answer the questions like "Where were you born?" "How old are you?" "Where did you grow up?" and "What did your family do for a living?".

What does your character know about? Well, whatever skills you chose to start with, plus some miscellaneous stuff. Don't try to make it too complicated, that doth make mine head hurt.

Now, PLAY as that character. That character does *NOT* know how much strength is needed to wield a weapon, that character knows only whether he/she is strong enough to wield one, and only when he or she has TRIED to wield a weapon.Your character doesn't know that he/she needs a certain amount of points to do different tasks, nor should anyone else.You as the player, you know this stuff. You as the character do not.

So, when in conversation, and someone asks you "How much str do I need to use a weapon?", don't tell them, try answering "I myself have never wielded a war fork, and I am quite strong", or "I find it quite easy milord, but I fear I had to train for a while to do that!".

If someone goes out of character, pretend you don't know what they are talking about. Note, sometimes you have to go out of character. There's really no fun in sitting in the tavern trying to converse with that mage you just met who said he might teach thee a little of magic when there's two people standing nearby comparing notes about their computers or modem speeds.

Why bother with this?

It's the sheer joy of the discovery! You, the player, might know that your strength just went up a point, and now you can use that kick-ass Bastard Sword stashed in your backpack, but YOU, the character, won't know it until you try. You as the player know it's going to work, you the character act suprised, joyful, happy, that you can wield it. Say something like "Ah, 'tis a joyous day! Look everyone, I now have my very own bastard sword I can now weird!"

You as the player know many things that you the character may or may not know, if you are a clever player, you know how many hit points that troll has, you the character only know whether it's alive, dead, or somewhere in between.

Don't yell out: "Hey, it's down to 3 hit points, hit it again"

Instead try: "I feel this troll is soon destined to perish".

Things To Try when Interacting

If your character gets killed and you start over, Try not to run up to your friends and announce "Hey, it's me, Kallimar, I got pk'd, hadda start over".

Instead try "Hail good fellows, hast heard aught of mine cousin Kallimar? I fear he has not been seen, hast thee seen aught of him of late?."

Then, when they say "Kallimar got eaten by a dragon last night", or perhaps "Ah, I fear Kallimar was murdered by the Liche Lord!", you express sorrow.

"Alas, my poor cousin, he was such a brave soul"

Now you can start playing your NEW character.

For variety, come back in as a totally different character, with a different set of preferences, remember, cloning hasn't been invented here. Don't use the same name over and over and over. Try slight variations, slightly different spellings, you could be the younger brother Bobb , come looking for his older brother Bob, who was last seen in the woods. Especially if you have enemies, very especially if you have enemies, "HO! Look, there is Kallimar! He's back to newbie again, let's KILL Kallimar!" and there was much rejoicing... (woohoo, we killed Kallimar AGAIN, that's five times today! What a wuss!)

Of course he's a wuss, he's starting OVER.

As a new character, you might know a little of your older brother Kallimar, but you won't know WHO killed him. So don't go hunting him until your new character, Kallimar, has learned, as a CHARACTER, who killed Kallimar.

Where does all this take you, it allows you to be remembered as someone special, someone unique, and not just another clone. It adds to the rich experience, and it helps to reinforce to everyone that there's far more to do in a good ROLE PLAYING GAME than simply 'see monster, kill monster'.

An easy way to role play is to simply be yourself, especially when you first start out. Imagine you've traveled to a far land, where the people are different, where they don't quite speak the same language as you.

In this far land, you might be able to find that some people understand your speech, but you will have much greater success if you take the time and trouble to learn a few words of the local language. This is taken as an indication that you respect the local customs and language and that you might be willing to learn. So, be yourself, having traveled to a far and distant and strange land, and learn to get along. That's easy role playing. The challenge, the fun, comes from allowing your character to develop as their skills increase.

Set up goals for your character, short term, medium and long term. Have your character work towards them. If your goal is simply to have fun, that's fine too. If you want to be the scourge of the land, hunted by all that is good, PLAY the part, and play it well. Otherwise you're just another faceless murderer.

Remember, your character does NOT know all that you know. If you interact on a chat zones as you character, decide for yourself if there's any overlap between that and in game. The web based bulletin boards can be an excellent place to meet and get to know other role-players.

You may have never fought orcs, so your character doesn't know if they're tough or not. So, the first time you encounters one you will go for overkill, shooting arrows, casting spells, and finally closing in for the kill, when you have learned about them, you will know the quickest, safest and most efficient way to deal with them.. (You character does not know that an orc has xx number of hit points, such and such a resistance, or any of that stuff.)

As a character, you may not a mighty swordsman, but you could be intelligent, or visa-versa. You could acts kindly towards all whom you encounters. You have no way of knowing that you might still need to cast a certain spell to be able to learn spells from the next level, unless you encounters that information as your character. What you do, as a character, is to stop by the local magic shop and peruse the list. What you as a character will see, is that after you casts one more spell in this level, you can learn spells from the next level. Then, one day, you will also learn that intelligence and magic skills also have an effect here. (What you, as the player, know is exactly where you are, how many points he/she needs, what skills he/she needs to practice to gain those points.

See the difference? By playing the role of the character, you can share in the wonder, in the joy, in the sadness, and all the other wonderful things that your character has the potential for.

Character Behavior

Some thoughts on character behavior. As your character develops, his or her skills increase, and the character begins to take on his or her own life. You feed the poor, they reward you with increased polite behavior towards your character, you becomes more and more kind and generous. In this way your character develops. You might have seen evil characters, but as a character, is aware that the truly evil do not always appear so. You know that the townsfolk do pay honor because of your deeds, and therefore has learned that good deeds will bring rewards that mere gold cannot buy. You will made friends.

Taking on the part of actually playing the character turns the simple mechanical game play from merely clicking the mouse in the right places fast enough, or being able to chant "hi buy", "hi sell", and "Got any spare stuff?" into something that is much more of a challenge. After all, becoming a power player is easy. It's too easy. Taking on the part of a 'real' character is far more of a challenge, you learn a great deal more, and something else. Do it well, and you will make friends. You will make friends for life.

Evil Characters

Now, a word about playing evil characters. There's nothing wrong with playing evil characters, if it's done well. If it's simply build up a power character and kill others, then this is the wrong game, go back to Diablo where at least the newbies have a chance to get good stuff by cheating. Better still, stick to Nintendo. If, on the other hand, playing an evil character is, for you, where you want to be the Moriarty of the realm, (look it up if you have to), or the king of thieves, or the assassin who gets their target, then PLAY the part. The most evil characters are not obviously evil. Playing a truly great evil character, instead of just another diablo power player killer is much much harder to do, and extremely hard to do well. After you become a master at playing a regular character, try being a truly evil one if you find that the challenge isn't there any more.

Above all, don't spoil the game for everyone else, because that way lies madness and chaos. Because that way you will find your self playing in the sandpit, and it will be full of naught but scorpions and snakes, and none shall heed thy cries for help, nor shall they succor thee in thy need.

"And thou wilt find thyself alone, and scared, and beset by thine enemies, who shall deal thee a most mortal wound, and thou will stagger, bleeding, agonizing in pain, across to that group you didst pass earlier, and thou shalt cry out "Help me I'm hurt bad!", and they shall examine thee, and exclaim "He's nearly dead! Kill him and grab his stuff!", and they will slay thee and take thy hard won possessions, and thy spirit shall wander the land, crying for resurrection, and none shall hear, and thy spirit shall wither, aye wither, unto extinction And thy spirit shall fade from the land, never to return, having made naught but a bad impression, and none shall mourn thy departure".