Tutorial A class to learn RP?

[SilverFlight]

This is more of an interest check for a class, an idea I had because I was never formerly taught how to write creatively. I think there's a lot we don't get the chance to learn in conventional settings and now that I see more and more players using ChatGPT to augment or even write their posts and characters, I feel the need to ask:

If there was a class teaching you how to role play, how to write posts and develop characters and build lore etc, would people be interested in taking it?
Follow up: would some be interested in helping me make the course material?

It would be very loose, no timing and no obligation to complete the exercises, I would try and personalize it to a degree by being available to help people with whatever section they wanted to learn from at whatever point.

There will be written sections for each lesson, short paragraphs that contain the basic material, then there will be exercises you can do.
I'll create assignments and give you feedback on what you write, I can help with English grammar and spelling, though I am defs not an English major.
I might create a simple companion rp in the group rp section where people can apply what they've learned.

AI is a great tool, but it can also be a crutch that prevents you from improving. It takes away the personal voice in writing that I feel, is the crux of what writing is all about.

So yeah, there it is. Let's hear some thoughts.

 

[Kaoru Asuna]

I like this. I'm not sure I would participate, but I'd consider it. And I'm sure other people, especially new rp-ers and people new to this site in general would love an interactive forum like this where they could get feedback to see if what you're teaching helped them, et cetera.

 

[AaronMk]

There is a class for RP and it's called English or whatever equivalent to literature class you have.

You DO NOT need to take a class for this hobby, it encompasses a skill set from absolute beginners to people who could write at a higher-level who are just bored. You DO NOT need AI either, you do not need to obliterate the human aspect of a hobby explicitly oriented towards human-to-human interaction either online, or IRL (LARP).

 

[SilverFlight]

There is a class for RP and it's called English or whatever equivalent to literature class you have.

You DO NOT need to take a class for this hobby, it encompasses a skill set from absolute beginners to people who could write at a higher-level who are just bored. You DO NOT need AI either, you do not need to obliterate the human aspect of a hobby explicitly oriented towards human-to-human interaction either online, or IRL (LARP).

Thank you for sharing your opinion.

Not everyone has the advantage of being able to attend classes, or has access to schools with enough funding or resources to accomodate differences or disabilities to be able to take away meaningful skills.

This is meant to be an aid for people who want it, to help them improve.

It's abundantly clear that this thread was not written for you.

 

[Caroline1539]

While I wouldn't partake, being a veteran of the hobby, I'm sure that it would be invaluable for those who want some instruction starting off in trying to roleplay online.

With how many seasoned folks there are, and how many different styles of roleplay there are, it would be great to provide a breakdown and easy starting gate for beginners!

Say, looking at text type rp vs. a couple sentences vs. paragraph roleplaying. Canon roleplaying vs. OC creation, nation building + dice systems like DND/TTRPGs, a overview of everything available would be good.

Also! 1x1s vs group roleplays! They're very different with very different user bases, try mini 1x1 sessions vs. a more interactive group roleplay for the class too!

Also providing tools for spellcheck/grammar and sentence structuring. Writing in an application like Google docs is great for spell check and dictionaries/thesauruses are your best friend.

Encourage them to read more too! Libraries are free and reading something you like is the absolute best way to grow your vocabulary naturally. Maybe a look at a book the class likes/you like to point out how the author writes and structures their work? It would be helpful to look at examples for such a thing.

 

[SilverFlight]

While I wouldn't partake, being a veteran of the hobby, I'm sure that it would be invaluable for those who want some instruction starting off in trying to roleplay online.

With how many seasoned folks there are, and how many different styles of roleplay there are, it would be great to provide a breakdown and easy starting gate for beginners!

Say, looking at text type rp vs. a couple sentences vs. paragraph roleplaying. Canon roleplaying vs. OC creation, nation building + dice systems like DND/TTRPGs, a overview of everything available would be good.

Also! 1x1s vs group roleplays! They're very different with very different user bases, try mini 1x1 sessions vs. a more interactive group roleplay for the class too!

Also providing tools for spellcheck/grammar and sentence structuring. Writing in an application like Google docs is great for spell check and dictionaries/thesauruses are your best friend.

Encourage them to read more too! Libraries are free and reading something you like is the absolute best way to grow your vocabulary naturally. Maybe a look at a book the class likes/you like to point out how the author writes and structures their work? It would be helpful to look at examples for such a thing.

Those are all fantastic ideas. I am taking notes XD

 

[Idiot Doom Spiral]

To preface, this isn't something I would partake in, but I'm going to look at this from the POV of a new roleplayer.

I'm not sure what these classes would offer that an English or creative writing class (both of which are available online) would not Personalization? Reasonable accommodations? Site etiquette and terminology?

My own experience has been is "learn by doing." Join, observe, write and so on. If there was an unfamiliar system (such as 5e) I would ask questions or look it up online. So because of that, I think a companion RP (maybe with annotations) will be more useful than lessons.

