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martyrette · 5 months ago

Text

•˚ʚ Martyrette’s TRP3 Aesthetics Guide ɞ˚•

• Remastered •

•• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ •• INDEX •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Preface

Symbols

Default (credit: @martyrette)

Special (credit: Wyrmguard Secret Nonnie)

Formatting

Gradient Text (credit: @ladytruebane & Wyrmguard Secret Nonnie)

Empty 'Race' Slot (credit: @martyrette)

Headers (credit: @martyrette)

Additional Information (credit: @martyrette)

Links

(Whole section credit: @martyrette)

Formatting Links

Icon Links

Borders

(Whole section credit: @martyrette)

Symbols

Images

Icons

TRP Icon Glossary

(Whole section credit: @martyrette)

Transparent Background

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Purple

Pink

Tips & Info

Further Resources

Closing Word

•• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ •• PREFACE •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

TRP Aesthetics & formating has always been a well-guarded secret within the World of Warcraft RP community. This guide serves to break down that gatekeeping and give everyone access to the tools to make their TRP in whatever cool way they want!

It's been a long time since I realized my first guide, so this one serves as not only an updated version for all the new tricks I learned, but also a connection to further resources which have come out since then.

This guide will also be actively updated with Further Resources when new guides and tricks come out by other creators.

As always, LET'S GET THIS SPARKLE AND CROSS-INFESTED BREAD! (っ◔◡◔)っ ❤

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SYMBOLS •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Symbols! Dare I say the face of Aesthetic TRPS! There are two kinds of symbols: the symbols you can simply copy/paste easy-peasy & then the ones that require a special symbol to activate!

When using ANY, make sure to include this ㅡ symbol somewhere in the line or it will appear as a box.

Normal Symbols:

‹ « Ω ∑ ∂ ∆ ∫ ƒ × ∞ § √ π ½ ¼ † ‡ ¦ ¤ ◊ ° • ∙ -ㅡ » › ±

Special Symbols:

♡ ☆ ° ♪ ♩ ♭ ♬ ★☆ ☜ ☞ 〉《》「」『』【】〔〕 ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ Δ ∮ ▒ ▣ ▤ ▥ ▦ ▧ ▨ ▩ ◊ ◈ ◇ ◆ ■ □ ◁ △ ▽ ▷ ∆ ∇ ▲ ▼ ⊙ ◐ ◑

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FORMATTING •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Formatting is a bitch. THANKFULLY, we got some tips & tricks here to make it easier for all of you! This section will be going over gradient text, empty 'race' slots, headers, spacing, additional information and all that funky stuff that just makes it look nicer. Who thought moving text over or changing it's size would make such a difference!?

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Colour Gradients:

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Once again, thank you to @ladytruebane for showing me how to do this all the way back when I made the first guide. Give her love. Or else.

Okay, so you want to do something like this?

You're going to want to go to this website: https://www.stuffbydavid.com/textcolorizer

Put whatever text you wish within the box and the colours you would like. Copy paste the BBCode selection into your TRP. Every 'color' must be turned into 'col', every set of these brackets [ ] must be turned into these ones { }, the # & = must be erased and = must be replaced with : . It is a long process, but it won't show up unless you do this.

Below is a small video of me verbally explaining it as well (and showing how long it takes. (¬_¬") )

youtube

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Empty 'Race' Slot

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So you want to make race/class all one colour! It's actually HELLA easy.

Go to your Race Slot and delete everything in it, once you do that, press spacebar and BOOM. Empty! Just make sure whatever you want coloured is in the Class Slot, and it will appear the colour of your choice.

Small demo below!

youtube

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Headers

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How to make your text bigger! There are three sizes of header:

You can colour your headers whatever kind you want - the gradient even works with headers as well! Headers can be used for all sorts of things: Titles, About Sections, Quotes, Borders, Symbols, whatever you want! Icons are also effected by headers so you can orientate an icon wherever you'd like within your TRP!

Just make sure everything is within the {h1:c} & {/h1} or else it will appear as it's default size.

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Additional Information

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Additional Information can be a canvas to put whatever you want! Here's an example of what I do with mine!

