A New and Improved Guide to RPing on OTF - Chess Forums

Got-Dead

Jan 16, 2026

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#1

Psssssst! There's a club for OTF RPs right now! I'm proudly sponsoring it, and it's proudly sponsoring this thread! Go check it out! It's called the Coalition of OTF RPers.

While there has been a great many different guides to RPing on OTF, a majority of them haven't really gone in depth to things you need to do, taboos, unspoken rules, things that a new RPer might find difficult to wrap their head around. Worry not, for I, John OTFRP have come to save all you poor unfortunate souls.

Section One: Terminology

When RPing, you're undoubtedly going to run into a lot of abbreviations or slang, which can be confusing. In this section, I will aim to explain a majority of these abbreviations.

RP - Stands for roleplay. That means that RPer stands for roleplayer.
IC - Stands for In Character. Typically means the main RP thread.
OOC - Stands for Out Of Character, like chats or questions, or anything related to the RP that isn't in character chatter. There's typically a separate thread for OOC chatter.
CS - Rarely used, but when it is used most likely means Character Sheet.
DM - Stands for Dungeon Master, a term ported over from D&D and other tabletop campaigns. Mostly used to describe the person running the whole RP.

Section Two: Types of RPs and Standards

On OTF, (and maybe other sites where there are RPs idk) there are predominately two types of RPs, freeform and guided. Freeform, also known as sandbox or anarchy RPs, are when the creator of the thread basically allows everyone to run wild and do as they pleased with little to no intervention on their part. There may be a character sheet, or an opening prompt, but other than that there's no central force saying what the players can or cannot do.

Guided RPs are more strict, and the more common of the two in the modern era (2026 as of typing this.) The DM has a set plot in mind for the RP, along with a general plan of how things will go. Guided RPs can range in their allowance of freedoms, and they're the more common of the two types.

There are more RP types other than these, they are not absolute and there are a great many of different subsections and RPs that don't fit into these static descriptions.

The standards for OTF RPs are, by comparison to other sites, completely in the ground. There isn't exactly a set constitution or really any rules at all when it comes to RPs, just community expectations. The community expectations are also in the ground with their standards, so don't worry about feeling inadequate when posting anything.

Also, don't feel bad if your RP fails and crashes before it starts, or if it stagnates after a number of comments and never recovers. Nearly every single RP ever has never reached their conclusion, simply falling apart, stagnating, and then dying. (with like the sole exception of Rainy Forever)

Section Three: The Process

(Note: This applies only to Guided RPs.)
The process of signing up for and eventually partaking in an RP is quite simple, all things considered, compared to other sites. The first thing you typically should do is find either a new (or old!) RP that's accepted new RPers. Click on it, and read the opening post through. If you want to sign up for this RP, then the next thing you should do is see if it has an OOC, either linked in the first post or in the DM's thread history (found in their profile).

If it doesn't then feel free to type away on the RP in OOC using parentheses. The next thing you need to do, regardless if the RP in question has a OOC or not is to check for a character sheet. You will use this sheet to help design your character in accordance to the RP's theme and guidelines. The character sheet is there to help you, so make sure to follow it carefully. If you want, you can add a bit of yapping in any extra section.

The next step is to wait for the DM's approval. If they feel it fits they'll approve it and you can move on to the next step. If they don't then they'll probably outline what's wrong with it and tell you how you can fix it.

For the process of actually RPing, it's fairly simple. It's like telling a collaborative story, with the DM being the narration, the NPCs, and sometimes taking a more direct role to push the plot along. Your fellow roleplayers will also be along for the ride with their own characters, so be sure to respect their autonomy, but also interact with them too.

For the most part, you'll interact with the RP in three ways:

Physical actions
Dialogue
Internal monologues

Of the three, internal monologues are the most disused, so it's mostly just physical actions and dialogue. Physical actions, if not described through a book-like paragraph, are conveyed using asterisks (*) at the beginning and ending of an action. Dialogue is conveyed through quotation marks at the beginning and ending of speech, like regular talking in literature.

Section Four: Hosting your own RP

To every RP, there's another side to the story: the DM. They're the ones keeping the whole thing running, providing narration, plot points, characters, villains, etc. Of the two, (Roleplayers and DMs) they have more work thrust upon them in my honest opinion. There's a LOT they need to do in order to set up and keep moving. In Guided RPs, they keep the whole thing running. If they break down, the RP breaks down, and you end up with a dead RP (which is much too common).

There are multiple things that go into making a high-effort RP. The first is worldbuilding. If you're making your own original RP in your own world, you've got to have a smidgen of worldbuilding in there. Things like: what are the cultures like? What's the map look like? What different races are there? How does the magic system work? Things like that so your world holds up to a little bit of prodding.

The second is the plot. Every Guided RP needs a little plot, otherwise it's just a freeform RP. You need to think of an interesting enough story, an interesting plot to hopefully keep your roleplayers hooked, otherwise they're going to drop like flies. A plot requires characters, villains, a setting, an end goal, etc.

The third is the specifics: Character sheets, opening posts, OOC threads, trailers (optional), the little stuff that makes your RP stand out above the rest. The fourth, and most important when hosting your RP is to be active. A Guided RP without a DM quickly dies out, and that's no good. There are multiple things that can cause this (that I might touch on in future installments) but abandoning your RP can quickly leave it to die.

There are a great, great number of things I haven't really touched on here in this opening post, like the little nuances of DMing or character interaction, the psychology of such things, stigmas, and so many more, but I think this proves adequate for a first installment. Stay tuned, for I will probably come back with more posts in the future. But for now, I think this is great for a general guide to OTF RPs.