RPHQ January Spotlight

Quote of the Month

Our quote of the month comes from massivelyop.com

I’ve never done any RP, but I’ve always appreciated it as set dressing that improves my sense of immersion as I move through a game. I always roll on RP servers for that reason, it’s like free theater that elevates the sense of ‘living world’ going on far and beyond what I expect from NPCs and developer driven plot. I’ve seen cool stuff in WOW, mostly from a weird group of RPing gnomes who wandered Stormwind back in the day. Also I always make time for RP events on LOTR because the folks who do it go all out. Even in SWTOR I see RP groups hanging out in cantinas and what not. Most of the time it’s like accidentally wandering through a scene from a telenovella: I don’t know what’s going on but it all seems very dramatic.

From a non-RPer, thanks to all the RP folks for making my gaming experience more interesting. Shine on you crazy diamonds.
— Blast Tyrant

ART

Roleplaying is an art. Displaying what our endless imaginations conjure is an important component of our gaming, whether it be through paintings, the graphic art of online games, or photographs. Enjoy the art we're featuring this month, and I hope it moves your imagination to new destinations!

L'Anime by Lorelyne, a photograph featured on DeviantArt

The art of Milee, inspired by The Secret World. 

Be sure to share your art, writing, videos, and anything else in our 'Your Works' forums!

 

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHTS

Even the greatest characters we create in our roleplay have flaws and weaknesses. When we build and use these in our character, it allows us to really flex our creative muscles. The generator below is a fun way to give us a new perspective on our characters! Use the random generator, and imagine what would happen if your character developed the attribute it gives you.  


Character Flaws and Weaknesses Generator

Here is a result from one of our community members:

Result: Your character is addicted to a dangerous substance and emotionally fragile.

This would be a deadly combination. Kiyah is a doctor and researcher, and would probably be higher than a kite at the clinic and in her lab if she had this flaw. She’d make mistakes right and left in both. The lab accidents would only hurt her, but the screwups at the clinic could get other people killed.
— Dahakiyah

Join in, and post your results and thoughts here!

 

What's the most interesting character you've ever encountered in rp and why?

This one is tough for me because there have been two that have captivated me - one in Rift and one in UO. I’ll give you the UO.

The characters name was D’Algrath. He was my Vampire’s Grandsire and the portrayal of the character was just stunning. He was elegant, poised, and you could never tell he was a Vampire. He presented himself as a simple man and he had this way of pulling just anyone into him without even trying. He would dress in simple robes and walked with a fake limp to attract attention of others. He literally disarmed people, even those who had discovered what he was. The character was very sensually written - even in normal conversation you found yourself hanging on every word he spoke.
— Talia

Which of your characters is your favorite, and why?

Jedi Knight Verkas Dera. Easily my favorite character for his stance as a grey Jedi who still believes in the good that can be done by the council under masters such as Satele Shan. A master at keeping the emotionless mask expected of a Miraluka Jedi raised unto the order, the character has an interesting depth of play that always keeps it fun no matter the interactions. Also, he’s a jedi and miraluka, I grew up in a Star Wars house and have loved both of those things long as I can remember; the chance to bring them into a game, so well done with the feeling of both, makes it an unrivaled favorite.
— Verkas Dera

Make sure to share your answers to these questions on the forums here

MUSIC

We imagine the music our character's would listen to, and we even give them their own theme songs. Music can be inspiring to our story creation and roleplay, and a meaningful backdrop for our scenes. But mostly it's just fun! 

Recently a group of roleplayers was inspired by a steampunk opera called Dolls of New Albion. They used it as a part of their campaign as well as holding the Opera itself in the roleplay. The music is captivating and the story is gripping. 

The music.

Compania Y and Ovalhouse Theatre performed this Steampunk Opera in 2015, and the video is below. 

Uploaded by ded0burdun on 2015-02-28.

Enjoy our featured music, and submit inspiring and fun music into the forums here for everyone to enjoy!

RP COMMUNITIES

LARP

Battle for the Ring LARP Festival

Battle for the Ring is happening this weekend in the California! This is a weekend long medieval combat sport/battlegame event which runs each year over MLK weekend. It is slated to easily be over 600 participants this year.
Join BftR for partying, prizes, games, vendors, food, tournaments, activities, arts & sciences classes, fighting instruction classes, arts & sciences competitions, more prizes, and dessert!