The sky is your limit! You can really do anything with it. Here's a small video explaining spacing with Additional Information and some tricks I've learned.

youtube

•• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ •• LINKS •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Links are where you put your. . .Links! Artwork, tumblrs, carrds, social links, etc etc. Here, I'll be showing you the different ways you can format links; orienting them on your page as well as turning them into icon images! The former was hard af to figure out but when you see how simple this is, you will laugh at me-

So formatting links; it's basically the same as formatting normal text as shown above. You can even colour them too! Here's a quick little show of how to make a coloured and formatted standard link.

youtube

The order of code for coloured links is as follows: Header (If wanted) > Colour Code > Link To make a link appear as an Icon, you MUST place the Icon Code within the text section (as seen in the video). If you do not, it will not appear and ruin the string of code.

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Borders can be used wherever within your TRP! They're good for sectioning information and just making it look nice and formatted. There are three different kinds of borders: Symbols, Images & Icons. I will explain how to make your own, as well as share some for free use!

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Symbols

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Symbol-based borders are by far the easiest to make. You just type them out and play around with the symbols of your choice! You can really put them anywhere within your TRP - Additional Info, About, OOC info, literally ANYWHERE.

I encourage you all to try and make your own! I bet they'll be super cool. For now though, here's some examples ya'll can use.

∙ㅡㅡㅡ◐∙◑ㅡㅡㅡ∙

∙ ♩ㅡㅡ♪ ♬ ♪ ㅡㅡ♩ ∙

.°☆ ㅡㅡ°.♡.°ㅡㅡ ☆°.

∙. ㅡ~†~ㅡ .∙

° ㅡㅡ ° ◇ ◈ ◇ ° ㅡㅡ °

- . : .ㅡΩㅡ. : . -

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Images

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Image borders can come in two forms: full images or flattened images. The first is very explanatory, whatever image you pick can divide text. This can be scenery, crowns, gems, Blizzard-licensed character art & so much more! There's a butt load to pick from, so take the time to browse and find the perfect one.

Here's an example I did using a Revendreth image!

Flattened images can also be used as borders! To flatten an image, you must alter the last numbers within the string of code. As you can see here, this is the normal image and default code.

I go in and edit the number 128 to 5 and get this flattened image as a result!

Again, feel free to play around with this and find the images and sizes you love best! I've even seen some people super impose them for backgrounds??? Badass???

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Icons

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Icon borders are like the weird lovechild of Image & Symbol borders. With a mixture of Icons & Symbols, you can really make some cool shit. Icons can be formatted and moved around your profile with Headers. Like so!

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TRP ICON GLOSSARY •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Here is a collection of aesthetic TRP Icons I've found and categorized for your usage! They are divided by UI-formatting, colour (random picks), Racial, Faction & then any other cute random ones I find.

Sadly, the black, white & brown Icon sections has to be cut due to the sheer GIRTH of this post. However, you can really find any sort of Icons within the searchbar! Keywords like colours (black, pink, green), races (Nightelf, Human, etc) and so much more can be found easily! Want your icon to be a class ability? Use the class as your keyword.

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Transparent Backgrounds

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These icons appear as their shape, rather than having a black box or background behind it. You can use these little guys for all sorts of things! I've seen people use them as borders, bullet-points, decor, like literally anything.

(Left 2 Right)

Red Paw: {icon:pet_type_beast:25}

Rat: {icon:pet_type_critter:25}

Dragon: {icon:pet_type_dragon:25}

Fire: {icon:pet_type_elemental:25}

Wing: {icon:pet_type_flying:25}

Helmet: {icon:pet_type_humanoid:25}

Sparkle: {icon:pet_type_magical:25}

Cog: {icon:pet_type_mechanical:25}

Skull: {icon:pet_type_undead:25}

Wave: {icon:pet_type_water:25}

Green Paw: {icon:tracking_wildpet:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Murloc: {icon:newplayerhelp_newcomer:25}

Green Dot: {icon:7fx_alphamask_glow_teal_blend:25}

Green Flag: {icon:newplayerhelp_guide:25}

Blue Heart: {icon:ui_jailerstower_defense:25}

Blue X: {icon:ui_jailerstower_offense:25}

Blue Lightning: {icon:ui_jailerstower_utility:25}

Tombstone: {icon:ui_jailerstower-scenario-deathcounter:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Grey Rune 10: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_10_off:25}

