Roleplay 101
By Jamar Nicholas

(Scene - A dark, empty classroom. The Masked Mathematician stands with his back to the camera, in front of the room, framed by a chalkboard covered with complex math problems. The Mathematician is wearing his usual suit with tweed sports jacket, suede elbow patches and his mortarboard sits on top of his masked head.)

MM: (With his back still turned) "Corporal Punishment ... you were the first man to finally put 2 and 2 together - and you found the equation to defeat the Mathematician. For that, you get my respect. That night, you were the better man. But something doesn't add up - (He turns around slowly towards the camera, eyes wide behind the slits of his mask) YOU TRIED TO PUT ME OUT, BUT YOU COULDN'T FINISH THE JOB! You didn't use the correct theorem for the problem. And that... (Scowls) will make me have to SUBTRACT YOU FROM THE TITLE PICTURE! ... Permanently. (He turns back around, scans the board, and at the very bottom of the chalkboard, quickly scribbles the answer - '16' .) CLASS... DISMISSED."

Or...

MAD STOMPER: YOU BEAT ME!!!! I WILL KILL YEW NEXT TIME! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAA!!!! I A SD STOMPER, AND I BEAT ALL THE CHAMPS< AND GET HE BELTS! HAHAHAHAHAAAA! I AM THE BEST!

What would you rather read? As a league president, which character would you rather put your title on? Exactly.

The key to the heart of FW is good roleplay. Good RP is consistent, intriguing, and compelling. Good RP should not be cursing for the sake of it. It shouldn't be non-sensical, and most importantly, it should further a storyline.

THE FOUNDATION OF RP

By no means is this the final word on constructing RP, but this is how I've done it for the past damn-near 10 years. (Ugh. What's wrong with us?)

Like I said earlier, all RP should have a purpose, but this section will deal with how to construct a RP note. A lot of this can be used for writing cards as well, so take what you can from this.

I've always written my RP as if it was in hollywood 'script' form - Like what you'd see used for writing a screenplay for a movie, play or TV show. There are rules to it, and some people have tried to do this, and screwed it up :) I say this because the style I write in has been emulated by a lot of handlers over the years. You can't break the rules until you know how they work.

Throughout my notes, I prefer to use 'stage terms' to explain actions and such. The main thing is the use of the CAPS key to emphasize the commands/actions. IE: FADEIN, CUT-TO, MUSIC-UP, FADE TO BLACK, etc. are in CAPS. Also, when 'narrating' a character, their name is in CAPS as well, preferably the last name.

IE: (HORNET enters the ring, and throws a fist up as the crowd cheers!)

This, I assume, when these rules were made, breaks the text up easier for the cast/crew to read, and to understand direction, or a character that is about to speak or do an action. I'll do a summary below:

(FADEIN: To MASKED MATHEMATICIAN, standing at the front of the school, dressed in his wrestling togs.)

I will always give credit where it is due - I was taught this style by one of the best roleplayers ever, John Gilson. He, as far as I'm concerned, 'invented' descriptive, intriguing roleplaying. Before him, people were just typing in arguments. Props given.

DESCRIPTION FOR DUMMIES

One of my biggest pet-peeves is the new wave of 'deep' Roleplayers. If I'm talking to you, oh well :) The RP is intriguing and all, but it breaks a million rules of 'FW reality'. Example:

(Johnny Goth stands on top of the mountain, eyes fixed on the setting sun disappearing over the ocean. The air is crisp, and smells of salt, as the wind is blowing his hair past his chiseled face, as he ponders what has transpired before this moment:

Yes, he was able to defeat King Chicken-head at the PPV. But at what cost?

His dream wanders back to when he was a child, nuzzled in the bosom of his mother ... )

Ok - what's the problem with this?

I view all of this fantasy-wrestling stuff as if I were watching it on TV. That's the whole reason there are 'announcers' on the cards - to explain the action to the viewers at home and give emotion, drama and suspense to the wrestlers and their actions. Unless there is a narrator speaking in voice-over to the viewer, (which I doubt) I don't think we would know what Johnny Goth is thinking, would we? Also, TV does not afford the sensation of smell. How could we know what the air smelled like? If we're going to cut to a dream sequence, then it should be a CUT scene.

I understand what the RPer is trying to do - be descriptive in the sense of english-class writing - but this is not a novel, nor a book report. The main rule is - if it can be shown on TV, then it can be done in RP.

Description is a tricky thing to do, but if done correctly, can enhance a card or RP immensely. Don't over-describe things to the point of ridiculousness - I'm sure that the viewer doesn't care that the wrestler has a nose hair out of place. Include descriptions to set the scene, and move on, we'll assume the rest. Ergo:

(FADEIN: The MATHEMATICIAN, who's in a gym, working out with free weights. He puts the weights down, grabs a towel and wipes his face.)

In that example, we don't care what he's wearing, nor does it matter, so I left it out. Let's see how that would've looked if I over-cooked the description:

(FADEIN: The MATHEMATICIAN, who's in a gym, working out with free weights, wearing loose Umbro shorts, Adidas crosstrainers and no shirt, which shows off his chiseled tanned chest. He's glistening with sweat as he blows air out of his mouth, pumping the dumbbells. He finishes his last rep, puts the weights down, and grabs a blue terrycloth towel and puts it to his face slowly, wiping his face with slower, sweeping motions.)

We didn't really need all of that, did we? Plus it reeks of 'hamming it up'. It feels like the RPer is trying too hard, and trying to be dramatic. It's a dance you need to learn to be effective.

I've been cued into RPing so much over the years, that I could tell you who wrote an RP without there being a name on it. Jon Katz doesn't write the way Gregg Gethard writes, and he doesn't write the way Erik Zieba writes. You can develop a personal style, as long as you stick to the rules.

This is just a start, and there are many more things to learn, but hopefully this will put you on the right track. Be original as well - meaning that this style isn't the end-all, or is it the 'correct way' just A way.

GO GET 'EM!