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A Guide to Roleplaying in
Tibia
By Valindra
Dragomill and
Herun
Roleplaying? What is
it?
 It is you playing
a different person. Maybe you are a shy boy in real life, but in the game you
are a brave knight who slays dragons and saves towns from dangerous monsters.
It's easy, even very easy, as long as you got good imagination. But taking the
first steps into the world of roleplaying can be hard sometimes, and that's where
this guide can be helpful.
Roleplaying is about to enhance your gaming
experience. It's about making your tibian sessions richer and more enjoyable.
It's like... enjoying an update without waiting for CipSoft ;)
Also remember that there is no right or wrong
way to roleplay. It has always been an exercise of imagination and as long as
you have some, you will do great. Lets inspect this example.
a) Two players in the woods of the orcish
area in Edron.
Megapally: hey
Sorc of Chaos: ??
Megapally: w8
Sorc of Chaos: what
Megapally: whats down?
Sorc of Chaos: ...
Megapally: whats down?
Sorc of Chaos: orcs
Megapally: cool
Sorc of Chaos: bye
Megapally: w8... can I go with you??
Sorc of Chaos: k
Megapally: ok
Sorc of Chaos: skill?
Megapally: 64/40
Sorc of Chaos: k
b) Two roleplayers in the woods of the orcish
area in Edron.
Itzhak Malacara: <cautelous voice> Who's there?
Aebbe Gris: Aebbe Gris and his bow at your command, kind sir!
Itzhak Malacara: <inspecting him> Be greeted, Aebba. My name is Itzhak,
and knighthood is my life.
Aebbe Gris: And an experienced one if you ask me... I have seen the corpses of
many orcs up there!
Itzhak Malacara: <smiles>
Aebbe Gris: Hum. I see you have an eye put in that dark cave there...
Itzhak Malacara: Indeed. I can smells the orcs from here but I am wondering how
many, and of what kind... as the stronger ones will cause problems to my beloved
sword <draws it against the air>
Aebbe Gris: -nods- It's a great outpost what they have down there. I once went
down but never reached the second level. The cave is big, from what I have heard.
Itzhak Malacara: <thinks>
Aebbe Gris: Tell me, Itzhak the Knight, what do you have in mind?
Itzhak Malacara: I say there... will you and your bow accompany me in my adventure,
noble Aebbe?
Aebbe Gris: For the life of me, I told you once and I repeat it now: my bow is
at your command, and I will certainly accompany you to fully conquer the orcish
dungeons!
Itzhak Malacara: <smiles happily> For the Glory then! Lets slay and shall
our arms may not rest until they are completely bathered in blood 'n gibs!
If you prefer the option "a"... simply
launch Tibia and play some :)
If you prefer option "b", maybe you
will find interesting the following lecture :)
Creating your Tibian character
The
first thing you have to do is not to create a character, but to imagine how your
character will be. It's only when you know pretty much how your character will
look like and how it will behave you can name and create him/her.
"Good" or "Bad"? This is probably the
first thing you should decide about. Do you want your character do be a feared
necromancer who's God demands sacrifices every now and then? Or perhaps a knight
in shining armour, protecting the young ladies from dangers? It's up to you, but
remember that thing that happen in-game can change your belief. Tall? Short? Beard?
Long hair? Race? Things that are good to know, especially if you want to write
a story about your characters, and also to decide how he or she will look in-game.
The more details you can come up with, the more fun it will be to interact with
you, and it will also be easier for you to roleplay with other people. You always
have something to tell them about yourself. The answers to these questions are
what's helping you the most in your choice of name.
Giving your character
a name! If you have a clear picture of how your character looks like, what
he/she likes to do and which God he or she follows you should start thinking of
a suitable name. Names that does not suit is those who contains things that doesn't
exist in the world you're roleplaying in. As an example, the name "Michael the
telephone seller" doesn't fit into Tibia, since it is taking place in an medieval
environment. A good name on the other hand can be "Michael the smith". But of
course your name must reflect your personality. Naming a dark and mysterious warrior
"John Brightfeather" doesn't suit that well. Instead a "John Darkblade" would
be more suiting. Also the name can describe how a person look. "Julia the beautiful"
or "Robin Redbeard" are examples of that. It is neither wise to make a character
named "Lord of Thais", "Super Master Mage" or "Superskilled d00d". Despite the
gang of Tutors, Counsellors and Gamemasters will namelock you on spot, even if
you role-played that character very well, people would not believe you. Do not
expect to suddenly become Lord of Thais and have people throw themselves at your
feet just because you are saying so. Many people will find that it isn't appropriate
and it isn't plausible. For that reason you should instead remain unique and individual
in your own right. "Albus Axebearer" or "Isenbold of Greenshore" will more likely
become lords of Thais one day ;)
Now, finally you got
a character. What's next?