Grey Rune B: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_b_off:25}

Grey Rune G: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_g_off:25}

Grey Rune K: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_k_off:25}

Grey Rune M: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_m_off:25}

Grey Rune N: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_n_off:25}

Grey Rune O: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_o_off:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Light Rune 10: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_10_on:25}

Light Rune B: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_b_on:25}

Light Rune G: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_g_on:25}

Light Rune K: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_k_on:25}

Light Rune M: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_m_on:25}

Light Rune N: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_n_on:25}

Light Rune O: {icon:cosmicenergy_rune_o_on:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Copper Sword: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_01_small:25}

Silver Sword: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_02_small:25}

Gold Sword: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_03_small:25}

Platinum Sword: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_04_small:25}

Diamond Swords: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_05_small:25}

Purple Swords: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_06_small:25}

Godly Swords: {icon:ui_rankedpvp_07_small:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Quest: {icon:tracking_warboard:25}

Experience: {icon:garr_currencyicon-xp:25}

Logs: {icon:garrison_material:25}

Alliance Circle: {icon:ui_allianceicon-round:25}

Horde Circle: {icon:ui_hordeicon-round:25}

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Red

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(Left 2 Right)

Lollipop: {icon:inv_valentinescandy01:25}

Snake: {icon:inv_snake_red:25}

Rose: {icon:inv_helm_misc_rose_a_01_red:25}

Syringe: {icon:inv_trinket_revendrethraid_02_red:25}

Vampiric Rune: {icon:inv_inscription_vantusrune_castlenathria01:25}

Question Mark: {icon:inv_misc_questionmark:25}

Heart: {icon:petbattle_health:25}

Fire Rune: {icon:spell_fire_rune:25}

Hunter’s Mark: {icon:ability_blackhand_marked4death:25}

Stitches: {icon:ability_rogue_garrote:25}

Bear Trap: {icon:ability_hunter_traplauncher:25}

Skull: {icon:ability_deathknight_necroticaura:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Rogue Mark: {icon:ability_rogue_deathmark:25}

Runeblade: {icon:inv_sword_1h_rogue_c_01:25}

Warlock Hood: {icon:inv_cloth_demonicdominationsuccubus_c_01_helmet:25}

Cleaver: {icon:inv_knife_1h_pigman_b_01:25}

Vampire Knives: {icon:inv_cape_special_revendreth_d_02:25}

Cannibalism: {icon:ability_racial_cannibalize:25}

Red Crystal: {icon:inv_jewelcrafting_gem_32:25}

Potion: {icon:trade_alchemy_dpotion_a16:25}

Thorns: {icon:inv_misc_necklacea6:25}

Red Matter: {icon:inv_artifact_corruptedbloodofzakajz:25}

Fire Bloom: {icon:inv_misc_herb_19:25}

Cherries: {icon:inv_misc_food_40:25}

Ruby Necklace: {icon:inv_jewelcrafting_necklace3_red:25}

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Orange

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(Left 2 Right)

Harvest Moon: {icon:ability_druid_eclipseorange:25}

Dash: {icon:ability_druid_dash_orange:25}

Curse Sigil: {icon:ability_creature_cursed_01:25}

Firewave: {icon:ability_rhyolith_magmaflow_wave:25}

Candle: {icon:inv_helm_misc_candle_a_01:25}

Tigerlily: {icon:inv_misc_herb_tigerlily:25}

Amber Necklace: {icon:inv_jewelry_necklace_75:25}

Goldfish: {icon:inv_magicalfishpet:25}

Banner: {icon:inv_shield_1h_drakonid_c_01:25}

Sword Sigil: {icon:spell_holy_sealofvalor:25}

Chi-Ji Crane: {icon:monk_stance_redcrane:25}

Bone Necklace: {icon:inv_7_0raid_necklace_08a:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Amber Potion: {icon:inv_alchemy_80_elixir01orange:25}

