Tema

Introductions: Crash Course in Roleplaying Joining a Roleplay on EcchiDreams We realise that EcchiDreams has never exactly being the most intuitive thing to get straight away, and it's rather vast amount of features and things can make it difficult for new Dreamers. Please don’t get discouraged, and please do ask the staff for any assistance you might need, seriously - there is no such thing as a ‘stupid question’. It’s rather dependent on what you want to go for, really, the one thing we recommend time and time again is that you make a Roleplayer Preferences Sheet - so that others can see what you’re all about and what you want in a roleplay. The main thing you’ll really need, before joining any kind of roleplay, is a Character to play with, or in the case of private roleplaying, at least an idea in mind of what or even who you’ll be playing as. Click, or tap, here for a guide on how to create a Character. The next step is to pick the kind of roleplay that you want to participate in. If you’re completely new, you might want to start off small scale; perhaps Private where you roleplay with one other person. Below we highlight the different types of roleplay and how to become involved in each and every one of them. Private Roleplay If you’re looking for a Private Roleplay, go here and search through the page. The Private Roleplayers Bulletin Board Filters are helpful to find people who are ready to roleplay. Alternatively click here to search the bulletin boards. You can browse through the threads that people have posted up, to see what they are either offering you or requesting. Depending on how other Dreamers wish to be contacted, either comment on their thread or send them an EcchiText. How the roleplay is then set up is between you and your roleplaying partners. If you’re after something in particular and you cannot find it during your searches, then don’t hesitate to throw up a post of your own, asking others to roleplay. Click here to see how to do just that. Club Roleplay If you’re looking for a club Roleplay you can go to the main club directory and see what is on offer. But the important thing, is for you to look for what you want to be involved with, and to select a roleplay that suits your skillset. If there is no roleplay that suits you; then create one. Just look below. For the roleplays that are intermediate and above in difficulty, there will likely be an extra information relating to it. Make sure to read through it carefully and take note of the information within, because you will be placing your character within the universe that another Dreamer has created. Take note of the rules, and any peculiarities within. If you are unsure, or hesitant, message the Dreamer that created the roleplay and ask them questions and seek their help or, if the game master isn’t around, others in the roleplay can help you; use their OOC topic if they have one. They should help you getting settled into the roleplay and creating your character to suit the Universe, as most roleplayers love having more others roleplaying with them.

Introductions: Private Roleplaying and You This is for people who want to roleplay privately, but don’t want it taken away from EcchiDreams (such as Email/Facebook/Texts/Kik/Skype/etc) for various reasons (EG: Some people don’t want to give out that kind of information). For more information on private roleplays, click here. Members who wish to have non-public role plays can do so by posting up their “advertisement” bulletin in the Private Roleplayers Bulletin Board, followed by any range of characters they have if they so wish. The idea is that other roleplayers will come to the bulletin board and read your advertisement. If they wish to roleplay with you, they will either message you or respond in your thread to let you know their interest in what you have to offer. There are some rules, but nothing as restrictive as the public roleplays. Just remember that while the roleplays themselves will not be subject to moderation unless a report is made, the advertisement bulletins are moderated. Private Roleplay Bulletins are for Private Roleplays only; do not post other contact information to your topics. Contact information that goes off of EcchiDreams could be removed. There are no limits to the amount of Private Roleplays that you can have. You can put multiple Roleplays within your thread. Just try and not give yourself too much to do, otherwise you may overwhelm yourself; but that is a suggestion, not a rule. You must not force anyone to roleplay with you. If they do not wish to roleplay with you, respect their wishes. Anyone experiencing someone trying to force private roleplay on them, please click the report button within the EcchiText and the staff will deal with the situation. You do not have to create a Character ID. How much information you put in your bulletin is up to you. However do keep in mind that people might be less inclined to respond if you simply put 'Wanna RP with me?'. If you do decide to use a Character ID, you cannot use an existing Character (Within the Roleplay Suite) unless it is your own. You also do not have to use the Character ID for the public roleplay. If you are using an image for your character, post it in the Private Character Gallery, here. Images can be used within the Private Roleplayers Bulletin Board, however they must follow Gallery rules so you cannot post underage, or copyrighted images in your bulletin post. This isn't strictly a rule, but a must follow piece of advice if you want to attract people that will roleplay what you want to roleplay: Make use of the tag system when creating your bulletin! Put in the tags that reflect what you're offering. For example, if you're putting up a bulletin about a cheating impregnation private roleplay, then use the tags 'Cheating' and 'Impregnation'. That way, potential responders can search for the tags they want, and be led directly to your bulletin. You can request (via report button) to have your topic removed for whatever reason. Other than that, any rules for your Roleplay will need to be decided by you. I cannot tell you what to put in your bulletin, but I will make some suggestions. Remember that these are only suggestions, and you do not have to use any of the advice given below. What you put in your bulletin is completely up to you, as long as it complies with the Terms of Service. To start up your bulletin post, goto to the Private Roleplayers Bulletin Board. Then simply click 'Add new bulletin post'. Once it takes you to the editor page, you will need to put a title that will reflect what you're after. For example, a good thread title could be "Shadow's Private Characters", especially if “Shadow” puts information of his characters into the post along with any roleplays that he is inviting Dreamers into. Like I stated earlier, what you put in your actual post is up to you. My suggestions are below in a helpful little list. If you're still unsure as to what to put in the post, don't hesitate to send an EcchiText to a member of the staff. They will help you to the best of their abilities. And remember: Make use of the tag system! It will lead people right to your post, and may make responses a lot quicker. When you create your post, it would be a good idea to make the first post into an introduction. In this introduction post, you can put what you will and won't roleplay in terms of themes, and what you expect of any potential roleplaying partners. Like good English and grammar. Also explain in your post and put links to all roleplays you're yearning for. And if you're including character IDs, put the character information in the bulletin. Also; try to make it pretty and well laid out. That may attract potential Roleplayers. Say what you want. If you're looking for a Medieval plot based roleplay, state that. If you're after pure sex RP, then state that. If you want specific themes or kinks, then I advise listing them. If you don't, then someone might respond asking to do something that you may find uncomfortable. Put information about your character in. You can either put an image and a description, just a description, or you could make a full blown Character ID. You are more than welcome to use the public roleplay template, but remember that you don't have to do all the fields if you really don't want to; you can modify it in any way you wish. Your bulletin, your rules! Just remember that if you are including images, adhere to the Gallery rules. Write down any rules. For example, if you're looking for someone to roleplay a lover for your character, put down the kinds of things your character wouldn't do like cheating, anal, or threesomes. This makes sure that any potential respondents are well aware of what you are after so that no confusion happens further down the line. Put any extra information. Like the location the roleplay will be set in, whether it is a real life place or a fantasy location of your own imagining. A back story might also be a good idea, explaining about the history of your character. That might help potential responders think of ideas for their own character that they would pitch to you. Create an Roleplayer Preferences Sheet. Finally; and perhaps most importantly… have fun! Remember that this is just advice, not things you have to do. If you have any other advice ideas, please send me an EcchiText with your ideas. If I approve of it, I will edit this post to add it in, with credit given if you so wish. As such, feel free to keep checking this thread to see if it has been updated or not!

More Information Private Roleplaying If you’re not interested in roleplaying publically and prefer a much more private setting then here’s another feature requested by the community. Private Roleplaying has many names; one on one roleplaying, personal roleplaying, you get the point. We won’t prevent you from Roleplaying privately, and you even get a special suite in which to advertise. We highly recommend filling out a Roleplayer Preferences Sheet first, though, where you can state everything that you’re into. All you need to do is post on our new Private Roleplaying Bulletin Board, which can be easily searched depending on set preferences; for example, if you’d like people to jump in and straight away contact you in EcchiTexts first, or if you’d prefer for them to leave a comment below. If you’ve got something specific in mind, then let people know; if you have an idea of what you’re looking for and even a Character ID for your character(s), you can put them in your post and others can leave comments in the comment section below it. If you have no idea and want to bounce some ideas off of someone else, then by all means post it up. If you are inundated with requests, you can easily set your status to reflect that your slots are full up and that you’re no longer taking roleplay requests, and easily change them again when you’re ready to. For your convenience, at the bottom of the comment section in your own bulletin post you can also select if you want people to just message you, or if they have to ask in your comment section. We recommend: Keeping information clean and concise, yet plenty of stuff to go on. If you have a character consider showing him/her as your character candidate. Doing a Roleplayer Preferences Sheet - Seriously, we can’t stress this enough. Let the community know what kind of roleplayer you are, and what you like in roleplays. Keeping your Roleplay threads up-to-date. Stating clearly what you’re after, or what you’re providing. Nobody likes nasty surprises. Making use of “Notify me of replies” button when you post it so you’re notified by email when someone replies to your post, so that you can easily check out any replies. Not posting information to take Private Roleplays off of EcchiDreams as your information will be open, which can very easily be picked up by Spammers and other malicious parties on the internet in general. What happens off of EcchiDreams is none of our business and thus we will be unable to help. Like with the public roleplay the first post you make here is important, how you style it is up to you.

