[WIP] A Newcomer's Guide to Role Playing

[Pussy]

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A Newcomer's Guide to Role Playing

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[spoiler=Table of Contents]

1. Opening Remarks

2. Character Creation

3. Interacting with the World

4. Interacting with Players

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1. OPENING REMARKS

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DayZRP is currently the largest role play community for DayZ Standalone, and the multitude of that can be very discouraging for new members. Like being the new kid who joins school half way through the year, joining this large of a community can be intimidating! I wanted to type out this guide to help ease new members into the most difficult aspect of this community; role playing. Putting yourself in game and in character, is one of the scariest parts of being in the community, but also the most fun! Hopefully, this guide can help newer players create, understand, and role play their character as realistically as possible. 

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2. CHARACTER CREATION

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I could argue that this is one of the most important parts of role play. Creating a character that is believable, and executing that character with grace is one of the most important things to accomplish in this community. This part of your preparations can either make or break your experiences here on the servers. The following posts will outline things you should always keep in mind when creating your character, and the reasons why they are so important. In order for us to get a feeling for how a character should be created, we'll go through the steps and create one for ourselves! 

(Click below to expand.)

[spoiler= Character Creation Information: Backstory, Personality, Voice, Mannerisms, Appearance]

A. Backstory

Ultimately, we want a character that would realistically fit in with the DayZRP lore. Understanding what happened to the world, will help you create a character that fits seamlessly into Chernarus. Making sure you have a character that fits into the world is not only recommended, but it is also mandatory. If there is one thing I will stress, it is understanding the lore and trying to put yourself in the shoes of the people living in this fantasy world. Apart from following the lore, this is a big area for you to get creative with your character! 

[spoiler= Create our own character, Pt. 1] Katia Koroslov is a born and bred Chernarussian woman. She is 30 years old, and trained as a nurse. When the infection hit, Katia's services were in high demand as the hospital population spiked. Katia had previously been engaged, but her schooling and busy work schedule ended up tearing the relationship apart. Since then, she had been living in a small apartment in Berezino with only the company of her cat Felix. While she is Chernarussian, due to her type of work and her desire to leave the country, she spent some time learning basic English in the hopes of one day moving to America to start a new life. Her parents had been admitted into the local hospital from bite wounds from a "crazed" neighbor, or at least that is what was believed. The truth was soon revealed after the symptoms took hold of her parents and the fever killed them.

B. Personality:

The personality of your character is what is going to carry you through your experiences in role play. While your backstory is important to understand where your character has come from, your personality is the major factor in what will happen to your character from this point forward. Try to take into consideration their backstory, since those experiences would have had a huge impact on what personality your character has. In this part of your creation, you're also going to want to take into consideration their likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses. A tip for newer players that is recommended, is creating a list and having that with you on your desk to look back to. That little reminder will help carry you through role playing your character realistically and help your character react to certain situations appropriately. 

[spoiler= Create our own character, Pt. 2]Katia Koroslov is a patient, kind woman to her core. She is an idealist and believes truly in the good of others. Growing up, she had always been the kid to stand up to others on the playground which is what ultimately lead her to her profession of choice. She works very well under pressure, and is pragmatic and calm during those situations. Katia has a level head, but is very stubborn. She is very set in her ways, and arguments must be presented to her with hard facts to prove her otherwise. She is not easily persuaded and it can come off sometimes as ignorance. Katia deals with fear with a brave face, and tries to rationalize in those situations, rather than let fear consume her. Her bravery lead her to work in the ICU at the hospital since she dealt with fear and pressure with an even head. 

Strengths: Training in medicine. Communication. Bravery. Likable.

Weaknesses: No skill with guns (will have to be taught). Uses melee for defense against infected. Trusts too easily. 

Likes: Prefers fresh fruit over canned food. Feels most comfortable wearing jeans and a sweater. Sunshine. 

Dislikes: Dishonesty. Canned Tactical Bacon. Rainy days. Carnival/Clown masks.

C. Voice:

The voice of your character is a really important part in creating a 3-dimensional character. Try to take into consideration certain elements of their backstory, and work that into their voice. What region are they from? Would they have an accent? Are they a chain smoker? These are some things think about when picking the voice of your character. Try to also keep in mind the overall tone of your character based on their personality traits. If they have an aggressive personality, adding nuances into your voice to match that will help push your character forward.