If anything, people would benefit from learning reading comprehension, critical thinking, resourcefulness, and observation. Developing those skills, along with profound curiosity will be what helps a person grow beyond the confines of a singular class.

And a love of reading doesn't hurt either!

 

[MxKit]

To preface, this isn't something I would partake in, but I'm going to look at this from the POV of a new roleplayer.

I'm not sure what these classes would offer that an English or creative writing class (both of which are available online) would not Personalization? Reasonable accommodations? Site etiquette and terminology?

My own experience has been is "learn by doing." Join, observe, write and so on. If there was an unfamiliar system (such as 5e) I would ask questions or look it up online. So because of that, I think a companion RP (maybe with annotations) will be more useful than lessons.

If anything, people would benefit from learning reading comprehension, critical thinking, resourcefulness, and observation. Developing those skills, along with profound curiosity will be what helps a person grow beyond the confines of a singular class.

And a love of reading doesn't hurt either!

To be fair, as someone who loves reading, writing, and roleplay, I think there are roleplay skills that can't be learned through English or creative writing classes specifically because of the interactive nature of roleplay. If you're writing something, no one else really has any input on your story: You decide who the main character or characters are, and you create and write out the entire plot yourself -- every twist, every discovery, every line of dialogue in a conversation and element of an interaction.

I think coming at it entirely from a storytelling standpoint can lead GMs and players into a lot of fairly common RP "traps," like railroading, godmoding/godmodding, info-dumping (also bad in literature, but in roleplay even more reasonable amounts of info-giving or interactions between NPCs can leave players frustrated because they have nothing to do for however long it lasts), creating characters that just have no reason to interact with the other characters or would backstab them given the first opportunity, not leaving "hooks" for other characters in your posts or just ignoring the hooks other players leave in theirs, sort of expecting their character to be "the" main character (whether they consciously think they have that expectation or not), and a lack of understanding the importance of at least occasional out-of-character communication.

Learning by doing is definitely a good way to do it -- it's how I've done it and how a lot of my RP partners have done it! I actually taught someone who didn't really even consider the "no godmodding" thing because they were coming from a fiction writing background and as soon as I noted that they shouldn't write for my character even in small ways they grokked onto things -- but I think an RP-specific class could absolutely present "how to write well when you are only playing one character in a group" / "how to run an RP when 'your story' belongs as much to the other players as it does to you" advice that just general English or creative writing classes wouldn't cover.

(That said, there are "how to TTRPG" free classes and videos and blog posts and things that do a pretty good job of teaching a lot of written roleplay skills. SilverFlight , I would advise maybe looking at stuff that teaches tabletop roleplay and how to be a tabletop roleplay GM for inspiration on what might be some more good things to teach, along with experiences you've had and seen in the past. It's obviously not one-to-one, but there's a surprising amount of overlap in my experience.)

 

[Nieve]

What a lovely concept!

As a long time Roleplay veteran, I wouldn't benefit from the class though I'd love to contribute or even teach if given the opportunity. In my experience with higher education, I've noticed that most classes are split into four units. In this case, I could imagine the units here as Basics/Introduction, TTRPG, PBP, and Chat. You could rearrange these units as you see fit. These are just the order that they popped into my head.

What would each unit entail? Let's break it down!

• Basics/Introduction: Welcoming users to your course, assessing what they already know, starting with terminology and vocabulary. Terms like "interest check" and varying degrees of "literacy" (if that's what the kids these days still use) alongside abbreviations like "OC", "CC", "IC", "CS" are more are probably like a foreign language to folks just starting out. This is also the base point to establish conduct and rules for new Roleplayers to follow, like no godmodding, no forced romance, no power-playing, no meta-gaming, no ghosting, etc., as well as how to create their own rules, stay safe, and set boundaries for themselves. Could also be a good spot to brush up on certain English conventions too, such as perspectives and tenses.

• Tabletop & Roleplaying Games: Specifically intended for Tabletop and games with dice mechanics, you could probably slot some information in here about LARPing as well. Talk about the different engines available, share some resources like manuals or guides if you can. An emphasis on teaching players how to prepare and run sessions as DMs and/or how to intrepret and create character sheets.

• Post-by-Post Roleplaying: Specifically for Roleplays you'd see on RPNation or related forums. All about teaching players how to create interest checks, character sheets, and write posts. I could imagine this is a "practice makes perfect" unit where the emphasis is on crafting posts. Maybe teaching players how to find BBCode resources or create their own could be part of this unit as well!

• Chat: The least intensive unit, this would be dedicated to chat-based Roleplaying and possibly even Roleplaying in video games. More or less focused on rules, etiquette, how to find a safe place to write, and how to stay safe while there. In my experience, chat-based Roleplays tend to be more lawless— Both in terms of users and content. Like PBP, this unit could also be focused on writing posts as well.

Hopefully there are some helpful ideas/suggestions here for organizing your course, OP!