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theofficialrphq-blog · 8 years ago

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RPHQ April Spotlight

ART SPOLTIGHT

Recent artists featured by RPHQ

See all RPHQ artists here!

Take the Art Challenge!

How would you draw your character the opposite of what they are right now?

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT

Star Wars the Old Republic

Darth Azhrael

What inspired you to create this character?

"I had done about 3 months of very light roleplay in WoW before leaving that setting and had been playing DnD for several years but really wanted a more immersive roleplay experience. Five guys around a table caring more about number crunching and making jokes just wasn't cutting it anymore. I had played a Death Knight in WoW because it was the closest thing to a Sith Lord in my opinion. And I had just finished playing in an evil DnD campaign as a Tiefling Paladin when I realized I greatly enjoyed playing morally ambiguous or down right villainous characters. And since my character archetype that I had based my Death Knight on had been a Sith Lord I naturally drifted to SWTOR and thought of how cool it would be to grow from a struggling acolyte into a Darth and train others in the same way. So I made an entirely new Sith Pureblood character." -- Azhrael

What is your favorite part about roleplaying this character?

"I love the Sith Code, so using that and Sith culture as a whole to firmly root the character was a ton of fun and significantly shaped the way he behaved. It wasn't about twirling a mustache and being "Evil", it was about not having any limits and overcoming whatever obstacles stood in his way. Something that I partially disliked was not having him be very outwardly emotional. When he was a younger Sith he was much more prone to savage bursts of violence, but as he matured in his beliefs he came to understand that if he wasn't in control of his emotions they were in control of him and thus limiting him. So for the vast majority of his interactions he was calm, cool, and collected, which was very satisfying to play. The problem came in that he never really showed affection, so it forced me to be very clever in how he complimented others, which he rarely did, or displayed an attachment of any kind to another character. This was a good exercise for writing, but a part of me wished he had become a bit more charismatic and manipulative in a very personal way." -- Azhrael

What was a defining moment in the rp history of this character?

"I was still a student and my master was an incredibly cruel woman without a greater purpose, which was hard for my character; but as a roleplayer I loved it! One of the things she enjoyed was attempting to take control of my character's mind to force him to do her bidding. During an event our Order was given the option of aiding a particular Darth, but most of us chose not to intervene, including myself and my master. But another Lord for which she had plans engaged. My master took control of my mind briefly when I refused her command to enter combat and protect this Darth. When I regained control I threatened to kill her if she ever did so again, even though I knew I was hopelessly outmatched. She just laughed and attacked me. In the end, the second in command, who had come through the academy with my master and in whom I had previously planted the seed of such an intervention, spoke of how she had witnessed the senseless malevolence of my master and would no longer abide it. They dueled, and ultimately the second in command crushed my master's heart with the force. It was found that my master had been a traitor to the Order for some time as was revealed soon after her death. But being responsible for the death of one's master is the dream of every Sith, and it was no different for my character. It was an incredible night of rp and was integral in forming him into the Sith he ultimately became." -- Azhrael

What have been your best rp experiences with this character?

"My best roleplay experiences have been with my apprentice. I knew from the very first time we interacted and then from watching her interact with others that she was the perfect clay to mold into a true Sith. She was already more a Sith than the vast majority of my fellow Lords and Darths and I nurtured that potential. We had a ton of fun together and working alongside one another we managed to manipulate events to achieve a long term goal, claim leadership of our order and ridding it of heretics. It was glorious." -- Azhrael

Azhrael's theme song is about freedom, which is one of the central concepts to understanding what it means to be Sith.