[spoiler=Create our own character, Pt. 3] Due to being born and raised in Chernarus, Katia Koroslov will have a heavy Chernarussian accent. In order to portray this well, since I am a voice role player I would want to research what the local dialect sounds like. Due to the proximity between Chernarus and Russia, the dialect would be very similar to that of a Russian accent so I would spend some time watching various videos, movies, or reading about how to pronounce certain vowels to make sure that I understand what it is supposed to sound like. Also, due to her nurturing nature, I want her to have a calm, and even-toned voice so that people who meet her feel comforted right away.

D. Mannerisms:

The mannerisms of your character are a small detail that really enhance the overall image you are trying to portray. Firstly, let's explain what the term "Mannerism" means by its definition: noun. A habitual or characteristic manner, mode, or way of doing something; distinctive quality or style, as in behavior or speech. (Ex. He has an annoying mannerism of tapping his fingers while he talks.)  Little additions like a nervous tapping, or their body language in different situations can create intrigue to your character. Effectively demonstrating these mannerisms will have to be portrayed by "emoting" them. (Ie. Typing in the direct chat by using '/' and typing your *Action* within the asterisks. 

[spoiler=Create our own character, Pt. 4]

Katia has a feminine, relaxed stance when talking to people she trusts. In situations where she feels uncomfortable, she has a natural urge to cross her arms over her chest and create a barrier between herself and the other individual. She is an avid nail-biter, a nervous habit of hers that comes out when she is thinking hard about a situation. Adding to her nurturing nature, she instinctively uses touch as a way to calm down someone who is in distress.

Examples:

*She leans her weight to one of her legs, a hand resting on her opposite hip*

*Her eyes narrow at the individual in front of her as her arms cross over her chest*

*She raises her hand to her mouth, biting on the worn-down nails on her fingertips*

*Noting the expression on the mans face, she reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder. A warm smile is on her face.*

E. Appearance:

The last step in our character creation is trying to figure out what your character will look like to others. It should be stressed that gear is never the priority for role play, and you can role play your character effectively without their normal attire. However, try to pick clothing and weaponry that fits their personality and skill sets. The appearance of your character is what is noticed first, and it should reflect the personality of the character underneath.

[spoiler=Create our own character, Pt. 5]Katia is a nurse, but she feels most comfortable in jeans and a sweater. Due to her civilian nature, she will never be found in clothing that can be portrayed as "military". At the beginning of the apocalypse, she has no knowledge of how to work a gun, so she will not carry one. For self defense, she will stick to a commonly found melee weapon, such as a baseball bat. For the amount of medical equipment that she is likely to carry on her, she will need a relatively large bag. A priority for her should be to always have medical supplies on her to help those she runs into. Katia is also a very studious person, and to portray this to her outer appearance, she will have glasses. She will also choose running shoes over any other form of footwear, since she wore them constantly in her job as a nurse, and feels the most comfortable in them.

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3. INTERACTING WITH THE WORLD

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So now that we have our character, let's move onto the basics of putting that character into the world of Chernarus. It's important to know how to interact with the world before we dive into how to interact with other people. While this section may seem unimportant for many people, it actually has a large impact on how you play your character, and helps to hone in on those realistic details. Taking the time to read through this, and learn those minuscule, knit-picky details will not only help you, but will also impress those around you.  

[spoiler=Part One: Movement, Objects, Resources]

A. Movement:

With there being no facial features, the movement of your character will help paint a better picture and allow others to see your character's emotions more clearly. Of course, we are very limited with what can actually be portrayed, but a lot can be said and done by even something as simple as a head movement, or your character pacing back and forth to show uncertainty. It is also strongly recommended to be familiar with your communication functions (F1-11). These will come in handy for those small moments like waving hello to somebody, or pointing them in the right direction.

We should also take some time and discuss something as simple yet important as the speed at which your character moves. With no real stamina effect in the game, your character can sprint from one side of the map to the direct opposite, without any real effect other than a rapid decrease in hunger and thirst, and an increase of body temperature. Being new to the community, you may be used to the "public" mentality of running from place to place, but in a role play scenario, running should only be done when your character needs to move with haste. Realistically, you should also not be able to run for such long periods of time, so choose your moments carefully (ie. firefights, running from threats, running to rescue a friend, etc.) Learning to use and love your "jog" and "walk" options will help improve your overall experience, and add a huge element of realism.

