RP Tips notes
31 notes on playing your character and running a class, written for wizarding-school roleplay. Each one has a teaching tip for professors.
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Phones, the internet, video games and AI do not exist in the world of the scene, so your character cannot know about them.
- The story is set in another time and place. Things you use every day may not have been invented there.
- Muggle machines that run on electricity do not work at the school in any case. There is too much magic in the air.
- Before you write 'let me check my phone', ask what your character would really do: send an owl, look it up in the library, or ask a professor.
- A quick test: would somebody living in that time and place understand the word?
- If one slips out, laugh it off and correct it out of character, then carry on.
- Do not explain a slip away as time travel unless staff agree. It changes the story for everyone in the scene.
“A phone? I am afraid I do not know that spell.”
Teaching tip: Play a quick round of 'then or now'. Call out everyday things, and have students say whether their character would know them and what they would use instead.
Write a brew step by step: prepare, add, stir, wait. Then let the professor say how it turned out.
- Describe what your character does. Do not write the result.
- Let small mistakes happen, such as a splash or a miscount.
- A potion that fails for a clear reason is good roleplay.
Teaching tip: Call the stages one at a time and let students post between them. Decide results from how carefully they described each step.
Also on: Potions
Write the cast and what you are aiming for, then let the target or the professor say what happens.
- Show the three parts: the words, the movement, the focus.
- Let spells fail sometimes. A fizzled charm is good roleplay.
- Match your character's year. A first-year should not be casting advanced magic.
Teaching tip: Praise posts that show effort and leave the result open. Step in when someone writes the effect on another player's character.
Also on: Spells
A roleplay duel goes turn by turn. You write the attempt, your opponent writes whether it lands, and then they answer.
- One spell per turn keeps it fair.
- Take some hits. A duel where nobody is ever hit goes nowhere.
- Agree beforehand how the winner is decided, by dice, by a referee, or between the two of you.
Teaching tip: Agree before the first cast how hits are decided, and say it aloud. Then keep each turn to one action.
Also on: Dueling
When your character makes a prediction, keep it open, so other players can choose whether and how it comes true.
- Say 'I see a fall from a height', not 'you will break your arm on Tuesday'.
- Never predict something that takes control of another player's character.
- Check with staff before a prediction that would change the story for everyone.
Teaching tip: Praise predictions that leave room for other players. A prediction that orders someone's character about is poor roleplay.
Also on: Divination
A roleplay match works best in short rounds: each player writes one attempt, and the referee says what happens.
- Write attempts, not results: 'dives for the Snitch', not 'catches the Snitch'.
- Give every position a turn each round.
- Agree beforehand how the winner is decided, by dice, by a vote, or by the referee.
Teaching tip: Agree the turn order and who decides results before the first whistle. Then keep each round short.
Also on: Flying
Your first post tells everyone where your character is, what they are doing, and how they seem.
- Say where you are and what you are doing: walking in, sitting down, unpacking a bag.
- Add one detail others can notice, like ink on your fingers or a yawn.
- Keep it short. One or two lines is plenty for an entrance.
“*slips in just before the bell and takes a seat near the back*”
Teaching tip: Start class with an arrival round. Each student posts one line about how their character comes in, then you begin.
Actions show what your character does. Most groups mark them with asterisks or write them like a story.
- Write what others could see or hear, not what your character secretly thinks.
- One clear action is better than a paragraph of tiny ones.
- Check which style your group uses and match it.
“*raises a hand, then lowers it halfway, unsure*”
Teaching tip: Show one action written as a result and the same one written as an attempt. Ask the class which leaves room for a reply.
Write what your character attempts. Let the other player decide what happens to their own character.
- Say 'aims a Disarming Charm at your wand hand', not 'knocks your wand away'.
- It keeps things fair and makes duels fun for both sides.
- Deciding the result for someone else is called godmodding, and most groups forbid it.
“*aims a Disarming Charm at your wand hand*”
Teaching tip: Run a short duel where every post must end with an attempt. The partner chooses the result. Swap roles and discuss how it felt.
A good post leaves a hook: a question, a glance, a dropped quill, anything another character can pick up.
- Ask a question in character.
- Notice something about another character and mention it.
- A post that closes every door leaves nobody anything to say.
Teaching tip: Ask each student to end their next post with a hook. Count how many get picked up by someone else.
Everyone in the scene should get a turn. Leave room after your post for others to answer.
- If you have posted twice in a row, wait for someone else.
- Draw quiet characters in with a question.
- A scene with six voices is better than a scene with one loud one.
Teaching tip: Keep a quiet tally of who has spoken. Call on students who have not had a turn before returning to the eager ones.
Your character only knows what they have seen, heard or been told in the story. Using outside knowledge is called metagaming.
- You may have read another character's secret in chat. Your character has not.
- If you want your character to find out, play out how they learn it.
- When unsure, ask the other player out of character.
Teaching tip: Give the class a secret out of character, then run a scene where nobody's character may act on it. Talk about how hard that was.
Everyone should be comfortable in a scene. Check before taking a story somewhere dark, and stop if someone asks.
- Ask out of character before a scene with injury, fear or loss.
- Anyone can ask to pause, skip or fade a scene, and nobody needs to explain why.
- Follow your group's content rules. Staff have the final say.
Teaching tip: State your class limits at the start of term and name one simple way to pause a scene. Thank students when they use it.
Characters who are good at everything are dull. A flaw gives others something to help with, tease or forgive.
- Pick something small and playable: forgetful, proud, afraid of heights, bad at mornings.
- Let the flaw cause real trouble now and then.
