Stepping into the Wizarding World
by Finn Cullen
The Role Playing forum of the Roost has undergone something of a renaissance, and the activity there has been constant and increasing since the start of the new HOL year when an impressive number of new first year enthusiasts, and roleplayers from other HOL Houses, joined the small but loyal core of Roost RPers and added a host of new characters to the ongoing storylines that are developing there.
I was originally drawn to HOL, as I am sure many others were, by my interest in the Harry Potter books and films, and by the interesting world and characters that JK Rowling presented us with. Role Playing is, to me and the other participants, a natural extension of that delight in that world that allows us to take part in its intrigues, mysteries, complexities and delights by stepping outside the lives of the main characters of the series and exploring the lives and stories of original characters within the same setting.
To the participants in a good online Role Play the experience can be more involving than that of reading a novel or watching a film, as you get to know your own RP character better as they experience new trials and tribulations, triumphs and disasters, and as you interact with the RP characters of other players as they work out their own destinies. As a writing exercise for fans of creative writing I have found it without compare as not only do you have to hone your own creative output (after all it wouldn't do to make a substandard post would it?) but you also have to react on the fly to plot twists and curveballs introduced by other characters who may not see things quite the way you expected. Over the years of roleplaying I've seen enemies become friends (and occasionally more than friends), allies fall out, characters face terrible threats and emerged sometimes changed beyond recognition, light-hearted jokers reveal their dark inner natures, and cruel bullies display a compassionate side that has transformed lives.
And the possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the players. Among the new ideas launched this year have been an ambitious new project to tell the story of a group of pupils from their first day at Hogwarts to their last - the Life of Magic thread - which has already spawned a few spin-off threads as small groups of characters from that storyline do their own thing; and threads set in other settings - for instance "Aftermath" - a thread set during the days following the Second World War and featuring a group of Dark Wizard Hunters in war torn Europe, led by the man who goes on to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher in present day threads (and playing that crusty old DADA teacher as a younger man of action has been a lot of fun, believe me, even if he does have a nasty side to him then that he would never let on to the pupils he teaches these days).
To those of you who have never given Role Playing a try, or have tried it in the past and found it not to your taste, I suggest that you take a fresh look. The old-style autocratic rules and regulations have been revised in favour of a set of guidelines that makes it easier and more fun to create interesting characters to launch into the Potterverse, and the emphasis is now more than ever on telling interesting stories together.
The Role Playing forum of the Roost has undergone something of a renaissance, and the activity there has been constant and increasing since the start of the new HOL year when an impressive number of new first year enthusiasts, and roleplayers from other HOL Houses, joined the small but loyal core of Roost RPers and added a host of new characters to the ongoing storylines that are developing there.
I was originally drawn to HOL, as I am sure many others were, by my interest in the Harry Potter books and films, and by the interesting world and characters that JK Rowling presented us with. Role Playing is, to me and the other participants, a natural extension of that delight in that world that allows us to take part in its intrigues, mysteries, complexities and delights by stepping outside the lives of the main characters of the series and exploring the lives and stories of original characters within the same setting.
To the participants in a good online Role Play the experience can be more involving than that of reading a novel or watching a film, as you get to know your own RP character better as they experience new trials and tribulations, triumphs and disasters, and as you interact with the RP characters of other players as they work out their own destinies. As a writing exercise for fans of creative writing I have found it without compare as not only do you have to hone your own creative output (after all it wouldn't do to make a substandard post would it?) but you also have to react on the fly to plot twists and curveballs introduced by other characters who may not see things quite the way you expected. Over the years of roleplaying I've seen enemies become friends (and occasionally more than friends), allies fall out, characters face terrible threats and emerged sometimes changed beyond recognition, light-hearted jokers reveal their dark inner natures, and cruel bullies display a compassionate side that has transformed lives.
And the possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the players. Among the new ideas launched this year have been an ambitious new project to tell the story of a group of pupils from their first day at Hogwarts to their last - the Life of Magic thread - which has already spawned a few spin-off threads as small groups of characters from that storyline do their own thing; and threads set in other settings - for instance "Aftermath" - a thread set during the days following the Second World War and featuring a group of Dark Wizard Hunters in war torn Europe, led by the man who goes on to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher in present day threads (and playing that crusty old DADA teacher as a younger man of action has been a lot of fun, believe me, even if he does have a nasty side to him then that he would never let on to the pupils he teaches these days).
To those of you who have never given Role Playing a try, or have tried it in the past and found it not to your taste, I suggest that you take a fresh look. The old-style autocratic rules and regulations have been revised in favour of a set of guidelines that makes it easier and more fun to create interesting characters to launch into the Potterverse, and the emphasis is now more than ever on telling interesting stories together.
