writing

How to Write an Effective Roleplay Opener

Solar

• 3 min read
Light and regular blue gradient background. Text reads "How to write a Roleplay Opener!". A doodle of Solar looking very puzzle at a chat screen.
Starting up conversations can be hard, even when roleplaying! Let's learn pointers together.

“Who wants to start the RP?” 

“Oh, you can!”

“No, no, you can, please, I insist.”

If you’ve found yourself in a situation like this, feeling unsure about your roleplay (RP) openers, then this article is for you! Heck, even if you are confident, maybe this article can even help you brush up on your skills. We’ll go over the 5Ws of setting a scene, and then discuss the concept of an RP ‘hook’.

What are the 5 W's?

You might recognize the ‘5Ws’ from grade school. They are who, what, when, where, and why. When writing a RP opener, try to consider and cycle through each of these thoughts, not necessarily in order of course. A good opener usually includes all 5Ws, if possible; but this doesn’t mean your opener needs to be incredibly long and detailed if you don’t want it to be! If you’re roleplaying on the Unvale site, I’d recommend keeping all starters to 500 characters (meaning letters and punctuation) or less due to comment sizes.

  • Who? Introduce your character here. Use this chance to tell your partner more about them, like what they’re wearing or look like. 
  • What? What’s your OC up to? Maybe they’re cooking breakfast, or relaxing on a sofa. Tell your partner what their character is walking in on.
  • When? To put it simply, what time of day is it? When, chronologically, does this scene take place in the greater timeframe of your RPs?
  • Where? One of the bigger details. Knowing where you are and what you can interact with is important for your partner.
  • Why? Finally, the most important part of writing an effective opener! Also known as a ‘hook’, this question addresses why your partner’s character should interact with yours.

“Um, but we’re roleplaying. Why wouldn’t they interact with my OC?” Well, that’s true, but consider this scenario…

You’re on the bus in the afternoon. Next to you sits an octopus girl with sunrise-coloured tentacles. She’s wearing headphones and writing something on her phone. It looks like an article for some OC website.

You’ve got (almost) all 5Ws in just a few sentences, and even a ‘hook’. A hook is something that draws in your partner and gives them something to interact with. A hook can be character dialogue, a notable object or scenery prop, or anything generally intriguing or interactable. 

However, this opener I wrote doesn’t quite work. For instance, maybe my partner’s OC is deathly afraid of octopi and thinks they’re gross; they wouldn’t talk to one just because it was next to them. Or maybe they’re just shy, and don’t want to interrupt my OC’s hard work on her blog post. One of the most important parts of any RP opener involving two OCs interacting is making sure the opening OC is approachable. Let’s try to rewrite my opener.

Your friend Solar is sitting at her desk in class during free time, drumming her fingers on the wood. She looks up to you, who’s sitting next to her. “Hey, I’m working on this article about how to write a good RP opener,” she says. “Can you throw me some ideas to help me out?”

It’s always easier to talk to a friend than a stranger, but keeping a generally open and friendly demeanor in casual RP is the best way to keep both sides comfortable. Plus, the OC in the starter directly addresses my partner’s OC and brings them into the scene without my partner having to do any work themselves. Of course, not every RP is going to be with friendly characters; but they need to have a reason to continue to interact in a scene even if they hate each other or else the whole RP falls apart. 

So, in summary…

  • Use the 5Ws to guide your opening post.
  • Make sure your character and scene setting is approachable, and that your partner has an easy reason why they’re interacting; you can also discuss this before you start to plan ahead! (For instance, a child character has no reason to enter a bar, or a timid character wouldn’t approach a mercenary without reason)

These are super simple tips, but they can instantly improve the flow of your RP and get you and your partner off on the right foot! Next time you post an RP starter using these tips, make sure to use the hashtag #OpenerTips to let myself and others find your post and see how fantastic your work is!

Ready to get roleplaying? Check out our May blog post for new and hot RP collab worlds!