Okay, picture the scene. It’s the weekend, you’re a hot guy. You walk into a bar and spot the woman of your dreams, so you make eye contact, she smiles back.

She’s interested!

You buy her a drink and sit down beside her. Then what? You smile at her, then smile at her some more and wait for her to tell you what a great smile you have and launch into scintillating conversation, regaling you with an animated account of her life story?

Sadly, no. In all probability she’d most likely drink up and then disappear into the night musing over how such a hot guy could be so dull and boring.

Now, picture this scene in a fantasy RPG:

You’re a hot guy. You meet a beautiful siren in the forests outside of town. A group of orcs is attacking her, so you swoop in, decapitate them, and save the day. She immediately falls in love with her knight in shining armor and rides off with you on your white charger.

Get the analogy?

No matter whether it’s a bar in anytown USA or a mystical world in your favorite RPG, the basic concept remains the same, you have to engage and interact with those around you if you don’t want to end up all alone playing with yourself; so to speak.

Everyone needs something to work with.

You can’t simply lurk in the background looking all coy, belligerent, disinterested or whatever and expect folks to read your mind, do all the work, and carry the scene forward. Real-life doesn’t work that way and neither does RPing.

You have to put some effort into it to get enjoyment out of it. Be it a hot chick in a bar or a beautiful siren in the woods, you need to give them something to work with. What you need to leave is a hook.

Let’s go back to our first analogy example. What would happen if you were in that bar, you sat down next to the beautiful woman and all you did was think of how hot she was? You didn’t smile, you didn’t say hello and you barely glanced at her. How is she going to know if you’re interested or boring and dull before she leaves the bar?

She’s won’t, because you just sat and did nothing. You showed no interest. She couldn’t read your mind, and you didn’t give her a hook. She has nothing to respond to.

Role-playing works the same way. We don’t want to know what happens if your character does nothing.

So what do you do? You leave hooks, something for the other players to grab onto and go with. It’s give and take. When you give them a hook, the other player takes it, uses it, and gives you something back.

What kinds of hooks can you leave?

Hooks can be anything from asking a question, making a snide comment to get someone’s anger flared up, or performing a physical action to make someone look your character’s way. It’s not so hard.

If your character thinks something is funny, don’t just have him think it’s funny. Have him laugh aloud, or even laugh so hard he falls off the bar stool.

If your character sees something that makes her angry and you have her stand with her arms crossed and with no expression on her face, don’t think someone is going to care. Have her make a face at the person or object. Have her yell or stir up some trouble to grab attention.

There’s always something to do. Your character just has to do it.

If you don’t leave hooks for the other players to respond to then sooner or later they could get frustrated and either write their characters out of the scene or just ignore your character altogether.

Players who show a consistent lack of give and take when it comes to hooks are missing out in the long-term too, as fellow players end up reluctant to get into future scenes with them.

Did you find any hooks?

One of the most frustrating, demoralizing things in an RPG is when you write an interesting good-sized post, only to get a two-sentence response back that indicates your character is being ‘ignored’.

Ignoring a character or situation is fine, as long as it’s within context and designed to provoke some kind of reaction. To ignore a character due to lack of time or motivation is a cop-out.

Maybe you missed a hook given by the other player or maybe their hook wasn’t clear enough for you. Maybe it wasn’t there at all. What if the other player sounded bored and therefore put no effort into the posts?

This can happen. If it does, then take a little time to PM the person and ask questions. Ask them to point out their hook just in case you missed it or ask them to make their hook clearer to you. If you didn’t feel like there was a hook, ask them if they would please add something for you to work with.

Also, you can ask them if they are bored with the scene. If yes, then ask what you can do to make scenes more exciting for them. Communication is the key here; use it.

If you can’t find a solution and nothing works, just move on. Take your character elsewhere. Start your own thread or join an existing one. Just remember to have fun.

Did you leave any hooks?

Make a comment, ask a question, slay a dragon, slip on a banana peel and end up on your ass looking like a klutz… just say or do something. Provide a hook for other characters to grab and respond to or they may end up leaving you in the dust to play with yourself.

Sites like Escaping Reality invite role players around the world to do more than play with yourself, and there’s no escaping the reality that back-and-forth, witty conversation and interaction between characters is as essential in RPG as it is in real life.

The bottom line is that you can be the most talented writer in the world but unless you have something interesting to say and are prepared to interact with others in the game, no one’s going to want to play with you.

About the Authors: When not scattering hooks around for people to pick up, Tracy Bradshaw and Carole spend their time writing together, plotting what to do next and stirring up a heap of trouble – the good kind.