Darkmoon Eye: {icon:inv_darkmoon_eye:25}

Jack-o-Lantern: {icon:inv_misc_bag_28_halloween:25}

Fire Flower: {icon:inv_summerfest_fireflower:25}

Bottled Flame: {icon:inv_summerfest_firepotion:25}

Fire Fox: {icon:ability_racial_fireresist:25}

Scorched Hand: {icon:ability_siege_engineer_purification_beam:25}

Bronze Skull: {icon:inv_misc_breadofthedead:25}

Halloween Cat: {icon:achievement_halloween_cat_01:25}

Sanctum: {icon:warlock_sacrificial_pact:25}

Fireball: {icon:spell_mage_infernoblast:25}

Pumpkin Pie: {icon:ability_mage_conjurefoodrank9:25}

Animal Tracks: {icon:ability_tracking:25}

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Yellow

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(Left 2 Right) Clover: {icon:inv_misc_herb_goldclover:25}

Golden Harp: {icon:inv_misc_trinket_goldenharp:25}

Yellow Bird: {icon:inv_misc_thegoldencheep:25}

Priestly Hood: {icon:inv_helm_cloth_raidpriest_r_01_gold:25}

Marigolds: {icon:inv_misc_marrigolds_01:25}

Heavenly Feather: {icon:ability_priest_angelicfeather:25}

Golden Blade: {icon:inv_polearm_2h_drakonid_c_01:25}

Rightous Fist: {icon:spell_holy_rebuke:25}

Ducky: {icon:inv_g_fishingbobber_05:25}

Clock: {icon:spell_holy_borrowedtime:25}

Niuzao Symbol: {icon:monk_ability_avertharm:25}

Honey: {icon:inv_cooking_80_choralhoney:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Skull Trinket: {icon:inv_inscription_trinket_melee:25}

Pirate Map: {icon:achievement_ashran_tourofduty:25}

Domination Rune: {icon:ability_domination_rune13:25}

Cosmic Rune: {icon:inv_prg_icon_puzzle15:25}

Golden Lotus: {icon:achievement_faction_goldenlotus:25}

Holy Steed: {icon:spell_holy_crusaderaura:25}

Sun Icon: {icon:inv_qirajidol_sun:25}

Glowing Horseshoe: {icon:ability_mount_charger:25}

Cage: {icon:inv_box_birdcage_01:25}

Autumn Icon: {icon:ability_ardenweald_paladin_autumn:25}

Fan of Knives: {icon:ability_warrior_bladestorm:25}

Prayer: {icon:spell_priest_pontifex:25}

Butterfly: {icon:inv_pet_butterfly_orange:25}

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Green

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(Left 2 Right)

Dragon Wing: {icon:inv_10_gearupgrade_flightstone_green:25}

Poison Needle: {icon:ability_poisons:25}

Imprisoned: {icon:ability_demonhunter_imprison:25}

Dark Deal: {icon:achievement_general_raidrepresentation:25}

Toxic Maw: {icon:ability_creature_poison_01:25}

Crown: {icon:ability_rogue_controlisking:25}

Monk Symbol: {icon:ability_monk_zenmeditation:25}

Traveler: {icon:achievement_explore_argus:25}

Green Feather: {icon:inv_icon_feather01e:25}

Leaf: {icon:talentspec_druid_restoration:25}

Frog: {icon:inv_frog2_darkgreen:25}

Vines: {icon:inv_misc_herb_evergreenmoss:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Ring: {icon:inv_misc_6oring_greenlv4:25}

Gadget: {icon:inv_misc_enggizmos_20:25}

Necklace: {icon:item_icecrownnecklacec:25}

Bandages: {icon:inv_firstaid_bandage2:25}

Medical Symbol: {icon:achievement_guild_doctorisin:25}

Shield: {icon:ability_dragonriding_compassion01:25}

Toxic Sludge: {icon:ability_hunter_stickytarbombtrap:25}

Scythe: {icon:inv_knife_1h_maldraxxus_d_02:25}

Darkmoon Marker: {icon:inv_darkmoon_vengeance:25}

Fel Cloth: {icon:inv_fabric_felcloth_ebon:25}

Witch Pot: {icon:inv_misc_cauldron_nature:25}

Banner: {icon:inv_bannerpvp_03:25}

Demonic Rune: {icon:70_inscription_vantus_rune_tomb:25}

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Blue

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(Left 2 Right)