ARTICLE SPOLTIGHT

The People Who Roleplay As Cops In Grand Theft Auto

"They use mods to don police uniforms and drive law enforcement vehicles, some of which are made by fellow fans. They create scenarios such as routine traffic stops and patrols, sometimes even engaging in high-speed car chases. ... Because GTA wasn’t built for people who want to play as the police, players have to set it all up for themselves. The form groups and assemble in small shared instances of the game where they act out a script or improv." -- Zack Zwiezen "Some do it for the fun of pretending to arrest other players who roleplay as criminals. Others do it to satisfy the fantasy of driving in to save the day. ... Depending on the session and the platform, players will use mods or chat to roleplay actions that GTA V doesn’t support, like ticketing or arresting players. ... LSPDFR adds new animations, custom uniforms, improves the the AI of the computer-controlled police in the game, allows players to pull over and arrest suspects and more." -- Zack Zwiezen

Game Players Are Failing In Our Duty To Be Evil

"Most game players find evil paths in narrative games a big turn-off. Overwhelmingly, they follow "good" paths as the default option. Statistics presented by Microsoft technical evangelist Amanda Lange at GDC today showed that, in narrative games where "good" and "evil" were clearly defined as story paths, only 5 percent of players opted for "evil" on a first play-through. The number jumped to around 50 percent on a second run." -- Colin Campbell "So what is the lesson for game designers who create "evil" narrative paths, and want players to experience those stories as viable first-play options? She said that presenting pure evil without context is a bad idea, because most people find the concept off-putting. Adding friction to evil is counter-productive. Evil should come with its own risks and rewards, as it (mostly) does in real life. "People love to have their emotional boundaries tested," she concluded, adding that evil paths can create the most interesting moral problems." -- Colin Campbell

Actors play patients to train medical students for real-life work

"Medical schools are turning to part-time actors to help students polish their bedside manners, long before they reach a real patient's bedside. The actors take part in elaborate role plays, simulating patients to help mimic the challenges of hospital work. This could mean playing a distraught family member, a patient who cannot speak English or a senior doctor." -- Linette Lai "As an actor, you just go by the script," he said. "As a simulated patient, you may be able to pre- empt responses, but it's not a fixed script on the other end." -- Daphne Ong

Press Start: Crafting the ultimate role-playing game

"There's something special about spending dozens of hours in the same world, wrapped up in its lore, playing a pivotal role in how the story shapes out. It's addicting committing to a character you create and shape and see his or her personal growth throughout the game. There's no such thing as a perfect game, role-playing or otherwise. But what if there was? What would it be like?" -- Jake Magee

MUSIC SPOTLIGHT

RP ADVICE SPOTLIGHT

On Writing & Roleplaying Older Characters

Many writers and roleplayers, especially those in relatively young age groups, find themselves faced with the challenge of portraying many characters who are quite a bit older than themselves - and with no personal experience to go on, this can sometimes present a challenge. And as it's hardly realistic to just try and wait until you're as old as all of your characters are supposed, here's some advice and tips for those of you having a hard time with this.

RP COMMUNITIES SPOTLIGHT

- TABLETOP

Turn Your Table Top Into an Interactive Display with the Touchjet Pond

"The Touchjet Pond interactive Android based projector can totally transform your gaming table bringing your dungeons, and dragons, into the future. Using the Touchjet Pond projector for my roleplaying games, I was able to present the professionally drawn maps provided by Paizo’s Adventure Paths and interact with them right on the table." -- Ryan Hiller

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ in AR Teased by Wizards of the Coast Digital Games Studio

"Playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition using AltspaceVR was one of my first multi-hour VR experiences. It combined something that I was familiar with and brought it to new life with new capabilities using the power of virtual reality. Whereas Dungeons & Dragons in VR brings anyone from around the world to the same location as you to relish in the joy of tabletop roleplaying in a digital setting, AR would bring digital augmentations into the physical world to enhance a physical game. " -- David Jagneaux

- MMORPG

Ark: Survival Evolved Roleplay

"Dinosaurs aren't the only thing that's big about Ark: Survival Evolved, there's a massive community of roleplayers trying to survive on The Island too." -- Steven Messner

I was drugged, forced to sing, and accused of murder in one night on an Ark roleplaying server

By Steven Messner February 16, 2017

"And that still wasn't the most uncomfortable thing that happened to me."

