Luckily, Ghid has written a handy-dandy advice topic right here on the boards.
No, I didn’t forget about the other pieces I was supposed to write for that Ghid. I realized writing through them that they might not be relevant to the style of play here and used System in Play as a testcase for that.
But as a brief, forum RPs like this are collaborative fiction games. We’re all authors in this story giving our thoughts on how we’d like the story to go. So to play, you just write what you would like your character to try doing. Make sure those descriptions are clear so everyone understands what’s going on and is being attempted; be specific whenever you can.
For example, you’re fighting some monster and you want your character to attack. You could write, “Amra swings a punch at the monster,” but no one has any idea where you’re trying to hit the monster or the type of punch. Writing something like, “Amra throws a left hook, trying to drive his fist into the beast’s jaw,” gives a lot more clarity.
Similarly, keep in mind where your character is located and the location of other characters in the space. We had a situation in the last game where a character ended up teleporting from the bottom of a lighthouse to its top in rapid succession due to a lack of clarity/understanding where characters were positioned. If you aren’t sure where certain characters and items currently exist in relation to your character, you can always ask for clarification.
As for making a character, that’s up to whatever you think would be the most fun to play/write. For first RP characters, I usually recommend whatever you tend to like most. Ga-Matoran are your favorite? Got certain personality types you prefer? Perhaps you’re more into their skillsets and abilities. As long as it works within the settings and rules, whether they’re a drama queen, a loner, or basically just a video game avatar to do cool stuff, it’s all fine. Just keep in mind that your character will most likely be interacting with others. You can be aloof and an isolated loner like Kopaka, but do keep in mind that even Kopaka would check in on the others and come help his fellow Toa out.
And don’t take anything in-game personally. If other characters don’t treat your character well, remember that it’s all just a game. Unless other players are talking to you specifically, no insult in-game and to your character is to be an insult to you and vice versa.