- A flaw is not a tragic past. It is something that shows up in scenes.
Teaching tip: Have each student name one flaw and one scene where it would cause trouble. Then let one of those scenes happen in class.
You only need a few facts to start: where your character grew up, who is at home, and one thing they want.
- Three sentences is enough to begin.
- Leave gaps to fill in later as the story gives you ideas.
- Reveal the past in small pieces during scenes. Do not recite it all at once.
Teaching tip: Ask for a backstory in exactly three sentences. Students share one of the three and keep the others to reveal later.
How your character talks tells people who they are before they do anything.
- Choose a habit: formal, chatty, blunt, shy, always joking.
- A favourite word or phrase helps others recognise you.
- Younger students talk differently from seventh-years.
Teaching tip: Read out a few unsigned lines from class and have students guess who said them. Clear voices are easy to spot.
One detail of sight, sound, smell or touch makes a scene feel real.
- The dungeon is cold. The greenhouse smells of earth. The quill scratches.
- One good detail beats five plain ones.
- Describe the place as your character would notice it.
Teaching tip: Set the scene yourself with one sight, one sound and one smell. Ask each student to add one more detail to the room.
Match the scene. Quick back-and-forth needs short posts. A slow, dramatic moment can take longer ones.
- In class, short answers keep things moving.
- Do not make ten people wait for one long post.
- If you are slow at typing, say so. Nobody minds.
Teaching tip: Tell the class which pace you want before you start: quick answers for drills, longer posts for a story scene.
Read what has happened, then enter quietly without stopping what others are doing.
- Scroll back a little so you know where everyone is.
- Arrive in a way that fits: slipping in late, or walking up to a group.
- If you are unsure whether a scene is open, ask out of character.
Teaching tip: Make a habit of greeting latecomers in character and giving them a one-line catch-up, so joining never feels awkward.
Give your character a reason to go and say goodbye, so nobody is left waiting for a reply.
- A short exit line is enough: packing a bag, heading to dinner.
- Tell people out of character if you have to leave suddenly.
- Tie off any conversation you were in the middle of.
“*gathers up the star charts and heads for the stairs*”
Teaching tip: End each class with a clear dismissal line. It gives every student an easy way to write themselves out.
Your character will lose duels, points and arguments. Playing it well makes better stories than always winning.
- Let hits land sometimes. It makes your wins believable.
- A character who loses and learns is more interesting than one who never does.
- Congratulate the other player out of character.
Teaching tip: Praise a good loss in front of the class. A student who plays a defeat well has earned points as much as the winner.
Two characters can be rivals while the two players are friends. Keep the argument in the story.
- Check in out of character after a heated scene.
- If a rivalry stops being fun for either player, change it.
- Never use a character to be unkind to a real person.
Teaching tip: After a heated scene, ask both players to say one thing they enjoyed about the other's writing.
Everyone was new once. A friendly first scene decides whether someone comes back.
- Have your character speak to the new student first.
- Explain group habits out of character, kindly and briefly.
- Forgive small mistakes. They will learn by joining in.
Teaching tip: Pair each new student with a volunteer guide for their first class. Give the guide a point for helping.
Your character is allowed to be unsure. Guessing, asking and getting it wrong are all good roleplay.
- Have your character guess aloud, or ask a classmate.
- You can look a topic up here before class, then answer in your own words.
- A wrong answer played well is better than silence.
“I think it is the full moon, Professor, but I am not certain.”
Teaching tip: Reward a good in-character guess or question the same way you reward a right answer. It keeps nervous students posting.
Writing notes is something for your character to do in class, and it helps you remember the lesson too.
- Mention it in an action: dipping a quill, underlining a word.
- Jot down the real facts out of character so you can use them later.
- After class you can turn a good note into a submission for this site.
Teaching tip: End class by asking each student to post the one line their character wrote down. It doubles as a recap.
Characters change with what happens to them. Let lessons, friendships and mistakes leave a mark.
- A first-year who was afraid of flying might love it by third year.
- Keep a short list of what your character has learned.
- Growth is slow. One small change a term is plenty.
Teaching tip: Once a term, ask students to name one way their character has changed, and which scene caused it.
A class runs best with a clear shape: open, teach, practice, close.
- Open: greet the class and say what today's lesson is.
- Teach: give the facts in short posts, and stop for questions.
- Practice: set one task that everyone can try.
- Close: recap, award points, set homework, and dismiss.
Teaching tip: Write your four steps on a card before class: open, teach, practice, close. If the scene drifts, go back to the card.
Reward effort and good roleplay, not just right answers, and be even across the houses.
- Say what the points are for when you give them.
- Notice quiet students, helpers and good losers.
- Take points away rarely, and never for an honest wrong answer.
Teaching tip: Say your point rules aloud in the first lesson, and keep a short list of what you awarded so you can stay even-handed.
Raise your hand in an action, wait to be called on, then give a short answer in your character's voice.
- Example: *raises hand* then answer when the professor nods to you.
- Address staff as Professor.
- A short correct answer beats a long lecture.
Teaching tip: Model one short good answer and one rambling one. Ask the class which they would rather hear.
Your character does not need to know everything. Being unsure, taking notes and asking questions is good roleplay.
- Match knowledge to your year. A first year would not know advanced spells.
- Let your house traits colour how you act, without making them your whole personality.
Teaching tip: Give each student a year level and have them list three things their character would NOT know yet.
Keep out-of-character talk short and marked, for example with double brackets.
- Follow your group's own rules first.
- Do not decide what happens to other people's characters.
Teaching tip: Agree one out-of-character marker with the class at the start and practice using it once.