Making a Character How to Make a Roleplay Character Making a Character for a roleplay can be a difficult task. This guide is here to help you develop your own, well-rounded character. While characters, and their IDs, can differ from Roleplay to Roleplay, one thing is always the same. You are creating a person which you control in a role. However, you must always keep in mind that this is a rather subjective guide which may not suit your needs. Everyone has their own ways of doing things, but we hope that this guide will provide you with ways to add onto your style and improve on it. For the purposes of this guide, I will be creating a character as an example. When I come to creating a character, I usually like to include an image. This helps me further define the character. For the purposes of this guide, this is the image that I shall be using. Already I have a few defining qualities. Her species is human, for example. And she has long blonde hair and brown eyes. She is quite slender with an hourglass shape, and she appears to be fond of a Gothic design of clothes. This is a good framework from which to work. One of the first things I do is pick their name. This can be one of the most difficult stages of creating a character, as sometimes their name can have a lot to do with who they are, and I sometimes go through lists of names before finally finding one that I feel suits the character that I have in mind. Often, the name of a character will be determined by where they come from. Some names are more popular in some countries than in others. Not to mention that different countries have varied conventions of names. For example, Satoshi is a Japanese name, and Andrea is an English name. The two names have a very different style to them as well as differing popularities throughout the world. So, for the sake of argument, let us say that this character was born in America. More specifically, New York. Now that I know where she comes from, I can use Google to find the most common names in the New York area. There are several names such as Emily, Isabella, Olivia, Emma and Samantha. For this character, I am going to choose Olivia. Now, I have several pieces of information about her other than what I get from her image. Her name is Olivia, and she was born in New York, the United States. Now with that information, I can continue to further develop the character. This is where things become a lot more complicated. The next thing I like to do is develop a little history before I do anything else. The circumstances of her origin and background have a lot to do with how the character is at the time she is being roleplayed. She looks fairly young, so I would put her age to be roughly eighteen. In America, this is a good age for her to begin her stories at a University. And this is where I want to place her. Now, if I decide that she’s going to study a Scientific course, that would indicate that she is fairly intelligent. And this can have a huge impact with how she deals with situations, and how her personality is. Of course, she could be studying something such as English, or Psychology. Intelligence doesn’t play as large a role in either subject, especially compared to a Scientific field, but she may be more charismatic, or quite the extrovert. For the sake of this character ID, I am going to choose the first option. The budding little Scientist. Within this branch, there are numerous Scientific fields. Let us say that her ultimate goal is to become a Doctor, so she would be studying for a Medical degree. A Doctor is a good goal for her to aim for, but it requires a lot of hard work and dedication. It also means that she would have had to have strived towards good grades in her years spent at school. This desire to become a Doctor could have originated by a personal tragedy which acted as motivation for her. The death of a friend or family member, that instills a desire within her to make sure that whatever happened doesn’t happen to anyone else. Or, her natural compassion drew her towards that. For this character, I am going to go with the personal tragedy. And for this particular tragedy, I think it should be the death of her father, from a form of lung cancer that came about due to his very heavy smoking habits. Now that I have a rough idea as to her goals, desires and a little bit of background information, I can begin to develop her personality. Personality It is clear that the death of her father affected her in a strong way. She was possibly very close to her father, as his existence in her life played a large role as to how it played out. This could indicate that she’s quite a compassionate and empathetic person. These personality traits could play well with her desire to be a Doctor. However it could have some very serious side effects. As a Doctor, she deals with individuals that are sick and injured, who need healing. But not everyone can be saved. Her compassionate and empathetic nature could lead her to be heavily affected by the patients that she loses. She might not quite learn how to distance herself from a patient so that she isn’t affected as much. This is a very good example of a situation where two good character traits become a character flaw, as these traits could cause her mental anguish further down the line. With the fact that she would have had to have studied hard to get to the University today, there are a few useful personality traits she could have. If she’s a hard worker, it’s a fair indication that she’s quite determined and focused. This would allow her to devote her time and energy into studying which improve her grades, and put her firmly in a place where she can go to whatever University she wishes to study. She might even be a little ambitious, and will stop at nothing until she reached her goal. It also stands to reason that she is quite Intelligent. This could lead into various other personality traits such as being rather philosophical, being focused, independant, perceptive, resourceful, and perhaps even introverted. This could make her the kind of person that doesn’t mind locking herself in her bedroom for hours at a time as she continues her studies. She doesn’t mind spending time with people, but she’s very comfortable with being alone for extended periods of time. This would be a very useful personality trait for her to have. However, like all humans. She has her flaws. And these can be represented within her personality. She could be very stubborn, and unwilling to listen to others even though they might be right. These traits, tied in with her compassion and empathy, could cause her to do things like persist in trying to heal a patient even though there is nothing anyone can do. She wouldn’t give up, and would continue even if they were dying right before her eyes. The personality of a character is one of the most crucial parts to develop, as their personality will determine how they should be portrayed. A kind and compassionate person would not hesitate to help someone, whereas someone who was callous may refuse to offer the same kind of help. Both of those individuals would react in a very different way to the exact same situation. But now I have several character traits for her; Intelligent, compassionate, empathetic, focused, perceptive and resourceful. When I write these down for the personality part of the character ID, I do it in such a way that I write down how those personality traits are expressed. Like the stubborn nature example above, that would be one of the ways that her personality manifests itself in her behaviour. The same with her compassion and empathy. With other traits, such as focused, it could manifest itself in various ways. She could be able to spend hours at a time, pouring over medical texts and journals. She could also become a little irritated when interrupted, as she wants to give all of her attention to what she is doing. There are many different personality combinations, and each combination can create an equally unique individual. To help with this, we have listed a few books below, at the bottom of the guide. Two of them deal specifically with personality traits, however the third one goes a little further afield and is good for getting information as to how various conditions and environmental conditions can affect a person, such as drug use, PTSD and even abuse. Likes/Dislikes Once I have established the personality, I can then start thinking about certain likes and dislikes that the character has, as well as any hobbies and interests. With Olivia, as she is quite a compassionate individual, it is unlikely that she would have a hobby of going around kicking puppies and kittens. With her personality, it is very safe to assume that she has an interest in Medicine, and the art of healing others. She might also have interests relating to music and art, especially if either are able to help her focus. Some of her hobbies and interests may not even be related to her career choice. She may have a part of her that very much enjoys skateboarding as a way to have fun. Already she has an interest in Gothic Fashion. Not because she is Gothic, but because she likes the way the clothing looks. She may have even came up with her own style, with gothic only being a part of it. So she could be quite fashion conscious, and likes to look at recent fashions and talking about it to her friends. From there, I can extend that further by saying that not only does she like to look at fashion, but she also likes to design fashion. The clothing in her image could have been designed by her. This could lead to her liking to draw and sew her own clothing. Again, her personality may play a role in her dislikes. She might dislike hurting people, or getting people into trouble. As mentioned earlier, it is unlikely that she will have a hobby of kicking puppies and kittens. In fact, due to her compassionate nature, she could very well dislike people who would treat animals in such a manner. Again, there will be dislikes that seem to have little relation to her personality. She might be very afraid of spiders, for example, or have a distaste for insects or rats. She might even have a more obscure dislike, such as the feeling of raw cotton on her skin. Her hobbies and Interests, as well as her likes and dislikes, will have a play on how she likes to spend her free time. With her love for fashion she might like to spend her free hours designing and making clothes, or, when she wishes to be around her friends, she might go out somewhere so that they can skate together. Abilities Sometimes, a character will have some kind of ability. This is either because of some kind of plot device, or that is just how the character is. Abilities can be as benign as having an Internal Clock in their head, or be something very obvious such as being able to throw fireballs at others. One good source to look up various super-powers, is the Super Power Wiki. It has thousands of abilities that you could either pick from, or you can use it as a guide as you create your own. Sometimes picking an ability for a character is hard, especially one that suits them. But for Olivia, I can imagine her having a rather passive ability; Empathy. Not only is she Empathetic personality-wise, but she also has a mild telepathic ability to sense the emotions of those around her. When writing up a Character ID, some people would just put down ‘Empathetic’ and leave it at that. But that doesn’t provide a whole lot of detail. It’s always best to write down the extent of this ability. For example, Olivia may only get a hint of what others are feeling. Or she might get a very strong sense. Or it could be dependant on the intensity of the emotion. The more intense the emotion, the more she can sense. She may also have limited range in which this works. It could be as small as a metre around her person, to ten metres. The next thing you need to think about when it comes to a character’s abilities, is their disadvantages or weaknesses. In Olivia’s case, if we go for the option where her empathic ability is a six metre field around her, and she can sense more the more intense the emotion, there are several weaknesses within that. For example, an emotion can be so intense for her that she cannot handle it, especially if it was a strong anger or hate. With being such a compassionate person, such emotions might not sit very well with her, and it might cause her to retreat if she does not know how to properly differentiate her own emotions from those she is sensing. Another disadvantage could be that she cannot use this ability with someone that she is talking over the phone with, or watching on television. So she wouldn’t be able to gauge the emotions of those over a long distance, even if she is speaking directly with them. Sometimes, the weaknesses of a character can be tied in with their personality. For example, with Olivia’s stubbornness, this can lead to situations that work against her, such as the example earlier where she could try and save a patient who has no chance of survival. This could affect her in a way that impacts her personal happiness, the relationships with others as well as her mental stability. When thinking about the skills of a character, several things should be taken into account. Their history, personality, goals, aspirations, and their hobbies and interests. Olivia, for example, would be skilled at designing, sewing and making clothes. She would also be good at being able to sit down and study for extended periods of time. She might also be good at cooking, which is something she possibly learnt from her parents. She might also already have several skills relating to her desired profession. It could be the case that she knows basic first aid such as CPR, or proper bandage application. With her interest in skateboarding, she could have been doing it long enough that she is rather skilled and is able to do any number of tricks. When it comes to deciding the strengths of a character, some people automatically think that this is tied in with their abilities, but most of the time it isn’t. The strengths can tie in with the abilities, skills and personality of the character. In Olivia’s case, the personality traits of being compassionate and empathetic can be one of her strengths. It could cause others to view her in a positive light, and they would defend her if another person attempted to attack her in some manner. These personality traits would also allow her to better help her patients, as she would know what they are feeling when she is close to them. This means she could tell if a patient was lying, or she could even pinpoint the exact location of pain. This could eventually lead to the patient being diagnosed and given the proper treatment. While I mentioned her stubbornness as a weakness, it can also work as a strength. It would allow her to start on something, and not easily give up. She would try and see it through to the end. This ties in nicely with her focused personality trait. She can remain focused on a task, and have the stubbornness not to give up, no matter how frustrating or hopeless it may seem. There are many ways that the personality, skills, and abilities can play into strengths. It’s best to look over what you have done so far with a character, and work out how certain aspects of the character can play in as a strength. This can also be done with weaknesses. When I come to this part of creating a character, I like to assign myself a list of questions for me to answer. Like with the empathy, I will ask myself questions such as; How much can she sense? How far can she sense? Can she sense pain? Does it cause her pain when emotions are too intense? What happens when emotions are too intense? Do the emotions she sense feel like her own emotions, as if she is expressing them herself? Sometimes that list can get quite long. However, I tend to find that it helps me sort out the ability in my mind and to be able to write down further detail. And with more detail on that ability, I can do more detail in the weaknesses as well as the strengths. Biography The bio for a character can sometimes be the longest and most complicated parts of the process. Sometimes it’s even the hardest, especially if you don’t already have some ideas. At the moment, there are only a few things we know about Olivia and her past. We know that she originated from New York, and her father died due to lung cancer. It’s possible, of course, that she wasn’t actually born in New York. She could have been born somewhere else, but grew up in New York because her parents moved there. For Olivia, though, I am going to have it that she was born there. I don’t think her parents should be too rich, but they could make enough to make them a middle-class family. Her mother could be involved in a corporation while her father was perhaps in his own business. This would mean that Olivia was unlikely to have had any economic struggles. However, that doesn’t mean that her life was all sunshine and daisies. She’s a very compassionate person, so it’s possible that she could have been bullied while at school. Now, there are several ways that she as a character could have reacted to this. She could have ignored it, stood up to them or taken the bullying personally. Again this all comes down to her personality, as it will help dictate how she responded. In Olivia’s case, with her stubbornness mixed with how focused she is, she would most likely ignore it. To her it seems petty and she doesn’t satisfy them by raising to their bait. So while fellow students would have been mocking her, she would maintain a lofty disdain for their behaviour. She doesn’t like to hurt others, and it’s likely she doesn’t like it when other people hurt others. Sometimes doing the childhood of a character is quite hard. It’s so much easier to simply say ‘Her childhood was good’ and leave it at that. What you need to think about is what events in her childhood helped her become the person she is today? Were there any people in her life that influenced her? For Olivia, there is one person already that has had a clear influence over her. Her father. When young, it’s possible that she spent more time with him than she did her mother. It’s possible that she also spent time at his business helping him. While her mother was central in her life, she didn’t have as much of an impact on Olivia as her father. During her childhood, it’s likely that she had numerous friends. It’s often that friends from school might not keep in touch as the years go by. But with only being eighteen, Olivia most likely still has contact with her friends. For this character, I think a small group of good friends would suit her. Ones that would have likely stuck being friends all throughout her school life. It’s possible that they often went places with one another, and it was these friends that brought about Olivia’s fascination with fashion. Now we come to one of the more important events in her life, so to speak. The death of her father and the aftermath of it. In Olivia’s case, her father could have been diagnosed when she was fourteen. She had to watch the deterioration of her father, which would have had a devastating effect on her. It’s possible that her grades began to fail and she often didn’t sleep well. It’s possible that her friends would have done everything they could to help her through this difficult time in her life. After her father’s death, she would have been stricken with grief. This is the point in her life that she decided that she wanted to become a Doctor. Her father had died when she was young, and she wanted to try her best to prevent that from happening to anyone else. Once she had reached that decision, she would have buckled down with her school work and studied hard. She would have went on to apply to a medical University which she was accepted into. This would be the point where I would end the bio, as this is the point where I am actually roleplaying the character. It’s best to note down important events in a character's life down in a list and then use that list to expand upon in the bio. Some of the events in her life would require more attention than others, such as the death of her father. The bio of a character is an outline of the events that brought your character to the point where they are today. Some events have more sway on the character than others, but the end result is the same. Think of the bio as a short story; a tale of your character. The more you write in the bio, the more information you are giving about your character, and the more in-depth they will be. Additional Information Now we come to additional information. This isn’t really anything that’s required, however it can help add more depth to the character. For example; their criminal record. If they have had a seedy and interesting past, then you can expect a few things to be on there. In Olivia’s case, she would be the kind of person that would avoid doing anything that would cause her to get into trouble with the law. Another thing you could add in is the medical record of the character, especially if their health has played a large role in their bio. For Olivia, it would make logical sense that she would have broken more than a few bones, due to her hobby of skateboarding. Those are the two largest examples of additional information, however it doesn’t really have to stop there. You could add information as to how they’re a smoker, or that they have a pet, or that they are a user of drugs. Any number of these things can have an influence on the character and how you roleplay them. Conclusion It can be hard to create a good, well rounded character, especially if that character is complicated. The easiest way to do it would be through a step by step process. Remember that parts of your character are linked to other parts of the ID, such as their personality being linked to their history and for some, their medical history. Sometimes, you might end up with a rather bare boned Character ID, but don’t fret. Sometimes, that character can be further developed as you roleplay them. They become more broad and more in-depth as you play out some of the events in their life. Just don’t forget to add them to your Character ID. Sometimes, especially with long complicated plots, you can lose some of the development you made due to forgetting about them. Recommended Reads: We are not paid, nor are we commissioned /Affiliated and we have no connection, affiliate or otherwise to them. The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. ASIN: B00FVZDZ6K The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. ISBN-10: 0989772535 ISBN-13: 978-0989772532 ASIN: B00FVZDVS2 Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Dr. Linda N. Edelstein ISBN-10: 1582973903 ISBN-13: 978-1582973906