Tips:

Holding down alt + looking down = Tilts your character's head downwards, helps convey embarrassment, bashfulness, shame, guilt, sorrow.

Holding down alt + looking up = Tilts your character's head upwards, helps convey hope, remembrance, laughter, defiance, wistfulness. 

Holding down alt + looking from side to side = Tilts your character's head left and right, helps convey uncertainty, disagreement, nervousness.

Holding down alt + looking up and down = Tilts your character's head up and down, helps convey understanding, agreement.

Pacing left to right = Helps convey uncertainty, agitation, confusion, nervousness, pondering. 

B. Objects:

Along your travels, you're going to be finding quite a number of items all over Chernarus --items that when looking through your inventory have a very specific name. Some names that are given are fairly straight-forward like grey running shoes, shovel, black jeans, etc. However, there are quite a number of items that have very specific names, such as red mountain backpack, orange boonie hat,  Gorka helmet, etc. It is recommended to get out of the habit of calling every single item by their actual name as it shows in your inventory, as your character might not always know the origin of the item, or the branding given. Try using descriptive words that differ from the actual name in order to explain which item you are talking about. Guns and ammo should also be given the same treatment for people who play characters with little knowledge about guns. 

A little creativity about looting for items will go a long way as well. Another habit to try and break is saying that you found the stuff "laying around" a house. Try thinking of the type of item you have picked up, and try to find a logical way of bringing that into role play by taking into consideration the origin of the item. Where would you have logically found the item within the house?

Tips:

"I found this sweater over in the closet of that red-brick house at the end of the street. I dug around the drawers, but couldn't find anything good."

"I looked around the cupboards in the kitchen and found a couple cans of peaches for us to share!"

Orange Boonie Hat: "I found this floppy looking orange hat in that house over there. Kinda looks like one of those fishermen hats."

Gorka Helmet: "It looks like this big ol' green helmet. There's this clear, plastic-looking visor on the front. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Red Mountain Backpack: "Yeah this big backpack is great. It holds a bunch of stuff, and it doesn't hurt that red's my favourite colour."

"Hey! Is that a CR75?"

"Um, I'm not sure. You'd likely know better than I would. Speaking of which, do you know what ammo this takes?"

C. Resources:

We are officially over a year into the apocalypse as of right now, meaning that resources are going to start getting a little scarce with the amount of people who still roam Chernarus. Things like ammo, medicine, and food will be harder to find, and that should always be role played even if those items do spawn on the regular. Try to put yourself into the shoes of the characters, and try to think realistically about how you use your supplies. Is it really worth it to shoot off round into the air? Or waste ammo by killing every zombie in town? Ammo is not a renewable resource, and should be treated as such. Every bullet used is one less you have to defend yourself if need be, so act appropriately when firing your gun. 

Same goes for food and water. They are a precious resource at this point; they should never be wasted, and always sought out for. Holding onto things like multiple water bottles, or an extra can of food will be useful! Always try to think ahead, because in a realistic scenario, your character would not know when their next meal may be.

[spoiler= Part Two: Infected, Vehicles, Cities and Towns, Patches]

D. Infected:

You will hear people wandering around, calling the infected many different names. Try to find something that makes sense for your character to call them based on their personality, or experiences. They are most widely known as "infected", and the term "zombie" isn't actually heard all that much, but this is an area for you to dive even further into the development of your character. 

Depending on the type of character you play, your understanding of the infected should vary. Someone who has little medical knowledge is likely to know or speculate a lot less than someone who has a medical background. Many people will have theories, but nothing has truly been set in place for your characters to know what has actually happened to cause the infection. Play around with theories that make sense for your character! It will be interesting for people to hear your take on the matter when you are prodded about it.

As zombies realistically should be a large threat for your character and their group, try to exercise some reservation when you see a large group of them. The confidence level should vary from character to character based on their skill set and personality, however there should still always be a voice in the back of your mind that has some shred of doubt. Try to get past the idea of "infinite ammo" and realize that every shot you make is another bullet gone, and another noise for more of them to be attracted to. Not only that, but try to entertain the notion that your character would be fine with a handful of zombies, but a large horde could easily incapacitate them. That sort of realistic behaviour will take your role play to another level, as this is a zombie game after all. 