"The Roleplayers of ARK: Survival Evolved This will be a public group to those who wish to RP in the game ARK: Survival Evolved. All RPers are welcome, including clan/tribe/guild leaders and their members. If you know someone who has an RP server, wants to promote it, etc, please recommend this group to them! If you have a Roleplay-oriented site for ARK, we can promote that here as well! PLEASE NOTE: This steam group does NOT have 'one' server that we will all be playing on. It is primarily for RPers who play ARK, to 'search' for other RPers, or RP servers. " -- https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ARKPublicRoleplay

Getting to know the wonderfully mad community of EVE Online at their 2017 fanfest

"EVE Online has the nicest, craziest fanbase you could hope for. We explore their 2017 fanfest." -- Alex Donaldson

Life of Rome MMO Brings You Back to the Ancient Rome - Release date 2017

"Life of Rome is a third and first-person MMORPG set in the persistent world of 320 AD Rome. Players can choose to be Roman allegiance or Rebels, the game is designed to emphasize roleplay and community using family systems and player-driven politics. The in-game world is a 50km2 representation of Rome and its surrounding areas, including small villages, Rebel camps and Roman forts. Now the game is in Steam early access alpha. " -- Serena, mmosite.com "Players interact with each other in a series of locations spread across the area. Major roleplaying-based storylines, purely optional, will be started and run by developers as well as players. Players in a position of power may also affect gameplay by setting a faction’s agenda, creating long-term political, economic, or military goals, which are broken up into missions handed down through a faction’s hierarchy in the form of player generated and driven missions." -- Serena, mmosite.com "Players can form or join families with other players, and earn prestige for the whole group. The leaders of the most prestigious families in Rome who meet the Prestige requirement can elect to join the Senate, with the two highest ranking leaders as Consuls. During Senate meetings, these players can vote to enact a single benefit which will apply to all players loyal to Rome until the next meeting." -- Serena, mmosite.com "Rome and the surrounding territory will contain many Temples and Shrines to a variety of Deities, each with a selection of different Benefits. Players can select a Religious Benefit every 24 hours by visiting and praying at a temple or shire dedicated to a specific deity." -- Serena, mmosite.com

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen - Release date 2017

"Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a group-focused MMORPG based on challenging gameplay and open world high fantasy. It takes place on a world populated by deities and heroes, called Terminus. Mortal and planar shards which have collided create the dramatic and epic environment of Terminus. With some of those shards came deities and demigods that, over time, raised empires which forged the turbulent political landscape. Centuries later, new planar collisions have occurred that will pull the players into the world and its politics. The player is a legendary hero, stripped of his or her powerful relics and left to explore the dramatically diverse and epic regions of Terminus with hopes of reclaiming their relics and those of lost heroes." -- mmorpg.com

Rift Wardrobe

- LARP

Disney is mooting an overnight Star Wars LARP resort

"Disney is contemplating opening a luxury Star Wars themed resort next to the Hollywood Studios park at Disney World, which could feature multi-day live-action role-playing games that run overnight, with guests staying all night in the park to interact with costumed characters and automated elements (droids, etc) to game out scenarios." -- boingboing.net

ARCHITECT SPOTLIGHT

Visit the Elder Scrolls Online community here to see screenshots of players homes:

SHOW YOUR HOME

Rift Dimensions built by Whatchacallit on the Greybriar Shard

Visit the Rift Dimension Gallery website to see all of Whatchacallit's work!

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theofficialrphq-blog · 9 years ago

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RPHQ SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHT

POETRY SPOTLIGHT

As roleplayers we express ourselves in many ways. This month we'll be shining a spotlight on the poetry of some very creative roleplayers!