Transformation: {icon:spell_druid_incarnation:25}

Scaredy Cat: {icon:ability_druid_cower:25}

Tome: {icon:inv_7xp_inscription_talenttome02:25}

Skull: {icon:inv_offhand_1h_artifactdoomhammer_d_06:25}

Seashell: {icon:inv_ore_osmenite:25}

Blue Flower: {icon:ability_dragonriding_draconiccultivation01:25}

Mana Potion: {icon:trade_alchemy_dpotion_b10:25}

Bubble: {icon:creatureportrait_bubble:25}

Azuna: {icon:achievements_zone_azsuna:25}

Blue Moon: {icon:artifactability_balancedruid_fullmoon:25}

Icy Touch: {icon:ability_deathknight_icygrip:25}

Prowling Feline: {icon:ability_druid_prowl:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Arcane Intellect: {icon:spell_holy_arcaneintellect:25}

Frost Rune: {icon:spell_frost_wizardmark:25}

Frozen Heart: {icon:spell_frost_coldhearted:25}

Undead Wing: {icon:inv_icon_wingbroken07e:25}

Dewdrop: {icon:inv_misc_shadowdew:25}

North: {icon:ability_hunter_pathfinding:25}

Mug: {icon:inv_misc_food_cooked_madbrewbreakfast:25}

Arrow: {icon:ability_hunter_aimedshot:25}

Sparkles: {icon:spell_magic_managain:25}

Skull & Crossbones: {icon:ability_rogue_feigndeath:25}

Dagger: {icon:inv_weapon_shortblade_06:25}

Crystal Ball: {icon:inv_misc_orb_01:25}

Diamond: {icon:inv_misc_gem_02:25}

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Purple

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(Left 2 Right)

Screaming Skull: {icon:ability_creature_cursed_03:25}

Crescent Moon: {icon:talentspec_druid_balance:25}

Nightshade: {icon:inv_misc_herb_13:25}

Crystal Ball: {icon:spell_druid_momentofclarity:25}

Bear: {icon:spell_druid_guardianofelune:25}

Voidwalker: {icon:spell_shadow_summonvoidwalker:25}

Engulfing Shadows: {icon:ability_rogue_envelopingshadows:25}

Dark Dagger: {icon:ability_ironmaidens_convulsiveshadows:25}

Evil Spirit: {icon:inv__demonbolt:25}

Nighttime: {icon:spell_shadow_twilight:25}

Old God Eye: {icon:inv_eyeofnzothpet:25}

Evil Face: {icon:ability_demonhunter_vengefulretreat:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Arcane Rune: {icon:70_inscription_vantus_rune_suramar:25}

Dark Angel: {icon:ability_priest_darkarchangel:25} Origami: {icon:inv_inscription_crane:25} Grapes: {icon:inv_misc_food_58:25}

Totem: {icon:spell_shaman_dropall_03:25}

Ring: {icon:inv_10_jewelcrafting_rings_ring1_color2:25}

Swirling Dark: {icon:ability_warlock_soullink:25} Spider Webs: {icon:inv_misc_web_02:25}

Scarab: {icon:inv_misc_ahnqirajtrinket_01:25}

Clashing Swords: {icon:spell_holy_blessingofstrength:25} Skeleton Key: {icon:inv_treasurevault_key01:25}

Pendant: {icon:inv_misc_necklace_mop1:25}

Shadow Clone Runes: {icon:spell_holy_prayerofshadowprotection:25}

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Pink

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(Left 2 Right)

Perfume Bottle: {icon:inv_valentineperfumebottle:25} Orb: {icon:inv_misc_orb_02:25}

Tome: {icon:inv_misc_book_01:25}

Bomb: {icon:inv_misc_bomb_04:25}

Curse Rune: {icon:spell_warlock_demonbolt:25}

Cupid Bow: {icon:inv_bow_1h_love_c_01_pink:25}

Arcane Rune: {icon:ability_ardenweald_paladin_summer:25}

Icecream Meal: {icon:inv_misc_food_strawberry_ice:25}

Headress: {icon:inv_helm_cloth_legionquest100_b_01:25}

Plushie: {icon:inv_tailoring_elekkplushie:25}

Staff: {icon:inv_staff_16:25}

Faerie Fire: {icon:spell_nature_faeriefire:25}

(Left 2 Right)