Introductions: Crash Course in Roleplaying Roleplaying Ground Rules Rules vary from site to site, even from roleplay to roleplay. There is, however, one thing that is common to most of them and their rules, which usually stem from one overarching theme, Godmodding (Sometimes accurately referred to as Godmode). Undoubtedly, nearly everyone who’s roleplayed, new or old, has broken one of these ‘cardinal sins’ of roleplaying. I have too, so have no fear, for we recognise where we went wrong and improve on ourselves, and make sure we don’t repeat the same mistake again. Godmoding and Godmodding are the same things. For creators; there is a standard, universally known rule pack, that you can include in your roleplays as a Standard Rule Set, and you can even add rules to it in your own roleplay. To compound matters, breaking one of these rules can happen by genuine human error, and it’s important to realise that as both a roleplayer and as a moderator, and to not assume malicious intent. For more information about Roleplaying Etiquette; please see our Roleplaying Etiquette guide. Godmodding is almost universally frowned upon, especially by more serious roleplayers, some even adopting a zero tolerance of it in their roleplays; but the problem is, Godmodding can manifest itself in a few ways, and some are far more subtle than others. The ways Godmodding can manifest itself are: Auto-Hitting and Power Playing This is usually a consent violation as a powerplayer (One who does powerplaying) controls another person’s character as well as their own, typically without the other person’s consent. For example; ‘BigMeanJunker’ controls a character called Daniel, and he’s roleplaying with ‘Sally-Mays’ who controls the character, Jake. They’re doing a fight scene where BigMeanJunker replies with “Daniel swung a punch at Jake, when it hit him in the face, Jake was stunned by his blow.” This is bad, because BigMeanJunker who controls Daniel, doesn’t control Sally-Mays’ character, Jake. Yet BigMeanJunker decided for Sally-Mays what was going to happen, and even took control over her character to make it happen. This is usually seen in bad faith; and I’ve seen normally calm and rational people blow up at it… Not literally of course. But essentially, you cannot control other people’s characters unless you have permission to do so, and even then this should be used sparingly. If there is a lot of dialogue between your characters, consider doing a Collab post. This comes in many forms; such as: Character A hitting Character B, without permission from Player B. Auto-accepting, like a decision that’s not agreed to outside of the roleplay. Auto-reacting, assuming the reaction of another character to something you said, thinking they’d do it is one thing, making them do it is another.. Character ID Related, which is where someone puts in their profile “When he flirts with women, they always fall for him, no questions asked.” If that’s what he experienced then awesome, but actually forcing this onto another roleplayer is downright frowned upon. Best ways to avoid becoming that roleplayer: Before committing to the post - re-read everything you've written. Not only can you do a myriad of checks, such as spelling and grammar, you can check for interactions against someone else's character(s). Stick to describing your own character, and their past experiences if needs be. Contact the other Roleplayer before making assumptions about their character; you never know, you could be surprised. Rule of Thumb: When participating with another roleplayer; you cannot write your action and the outcome in one post. If it isn’t your character - keep your hands off of it! Mary Sue / Gary-Stu A Mary Sue (Female) or Gary-Stu (Male) is a character who essentially is an idealised projection of the author. The character serves as a sort of fictional wish fulfillment. Both of these types are very common in roleplays, and it’s almost universally despised. In their efforts to create a unique character, they’re not; they’re unoriginal and shallow. Due to the nature of the personal and emotional connections these people have with their characters; when the error is pointed out they could react in a way that they perceive the fault being solely on you; this is what they are good at: Projection. Which makes dealing these these kinds of roleplayers difficult. Often, this type of character is almost always beautiful/handsome, smart, popular, rich, etc... In short, they’re the ‘perfect character’ who is so perfect it’s either borders annoying or is outright infuriating to some. To put it bluntly, they are generally ‘perfect’ characters with extremely minor flaws, of which if there are any it’s usually portrayed as being ‘cute’. They have illogical powers and traits, lacking personality and usually being fulfillments of the power fantasies of the author, be that power, sexual, social, or economic. For example; Twilight. The main female protagonist (Bella) was, in my opinion a blatant self-insert. She’s shallow, plastic and one-dimensional yet her whole school fawns over her and no one has a bad word to say about her. Yet despite this she is ‘Unusual’ and ‘Doesn’t fit in’, which falls flat when you put it into context of what’s already said. When she is turned into a vampire she exhibits Lore breaking abilities such as being able to control her urges, like her hunger for blood. Skills are learnt quickly, when they would take a long time to master, and she talked about how bright she was countless times. Her only flaw isn’t really a flaw and is over the top to the point that it’s annoying rather than cute, which I think was supposed to be the intention. If you weren’t sure who I was talking about, the character or the author, then that’s the problem. It’s clearly a self insert that does nothing but self-pleasure the author’s ego, other than surprisingly selling a shit load of books and merchandise, that is. You don’t need to look very far to see a male version of this either; just look at Edward, who is 100+ years old and yet, he's still in high-school... I was told the American Education System was bad, but come on. This comes in many forms; such as: Personality: One of the first things most people mention is that a character’s personality is no better than a cardboard cut out, it’s flat and lacks any depth of dimension and ultimately comes off as being cliché. Looks/Physical Appearance: They are either the best snowflake in all of Narnia but lack confidence and social skills, and basically lick windows, or they’re incredibly average looking and are pined after by the world over; hell even Aliens visit just to bang them. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Economic: Despite not working a job in their lives, they somehow have billions of dollars from nowhere. You’d think they’d be running a drug empire; but no, they’re a student at a public school. Abilities/Weaknesses: They have a metric fucktonne of abilities and literally no weaknesses; or weaknesses such as “Might turn into a cry baby at a funeral”... or “Clumsy”. Sexual: Where the character is somehow the best screw that another person’s character will ever have, despite the fact that the person usually has no idea who the other person’s character has had sex with or completely disregards their history. They have the ‘biggest’ sexual organs in all the land - despite never actually listing specifications and they’re always willing to go 24/7. Omni-Perfect: They’re an embodiment of God. They are very literally Godmodding at this point. Best ways to avoid becoming that roleplayer: Properly balance your character. If you insist on having shit loads of real abilities this has to be counted with a shit load of real weaknesses, or very good ones. Stop putting up conflicting personality traits. Not only is this illogical, but it’s lazy, for example: Someone who is a clean freak and punctual, but are always messy, never cleans up nor are they very organised. Sure; one somedays they might have the clean freak bug, and others they might be lazy, but to say they are both these things and nothing else in inaccurate. Another example is an evil character who does good deeds; now perceived as evil is one thing. But a nice guy who is evil, doesn’t make sense. Give her or him a trait that other people can poke fun at. Sometimes we like a character because there are endearing moments that others can jibe at, with them. Any in-depth character can perform actions that could be a source for such jokes that don’t denigrate the character at all. You don’t have to, of course, but this shows that they’re just like anyone else. And there’s no need to take these jokes personally. They’re not a scorn upon the heart of your character. If you feel that an innocent jibe is a heavy scorn that tarnishes your character’s name, that you must seek revenge for it, then perhaps you need to take a step back and get some perspective on things. Human emotions aren’t weaknesses. Your character is not an emotional child if she or he cries in the funeral of their beloved or family member. They are a healthy human with human emotions. Avoid being cliché, and having cliché attire: How many people do you see walk around in full Lolita wear? How about adults who wear emo/goth wear? Fair enough if you, for example, have a species that has a culture which is more tied to goth/metal music than humans, though Also in Yaoi with the classic Uke/Seme, the Uke is usually clichéd at being effeminate; and this is literally overplayed to the point of ridiculousness and childishness. Again; I’m not saying you absolutely can’t, just try to avoid it. If you’ve got to make them effeminate for example; that’s fair enough, but to blush and giggle like a ‘japanese school girl’ and squealing ‘DesuDesu’ at the age of thirty-three is beyond a joke. Is a thousand years old but looks 18. If there’s a specific reason then that’s fair enough… But there is no reason why a normal human being would be a thousand years old, let alone looking 18 at that age. Rigid Characters. A character is supposed to grow and learn with the environment she or he is surrounded in, not remain set in their ways forever, as if nothing ever happened to them to make them question their previously held beliefs or assumptions. The complete "Loner" main characters. Have you always noticed that it’s the Emo and Goth characters that are the loners? This isn’t reality at all. As there are other Emos and other Goths, that socialise within their groups. I’m a Metalhead, and I got on great with Emos and Goths when I was in school, even if I disagreed with their world views. If it's integral to your story by all means, go for it. At least give them a best friend or something. The Abused/Hated Child. This one isn’t as common as it once used to be, being abused or hated as a child is not a character flaw. All it really does is give you a tool for your character to show self-pity and self-martyrdom wherever possible, and it’s extremely unattractive, especially if the character never makes any effort to overcome this adversity and use it to improve themselves. Metagaming This is, by far, one of the one of the things most prone to happen due to human error. This one is so easy to do by accident, and can appear in really subtle ways. Metagaming is the use of OOC information IC. This information can come from Character Sheets, OOC threads or general discussion between Players. Characters should only know the information that they are subjected to within the roleplay, and nothing more. This comes in many forms; for example: Player A and Player B are having their characters, Jane and John respectively, interacting. Jane has a scar on her inner thigh that she doesn’t usually show people. John has never seen it, and Jane has never mentioned it however John brings it up in conversation. The Game Master has announced that as part of a plot, a certain area of their Universe (Where characters are located) will be in danger. Possibly destroyed which could result in the death or injury of characters. A player then suddenly makes an excuse to remove their character from the area to avoid them being caught up in the dangerous plot. If a character originates from (for example) Medieval London, then they will not know anything about electricity, computers or even Quantum Physics. These are things that would need to be taught to them by a character that is knowledgeable about such things. Another form of Metagaming is Decision Metagaming. This is where you have two characters, Jane and John who get into an argument. Both characters are usually very aggressive and loud with their words and easily get into a scrappy fight. However, the player for Jane, reads in John’s profile that John has the same fighting style as her with a lot of brute-force hitting. With him being stronger than her, the player for Jane then changes her fighting style to become more quick and agile to avoid his attacks. Character Jane knowing John’s inner feelings towards her, even if his demeanor and words are completely the opposite to what he is feeling. He could be showing her kindness and showering her with praise but inside feeling that he really didn’t like her. There is no way Jane can know these inner feelings of his and thus should not act according to the feelings. Best ways to avoid becoming that roleplayer: Keep a record of the information that your character is subjected to, almost like a diary or list. Sometimes you can forget what your character does and doesn’t know, and it can be time consuming looking through previous posts to try and dig that information up. If you aren’t sure if your character knows something about another character, ask the player of the character in question. They might have a better idea than you do as to what information of their character is known within the Universe. Read posts carefully, and make distinctions between information that is available and information that is not. For example, Jane telling John about her scar. Now that information is available. If she is merely thinking about the scar, that information is not available. This also applies to the example above in regards to thoughts and feelings of a character. There is a difference between the stated appearance and their inner feelings. If you ever find yourself forgetting aspects of your character, re-read your character profile to refresh yourself on them. Remember that what you read on the forum is not what your characters knows. This also includes Universe areas, which your character will need to learn their way around. Overt Godmodding God Modding is, in essence, when a character has the ability to do just about anything within the Universe. They are superior to other characters within the Universe, and practically nothing can touch them. Players do not like God Mod characters as they strip away any fun within the roleplay, as well as any challenge. God Mod characters tend to know how to deal with any kind of conflict scenario and overcome it. Any other characters are left in the dark and simply following the superior, all-powerful character. The Mary Sue/ Gary Stu character is one of the examples of a God Mod character, with the character being perfect, well desired and good at everything they do. But there are many ways that God Modding shows itself, such as Character Creation, Skill-based and Situation-based. This comes in many forms; for example: Character Creation: A character that has mind reading powers has the ability to read the mind of every person on planet Earth, completely disregarding any counter-measures that others would develop such as teaching themselves to block out other minds. It’s also very God Mod to have it be that this character has no weaknesses in regard to this ability. So there is no distance limit, no energy limit and no limit to how deep they can delve into the minds of others. Skill-based: This is very similar to the Character Creation kind of God modding but in this instance it’s when the character is advancing an existing skill, or learns a new one in a period that is unbelievable. For example, a student in a school that is learning how to program on a computer and they somehow manage to learn how to develop a game at triple-A quality in less than a week. It’s unachievable. Situation-based: This kind of Godmoding ignores certain facts of the Universe or a Character’s Situation. This can give an unfair advantage to a character, or to advance a plot further along than intended. Some examples are that during a fight, a character will dodge all attacks, making it so that they cannot be harmed. Sometimes the player would make it so that attacks do not even work, leaving their character with a huge advantage over the other. Another example is when a gathering of Characters require to get through a door which is locked. It is Godmodding to suddenly have one of the characters to have the exact key to get through the locked door. Best ways to avoid becoming that roleplayer: Balance your characters strengths and weaknesses. This helps create an all-round character that does not solve every puzzle within a heartbeat. This gives them things to strive towards, as not everything is handed to them on a plate. If a character has abilities that are extremely powerful, balance them out with equally debilitating weaknesses. Superman’s Kryptonite is a perfect example of this. Consider what is appropriate for the setting of the Universe and your character’s situation and age. If they are say, twelve, they wouldn’t have a degree in Quantum Physics and work at one of the most prestigious Universities. If your character is in an post-apocalyptic setting, your character would not have access to an unlimited supply of ammo, weapons and medicine. Keep in mind how long it can take to realistically learn new skills. In regards to the programming examples above, it can take years to perfect coding to do a game of that level, as well as having to learn various other skills such as graphic design. One could never realistically do that within a week. Think about what is appropriate for your character to know. For example, a slave in ancient times would not know how to read and write while in the modern world, it’s more likely that even a poor person from a first world country would know how to read and write. Keep track of what has already occurred so that you do not accidentally God Mod. This can also prevent you from Metagaming or Retconning by mistake as well. Even a simple list system would help. Retroactive Continuity - Retconning Retroactive Continuity is going back and changing the story. This can, but does not have to, conflict with pre-established facts and events. Think of it like a series reboot, where a different writer may establish a different backstory for a specific character or organisation. It does not necessarily have to be a negative thing, but it must be handled very carefully; if you have a genuine reason or good idea to add to your character, fair enough, but if you’re only retconning something in as a response to something in the Roleplay, see the section above on Metagaming (specifically Decision Metagaming). This comes in many forms; for example: Jack likes Jill, but has numerous piercings. Jill does not like people with piercings, so the Jack’s character owner goes and retcons all mention of piercings out of his character. This could be a problem because many other characters may have commented previously on the piercings, meaning it can affect more than just those two individuals. Stacey and Sam are a married couple, but end up getting divorced for whatever reason. One week later, they are back to being married, with no mention of the divorce or cause, and no mention of getting remarried. This could be an issue for the same reason as the first scenario, as characters could have discussed the divorce amongst themselves, or helped Stacey or Sam through their breakup. It’s also entirely possible that Stacy or Sam got married to someone else in the meantime. Wolfie goes back in time, and has sex with Katie’s mother, making Wolfie the father of Katie (without permission/against their Character Profile). This type of scenario may be acceptable with permission, though, if it is part of the story. It is possible, however, that you just want to add a little information to your character’s backstory that does not conflict with any previously established facts. For example, adding a scar or tattoo to their back, in a situation where no one has ever seen them naked, or at least not their back (since they got the wound/tattoo, at least). Best ways to avoid becoming that roleplayer: Be careful what you change. As a general rule, if it has been mentioned or shown in the actual roleplay, avoid making alterations. If you want to make changes for the first example; perhaps Jack goes through a period of change where he decides to get rid of the piercings, this is good for character development, as the transitioning stage is clearly seen. Don’t change things that could change established fact without a good reason. In the case of being married, getting divorced, and getting back together, at least state that you worked through the differences and chose to get remarried, rather than just because you “didn’t like the flow of where it was going”. For the second example: perhaps Stacey and Sam should try and work their problems out rather than continue in unproductive circumstances. Again this would be fantastic for character development, and perhaps all parties involved can go forward and learn something new for the experience. Overall, don’t mess about with changing things that affect others characters, or any plot points (especially major ones). As for the example with Wolfie… Well; perhaps he should stop messing with the time continuum, and learn to keep it in his jeans.

