Roleplay Roleplaying Simple Actions

[Pika]

« This is a repost of Legion's guide on Roleplaying Simple Actions »​

Roleplay is all about creating actions through words. Sure, the game has a mechanical aspect that can sometimes show the action, but we all know there is more to an action than just doing it. There are emotions, small actions and things that happen all the time. Like when lifting something heavy, the face becomes strained with the effort. You can go into more detail than even just that. This creates a more immersive world that everyone lives in.

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Example:

Not great-
Joe smith is clearing corpses away from his house. He does not RP anything but simply moves them.

Better -
*Joe picks up the next zombie. Sweat dripping heavily from his brow from the strain of carrying all these rotting corpses. The smell is unreal and stings his nose causing a distorted face*
*He places the corpse on the fire watching it catch fire for a moment. This short break is a much needed reprieve from the strain of carrying all these corpses*


This creates a distinct visual for those around to see the struggle that Joe is having with multiple aspects of the job.

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Example 2:

Not Great-
Joe Smith is running down the road at full sprint to the community. He enters the community and just walks around like he was not just sprinting for 20 minutes.

Better-
(once stopping)
*Joe slows down from running and his heavy breathing from the running becomes all the more evident. His face is red and dripping with sweat.*
*he takes a moment bent over slightly with his hands supporting him on his knees as he takes a moment to catch his breath*
*once he catches his breath, he makes his way over to the entrance to enter inside*
(enters)

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Yes, many times mechanical actions do show the action itself but it leaves the actions very uninteresting. It feels more like the script of a movie written by a 5 year old when it could be like one written by Spielberg. You do not have to go into extreme details, especially if no one is even around but some detail gives life to the world around you in which you play.

This also gives triggers to other players to comment on and can actually drive conversation. Who do I want to roleplay with? The person who gives me nothing to go on and will likely produce a boring experience with no actual detail, or the person who gives me details that my character might actually catch, giving me multiple courses of action to go off?