Comb: {icon:inv_misc_comb_02:25}

Silk: {icon:inv_chest_cloth_58:25}

Pink Wing: {icon:inv_icon_wing04b:25}

Halo: {icon:ability_priest_halo_shadow:25}

Potion: {icon:inv_potion_34:25}

Pearl: {icon:inv_misc_enchantedpearl:25}

Scroll: {icon:inv_inscription_modified_craftingreagent08:25}

Eyeball: {icon:inv_misc_cat_trinket11:25}

Enchantment: {icon:inv_enchant_formulaepic_01:25}

Bloody Maw: {icon:spell_deathknight_gnaw_ghoul:25}

Demon Hunter Rune: {icon:ability_demonhunter_sigilpurple:25}

Berries: {icon:inv_cooking_80_wildberries:25}

Thread & Needle: {icon:inv_10_tailoring_purchasedthread_color4:25}

•• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

TIPS & INFO •• ━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━ ••

Simply a collection of little tricks and nuggets of info I've learned about TRP over the years. They don't quite count as formatting so uh. I dunno. This is my guide, I'll do what I want-

The larger your TRP is, the longer it will take to load. Don't feel put off if someone whispers you about it thinking they were accidently blocked!

A TRP doesn't have to be long to be good. Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it as they say.

Don't feel pressured to make your TRP a certain way. It's your TRP. Have fun with it and go crazy!

Don't feel afraid to reach out & ask other players how they did something in their TRP if you like it! Though some may still gatekeep techniques, there's been a shift in the TRP culture. You may make a new friend too!

If you get a TRP formatting error, you're most likely just missing a / or { } somewhere within the code. I do it all the time and a comb through the code normally shows me where one went missing.

BACK UP YOUR TRP! The worst feeling in the world is writing a super swag TRP only for it to get shitted on by a WoW update. Below, I'll show you a quick and easy way to do it.

youtube

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FURTHER RESOURCES

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Alternatives to AI Art, another post I’ve made awhile ago. The community has this weird culture about NEEDING character art, so here’s some alternatives to AI!

Super cute TRP templates done by this lovely tumblr account. Stumbled across them by chance, but I'm kinda adoring the themes & aesthetic they've got going??? @trp3-templates

A really amazing post on r/WoWRoleplay where the community has shared some more tips & tricks I haven't covered within this guide. It warms my heart to see us helping out each other!

The original TRP Aesthetic Guide I made years ago. All the information has been imported and improved here, but I'm a bit of a sentimental sucker, so I'll be linking it here too for legacy purposes.

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GUYS, it's been over a wholeass YEAR since I released the OG TRP Guide. That's crazy, yo. A lot happens in a year & I'm so glad to have heard how many people got my guide and appreciated it. You guys have gotten hella creative and I can't count how many swag & aesthetic TRPs I've seen since it's release. Not only that, but people have also been more open with sharing techniques & tips. Just makes me fuzzy inside or someshit.

Point is, since I released it there's a LOT of stuff I didn't know and even more things being found out. That, and there's a lot of stuff I thought was common knowledge that isn't; thus not adding it to the original one. I asSuMeD- So, I began asking some of you just how you were doing it & compiling EVERYTHING, just incase! Like the first, this project is a bunch of roleplayers coming together to make another fun resource for the community. ENOUGH MUSHINESS. GO MAKE A CUTE / SWAG TRP!

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echoes-of-argentdawn · 11 days ago

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Beware of a guild or associations with a group called Sic Paradisus Factus Est (Alliance), Cohort (Horde), and the RP plotline Woods of Wilk. The DM is not as respectful of participating players as it seems on paper. He writes with very good quality and even gives characters tailored scenes. He asks about boundaries of players upfront, which makes him seem like a considerate, trustworthy person. On the surface of things, he seems understanding, handles every encounter outside Wilk respectfully and with good quality. Some people have had issues with the DM's draenei being untouchable, as in always getting away with doing evil. Some people see them as driving part of a deeper story and let them dive deeper. The problems start within the Woods of Wilk story itself: Player characters are taken in by Sic Paradisus to fight a specific threat, but guess what? Only one or two from each group get to actually fight this cult and the rest are merely surviving, wandering aimlessly and getting very lackluster encounters during their scenes. This is how it works:

The DM offers Loa boons to select few people privately. This is important later, when the DM divides the group and begins to create more "tailored" scenes. In essence, players are divided into "winners" and "losers". The winners are given power, tools, key information and opportunities to slay powerful and named boss NPCs in Wilk. The losers are lucky if they can slay one lowly cultist or madman, and then they are sent to wander off aimlessly, traumatized, wounded and completely stripped from gear; "naked and afraid" style.