The following poem was written by Castle

"I wrote this poem about the RP landscape of Velia in BDO, written through the eyes of my character, and keep her book writings nestled [in the] Book of Whimsey." -- Castle

Velia

Back to a life with few pressing demands, Cozy and nestled against the shore line, Smells of old fish mix with the damp salt air, Where buildings rustic and old have their own flair. Everyone here knows your name, Strangers are convened with congeniality. Neighbors and friends meet in the roads, Perhaps mindful of mud and bare toes. There's Ink, the lusty owner of the Thirsty Maiden, A connoisseur of booze, ladies and fair men. Always welcoming with a slap to the backside, Just watch out for those large, skeleton-marked thighs! Along the main road is the Skyfish Cafe, Open the door and be greeted by Ysren, The type who'd pinch cheeks like an auntie with a grin. But I'd never complain for the rich bounty of mead and pie! Nestled behind the blacksmith is the Lodge, It arose in my absence whilst out on campaign, Smelling of old money and dusty antiques, The denizens within speak affairs of broad state. Then here is my shop nestled amidst, Lined with decor purchased with merc's coin, Rich fragrances tantalize the most finicky nose, And soon the doors will open to Mermaid Cove.

To see Castle's other poetry in her Book of Whimsey, click here.

Enjoy the original poems below, by Dravyn the Gray, and based on his roleplay stories and characters.

Night eternal, sweetest death Calls to me on whispered breath “Into my arms, child, come and stay.” And I am weary from the fray “Join me here, where we’ll be one.” So to that call I must run. The waking world is tepid air And I don’t wish to sojourn there The blazing sun, the sweaty fight I sleep best in the chill of night With loving arms please cradle me Darkness now is all I see Light devoured, to breathe no more Come awake on a distant shore No more fear, no more hurt Only peace in the quiet dirt Do not cry and don’t regret Keep the memories and don’t forget End the tugging hands of time The earth is only so much grime I can rest now and relive in dream The glory that my life did seem What’s that you say? My love’s alone? Forget death then, I must go home.

When I was a raven, I flew out of the night. Ebon wing flashed, it glistened in the light The wind held me high and it carried me away Not a soul would listen to the words that I would say So I became the whitetail and traveled across the land But still I was alone with none to hold my hand The teeth that tore my flesh, a wolf so grey and strong Then I was his spirit, my passion fueled his song The pack became my family, the night it was my home I lived upon the violence, blood and skin and bone The night, the sky, the forest; the cruelty of the kill I was once a part of each and each a separate thrill I want to own them all, control them if I can So I gave up on nature and I became a man. I cut away the forest, a place to build my home I cut and stacked the firewood, planted in the loam My home became a city and spread across the land It bumped into another and drew a line upon the sand We could not live together we didn’t think the same We fought about beliefs and set the world aflame Blood soaked all the rivers, smoke it filled the sky All the people suffered and watched each other die We destroyed the planet with greed without a care We poisoned all the soil, pumped toxins in the air We butchered and we slaughtered, some became extinct We only wanted more but we didn’t even think. I became a man because I only wanted friends Now I wish that I could be the raven once again

ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT

Confession: every RPG character I’ve ever created is a tedious Caucasian guy

Creating Worlds and Legacies With Dungeons & Dragons

Basic Tips To Create & Run A Good RP Plot

The best RPGs on PC

How Main Quests are the Roleplayer's Bane

MUSIC SPOTLIGHT

Into the Electric Castle

Aldurion, a roleplayer on Rift, has turned this rock opera into an rp event. Fantastic!

"Welcome! You have entered the cranial vistas of psychogenesis. This is the place of no-time and no-space. Do not be afraid for I am merely the vocal manifestation of your eternal dreams. I am as water, as air - like breath itself. Do not be afraid. Look around, but linger not. Where I lead you will follow. Mark these words well. Ignite my anger with your delay and punishments will come your way. You are eight souls of the flesh, chosen from different eras ancient and modern. The trivia of your mortal lives is unimportant to me... Indeed, some may die... You have a task: to release yourselves from this Web of Wisdom, this knotted Maze of Delirium, you must enter the nuclear portals of the Electric Castle!" -- Intro to "Into The Electric Castle" (1998)

RP ADVICE SPOTLIGHT

Suspension of Disbelief

~ a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment. ~ What sort of things break your suspension of disbelief when roleplaying? Join in the conversation in the article linked above!