Introductions: Crash Course in Roleplaying Types of Roleplaying There are a myriad of ways that we can break down the different types and categories of roleplays on EcchiDreams. In the public roleplaying forums it’s typically broken down by skill level, and people are fully encouraged to tag the genres of the roleplay too, to make it easier for others to search. On top of that there are a number of ways in which one can roleplay on EcchiDreams. Skill Level First; the skill level. This is explained in a little more detail in this Roleplay Difficulty Guide. But the basic premise is this: Mixed; this is for all skill levels. Casual; this is typically for people who are starting out, or like to make short, concise posts, or speed roleplay. Sometimes can be a single line, or even a sentence. Intermediate; typically more than just a single line or a sentence. Usually roleplayers who have been doing casual roleplays look at increasing their skill, and venture out into a slightly more challenging scenario. Typically, Extra Information on the roleplay is considered light reading. Advanced; are somewhat more serious about roleplaying. There might be a lot of lore, plots or other extra information which might be required to be read first, or if the scope of the roleplay allows it in such a way, then there could be many plot lines and converging stories. Expert; are for the downright serious, dedicated roleplayers, and not for the faint of heart. A casual roleplayer will not do here, and even intermediates and advanced might struggle to keep up. There are incredibly detailed and often convoluted plots. Furthermore, an unrelated action committed by one person could have serious ramifications to another roleplayer. These are designed to be challenging, and require considerable post length, and detail. Genre Next is Genre. There is no definitive guide on this yet, and there are a lot of genre’s to cover; so much so that we are actively taking suggestions on improving our Roleplayer Preferences to include new genres. Currently we have categorised the following Genres, which can be mixed and matched like ‘Sci-Fi, Adventure, Survival’ much like in video games: Adventure - A genre that usually involves an exciting undertaking for the characters, that usually involve an element of risk. It forms the main storyline, and could be mixed and overlapped with many of the other genres. City Life - A city living type roleplay, there is a potential for many plots, jobs (such as firefighter, police officer and paramedic, as well Government jobs, rent collectors, business owners and ordinary citizens, students and children. (Example: Blackberry Falls City) Dystopic - A type of roleplay that is set in a ‘dark nightmare’ type of scenario. It’s typically anti-utopian and challenges the fundamental assumption of human perfectibility with utopias; that humanity’s inherent flaws negate the possibility of constituting perfect societies. Fanfiction Roleplay - Usually an alternate universe-like roleplay where canon may or may not be respected. Observe any other tags such as ‘Alternate Universe’, ‘Canon’ and ‘Non-Canon’ as well as what the roleplay is a fanfiction about (e.g. Naruto Yaoi RP). Fantasy - Be that magic, supernatural or, certain paranormal elements are twisted into a main plot and theme, or setting. Imaginary worlds where magic creatures and other strange oddities are common, and home. Please note: There are many different subgenres of fantasy, but the major two are High Fantasy (a completely fantasy world; e.g. Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien), and Low Fantasy (the ‘real’ world, with magical elements; e.g. Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling). Horror - We’ve not seen many ‘horror’ roleplays. Usually the characters are in a perpetual state - or at a drop of a hat can get into a state - of intense fear, dread, dismay and peril. Historical - Similiar to Medieval, however it doesn’t have to be that far back. It doesn’t have to be historically accurate either. Medieval - Any historical piece that is during the years 476AD to 1500AD. Can be mixed and matched (and usually is) with Fantasy. (Example: Craethiel Kingdom) Post-Apocalyptic - Usually after some great catastrophic event that has plunged the world away from the old ways. This can be mixed and matched with sci-fi, horror and definitely survival. The event could be anything, impact from an asteroid, nuclear warfare, zombies, aliens, mass civil unrest that turned very ugly, and so on. Romance - A genre in which the primary focus is on the relationship and romantic love between two (or more) people, which usually have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Sci-Fi - Science Fiction (sometimes also called SF or Speculative Fiction) usually revolves around the impact of actual or imagined science on individuals, or society as a whole. These usually have a strong scientific factor as is essential with this genre, even if it’s pseudo-science, which it usually, although probably unintentionally, is. (Example: Andromeda Trading Station) Sex Only - Porn, usually without plot. Otherwise known as ‘cybering’, these are usually more common in one liner settings, but not always. Survival - This genre is one where the characters have to make concentrated efforts towards literal survival. It often overlaps with other roleplaying genres. (Example: Utopian Curse) Ways in which Roleplays are possible on EcchiDreams There are various ways in which one can roleplay on EcchiDreams, there are three sections, which cover Private, Public and Premium, although private can be done through one of two ways. A Private Roleplay is one that isn’t published to the forums, and shouldn’t be viewable - whilst it remains in your EcchiText - by anyone not a part of the conversation. For an instant messaging approach, players can go through EcchiChat to do one on one scenarios, or even make their own private chatroom in the EcchiChat App. I feel I must stress that it should not be considered completely private as either you or the person you’re roleplaying with could decide to post your Roleplay, or even use elements of it if and when you come over to Public Roleplays. For more information, click or tap here. A Club Roleplay is a roleplay that takes advantage of the Club system on the forums. Depending on the privacy level of the club, it can be viewable by guests, or just Dreamers. Or no one but members of the club. These clubs can either be open to everyone, or invite only, depending on what the Game Master wants. It’s customisable and the Owner of the club can even have their own staff which have some moderation-level permissions within the club. The Home Page is considered the doorway into their Universe, as well as providing the potential roleplayer the information they need to roleplay in that forum, as well as links to any relevant information topics, such as Extra Information, the Character ID location and OOC topics. For more information, click or tap here.