The DM railroads players with Wilk amnesia and takes away player agency. This may make sense with group scenes, but eventually he will start dividing the players into smaller groups and personal scenes. The only control that you have over your character is reacting to the circumstances and scenes that you are put into and moments of exploration. The direction or content of the personal scenes may not even align with your character's goals or identity (even after you have given him feedback on this). Despite all this, the DM makes an appeal with "character development", but is there any potential for character development in this?

Compromises and adjustments are one-sided. The DM may make an appeal to certain players with ´´both good guys and villains should accept losses and victories for the sake of larger narrative´´/´´we don't do instant gratification here´´. Thing is, those words are tailored to oblige you to make compromises for him, but when it comes to your reasonable wishes, he will deny you. You may ask for nothing more than to fight the cult that player characters were supposedly brought in to fight. Regardless of it DM may try to push you to directions that are very out-of-character or hollow for your character.

The DM does not address feedback and may dismiss concerns of individual players entirely. Do you feel that the narrative is treating your character unfairly, or you can not make meaningful choices? The DM's basic response is ´´It does not matter´´ (he wants to decide what should matter for your character) / ´´You are thinking too much into it´´ (he wants you to trust him blindly) / ´´this and that are replaceable anyway´´ (another dismissal if you want to fight a specific threat). He doesn't care if the player finds their role unrewarding, players can always be replaced.

Did you know that every powerful Wilk NPCs, minibosses and such are replaceable according to the DM? There are clones of many "important" NPCs. Some major threats repeatedly regenerate before your eyes, as soon as you defeat them. ´´They are replaceable´´ is the excuse that the DM uses to dismiss player wishes, when they wish to kill a powerful, but mortal NPC. If other players in your group were allowed to, why are you denied any opportunities to succeed? The DM is not short on supply of high ranking cultist NPCs.

The DM takes no accountability for the social consequences of how your character is impacted by his narrative, even if they carry outside his plot. He writes the scenes, he may push you into accepting corruption or other questionable in-character choices for an "end goal" and then pull the "end goal" away, resulting in you playing a role that you did not originally want nor ask for. Would you accept corruption, damage or trauma and constant losses, if other players are getting better options? The DM may even blame the player for accepting the choice in the first place and then be upset that the players do not trust his word anymore.

The DM can still contradict his words by giving a lot of instant gratification to certain players, while stalling other players endlessly; this correlates with whether you are in "winners" or "losers" category.

The DM will protect "winners" from consequences of their actions, no matter how reckless they are. This comes with an excuse of ´´they will miss out on everything I have written for them´´. But if you are in the "losers" category, he will hold even minor in-character choices against you and excuse more gratification of "winners" at expense of your character. Even when you have no humane way of knowing how your character choices could possibly influence X or Y.

The DM does not reward in-character effort or long term investment in his plot. He may give minor clues that lead to nowhere, tactically stop responding when your character is about to make a breakthrough, or ask your consent to do X to your character, OOCly change things in a way that twists your character's role into something that you did not want to play. Without asking beforehand, if the impacted players will be okay with him changing things. This goes against the whole idea of consenting and trust!

In addition to the issues with Woods of Wilk narrative, the DM's draenei are untouchable and he would never put his characters into similar position as he asks players to put their main characters. "Hides in Shadows" can not be tracked by skilled trackers, efforts to learn his methods in-character go unanswered by the DM, attempts to fight or counter him will result in him escaping. He wants to infiltrate every settlement with zero consequences and zero damage on his character. We could excuse it with ´´he needs this character to drive his plot forward´´, but when this plot fails to even reward the involved players? If "Hides in Shadows" is kidnapping people to fight another group of villains, your character may scarcely even be able to touch these villains. Why does he drag people into Wilk, if he does not let all characters do exactly that?

The DM misleads and omits information when asking OOCly players to make choices. He may imply that there is something meaningful for certain players if they skip certain scenes, but omit the part that there will be an important follow-up scene or that there is an opportunity for the character to achieve a goal that they had worked towards. And then blame the player again.

The DM may let your characters find important items to study, but later insistently ask if he can assault your characters and take back all the loot he has given to you. So, why is the DM giving the players loot again?