"Lingo mismatching the world you are rping in. On my most recent rps in Elder Scrolls: Online, I did this a lot. I regret it now, because little things like that made my character feel completely detached from the world of Tamriel. My most glaring mistake was using real world profanities. xD" -- Polymorphius "This is usually in MMO's when you are RPing basically in real time: when the other person decides to take 30 minutes to type 4 paragraphs and never lets me get a word in. Frankly I like to be able to, I don't know, respond! Not every sentence, not every word, but at some points. Another major thing for me is when a character immediately dismisses anything another character is doing in favor of what they are doing. EX: we are trying to cut down this tree. Johnny walks up and uses his axe. At the same time Henry decides he will be using a spell to uproot the tree and make it fall. All the while Mary had already been working on the tree and had just taken a break to get some water and is still standing in the same spot that now Johnny and Henry seem to be occupying." -- CatMarie

World Building, Where I Started.

Ever get the itch to world-build, but found it so intimidating you scrapped the idea? Well now you can follow along with Selique Lasra as she blogs about her world-building experience, starting from scratch in her blog!

BEYOND BASICS: USE OF OFF-SCREEN

"WHAT IS OFF-SCREEN? Off-screen is what happens when you are not logged into your character. When you are sleeping or working or doing whatever it is you do in your real life. Your character in their own story and setting doesn’t cease to exist while you are logged out, so the mostly commonly used and logical answer is that while they are logged off they are sleeping. Most people do that without even thinking about it. But when you think about it you can use it perhaps more fruitfully." -- meraki22.com

How do you handle off-screen time with your characters? Give us your insights here!

VENERABLE VILLAINS: GRAPHIC CONTENT

"Graphic content can be a tricky topic to manoeuvre around. So much so that some people playing villains and bad guys might avoid it altogether, or keep all that kind of plots and content off-screen. But for those that don’t want to avoid it entirely and think it would be a benefit to theme and atmosphere of your roleplay; then there are some things they can do and keep in mind to make it work." -- meraki22.com

How do you handle graphic content in your rp? Let us know what you think here!

RP COMMUNITIES SPOTLIGHT

- TABLETOP

The rise and rise of tabletop gaming

September Kickstarter Tabletop games:

SCION 2ND EDITION RPG UP ON KICKSTARTER

MASHED: A KOREAN WAR M.A.S.H. RPG UP ON KICKSTARTER

ERA: THE CONSORTIUM EXPANSIONS UP ON KICKSTARTER

DEMON GATE FANTASY RPG UP ON KICKSTARTER

HELHEIM: YGGDRASIL BURNING RPG UP ON KICKSTARTER

SUN SPOTS ADVENTURE FOR CALL OF CTHULHU UP ON KICKSTARTER

INTERFACE ZERO 2.0: CYBERPUNK ACTION FOR THE PATHFINDER RPG UP ON KICKSTARTER

- MMORPG

We bring you the complete collection of RPing in MMOs by TheHumanFloyd!

The Elder Scrolls Online Gets Dungeon Pack in August & Player Housing in Early 2017

- LARP

Kids LARP into action armed with foam weapons, imagination

Christopher Melville started leading the LARPing junior league in Palo Alto ten years ago. He talks about the benefit of live-action role playing for kids.

'I've Seen Women Kill Gods': Meet the Ladies Who LARP

""I've seen female warriors, generals in gleaming plate armour, leading a charge into a line of enemies, screaming bloody murder at the top of their lungs. I've seen one woman with a dagger take down an entire phalanx of armed bastards. I've seen women kill gods, bring down heroes, doom the world, save the world," says Katie Logan, the creator of the online community Ladies Who LARP." -- Katie Logan

Ladies Who LARP website

In Hampton's Briarfield Park, a community grows around foam swords, sorcery and storytelling

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