Example:

Taking our former character created in the "Character Creation" section in mind, Katia Koroslov will refer to the "infected" as "the sick". I want her to use this type of language while addressing them because of her medical background, and her lack of English skills. I want to keep her away from large, harder English words, and make her stick more to the basics. Since she has a medical background and a logical mind, she'll have very specific theories about where she thinks they came from, and how they are able to be reanimated even after "death". With her severe lack of knowledge where guns are concerned, she will always be cautious even with singular zombies given the fact that she only carries a melee weapon until someone teaches her how to shoot.

E. Vehicles:

With the most recent patch, there has been an increase in the types of vehicles seen, and also the amount spawned in. While the appeal of having a car is high, the skills to actually fix up a car are few and far between. Yes, cars are a valuable resource and realistically would be something that a character would be seeking. A car would add additional protection, help with transportation, and carry valuables --all things that a survivor in the apocalypse would want. This being said, most cars spawn in with very little they need in order to run properly. OOCly you may know exactly what is needed to make that car run like a dream, but does it make sense for your character to know how to patch up a car? Do they have the tools necessary to do so? These are all things that must be taken into consideration when interacting with the vehicles in game.

F. Cities and Towns:

Try taking the size and potential population of the town in mind before entering it. Realistically speaking, larger cities would be a greater threat, but also have more to gain. There are more opportunities to find what your character is looking for in a large town. However, one should always account for the risks of entering a large city as well. Risks such as hordes of zombies, and the potential to encounter other individuals or settlements. 

Try being smart about your movements while in a town. Being armed and ready would help defend yourself from anything that sneaks up on you, but being trigger-happy could do more harm than good in a large town with many infected. Weigh your options and try to determine ICly whether or not it is worth the potential risk. Noises can do more than attract zombies; they can also attract bandits or people with nefarious intentions. So, if searching a town by yourself, extra caution should be exercised. Also, try to keep your character's skill-sets in mind before entering a large city.

Example:

We have established that Katia Koroslov has no knowledge when it comes to guns, so going into a large city would be a huge risk for her. Her melee weapon will do very little against a horde of zombies, and one can only run for so long before tiring. She will search smaller towns to avoid the risk, and sneak around quietly to avoid attracting the attention of zombies. Due to her medical background, she will want to actively search for medical supplies. This will prove to be a large problem for her though, as many hospitals and clinics are only found in larger cities. She may want to find the company of a group for added protection before entering a large city.

  

G. Patches:

As we are all aware, we are currently in the alpha stages of DayZ Standalone, which means that with every new patch there are new and exciting things integrated into the game. For the most part, these are small items added that can be fit seamlessly into role play and don't have a major effect on the game and role play. However, we do sometimes get very large-scale updates that effect the terrain, landscape, and structure of the world, which can leave some people feeling stumped and unsure of how to role play the addition of such large changes. A great example would be with the introduction of the "Prison Island"; a large structure added to the southern coast. Now, in reality, it was a new structure that we had never seem before, but would it make sense for someone to have built this huge structure during the time of the apocalypse? The answer is obviously a resounding "no". We are then left to role play that it has been there the entire time. 

Tips: You would not want to say in character, "Hey, have you been to that new prison island along the coast?" 

Instead you would say something more along the lines of, "Hey, have you ever been to that prison island along the coast?"

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DISCLAIMER: This is a heavy WIP! I've spent a great deal of time on it today, but haven't finished the actual guide. The next part will focus on taking the character and actually putting them into the game, interacting with other characters. I wanted to put up this part of the guide to help anybody out in the meantime who is trying to piece together a character. I also wanted to put up what I had to get some feedback on it and see what people have to say, or if they have anything to add that I have missed! 

So, for right now, this is incomplete. I will update it and remove the [WIP] once I am satisfied with it. Hopefully this is useful right now as is to some anyway! Thanks for taking the time to read this massive endeavor of mine!

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[Alex]

Good stuff! Very indepth, I'm sure this will help both new members and people already here

[sung]

There are a few other RP guides that people have been using the last few years but those are outdated with rule explanations and are walls of text that look off putting. If you wanted to, you could probably look to those for inspiration if you're having writer's block. Nice to see you upgrading those with images and updated information <3

[Brad]

Great idear!  +1  as Sung said there are a few guides that you might be able to link to in this as well to provide support information.

