We’ve all been there.
More often than not, it is beyond our control. However, there are a few things we can do to prevent our ego and our optimism from being ravaged by experiences like what I just described or, even better, prevent those incidents from occurring. A few ways are:
- keeping an open channel of communication with the other roleplayers, even before writing your first post;
- reading the thread in its entirety, and making sure you understand the plot and the chemistry of the other participants;
- and, for the one we’ll be focusing on, knowing whether to play a support or a central (also called lead) character.
How often in roleplay do the players think of lead characters, support characters, or various other types of cast members who help shape and mold the story to its climax? It seems to me that, in many cases, a player tends to think of their own character(s) exclusively, rarely considering the ramifications of joining a preexisting endeavor with that mindset. After all, they justify, there are just player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs) in roleplay; every player character is equally important.
Not so.
In and of themselves, no character is important. It is the interaction of characters, the history and chemistry that binds them in their creative environs, that makes them significant. Without the story, they are nothing, because there is nothing to make them interesting or cause a reader to care about them. If the story ceases to be the objective, and instead degrades into a struggle for player supremacy, the loss of focus outweighs the conflict and other qualities that may be born out of it on the scale of quality writing.
So, to avoid that, we recognize the role of support character is equally vital, and become willing to play it. To be a good support character, here are some tips:
- identify who the current main characters are;
- identify the direction the story is going;
- talk to the active players to get ideas for how to involve yourself;
- craft your character in such a way as to add to, rather than detract from, those characters and objectives.
As an example, say there is a roleplay about a hunter in the woods, hitherto alone. Rather than jump in as another hunter, or some stray nymph trying to steal the show, consider playing the hunter’s loyal hound. This adds depth to the hunter while simultaneously providing you a role that may be enjoyable and maybe even a new and interesting perspective to write from. What new senses would the hound have, what would its interpretation of the environment be, or its reaction to a stray hare darting through the thicket? Yes, at first glance, it may sound mundane but - and trust me on this - the most extravagant ideas can easily become uninteresting and the most bland exhibit the greatest levels of depth, all depending on the writing!