Location: Chino, CA
Size: 600+
Accommodations: camping
Type: battlegame
— Host Organization Belegarth

TABLETOP

Feature Campaign: ZEITGEIST The Gears of Revolution

D&D 4th Edition and PATHFINDER RPG

In the ZEITGEIST™ campaign saga, your characters serve in the Homeland Constabulary of the nation of Risur, protecting the country and its citizens from foreign threats lurking within Risur’s borders. During missions of espionage and assassination, your duty will be to root out hostile spies and pursue international conspiracies. As you learn more of your homeland’s own secrets, however, your loyalties may be tested, may even be turned, and you may find that it is you whose hand controls the gears of the turning age.
The ZEITGEIST™ campaign saga consists of thirteen intricately crafted adventures, and is carefully designed to allow starting and stopping points (covering each of D&D 4E’s tiers of play in the 4E version) while providing a cohesive, well-plotted story arc.
— zeitgeistadventurepath.com

Reviews from enworld.org

  • Shimrath: 5 Stars, without hesitation. These are some of the very best adventures I have ever read/played.
  • Panthanas: From the game mechanics standpoint, my players, as well as myself as the DM, enjoy the unique nature of the NPCs. Each are well thought out and balanced. My players have commented that each major combat is different from the last and how the unique nature of the major combatants is a refreshing turn from battling standard Monster Manual bad guys. Furthermore, the quality and production standards for the PDFs are excellent, from the layout to the art. Highly recommended.

Review from formatting to an MMORPG

A group of Roleplayers in the MMORPG Rift have adapted this campaign to their setting. They say it was easily incorporated into the Rift lore, and flexible while still keeping its rich detail.

The adventures themselves have been unique and interesting, and many instances intense. When you are immersing yourself into your characters mindset, seeing the surroundings you can feel not only their excitement of the scenario but your own.
— Seotae

And check out this project for Cast Metal Gaming Dice! Click the picture to take you to the kickstarter page.

RP ADVICE

The actual RP of my character in relation to casual encounters was pretty easy. What I have to learn the most is how to combat RP... the methods used and such. I’m not sure if how you do this is different than others games as well.
— Kaio

Do you have insight or advice for this question? Let us hear what you think here.

 

ARCHITECT SPOTLIGHT

RPHQ's NEW CONTENT

Folk Rock'n'Roleplay The December episode of Rock'n'Roleplay offers a look into the communal origins of roleplay and traditional music. Fantastic folk featured frequently! Additionally, the White Falls storyline continues as Brenda (a precognitive housewife) and Miller (a teenager drug dealer) follow a mysterious note which hints as to the whereabouts of Miller's missing girlfriend...

Combat Roleplay 101 Dominator046's most recent blog post introduces combat RP. It discusses the reasons why we find it so thrilling and delves into the various forms of RP fights. This article goes well with an earlier entry of his, the Metallurgy Manifesto. If you want to roleplay a battling blacksmith, Dom is your man!

RP Connection Our friends at RP Connection have been helping spread the word of RPHQ, so we want to do the same! If you're looking to network with other roleplayers check out RPconnection.enjin.com. They also recently interviewed TheHumanFloyd about his RP experiences, take a look!

Forum The forum is finally here! Many have joined but we'd love to see more people posting up their creative works!

RPHQ's UPCOMING CONTENT

Artists While Sings-In-Shade remains the sole artist currently up on our site, we have several other incredibly talented people whose pages are in progress. If you're interested in having a spot under the Inspiration tab you should message Floyd via the forum.

Bloggers Selique has begun a blog and we have several people interested in being guest bloggers. If you want to submit an article be sure to message Floyd or post here:http://rphq.enjin.com/forum/m/35146228/viewthread/25652480-rphq-open-projectspositions

RP Communities and Resources Database We're still working on getting the database up but if you have any suggestions for content please let us know.

RPHQ Podcast The RPHQ podcast will be a separate entity from Rock'n'Roleplay. It will be in shorter format and more focused on the website itself and RP in general. We'd like to feature members of the forum so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Lore Podcast Another unnamed podcast! This one will be yet another separate entity, entirely focused on lore from various settings. Those of you who frequent the teso-rp forums will be familiar with its host, Mycroft the Lore Lizard!

Pagan Rock'n'Roleplay The next episode of RnRP will peek into the world of modern Paganism and attempt to uncover why there seems to be a strong correlation between it and roleplay. As always, the White Falls voice RP will continue as well.