By Christian

Have you ever considered playing a character straight out of fandom, but feared you wouldn’t be able to do them justice? Or, perhaps, do you find it difficult to understand why a player might choose to portray someone else’s creation? In this issue, comic guru Christian discusses the fun of fandom-based roleplay and why you don’t need to be afraid of it!

Online roleplaying can be fun. It can be a wonderful creative outlet which allows us to explore and express ideas as well as feelings. This is why you can find a roleplay room for just about everything – just name the subject matter or setting and a room probably exists. They all make for wonderful approaches, but as with anything else, some come with misnomers and/or bad reputations. One such avenue is comic book-themed roleplay. Over the span of time, a lot of misconceptions have cropped up regarding comic-based rooms and no one has ever bothered to step up and address them.

Now, comic books aren’t for everyone. Not everyone wants to run around in tights or suits of armor and beat up bad guys. However, it works for some, and others are curious what goes on in what are to them completely mysterious rooms. Listening to onlookers and observers in comic rooms, you will hear the same things again and again:

“I don’t know anything about comic books.”
“I don’t know anything about [Insert Character Name].”
“I don’t like combat roleplay.”
“Comics vs Reality vs God Modding”

While comments are not limited to these four, they are the most common. The thing is, comic book roleplay is no different than anything else. The only exception is you’re playing characters who in most cases have been around longer than you’ve been alive. That can be a bit intimidating, but keep in mind when you roleplay, you roleplay for yourself and no one else.

“I don’t know anything about comic books.”

First, no one ever has to know anything about comics to roleplay them. You always learn what you need along the way, and you probably have more exposure than you realize. We see these characters every day now in social media, movies, television, cartoons. If you have children, ten to one you’ve hunted down various action figures or tie-in merchandise regarding these characters. Thanks to films like Avengers and Batman vs Superman these characters are now in our faces. So right there, you already have an understanding of most characters – even those who are less well-known.

Take for example Felicity Smoak from Arrow and Sico Ramone from The Flash: Those two characters are real, everyday characters torn from the pages of comics – albeit obscure pages, but from the comics none the less. So right there you’re ahead of most people. Then there are the basics:
Batman watched his parents be gunned down as a child.
Superman was sent to Earth from a planet that exploded.
Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became Spider-Man.

Until a few years ago, those would have been the top three. Now we have Tony Stark having to build a suit to live. Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma rays. Hal Jordan was given his power ring by a dying alien. Oliver Queen learned right and wrong by spending forever and a day on an island. Right there is more than you probably ever realized.

Now it gets easier!

“I don’t know anything about [Insert Character Name].”

Usually when we roleplay, we play characters who speak to us. Let’s say for the sake of argument you like Moon Knight. Okay, Moon Knight is cool. He looks like he could be the Marvel version of Batman. So we found a character, but now you know nothing more about them. This is where sites like Wikipedia become your best friend.

If we look at the Moon Knight wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Knight), we see everything from his Publication History to Origin, which is laid out by various series over the years, his appearances, and even his powers and abilities as well as a list of enemies. What also comes in handy is there are sections which have quotes from writers and creators who have worked on Moon Knight, giving some inside insight on the character.

Now comes the kicker – we’ve assembled all this information. We have an idea who Moon Knight is now and are even given various sources to continue our reading and investigation, but in all honesty this is more than enough. You don’t have to do extensive homework; you don’t have to read every issue or appearance. This wiki page is enough; however, there is no rule that says you have to use any of this!

There is a belief in comic RP rooms that comes largely from outsiders that you have to play a character the way they are portrayed in the comics. Sadly, more often some people find that if they come in and play a character how they know them, be it through movies, TV, or animated series, they won’t be welcome. Well, fuck that noise; I ain’t got time for that and neither do you! For example, as the player of Moon Knight, you have now become the writer of that comic. What you say goes! Not enough people realize this. When we roleplay in these rooms, we become writers and we are penning the story for the characters we play! So let’s say you don’t like the last few arcs Moon Knight has been in? Ignore them! Let’s say you really do appreciate his first series from the early 1980s, then play from that aspect. The thing is, when you take up a canon character you’re in control, and no one can tell you what’s right or wrong because at that point there is no right or wrong.

“I don’t like combat RP.”

This is usually the necessary evil with comic book roleplay. At some point your hero or villain is going to come to blows with others. This is when the beatdowns happen. Now, some people are skittish of this. Why? Who the hell knows, but the thing is, it’s easier than you think. Unlike Gor, there aren’t a lot of rules that need to be known, and there is no set method for superhero comic book combat. This what they call Free Form online. It’s whatever works for the group at the time. Some rooms have used dice, be it a form of complex rules systems to something as simple as whose roll beats who. The only thing is know what your character can do. Powers and abilities can enhance a roleplay greatly.

Let’s look at Moon Knight again. He has no real superpowers, but he does possess peak human potential. This means that all his physical abilities are the best and highest achievements reached before being more than human. In theory, Moon Knight is up there with Olympic athletes. He also has a plethora of martial arts combat training and knowledge. With the added edge of gadgets, Moon Knight really does rock! So now you have someone who can theoretically throw down with Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine. Bet no one saw that coming?

“Comics vs Reality vs God Modding”

Superhero combat can get messy with a lot of people. Some people who are more creative than others are always going to be thinking outside of the box, but others don’t fully think their idea through. While they don’t mean to come across as God Mods, they may become irksome. There are characters such as Batman, which over the years, the comics have turned into a know-it-all God with a plan for everything (and we mean everything). As a player of Batman for over 10 years online, this writer has learned to temper that part of the character in a checks and balances of what works and what doesn’t work at the time. This character trait becomes a tool to help any storyteller in a room. There are other things you want to look out for. For example, someone could show you a comic page where Spider-Man swings down and picks up a car that is speeding down the street. What they won’t show you is on the following page, Spider-Man saying, “Wow, remind me never to do that again!” Another example is Electro. While it would be possible for Electro to carbonize the atmosphere around a character, the feat would drain and take so much out of him he wouldn’t be doing much of anything else for a while. Same can be said for when Magneto liquefied and ripped all the Adamantium out of Wolverine’s body. That weakened Magneto to the point where Xavier could slip into his mind and shut it off, unhindered by any of Magneto’s psychic defenses. The thing to remember is that these over-the-top cool feats aren’t done everyday.

Superheroes can do amazing things! This is what makes them superheroes. However, it has to be kept fair and grounded. This is where the room staff comes into play with knowing who they are allowing to play the bigger characters. The God Modding isn’t as bad as one might think. Usually a good storyteller will punish a player who takes over extended liberties and tries to God Mod without approval from anyone involved. When in doubt, always stop and ask the Storyteller or the Room Owner.

“What Did We Learn (& Shameless Plugs)”

These are just a few of the misconceptions people have about comic based roleplay rooms. These don’t speak for everyone, as everyone has their own misgivings, and while I can’t speak for other rooms, I can speak for mine which have been around for a very long time. Marvel United and DC Noir have evolved with the times. We started allowing people to play villains, which was a huge taboo for most rooms unless the room staff knew you! We dropped pesky character sheets, and it was one of our best decisions ever! We tend to be player friendly in the sense you sign up, claim a character, and then show up in codes. No approval time, no wait, no cliques to deal with. Our character registration is simple, easy, and geared for people with no knowledge of a damn thing when they click on ‘Enter Room’. With a system this simple, we just have to show people how easy and far from complicated everything can be in comic book rooms.

So the next time you watch a superhero or comic book movie, TV show, or animated series, or even just read a comic and think, “Hey, that would be cool!” come check us out!