Discord Roleplay Help
We’ve been asked a few times how a group roleplay on Discord actually works, and so we’ve put together a guide to let you know what to expect, and what is expected of you as a writer in a group roleplay on Discord!
What Is Discord?
Discord is a free application for deskptop, web, and mobile, that is used to host detailed chatrooms, called servers, for any size group, as a space to chat, share pictures, and build a community. It’s a brilliant communication tool, and is the perfect platform for managing a roleplay. It looks a little intimidating at first, but is incredibly easy to use, and very user friendly. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the admin team if you’re having trouble navigating!
You can find a more in depth guide on how to use and set up Discord here.
Why Discord?
Long story short? Community. Everything happens in the server, from plotting to OOC chatting, to roleplaying, and it means the roleplay as a much tighter sense of community than on Tumblr, or a forum. You can easily keep up with what everyone is doing, as well as your own plots, and it means you have everything you need in one place. The actual roleplaying isn’t dissimilar to roleplay on a forum or Tumblr, writing is exactly the same, and in some cases, it’s actually easier to reply to your partner(s) on Discord than it is on other platforms. It’s also a lot easier to organise group scenes, with lots of writers, for example fun party scenes, or big, dramatic finales.
What To Expect When You Join Our Discord Server
You won’t be able to see all of the channels (chatrooms in a server) in our server immediately, and so it might look a little empty, or like you’ve done something wrong, but we promise that you’re in the right place!
When you join the server, you will only be able to see our Foyer, and Application Centre. Here you can read our rules, say hello, and put in your application. Our applications are for writers, not characters, so it’s even easier to get started and gain access. Our application process is pretty similar to standard, so it should be an easy way to ease into the Discord style.
Once you’ve been accepted, you’ll gain access to the majority of the server. This may look a little bit intimidating, but we have a map of the server to help you navigate. You can collapse sections (demonstrated below) to make things less overwhelming, if you need to.
From here, you can read all of our roleplay information, and submit your character. The process is almost identical to the application process, except we don’t require a writing sample/audition for your character, just their info!
Once your biography has been accepted, you’ll have access to everything else, including the chanels that you will be roleplaying in. We have different sections for the different parts of Cinderridge, and then individual channels for each location/building. You can see an example below.
Nicknames & Role Assignment
When your biography has been accepted, we ask that you change your nickname on our server as your ooc/ic name(s). For example, my name is Lottie, and I will be playing Abel, and so I change my nickname to Lottie || Abel. We don’t mind exactly how you do this, and you can even include a cute emoji if you want to, as long as the format is ooc name, then ic name. You can see a tutorial on how to do this below.
We have a channel called #role-assignment, which is where you can self-assign roles to let other members know your age, pronouns, and writing style. A role is a tag/label you are given on a server, which changes the colour of your name, and, sometimes, what access you have to channels. Users can hover over other users names to see what roles they have. There’s a guide on the server as to how to do this.
Roleplaying On Discord
Roleplay threads happen in location channels. Writing a response on Discord works exactly the same as a semi-literate/literate roleplay on other platforms. At Cinderridge, we write in third person, and ask that our members are comfortable writing at least two paragraphs (including lines of dialogue). You can see an example of a thread below from two of our staff members, Lottie and Bec, playing Abel and Rafi.
Discord Tips & Shortcuts
Here is a list of shortcuts and general tips for Discord formatting!
You can use *words* to create italicised text. You can use **words** to create bold text. You can use ***words*** to create bold & italicised text. You can use __words__ to create u͟n͟d͟e͟r͟l͟i͟n͟e͟d͟ underlinedtext. You can use >words to create a | quote block. You can use >>>words to create | multi-line block. You can use ~~words~~ to create strike through text. You can use ||words|| to create a spoiler (your text will be shown as a black box, which is clicked on to reveal the text) You can use _ _ to create a blank space.
!!!! You can press shift+enter to create a new line. Be careful when starting a new line, as pressing enter without shift will send your message. !!!!
That’s it for now! If you’re still confused, or need to know something we haven’t included here, feel free to send us an ask and we’ll be happy to answer.