How can a Roleplay be exciting?

Basic stuff. Mystery, surprises. It can sometimes help to leave things open ended, or to have conflict - but of course necessary conflict.
 
You're welcome :p

Something I often do in an attempt to have some surprise is to not immediately reveal my character's name in post, referring to them by whatever features the other participants know them from - hair, stature, attire, etc; rather than sharing their name.

As an example one of my ocs is very short, her name is Annie. Rather than outright calling her Annie, I hold off on naming her until her name is discovered, either through a sheet or card that has her name - like a license or other form of ID, or by her formally introducing herself. Until then she would simply be known as something such as "the diminutive tomboy", or "the wild-haired girl"
 
Another good way is to try to have characters who disagree with each other regarding political and social points, so that somebody else does not end up talking to multiple people with the same opinion - another thing would be to have at least one villainous or at least cantankerous individual, an instigator of sorts.
 
I think rping is best when there is a conflict and a movement to resolve the conflict. The conflict acts as an obstacle and the characters act in order to get past the obstacles to achieve what they want (safety, happiness, etc). Overall, there must be a flow that inspires change and development to the story and the characters.
 
Agreed.

Actually a lot can make an Rp fun, you just have to put in some effort now and again.
 
Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) is a cool theme to use, although it can be worn out quite a bit, in my opinion?
 
The first thing to make most of this happen is to try and leave a history section out of any character sheets. If there's a GM, confide in them and them alone your history.

If that fails or there are history sections for characters, try not to read other people's history. Knowing the motivations of a character and what happened in their past to make them the way they are doesn't leave a lot of room for a big reveal as discovering who exactly a character is, is a large part of character development.
 
I think of RPing like this. Imagine you're reading a book, but every paragraph is crafted by you and other people. It leaves a certain area of mystery and excitement around it. Well it does for me anyway.
 
Just make tension in a scene. To do that, you need three basic things.
  • A protagonist who the reader can sympathize with, who has a motivation to attempt to achieve a personal objective.
  • An obstacle, living or non-living, which creates a conflict by getting in the protagonist's way.
  • A struggle on the part of the protagonist, that typically requires them to learn and grow as a person in order to overcome the obstacle in front of them.
To make a protagonist someone you can sympathize with, simply give them human qualities. They do not even have to be human themselves, but it helps to make them as human-like as you can. On top of this, grounding your protagonist with ideas or issues which a normal person would feel will invariably make it easier to relate to them.

Note, that a human quality isn't necessarily good or bad, it merely need be something people can feel or relate to.

Next, you need a motivation. What is your character trying to accomplish with their life? Maybe they want to be a star singer, or a legendary warrior. Maybe there's a call to action--the princess has been kidnapped and the hero needs to ride out to save her. Whatever it is, make it something simple, and something understandable. Technically speaking, this should apply to all characters involved, but it's most important to establish with your protagonist.

Next, you need the obstacle. It could be a living obstacle (your highschool rival, a fire breathing dragon, et cetera) or a non-living obstacle (a literal mountain to climb, a magically sealed doorway, et cetera). The obstacle needs to be something which the protagonist resolves, one way or another, in a manner that allows them to surpass it. The character has to grow and change in order to surpass the obstacle, or it's meaningless. If a character can surpass an obstacle without having to learn or change anything, that's not an obstacle, and that's not interesting.

Finally, the struggle. As touched on above, you need to force the protagonist into a situation where they have to learn and grow, typically experiencing failure once or twice along the way as a result of their own actions.

What you have at the end of this, is what's called a "working premise."

Eg: A squire learning under the hand of a legendary knight wakes up one morning to find his mentor dead, and the kingdom's princess stolen away by an evil sorcerer named Mordred. Though he is young and lacks the skill of his mentor, he is determined to rescue the princess and show the world that he is worth something.

When you map out a beginning, middle, and ending for your premise, that's when you have a "working plot."

Eg: The squire travels out from his hometown of [insert name here], and obtains a sword and shield from his old mentor's estate. He takes to practicing his skills but is defeated in a duel by a charming minx named Cassandra, who then takes to teaching him the things his mentor didn't have time to. Together, through Cassandra's thief-skills and the squire's fighting skills, they manage to slip into the evil tower of the evil sorcerer. Cassandra is mortally wounded and the squire, lamenting the loss of his friend, charges up the steps and slays the sorcerer with a moment of inspired, adrenaline-fueled rage. He then rescues the princess from the tower, where they live happily ever after.

The excitement in the story comes from playing out scenes in the plot, where you vicariously live through the shoes of your character. You feel their successes, their failures. Their moments of happiness, and their moments of sorrow. The sorrow comes from loss and setbacks, the happiness comes from eventual success and camaraderie.

A role play just has a bunch of people coming together to collectively tell a story together. The same elements are at play, but you've added a social edge to it that makes it a group experience instead of an individual one. You derive excitement from throwing your characters at conflicts they have to resolve, and make it thrilling by threatening them, hurting them, and even causing them to fail sometimes, so that success is all that much more special.

That's all I guess. Rambling, rambling...
 
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