Trouble with role playing :(

[Caelix3]

I love role playing. But whenever I end up joining one, I get really socially anxious and barely interact with anyone. Like I won't even message someone to plot because I don't know what to plot about. I want to continue role playing but I always end up getting really socially anxious. Thus no character development happens. I tend to role play on Tumblr.

It feels just like real life. I get really socially anxious and then get left out of everything.


Any tips?

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I can relate, it was hard for me to be a storyteller for a Vampire: The Masquerade game I did, I struggle to think of creative things in the moment so I had to really plan it out. I was pretty nervous but I did a successful session so it should get easier now.

Try to roleplay someone who is socially anxious, that's a great way to get used to it. Make the decisions that someone with social anxiety would make. You'll be a natural!

 

[xudo]

I can relate, it was hard for me to be a storyteller for a Vampire: The Masquerade game I did, I struggle to think of creative things in the moment so I had to really plan it out. I was pretty nervous but I did a successful session so it should get easier now.

Try to roleplay someone who is socially anxious, that's a great way to get used to it. Make the decisions that someone with social anxiety would make. You'll be a natural!

I had the same problem with DMing Pathfinder. It was just with my husband and one of our friends, and I was writing a campaign. I enjoyed the writing because it meant I could sit for hours poring over the reference books, but if anything happened spontaneously it used to throw me completely. I also can't do like, voices for characters and stuff like that. It's just still me, reading the lines I've written. They didn't seem to mind, but I wish I was better at it.

I'd agree with Southern Discomfort in that maybe roleplaying as someone with social anxiety might be helpful! I can't offer any other suggestions, as I've only ever been the DM.

 

[Bolletje]

I had quite some trouble with this too, at first, until I roleplayed an incredibly awkward naive character. I was a natural! After that I had a blast DM-ing a D&D 3.5 group. I had all the fun of months of meticulous planning by myself and anticipating the PC's reactions. A plus was that every player in my group was a socially awkward geek as well, which -when mixed with a few beers during sessions- made sure that no one worried overmuch about coming off weird.

 

[Caelix3]

I had quite some trouble with this too, at first, until I roleplayed an incredibly awkward naive character. I was a natural! After that I had a blast DM-ing a D&D 3.5 group. I had all the fun of months of meticulous planning by myself and anticipating the PC's reactions. A plus was that every player in my group was a socially awkward geek as well, which -when mixed with a few beers during sessions- made sure that no one worried overmuch about coming off weird.

I tried playing a shy and awkward character. But then no one would wanna rp with them or plot. Most of the people in the rp groups I join are really social outgoing people.

 

[Bolletje]

I tried playing a shy and awkward character. But then no one would wanna rp with them or plot. Most of the people in the rp groups I join are really social outgoing people.

That's a damn shame. To be fair, I don't have much experience role playing online, mostly pen and paper and in that case I usually play with people I already know so it's a bit easier to relax and let go of anxiety. Plus, beer.

But if you're trying to role play online, maybe you could try writing out some scenarios for yourself? Just as practice, to see what kind of things your character might do and what kind of plots your character would be into?
When I did RP online I kept a private journal as my character to get more into character and make it easier for myself to interact with other players.

Prior to starting my campaign as a DM I also did two weeks of forum roleplay with each character separately so I could get a feel for how the other players' characters personalities were and what their motives were. This also gave me a lot more confidence in interacting with them IRL.

Hope any of this is helpful to you. RP is the bomb and I hope you'll get to enjoy it fully in the future!