Forum RP — Definition, examples, FAQs, and more

Forum RP: a brief history

Roleplay by written message is older than the web itself! People were writing collaborative fiction on BBS message boards, Usenet groups, and mailing lists through the 1980s and 1990s, and those exchanges worked in much the same way, with each person posting and then waiting for someone else to reply.

Web forum software made it much easier to run this kind of game. Once packages like phpBB and hosted services like ProBoards became free or cheap around the late 1990s and early 2000s, anyone could set up a board for a single setting, and a great many people did. Fandom roleplay communities built especially large numbers of them. Forum software aimed specifically at roleplay, such as Jcink, arrived later and added features those communities had been wanting.

The phrase “forum RP” generally came into use as a way of separating this format from the other places where roleplay can occur, including live chat, MUDs and MUSHes, and later social media. Putting a precise date on the term is difficult to do, since it came about in ordinary conversation on message boards rather than from any single source.

How it's used today

People use “forum RP” both as the name of the format and as a shorthand when comparing places to play. Someone might say they prefer forum RP to live roleplay because they want time to draft and edit, or the opposite, because they would rather get replies within minutes.

On the boards themselves, the phrase appears in rules pages and advertising. A site may describe itself as a forum roleplay site for a particular setting, state its expected post length, and say how often members are asked to reply in order to keep their characters active. Recruitment listings on roleplay directories use the phrase the same way.

Types of games where the term is commonly used include:

play-by-post games, forum roleplay boards, fandom roleplay communities, social roleplay sites

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Forum RP examples

• “I do mostly forum RP these days, since I can write a post whenever I get a free evening.”
• From a board’s rules page: “This is a forum roleplay site for original characters only. Please read the setting guide before you apply.”
• “Most forum RP sites I have joined run an activity check, so you reply in at least one thread every couple of weeks to keep your character.”
• “Forum RP is where I learned to write. I joined a board at fourteen and stayed on it for six years.”

Myths and misconceptions

1. Forum RP is just another name for play-by-post. Play-by-post is the wider category and includes email games, private message threads, and shared documents. Forum RP is the message board version, which usually brings public archives, staff, a rules page, and separate boards for in-character and out-of-character posting.
2. Every forum RP site expects long, heavily written posts. Expectations vary a lot from board to board. Some sites describe themselves as literate and ask for several detailed paragraphs per reply, while others are happy with a few lines. Reading the rules page before you join tells you which kind of site you’re looking at.
3. Forum RP died out when chat platforms took over. A lot of roleplay did move to Discord, Tumblr, and other social platforms, and many older boards have closed. Forum roleplay sites are still being run and still recruiting, though, and the format keeps advantages that live chat does not have, including a permanent archive of every scene and time to write at length.

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Forum RP FAQs

What is forum roleplay?

Forum roleplay is collaborative storytelling carried out through posts on an online message board. Each story runs in a thread, and the writers involved take turns adding posts that continue it. Since the posts stay on the board, people can reply on their own schedule instead of writing at the same time.

How is forum RP different from chat roleplay?

Chat roleplay happens live, so replies arrive in seconds or minutes and tend to be short. Forum RP happens over hours or days, which gives writers time to draft, edit, and write at length. The trade is speed for polish, and plenty of people do both.

Do forum RP sites require an application?

Many do, though not all. A typical application asks for your character’s background, appearance, and personality, and staff either approve it or ask for changes before you start posting. Some boards skip approval entirely and let you register a character and begin.

How long should a forum RP post be?

It depends on the board, and the rules page will normally say. Some sites set a minimum of 200 to 300 words per post, some ask for several paragraphs, and some set no minimum at all. Matching the length of the person you are writing with is a reasonable default.

Is forum RP the same as play-by-post?

Forum RP is a type of play-by-post, not another word for it. Play-by-post covers any roleplay written in turns and exchanged as messages, including email chains, private messages, and threads on other platforms. Forum RP is the part of that which happens on a message board.