Sinstralis wrote:
Seriously, if you stop to think about what we actually DO all day we're all of us, to a man woman and child, really quite nasty fuckers already...
That's true, but roleplaying is being that nasty f**ker
in persona. All that really means is figuring out why your toon is that way - basically getting into the character's skull. I know we aren't nice. ...and if we are, there has to be a reason behind that, too.
Once the personality of the toon is determined, getting into and playing that persona becomes child's play. You don't have to make up any additional stories, or do skits to be roleplaying, because once you get into the mindset you
will be roleplaying. That's when the ordinary conversations about TV shows and local news become the distractions and get annoying.
There are as many personalities as there are people in the world. Most of them are pretty mundane - they just want to get on with their lives and be left in peace. However, taking a trait and magnifying it makes for a very good persona. Hate is a common one, but deciding what to hate is a decision that needs to be made. It doesn't have to be one of the player races, or even an intelligent race, either. Love is another common trait, but so is indifference. Mental instability is sometimes fun, but so is naivety. Optomism or pessimism? All of those go into the makeup of a real character, and if you role-play, the personality should not be the same as your RL personality.
Research also helps a bit - if you have a priest, for example, doing a bit of research on uncommon religions can help you develop a philosophy for your toon which might be quite different from the one you adhere to in real life. If you play a paladin, watching a movie or two where one of the main characters has paladin-like traits can give you a direction for role-play (but you should not use Elizabethan English - That's tacky in the extreme) - Think of John Wayne in most of his roles.