Now you start the
game, and remember to as often as possible (preferably ALWAYS) stay in character.
That means you should not discuss the latest soccer game that you watched on TV
last night. Instead you should talk about how bravely you faced whole horde of
undead creatures last week. If someone starts to talk to you about things IRL
(In Real Life) you should simply ignore them. But of course there is a way around
the "rules" if you feel that you just HAVE to tell someone about something IRL.
Best way is to take it in a private message, and adding "OOC", which stands for
Out Of Character, before your sentance. Ex: Good Roleplayer says: OOC: Did you
see that amazing goal last night?! But of course, situations like these should
be avoided as much as possible.
Skills?
Well, in Tibia you
have skills such as "Sword Fighting", "Fishing" and "Shielding". If someone asks
you about them you should not say the number that is shown, but instead you could
say it like this: Good Roleplayer says: I'm enough skilled with my shield to block
an orc without getting hit. Remember that if you play the role as a "knight in
shining armour" you should be polite and help others as often as you can.
On the other hand if you are a follower of
darkness you are expected to be rude and never help anyone if you don't need to.
But you should always stick to the general game rules, roleplaying is no excuse
for breaking the rules.
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Don't be discriminatory, either. Just because
someone talks differently than you doesn't mean they aren't nice people.
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Communication: Hi sell sword
Bye
Communication is the
base of role-playing, especially in Tibia, as it is lacking character emotes.
There are a few simple rules about it.
Do not use abbreviations. Only when you are OOC (Out Of Character). When
you are OOC, try to mark it with parentheses. Normal people wouldn’t say: “Gee
Em” or “El Ou El”, not even “Double-you Tee Ef”. So keep it out of role-playing.
Do not use slang. Slang is less likely to be understood by many players
in Tibia, and it is not a good way of role-playing. Although it does not mean
that you cannot make your own accent. If you decide to play a dumb bully “Me wan’
beeeeeg apple!” will perfectly fit. But try to keep it understandable.
Use emote statements. Since Tibia lacks emotes for characters, besides
walking, you will be forced to use emote statements. These sentences describe
from 3rd person what you are doing. They are generally put into less/greater-than
signs (‘<’ and ‘>’) For instance: “”.
Words of wisdom: To
do or not to do
In this section will
be some advice on what to do during communication and role-playing, as giving
strict rule is not a good strategy. Some of this might seem obvious, but humans
are known for their ability to do even obviously wrong things. Most of these advices
will help you save the atmosphere of role-playing. Following them might be hard,
but practice makes perfect. Mastering the role-playing takes a lot of patience
and errors. Do not expect to be perfect from the start.
Do not powerabuse. Evil does not mean serial killer. If you decide to be
evil, being a loner, obsessed with ruling the world, worshipping evil gods is
enough. Rudeness is not evil - it is lack of manners and respect.
Do not be explicit. Don’t start a conversation with others by telling your
biography. Hiding some details about your character would allow you to change
it as the time goes. Of course, going from rude to nice every second isn’t good
either. But nobody gets his or her characters right from the first time.
Socialize. Even if you are a loner character, try to keep him/her around
the events; it would become too boring otherwise. Role-playing is all about meeting
others, even in their masks.
If you have real world matters that need your presence, try to play it
somehow. Tell them that your character feels sick or needs to rest. Do not end
the game abruptly. It is not very polite and breaks the feeling of reality during
the game. If your are caught by lag, don’t go complaining about it. Pretend that
your character daydreamed for a moment.
Try not to use spell names and stats of items. Again, this also ruins the
atmosphere of the game. Magic and sharpness of weapons should be considered an
area that has no measures. If you have a good sword, just say that it is “a sharp
and noble blade”, instead of “36/20”.
Role-play the NPCs. If you meet a guard or a shopkeeper who has only certain
scripts put into it, pretend that it answered you something, rather than go onto
another question. This guide covers only a small part of role-playing, the one
that applies most to Tibia. There are numerous guides and manuals on role-playing
out there in the Internet. But they discuss more advanced games, those that are
based solely on role-playing.
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