[thejmann07]

Helped a ton! Thank you!

[Vapor]

This is a beautifully put together guide! Great job Kattica!

[StriderV]

Well done Kattica, very neat organization and formatting. Can't wait too see more stuff added to the guide.

[iparodyall]

Wonderful! All the points are made clear and the examples add a better understanding. Well done, I went very in depth with johnnys backstory, but i left the personality a bit shallow. That way i could manipulate it according to how others perceived him and find out who he was. Now (by the actions of others) johnnys personality is quite decided upon.

I'm in the process of creating a new character by the name of "Annie Thompson"

"Yeah..Annie...haha"

"....my mother..yeah she wanted a girl..i guess she either hated me or was high on those hospital meds...she was a good mom...guess i never blamed her too much for it"

[RedSky]

Looking good so far Kattica

[Lemons]

Guide is looking good Kattica.

[Fluffy Knight]

Thanks for the guide this puts me at ease still being new here and all.

[Foxi]

Wow. Very organized and lots of work put into this. Hopefully this helps people out.

Great work!

[Hatch]

I'm not a fan of "How to RP guides" because people forget that new people will see them and put themselves into those stereotypical groups, RP is all about originality and unique experiences. However; I really like this guide, you've moved out from the general guide and gone much more in depth into more the persona of a character and not how the game should be played.

This is a brilliant guide and I can't wait to see more, well done :thumbsup:

[ursoulreaper]

Yey first Post,

Figure this was a good place to start, helped me understand the basic guidelines, and thankfully it aligns to what I've been taught before, very good thread.

[Volke]

I recommend adding to Opening Remarks a bit about Vocal RP:

Like being the new kid who joins school half way through the year, joining this large of a community can be intimidating! I

At least for me - when joining RP the biggest worry was getting comfortable with vocal Rp. I had Rp in various other formats but I was not used to vocal RP and it greatly intimidated me. I would recommend adding this as a piece

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Also regarding personality traits and characteristics : I would reccomend using outside sources for guides on character creation: or at least some inspiration.

I've used and loved these in particular:

http://www.ashami.com/rpg/

http://writeworld.org/characterquirks

And a few others.

- Your on a great start - and I can't wait to see more ! Good Luck Kattica

[Guest]

hell this is pretty good, I've been rping for months now and I could still learn some stuff from guides like this. good job! +1

[Pussy]

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3. INTERACTING WITH THE WORLD

---

So now that we have our character, let's move onto the basics of putting that character into the world of Chernarus. It's important to know how to interact with the world before we dive into how to interact with other people. While this section may seem unimportant for many people, it actually has a large impact on how you play your character, and helps to hone in on those realistic details. Taking the time to read through this, and learn those minuscule, knit-picky details will not only help you, but will also impress those around you.  

[spoiler=Part One: Movement, Objects, Resources]

A. Movement:

With there being no facial features, the movement of your character will help paint a better picture and allow others to see your character's emotions more clearly. Of course, we are very limited with what can actually be portrayed, but a lot can be said and done by even something as simple as a head movement, or your character pacing back and forth to show uncertainty. It is also strongly recommended to be familiar with your communication functions (F1-11). These will come in handy for those small moments like waving hello to somebody, or pointing them in the right direction.

We should also take some time and discuss something as simple yet important as the speed at which your character moves. With no real stamina effect in the game, your character can sprint from one side of the map to the direct opposite, without any real effect other than a rapid decrease in hunger and thirst, and an increase of body temperature. Being new to the community, you may be used to the "public" mentality of running from place to place, but in a role play scenario, running should only be done when your character needs to move with haste. Realistically, you should also not be able to run for such long periods of time, so choose your moments carefully (ie. firefights, running from threats, running to rescue a friend, etc.) Learning to use and love your "jog" and "walk" options will help improve your overall experience, and add a huge element of realism.

Tips:

Holding down alt + looking down = Tilts your character's head downwards, helps convey embarrassment, bashfulness, shame, guilt, sorrow.

Holding down alt + looking up = Tilts your character's head upwards, helps convey hope, remembrance, laughter, defiance, wistfulness.

