5 Tips for Roleplaying a Change in House, City, or Divine Order

When someone new joins the same house, city, or Divine Order as your character, it can be an exciting time. This is especially true if the person is a seasoned player looking to make a major roleplay change. But if the person is an org-hopper then the situation is quite different.

Do you play the type of character who hops from one org to another with little thought to the roleplay reasons behind carrying out those life-altering choices? If so, then perhaps it’s time to change your modus operandi.

Repeating the same actions over and over again, like changing orgs without a substantial reason for doing so, gets the same reaction over and over again. And if your reason for changing orgs is something like, “But all my friends are doing it” then you may find yourself unhappy with the end result.

Before changing orgs, sit down and list the pro’s and con’s. For example, changing cities might mean that there is less emphasis on combat but you might have a better chance at gaining a ministry position. Here are some things to do before changing orgs to help ease the transition and make it more RP-based.

• The Cool Kid Clique – Where do members of this org hang out? It is a great way to meet people and begin social networking to build a foundation for joining the organization. This will give you a great idea of what to expect from people once you join the organization as well.
  

• Lean on Family – Do you have family members who hold membership in the organization that you wish to join? Getting to know their friends can help you connect with other adventurers within their organizations.
   

• Introduce Yourself – If you’re sitting around at Centre Crossing in Cyrene and don’t know anyone, then it is easy to meet people and even make friends. Volunteer to help people with things you can do based on your abilities, like refill vials, cook snacks, or even provide runes or blessings.
   

• Join Org Clans – Some organizations have clans that are open to anyone, even non-members, so long as the person is not enemied to that org. When you join a clan in anticipation of joining an org, then in addition to getting to know the members its news posts can give you some background about the org, too.

 

• Participate in Events – If the city in which you plan to apply for citizenship is hosting an open arena event, join up and give it all you’ve got. Good sportsmanship with things like combat and arena events will add a lot to your reputation regardless of whether you follow Good, Evil, Chaos, or Nature.

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Sometimes life in your favorite game does not give your character a choice about organizational relations. Your character could get kicked out on a technicality, or as with Achaea in recent events, the Divine you follow could wind up on the losing end of a sudden death match.

If you find yourself org-less, trust me when I say that the last thing you want to do is jump into another organization right away. As with relationships with other people, you don’t want to hook up with a “rebound org” on the heels of severing ties with your former ones.

When you jump from one organization straight into another one, whether it is a house, city, or Divine Order, chances are that you will find anything but happiness there. Give yourself time to transition and interact with other people. After all, roleplaying with others puts the R in RPG!





ABOUT THE AUTHOR
College grad Rick Williams would prefer to play all of his favorite Iron Realms MUDs from a hammock on a tropical island. Until his ship comes in he feels fortunate that he can continue grinding his way to dragon in between the daily grind of working a desk job. In his free time Rick enjoys pursuing real life adventures like mountain biking, paintballing, and rock climbing.