Roleplay Difficulty Guide To help roleplayers chose their level of roleplaying, a public roleplay topic should be labelled with either one of several tags: Casual Skill Intermediate Skill Advanced Skill Expert Skill Mixed Skill This is to help roleplayers choose the level that they are comfortable with. We realise that this is a highly subjective system, for example; what one might consider casual, another might consider to be something else, so this guide will attempt to put down some objective criteria. When creating your own roleplay, you should include it, to stand out in the home page; like this. You can feel free to use the images below to represent your difficulty as it does stand out. It’s important to select a difficulty/skill that is accurate, otherwise it could cause misunderstandings for fellow roleplayers and yourself. The intended purpose of this system is to help people find their level of roleplaying in a clear and easy to understand way. Casual Skill A casual roleplayer is perhaps someone who is just starting out, or uses informal roleplaying as a means of relaxing. Usually casual roleplayers don't go into details, leaving it either up to the reader to decide, or simply prefer short form/IM Style roleplay (Such as *he licked his lollipop innocently* or *moans*). Typically, Casual Roleplayers don't post long posts, they can actually be any length, including one liners, or even one sentence per reply. There is usually little to no extra information, if there is it's usually just the basics. Character ID's are usually short/minimal if they even exist at all. Intermediate Skill Intermediate roleplayers are usually people who are either starting to come away from casual roleplaying, or someone who's been doing it for quite a while. There is some level of detail to Roleplay information. This level of roleplaying is for those who like casual roleplays, but want something a little more serious. Post length is usually between around one to two sentences, and one to two paragraphs. Extra Information is likely to still be considered light reading. Character ID's have considerably more information than Casual and almost always exists. Advanced Skill Advanced Roleplayers are people who are fairly serious about roleplaying and expect some kind of detail, and something longer to read. This is something for those who want something a little more challenging. Typically post length is at the very least one paragraph, even when there is very little to reply to. Usually they can be up to six paragraphs, or even more depending on how much there is to reply to. Extra Information is a must for Advanced roleplaying, and there is almost always a good amount of detail to the roleplays Extra Information. Characters have quite in depth Bios and interesting features. Expert Skill Expert Roleplayers are people who are very serious about roleplaying, and expect the same kind of detail and such from people they roleplay with. Usually these roleplays are for extremely dedicated and serious roleplayers who like a good challenge. Typically 6+ paragraphs per post. Like with Advanced, Extra Information is required. Roleplay Extra Information is very or even extremely detailed, often with multiple pages of it. Character ID's can quite massive. Provides a lot of heavy reading material. There tends to be long, very complicated plots (And even multiple plots) within an Expert Roleplay, which tend to carry on for months, possibly years. Sometimes these plots can become deeply convoluted. Mixed Skill A mixed roleplay is one that accepts all kinds of roleplayers, from casual to expert. This can be used for a number of applications, such as; casual roleplaying, practice roleplaying, cyber-only roleplaying and so on. For this level of roleplaying, while an Extra Information might not be necessary, it would be welcome and is strongly encouraged.