Holding down alt + looking from side to side = Tilts your character's head left and right, helps convey uncertainty, disagreement, nervousness.

Holding down alt + looking up and down = Tilts your character's head up and down, helps convey understanding, agreement.

Pacing left to right = Helps convey uncertainty, agitation, confusion, nervousness, pondering.

B. Objects:

Along your travels, you're going to be finding quite a number of items all over Chernarus --items that when looking through your inventory have a very specific name. Some names that are given are fairly straight-forward like grey running shoes, shovel, black jeans, etc. However, there are quite a number of items that have very specific names, such as red mountain backpack, orange boonie hat,  Gorka helmet, etc. It is recommended to get out of the habit of calling every single item by their actual name as it shows in your inventory, as your character might not always know the origin of the item, or the branding given. Try using descriptive words that differ from the actual name in order to explain which item you are talking about. Guns and ammo should also be given the same treatment for people who play characters with little knowledge about guns. 

A little creativity about looting for items will go a long way as well. Another habit to try and break is saying that you found the stuff "laying around" a house. Try thinking of the type of item you have picked up, and try to find a logical way of bringing that into role play by taking into consideration the origin of the item. Where would you have logically found the item within the house?

Tips:

"I found this sweater over in the closet of that red-brick house at the end of the street. I dug around the drawers, but couldn't find anything good."

"I looked around the cupboards in the kitchen and found a couple cans of peaches for us to share!"

Orange Boonie Hat: "I found this floppy looking orange hat in that house over there. Kinda looks like one of those fishermen hats."

Gorka Helmet: "It looks like this big ol' green helmet. There's this clear, plastic-looking visor on the front. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Red Mountain Backpack: "Yeah this big backpack is great. It holds a bunch of stuff, and it doesn't hurt that red's my favourite colour."

"Hey! Is that a CR75?"

"Um, I'm not sure. You'd likely know better than I would. Speaking of which, do you know what ammo this takes?"

C. Resources:

We are officially over a year into the apocalypse as of right now, meaning that resources are going to start getting a little scarce with the amount of people who still roam Chernarus. Things like ammo, medicine, and food will be harder to find, and that should always be role played even if those items do spawn on the regular. Try to put yourself into the shoes of the characters, and try to think realistically about how you use your supplies. Is it really worth it to shoot off round into the air? Or waste ammo by killing every zombie in town? Ammo is not a renewable resource, and should be treated as such. Every bullet used is one less you have to defend yourself if need be, so act appropriately when firing your gun. 

Same goes for food and water. They are a precious resource at this point; they should never be wasted, and always sought out for. Holding onto things like multiple water bottles, or an extra can of food will be useful! Always try to think ahead, because in a realistic scenario, your character would not know when their next meal may be.

[spoiler= Part Two: Infected, Vehicles, Cities and Towns, Patches]

D. Infected:

You will hear people wandering around, calling the infected many different names. Try to find something that makes sense for your character to call them based on their personality, or experiences. They are most widely known as "infected", and the term "zombie" isn't actually heard all that much, but this is an area for you to dive even further into the development of your character. 

Depending on the type of character you play, your understanding of the infected should vary. Someone who has little medical knowledge is likely to know or speculate a lot less than someone who has a medical background. Many people will have theories, but nothing has truly been set in place for your characters to know what has actually happened to cause the infection. Play around with theories that make sense for your character! It will be interesting for people to hear your take on the matter when you are prodded about it.

As zombies realistically should be a large threat for your character and their group, try to exercise some reservation when you see a large group of them. The confidence level should vary from character to character based on their skill set and personality, however there should still always be a voice in the back of your mind that has some shred of doubt. Try to get past the idea of "infinite ammo" and realize that every shot you make is another bullet gone, and another noise for more of them to be attracted to. Not only that, but try to entertain the notion that your character would be fine with a handful of zombies, but a large horde could easily incapacitate them. That sort of realistic behaviour will take your role play to another level, as this is a zombie game after all. 

Example:

Taking our former character created in the "Character Creation" section in mind, Katia Koroslov will refer to the "infected" as "the sick". I want her to use this type of language while addressing them because of her medical background, and her lack of English skills. I want to keep her away from large, harder English words, and make her stick more to the basics. Since she has a medical background and a logical mind, she'll have very specific theories about where she thinks they came from, and how they are able to be reanimated even after "death". With her severe lack of knowledge where guns are concerned, she will always be cautious even with singular zombies given the fact that she only carries a melee weapon until someone teaches her how to shoot.