The DM wants to learn player weaknesses and strengths OOCly to "make things happen", instead of making any IC effort to learn them. He expects you to spend months, if not years, pursuing knowledge about his characters, but fails to treat you with any value.

The DM may promise you extra scenes in Wilk if you wait that he handles scenes of other people first. And then eat his words to focus on giving extra scenes for players that he was already prioritizing, leaving you RP locked in Wilk and usually in the dark about follow-up. Another contradiction to his rule of "not RP locking people into Wilk". Even if the DM eating his own words can be excused with forgetfulness and ´´~ it is his plot after all ~´´, it is also our player characters, our time and our monthly subscription money that we could use on more rewarding roleplay. There have been attempts to show compassion and patience, if it has seemed that he has been overwhelmed. But he does not say anything.

And time in Eye of Wilk loops, and thus there is also time anomaly in Woods of Wilk. In the Eye, every outcome is predetermined and foreseen for all characters, including players. The DM can also use this as an excuse to rewind time and lure in more and more players, while making your achievements meaningless. You can experience your own copies appearing there and this also makes the DM's characters technically immortal.

In the Eye of Wilk, there is a Tomb which contains a secret that both the Cohort and Sic Paradisus Factus Est seek to acquire. Eventually the players will be led there with having even less control over fates of their characters.

The DM also has multiple discord servers for the same plot, involved characters, as well as at least three discord accounts. Not all were "lost because of technical issues". It correlates with people "fading away" from his guild and plot. Have you ever wondered why such a skilled writer with good world-building skills and apparent respect for boundaries of people, has so few roleplayers sticking around long-term? This post is not to name-and-shame the DM, nor an attempt to create drama. This is a consequence: a warning for roleplayers who may dismiss the risks based on how it looks on first impression. Would liars and manipulators succeed in forcing people do what they do not want if they were obvious? No.

´´It was as if the DM's whole personality changed at the moment he was being asked to treat players fairly. And the way how he treated you has been weird ever since.´´ - A bystander

This is not about the DM being inexperienced and overwhelmed by large numbers of people either. He has been on this plot for years and multiple people have seen him recycling players as if they were trash. This is done so he can pretend to be clueless and innocent, as per his own words: ´´We used to be good buddies with This and That, but he suddenly stopped playing with me. I don't know why, but I suspect it was because my draenei are too powerful.´´ Omission of information on his behalf, again. The real issue is not the power level, but how he treats players. The DM gaslights people over a long time so that the OOC conversations are harder to record and show as proof. If you are involved with this DM or his alts, do yourself a favour and record every OOC conversation. Do not trust Elephant addon to keep logs. Take screenshots. No, it is not just in your head.

Would you prefer to be forewarned, instead of experiencing silence of the lambs when a wolf in sheep's clothing keeps running rampant and constantly seeking for more "victims" for his narrative? Most socially acceptable approach is leaving the plot and protecting your own fun, but staying silent enables these kinds of people to continue abusing trust of other roleplayers!

Most of us want to have a break from the uncontrollable real life while roleplaying, so why would we want to endure the uncontrollable circumstances in roleplay? Roleplay is a creative outlet where we can build our own narratives and if a DM invites us to be part of his horror story, he should respect the players.

We are paying for the game monthly, and if the players are asked to put their time and energy aside for this plot, is it too much asked from the DM to make it worth it? Or being transparent about what he intends for each player character before the players consent? This is not about spoilers, but respect for boundaries of roleplayers; constantly being in the losing end warrants a boundary as much as graphic descriptions of violence, rituals, horror and sexual themes. Constantly being asked to put your character into a questionable position and having the narrative reward of it pulled away warrants a boundary. Those who were given "winner" experience may never understand this, as the narrative treated their characters very differently, the scenes given to them were vastly different. It may make them feel special and on a pedestial - everyone loves that feeling! And so, it is easier to make excuses for the DM, instead of listening to warnings or standing up in behalf of the "losers". But it is only when the DM faces the consequences of violating players, that he will be pushed to better himself.

If you end up being drawn into this plotline, do not normalize his excuses, a good DM will always work with players when they are not asking the DM to bend over backwards for it. A good DM will treat all involved players fairly within reason. A good DM will let every participating character to have spotlight and shine, instead of reserving powerful boons and important foes for select few only!

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