Introductions: Crash Course in Roleplaying Glossary of Abbreviations, Terminology, and their Definitions This section of the guide will talk about the commonly used terms, and abbreviations and that they mean. It's by no means a definitive and exhaustive list, and if you have any suggestions as to what we should add, please don't hesitate in contacting us. If it's reasonable or used a lot we might just add it to the guide. Abbreviations AU Alternative Universe It is the in-roleplay exploration of something based on a canonical story or other roleplay, that is set in a non-canonical way. Typically such events may diverge from a key point in a canonical storyline, take for example a Star Trek based Roleplay. This can also be putting existing characters into a separate existing universe, though it is more used for direct storytelling in that context. Bio Biography A Biography; in this context is, an account of a character’s life written by its CO. CID Character ID (Identification) Sometimes called a Character Profile, Character Sheet, Character Information, etc. It is the information that describes your character. EcchiDreams has a standard Character ID format that contains critical pieces of information that would suit the majority of the needs of most roleplays. However some can be far more complex, or far simpler. CO Character Owner Sometimes called a Puppet Master, Player Character or a Character Controller. The person who owns the character in question. Collab Collaboration Sometimes referred to as a ‘Joint Post’, we recommend Google Docs for this, as both @Neptune and I have found it to be very reliable. This joins a potential load of posts into one bigger post. GM Game Master Sometimes referred to on EcchiDreams as the Dream Master or Universe Master, and has a number of other names. The Game Master is the creator of a scenario in which people roleplay. They create the initial premise of that roleplay including all the lore, and basic plot. IA Inactive Also known as MIA (Missing in Action) Usually referring to a roleplayer who hasn’t been active a for a while, or has ceased responding to people. Although it can also refer to a roleplayer’s character that hasn’t been played in a long time. IC In Character The opposite to OOC. LoA Leave of Absence Unique to EcchiDreams. Expected inactivity from a roleplayer or fellow Dreamer on EcchiDreams. Usually the Dreamer could be away for a week or up to a month, if they’re dealing with drama in real life. NPC Non Playable Character A NPC is a character that is typically not roleplayed by anyone but the Game Master. NSFW Not Safe For Work In roleplaying, NSFW content can be subjective to the individual but on here we typically mean things you probably shouldn’t look at, whilst at work. This can be sexual, or it can be violent, gory, some even consider drug use to be NSFW. Typically one should just consider the entirety of EcchiDreams NSFW. OC Original Character A character that is not based on a fanfiction, or any other kind of fiction: like a video game, manga, anime, hentai, TV show, book, etc… Some do use existing pictures from things from these places but the similarities between the characters usually cease at the picture. Quite often Original Characters can indeed be human, or to be even more original, they could be a part of a created fictional species. OOC Out of Character The opposite to IC. A term used in roleplaying circles when a person wants to step outside of their character for a minute and speak as themselves, this could be to communicate a number of things from issues with a post, to letting the roleplayers know that this is your final post for the day. In a Public Roleplays this should be used sparingly in IC sections; as there is usually an OOC topic, EcchiTexts, and even EcchiChat, where OOC can occur freely. PC Playable Character See Major Character; in Terminology. RP Roleplay According to Dictionary.com, Roleplay is a verb and it means “...to assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of…” A character “...especially in a make-believe situation…” At the core; you play a character, and control their actions, personality, decisions, roles, and even their entire life history, in a fictional universe. RPer Roleplayer A person who roleplays. A person who is assumes the life of his or her character(s) when they roleplay. RPing Roleplaying To be engaged in the act of roleplay, whether it is chat, or forum posting. RPS Roleplayers Preference Sheet Really only used here on EcchiDreams. A roleplayers preference sheet outlines all of your preferences in roleplaying including genres, things you’ll roleplay, things you won’t, and so on. It’s a good place to put where on EcchiDreams you roleplay, if you do private roleplays, and so on. SFW Safe For Work Not this site, that’s for damn sure. Opposite of NSFW. Terminology Canon Canon is a term meaning that a series of past events or characters are considered to be a part of the actual history of the roleplay involved, that which cannot be denied by people participating in the roleplay. It is short for canonical. Canon events and such are considered actually occuring history from the point of view of the characters in the roleplay and partly makes up what is called lore. Extra Information Extra Information refers to additional information that does not belong in an RP home page, opening post or the description area. It allows both Game Masters and Players to put additional information about their Universe, Characters, and even Locations and Species. The level of detail, and the content, is completely up to the Game Master, as it is a tool made for you to put information that doesn’t fit into Roleplay Opening Posts or in Character IDs. They are usually found in the Club Roleplays, for Roleplays that are Intermediate and above in difficulty, as they usually require an Extra Information that outline the Universe of the roleplay. The higher the skill level, the more detail one can expect. Multiple Extra Information Threads can be tied together to help unclutter the main Extra Information, but again, typically they’ll either be linked to the original Extra Information topic or linked in a visible place. Lore Lore is usually the body of traditions, culture and knowledge in a roleplaying universe. It is different from both plot and story, although some people often confuse the three. It is the background story of a roleplay, and the culture of the roleplay universe. It is a very detailed account of events, and background information that existed to lead up to an event. It is the way things are, or were, within that roleplay. Major Characters A Major Character is a Main Playable Character that a Roleplayer has, which they use within the Roleplay. These are their core characters that are roleplayed often and within the main plotline. These characters hold the most detail within their Character Sheets and are expected to be very detailed and deep. Major Characters can have Minor Characters (Terminology below) or Featured NPCs tied to them who are present to help push the Major Character forward and to assist in some plot devices, such as having to solve their puzzle in order to get to the next step. Minor Characters Minor Characters are essentially PCs that are tied to a Major/Main Character. They are almost like Featured NPCs that are controlled by the Player of the Main Character. Minor Characters usually do not play a huge role within the story, and are thus not always played. They are a tool as a means to further a plot or to add to any conflicts that are going on. These can be transferred to other players, but are played by the Player that has current control over them. Non-canon The opposite of canon. It mainly refers to fan-fiction and fan-fiction style roleplays that don’t follow something that is established that is canon Universe. For example: a Fanfiction in which Commander Riker and Captain Picard are lovers, even if it follows the lore of Star Trek exactly, would still be non-canonical. One-liner A one-liner is a short roleplay post, typically not having more than one sentence or a couple of sentences, and not taking up much more than a single line (depending on resolution you use, but that’s semantics). These are usually only ever seen in casual roleplays, as the more serious roleplayers prefer for longer posts. Plot The plot refers to a sequence of events within the Roleplay story, which effects the Universe they are in. The plot is the means to get from the beginning of the story to the end, through the principles of Cause and Effect; as in the Characters interactions with the Universe, that shape how the story unfolds, and the effects and ramifications of such interactions. Plots can be very simple or extremely complex, and of varying length. Side Story The Side Stories are an area of the Roleplays that keeps things such as Fights, Sex and Adventures separate from the Main Roleplay Thread but are, nonetheless, linked back to the Main thread. This helps keep a Roleplay organised and neat, instead of all cluttered together. It also makes it easier to share and archive specific events, as there is a topic dedicated to that very plotline. Species Profile A species profile is similar to that of a character ID; except instead of an individual, it encompasses an entire race, and details things from abilities and physical appearance, to their law, history and even culture. For more information on this, and to have a guide as to how to create your own, click here. Strong consent based roleplaying environment This is the main bulk of roleplays on EcchiDreams, and indeed most other places too. Basically it’s a set of rules that protect your character from the actions of another roleplayer’s character. For example: Your character being killed or being acted upon in either property or person without your consent from you, the affected character’s owner. Universe It’s the “thing” that holds all the galaxies and planets within it. Similarly like in video games (The Elder Scrolls Universe, The Fallout Universe, etc) it’s used to describe the created universe (or Roleplay) with its own mechanics, lore and such, as well as species, extra information, and in some cases detailed histories. Some Universes could be an alternative universe.