E. Vehicles:

With the most recent patch, there has been an increase in the types of vehicles seen, and also the amount spawned in. While the appeal of having a car is high, the skills to actually fix up a car are few and far between. Yes, cars are a valuable resource and realistically would be something that a character would be seeking. A car would add additional protection, help with transportation, and carry valuables --all things that a survivor in the apocalypse would want. This being said, most cars spawn in with very little they need in order to run properly. OOCly you may know exactly what is needed to make that car run like a dream, but does it make sense for your character to know how to patch up a car? Do they have the tools necessary to do so? These are all things that must be taken into consideration when interacting with the vehicles in game.

F. Cities and Towns:

Try taking the size and potential population of the town in mind before entering it. Realistically speaking, larger cities would be a greater threat, but also have more to gain. There are more opportunities to find what your character is looking for in a large town. However, one should always account for the risks of entering a large city as well. Risks such as hordes of zombies, and the potential to encounter other individuals or settlements. 

Try being smart about your movements while in a town. Being armed and ready would help defend yourself from anything that sneaks up on you, but being trigger-happy could do more harm than good in a large town with many infected. Weigh your options and try to determine ICly whether or not it is worth the potential risk. Noises can do more than attract zombies; they can also attract bandits or people with nefarious intentions. So, if searching a town by yourself, extra caution should be exercised. Also, try to keep your character's skill-sets in mind before entering a large city.

Example:

We have established that Katia Koroslov has no knowledge when it comes to guns, so going into a large city would be a huge risk for her. Her melee weapon will do very little against a horde of zombies, and one can only run for so long before tiring. She will search smaller towns to avoid the risk, and sneak around quietly to avoid attracting the attention of zombies. Due to her medical background, she will want to actively search for medical supplies. This will prove to be a large problem for her though, as many hospitals and clinics are only found in larger cities. She may want to find the company of a group for added protection before entering a large city.

  

G. Patches:

As we are all aware, we are currently in the alpha stages of DayZ Standalone, which means that with every new patch there are new and exciting things integrated into the game. For the most part, these are small items added that can be fit seamlessly into role play and don't have a major effect on the game and role play. However, we do sometimes get very large-scale updates that effect the terrain, landscape, and structure of the world, which can leave some people feeling stumped and unsure of how to role play the addition of such large changes. A great example would be with the introduction of the "Prison Island"; a large structure added to the southern coast. Now, in reality, it was a new structure that we had never seem before, but would it make sense for someone to have built this huge structure during the time of the apocalypse? The answer is obviously a resounding "no". We are then left to role play that it has been there the entire time. 

Tips: You would not want to say in character, "Hey, have you been to that new prison island along the coast?"

Instead you would say something more along the lines of, "Hey, have you ever been to that prison island along the coast?"

---

The next section of this role playing guide has been added to the OP. I have put it here as well for the ease of the reader. This section mainly outlines how to successfully integrate your character into the country of Chernarus, and how to interact with the environment realistically. Next I will be outlining one of the most major parts of this guide, which is how your character should interact with other characters.

I hope this section is informative! And I'd love to hear any feedback on what I have written so far. 

Thanks for taking the time to read it!

[Turnerman]

Thanks for the post! My friend and I are new but we really appreciate the extra help from this guide.

[SatansNightOut]

Feel free to add this as a link, source or helpful bit of advice. <3

[Slash]

Looks really good so far Kat! I think this is pretty useful for new members!

Keep up the good work!

[Glokta]

A lot of thought and effort has gone into this, as a newcomer trying to get my bearings it's very much appreciated.

My Character/backstory is pretty much there, but now I have some extra bits to think on, i.e. mannerisms. I like how this gives a steer on some of the practical aspects, and really like the tips. Look forward to learning more, many thanks!

[Barrett308]

This is going to be so fun. I am looking forward to making a character who is almost like the person you would want to be if this situation happened in the world one day. Being realistic and being in depth with who your character will be makes these games great.

[Welden]

I like this guide, it helps. get it hahaha

[Mohawk]

Solid guide i like it

[Basko]

Great guide! Have been Rping for a while now and still learned things from this guide.