Non-Boring RP

Ashkuri

This is in GG and not R&R because I don’t want to start a discussion about what we don’t like about other people’s RP. Instead:

What specific things do you do in your own RP to make it engaging to/not boring to others?

Obviously tastes are always going to vary in who likes what, but I’m curious about what deliberate choices people make toward interest/engagement.

sao

@Ashkuri It’s hard to put a finger sometimes on what makes rp feel flat. There needs to be something in the poses that I can stick into and respond. Humor is great, not required but great. Active verbs help. Taking an interest in what is happening / the setting / the other characters help. Buy-in – don’t no-sell the threat, let other characters matter to your rp.

Be… interesting… this is not helpful to anyone.

It helps if you become bird.

ham

I think a genuine desire to make RP interesting for the other party goes a long way, and I’d argue that it’s more important than excellent writing. Obviously this is a writing hobby, but I’ve seen decent writing be elevated significantly by a person who’s very skilled at RPing, and conversely seen amazing writers who I absolutely hate to play with because they just don’t think about anyone but themselves.

For me to personally be interesting to others (and I’m sure all of this is going to be really obvious but YOU ASKED THE QUESTION OK), I try to:

Look up the person I’m RPing with’s sheet/hooks/background before we play for the first time so I can try to see their characterization (I don’t read every single background in detail but I do try to have an idea of who this character is, and then think not just about how my guy would react to what they do, but how their guy might react to what I do)
Think about the ways where my character can be silly/dumb/wrong, then BE WILLING to look silly/dumb/wrong, often purposefully being silly/dumb/wrong bc humor like @sao said
Use props (I especially like to use kids but also animals are fun, or random NPCs who are there for a purpose that others can react to)
Think about when to press myself forward and when to pull back to allow someone else’s character to shine, especially if it’s a scene where their character is more suited to whatever’s happening

ANYWAY those are my immediate thoughts!

Pyrephox

My basic steps:

Try to think about what other PCs in the scene are into, based on their character pages/previous conversations. Try to engage at least one of those areas where possible, in the set, conversation, or whatever.
Read the other PCs’ poses. Try to make sure I am reacting to what they give me. In larger scenes, I’ll usually pick one person to primarily react to, because otherwise the poses get real long and real busy. But always try to react to something.
Leave something in the pose that takes the scene further and gives other people something to react to. Don’t just answer a question, ask one of your own. Do some action that requires a reaction. (And seriously, in a talk-heavy scene, never just flatly answer someone’s question without lobbing the conversational ball back with some sort of comment or question that can also be responded to. Don’t make someone have to interview you.)

Kestrel

I try to find some reason for why my character is specifically interested in their character. I try to approach scenes with some IC goal in mind, so we’re not just standing around, we’re trying to move to a specific point.

For example, all things I’ve done:

If I’m playing a bard, I might compose a song about their character
If I’m playing a journalist, I might interview them for an article
If I’m playing a bartender, I might name a dish or cocktail after them
If I’m playing a private eye, I might interrogate them about their whereabouts during a recent crime
If I’m playing an evil scientist, I might contrive a reason for why they’re uniquely important for the purpose of my experiments.

With varying degrees of success, I also try to make people laugh, most often at the expense of my own character’s flaws. I think this also has the double effect of signalling to the other player that I’m aware of these flaws and not gonna take it too seriously OOC if they wanna rib or even just disagree with my character. Which is also a signal I seek out in other preferred scene partners. For example, in a single pose my character might brag about how they can totally clear a hurdle, fail spectacularly, and then get embarrassed. And that way, hopefully you the player know that I’m not expecting you to glaze how cool and perfect my character is, which I think nobody really enjoys doing.

Ominous

I am trying to practice what I preach more. Anymore, I will reach out in pages or OOC and outright state what my goal is for the scene, which might not be what my character’s goal is, even if it’s revealing some secret or ulterior motive of my character and inquire what other’s goals are. Then, with all of that in the open, I write my poses as best as I can to push the scene towards everyone’s goals.

RightMeow

I just show up. You’re welcome.

Okay, really though a lot that has been said here. I check out their hooks and connections we might have. I try to pull something that I might know about them to loop them into something.

I fall on their table. I engage directly with them. I swoon across their lap on a dare and make them carry me everywhere… that one might be too specific. I can’t guarantee I’m boring because I have horrible imposter syndrome most the time and think I’m the problem, but I do at least try to include them. Ask questions. Then I go off the vibe because my RP doesn’t fit all RP.

MisterBoring

Florid Answer: I try to see if someone else is trying to push a specific storyline, and fall into that as best I can. If nobody’s pushing their stories or one of the game’s plots, then I’ll try and drive things around what my character has going on. Ultimately, I play “yes and” and try and have fun with it.

Actual Truthful Answer: If I don’t hyperfocus on something in the RP, I’m basically a walk-on extra.