Introductions: Crash Course in Roleplaying Introduction Table of Contents: Introduction Glossary of Abbreviations, Terminology, Jargon and their Definitions Types of Roleplaying Roleplaying Ground Rules Joining a Roleplay on EcchiDreams Creating a Roleplay on EcchiDreams If you’re new to roleplaying, or don’t know what it is at all, then look no further; here is a simple crash course in roleplaying so you can join the club. As such, this will be as concise as possible, but even then it’s a big guide. That said, the guide is split out into sections for easy reading, or scanning through if you already know something, or even just for use as a reference. We’ve attempted to strip out personal biases from this, but some may still remain. As usual if you have any comments and feedback, or even criticisms, please leave them in the comments below. This is also a good place in learning how to do things on EcchiDreams and ultimately, how they work. There will be links to other guides to help you get started on joining or even creating your own roleplay. So what is Roleplaying? According to Dictionary.com, Roleplay is a verb and it means “...to assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of…” A character “...especially in a make-believe situation…” At the core; you play a character, and control their actions, personality, decisions, roles, and even their entire life history, in a fictional universe. Why do we do it? The reasons why people roleplay could be limitless: to some it’s an escape from the shit that real life throws at them, to some others it's a means of telling an interactive story with strangers, some people prefer it over video games, and the list goes on. Roleplaying is basically the act of taking a usually fictional character (or one based off yourself) and playing it, like a game, into a role or scenario. For some of us, myself included, it’s been a great way to think deeper on things, to do what I consider practically impossible; Socialise, and communicate ideas to another person, or to a group of people. In truth there’s probably no one real reason as to why everyone roleplays, but if I had to sum it up… It’s because it’s fun. This guide was written by: @Temaelrin, @Neptune, @Manni and @SMFoxy in a collaboration, on Google Docs. All four of us are roleplayers with a combined total of over 50 years of experience under our belts - but we’re by no means demigod experts, or ‘elites’; we can only teach our experience in as much detail as possible.

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. Warning Points (AKA: Infraction Points) are given by Staff Members for infractions of the Terms of Service; they're kind of like a Criminal Record here on EcchiDreams. Only you, and Staff Members, can see your warning points and warn history. They're not given out frivolously like candy, and most of them expire after a set number of days/months depending on the severity of the infraction. The exception to this is permanent ban (Zero Tolerance) offences, which are listed under Section 8 of the Terms of Service.

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. A username (AKA: display name or Dreamer name) is the handle you go by on EcchiDreams (for example: @Temaelrin and @Neptune) and is unique to you. It is your name on EcchiDreams as far as everyone is concerned; you should not put your email address in there, nor should you attempt to impersonate a staff member or another dreamer. At this moment in time, changing your display name is not possible for normal Dreamers, but is however possible for our Gold and Platinum Members. A usergroup (AKA: Dreamer group) is the category of Dreamer you are. There are currently six usergroups for Dreamers: Community Administrator Senior Staff Staff Platinum Dreamer Gold Dreamer Dreamer And one for non-Dreamers: Visitor/Guest

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. The Recent Profile Visitors block contains how many views your profile has had, as well as the last five Dreamers to view your profile, and also includes the date that they last looked at your profile. There is an "X" on this block which allows you to turn it off (Disable), and if you want to enable it again, press "Enable".

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. EcchiCredits is the digital-only, contribution based currency here on EcchiDreams, which used to be able to be used to buy profile items, premium membership, and so on. Although, since The Big Update in 2015 they've become rather useless (as in they can't really be used on the site) due to limitations with the application responsible for it. But they still exist so you can earn EcchiCredits, for when we bring the system back to its former glory, and we will make an announcement in the News and Announcements Section when it arrives, and this information article will be updated accordingly. Currently you can use EcchiCredits for: Roleplay Advertising (link only works for those who are logged in) Your EcchiCredit Logs, which is viewable from your profile, shows your transaction details; EcchiCredits earned and spent. Only you can see your own EcchiCredit Transaction Logs, no one else can, but you can see the amount of EcchiCredits someone has on them. Those that were around before the big update may have a lot of EcchiCredits, due to how advanced the system was back then. As soon as the application responsible is updated, we will update the information here.

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. The Dream Count is the total count of "Things" (sometimes called Content) posted by any given Dreamer on EcchiDreams. Even reviews and comments, images in albums, topics, posts, articles, status messages, and so on are all counted. EcchiText and EcchiChat conversations are not counted towards the Dream Count of any given Dreamer. Some counts may appear to be artificially inflated; this is not the case, as we do not engage in such practices. The reason why a Dream count might appear higher than what can actually be seen is because Dreams are counted even from areas that aren't public; such as Staff Members who post in staff sections, members who have private clubs, and so on. There are even uncredited areas such as these guides which still count towards the Dreams Count of any given Dreamer.

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. The date joined field is the date that the Dreamer in question joined. Note: Due to a server failure in 2013, it will appear that the earliest members joined around July 2013. EcchiDreams has been online quite a bit longer than that, as have some of the longest standing members; especially most of the Staff. The last visited field is the last time the Dreamer in question was online. Note: If they use "Sign in Anonymously" then this won't be updated.

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. Community Reputation (not to be confused with Dreamer Ranks) is the total count of reputation a Dreamer has received on EcchiDreams for content (Dreams) they've posted, which is counted through the amount of reactions they receive. The reputation title you get depends on the amount of reactions you receive (see the below table): Title Minimum Reputation Neutral 0 Good 5 Decent 10 Respectable 50 Wholesome 100 Beneficial 150 Very Helpful 200 Virtuous 250 Outstanding 500 Admirable 1,000 Revered 5,000 Fuckin' Awesome 10,000 These titles have been unchanged since EcchiDreams first started, so if you have any suggestions; then please by all means post up a topic in the Suggestions, Comments and Feedback forums. The following is a table of the reactions available on EcchiDreams, as well as the amount of points they give: Title Effect Like +1 Rep (Positive) Love +1 Rep (Positive) Thanks +1 Rep (Positive) Haha +1 Rep (Positive) Confused Nothing (Neutral) Sad Nothing (Neutral)

This is just an information article. This article doesn't contain any how to's. If you're unsure about how to do something relating to this, please send an EcchiText to either of the Community Administrators. The Activity Tab, is the default open tab when you visit any profile, be that yours, or someone else's. If you, or the Dreamer's profile you're viewing, has "Enable Status Updates" enabled, it shows actions performed on EcchiDreams such as: Making a post Making a topic Making a club Posting in a club Making a status Making new albums Uploading images Messages posted by others on the profile and so on... ...will appear here. You can see an extended version of this via the "See my Activity" or "See their Activity" button located in the profile, where the content is broken down along the left hand side of the screen, or if you're on a mobile it will appear under the drop down menu "Content Type".

By tapping any of the pictures in this article you can see the enlarged versions of them. At the top of most pages on EcchiDreams, you'll find a small icon with three lines (called a hamburger button ≡) If you click on it you'll be presented with a menu, like so: At the top of that tap on the smiley face icon: Which will load this: Tap on the icon you want, and it will add the text under that icon to the "Currently Feeling" box below, which you can then edit if you wish (up to 48 characters). Then tap on update, and that's it. To remove the mood, just open up the moods panel and click "Remove"; that's it. Happy Dreaming.

Very simply put, in the userbar at the top of most pages on EcchiDreams: Click on the smiley face icon: Which will load this: Click on the icon you want, and it will add the text under that icon to the "Currently Feeling" box below, which you can then edit if you wish (up to 48 characters). Then click on update, and that's it. To remove the mood, just open up the moods panel and click "Remove"; that's it. Happy Dreaming.

Moods is a quick and easy way of expressing your current emotional state on EcchiDreams; you can select from a range of images and even input your own (48 character limit) mood in, which will appear across various places on EcchiDreams. You can even remove your mood status very simply too. This guide is split into two sections, not including this introduction: Introduction (You are here) Desktop/Laptop Users Mobile/Tablet Users If you are uncertain as to which you're on, please click (or tap) here. (Opens link in new window/tab)

By tapping any of the pictures in this article you can see the enlarged versions of them. At the top of most pages on EcchiDreams you'll find a small icon with three lines (called a hamburger button ≡). If you click on it, you'll be presented with a menu, like so: This has been circled in green so you can see it, just tap on that. You will then be presented with this menu: Just tap on account, and you'll be taken to the next menu level from there. Tap 'Profile': From there you will be presented with the following screen: Welcome to your profile! We have covered your profile in the Edit your Profile guide, which you can read here. Now the information below will be split into two parts, clearly marked out, depending on what you want to edit. Avatar There is a small button in the top left corner of the profile, on the opposite side to the same icon with a pencil icon next to it. When you tap on the left picture icon () you will be presented with this box: You can either upload a picture, or import one from a URL. Ideally you want as big of a picture (resolution wise) as possible, but it has to fit the following criteria: Has to be a specific file format (we only accept the following): .gif .jpeg (including .jpe and .jpg) .png Has to be 1MB or less. Once you have selected your picture, tap "Save". You may then be presented with the cropping screen, like so: (Avatar Image Credit: Link from the Zelda series, by Sakimichan) You might not see it clearly, but there is a grid around the image; this is the cropping feature that will let you crop what part of the picture you want to appear in your avatar. Bear in mind that the corners will be missing in the final product, as we use circle avatars. You can resize it by tapping and dragging on the blue squares located around the grid, and move the grid itself to the position you want. If it's too small though, you may get a blocky avatar. To fix this repeat as necessary and play around with it; there is no limit to how many times you can change your profile picture. When you have it the way you want it, click save. And that's it. Cover Photo (Profile Cover) The Profile Cover (or Cover Photo) is very similar to the process above, except this time you will want to tap on "" on the far right, next to the pencil icon, which will drop down a menu, in which you click on "Upload Photo". You will then be presented with this box: Ideally you want as big of a picture (resolution wise) as possible, but it has to fit the following criteria: Has to be a specific file format (we only accept the following): .gif .jpeg (including .jpe and .jpg) .png Has to be 1.5MB or less. Please note that smaller images will appear to be blocky and distorted, like the example below. Once you've selected your photo, click save. It will then upload and allow you to reposition it, so you can get it perfect to your profile cover image: Tapping cancel will keep the upload, and keep it in the same position as what it presented you with. Save will save your positioning. As the image states, to move it around just hold your finger down on the picture and move it up and down. Once you're happy, click "Save position" and your avatar will reappear. If after you've done it you're not happy with the result, you can redo it by tapping on the same icon again and then clicking "Reposition Photo"; if you're not happy with the image at all, or want to update it you can upload another, or remove it completely. It's as easy as that. Happy dreaming!

Changing your avatar and profile cover is exceptionally easy; along the top of the screen is the userbar, as seen here: From here you can either: Click the circled picture (yours may be different), in this example it is a salmon coloured circle with the letter "A" in it. Click your username next to it which will lower a drop down menu. In that menu, click "Profile" From there, you will be presented with the following screen: Welcome to your profile! We have covered your profile in the Edit your Profile guide, which you can read here. Now the below information will be split into two parts, clearly marked out, depending on what you want to edit. Avatar There is a small button in the bottom left corner of the avatar (the salmon coloured picture with the white "A" in it, as seen above). The button is an icon representing a picture: . When you click on it you will be presented with this box: You can either upload a picture, or import one from a URL. Ideally you want as big of a picture (resolution wise) as possible, but it has to fit the following criteria: Has to be a specific file format (we only accept the following): .gif .jpeg (including .jpe and .jpg) .png Has to be 1MB or less. Once you have selected your picture, click "Save"; you may then be presented with the cropping screen, like so: (Avatar Image Credit: Link from the Zelda series, by Sakimichan) You might not see it clearly, but there is a grid around the image; this is the cropping feature that will let you crop what part of the picture you want to appear in your avatar. Bear in mind that the corners will be missing in the final product, as we use circle avatars. You can resize it by clicking and dragging on the blue squares located around the grid, and move the grid itself to the position you want. If it's too small though, you may get a blocky avatar. To fix this, repeat as necessary, and play around with it; there is no limit to how many times you can change your profile picture. When you have it the way you want it, click save. And that's it. Cover Photo (Profile Cover) The Profile Cover (or Cover Photo) is very similar to the process above, except this time you will want to click on " Cover Photo" which will drop down a menu, which you click "Upload Photo" in. You will then be presented with this box: Ideally you want as big of a picture (resolution wise) as possible, but it has to fit the following criteria: Has to be a specific file format (we only accept the following): .gif .jpeg (including .jpe and .jpg) .png Has to be 1.5MB or less. Please note that smaller images will appear to be blocky and distorted like the example below. Once you've selected your photo, click save. It will then upload and allow you to reposition it so you can get it perfect to your profile cover image: Hitting cancel will keep the upload, and keep it in the same position as what it presented you with. Save will save your positioning. As the image states, to move it around just click on it, hold down your finger on the mouse, and move it up and down. Once you're happy, click "Save position" and your avatar will reappear. If after you've done it you're not happy with the result, you can redo it by clicking on " Cover Photo" again, and then clicking "Reposition Photo". If you're not happy with the image at all, or want to update it, you can upload another or remove it completely. It's as easy as that. Happy dreaming!