"Unique" Roleplaying Topics

[psy]

If you've ever gone to the Forum Directory or advertising board for the roleplay forum, you'll likely see a wall of forums claiming to be "unique" and "original." Take a closer look and you'll most likely just find yet another wolf or Warrior Cats or dog roleplay. I'm...a little guilty myself, I'll admit that. It's the first step to recovery. And I'm not going to nitpick at the forums who focus around wolves in forests or Warrior Cats with a prophecy or dogs in an abandoned city, which are topics you may have seen before. They may be popular and have a roleplay full of life, and good for them! Congratulations, you have an active forum.

My problem, if you can even call it one, is finding a forum that's genuinely unique. I've seen wolves and dogs and horses and a few lions and dragons, but what about coyotes? African Wild Dogs? Foxes? Leopards? Cougars/mountain lions/pumas? Elk and deer? I could go on forever, but you get the gist.

And I know the answer I'm going to get: "If you want it so bad, make it yourself." Easier said than done, because you also have to find a way to attract people who actually want to RP as something other than the normal wolf or dog. Rather than take wild shots in the dark, I'd like to see what other people are really interested in. What are some roleplaying topics you've never seen before but would participate in if it existed? It doesn't have to be an animal roleplay like I listed above; it can be just about anything.

[Kami]

I think for this "original" is kind of... relative. Like, you can see a lot of say "original" Harry Potter RPs, which tends to mean that they take place within the world of Harry Potter (as in, the spells and the magic and whatnot) but with a completely original plot / location / school / cast of 'canon' characters. My own forum is an "original" RP was well, which while picking up after a canon event + following canon lore, is an entirely brand new storyline that's not been used anywhere else. Basically I generally take "original" to mean that the story itself is brand new, non-canon, regardless of setting / environment (eg: original pokemon RPs, original animanga RP, etc etc).

"Unique" on the other hand, I have to raise an eyebrow if they're associated with a series of any sort haha.

Honestly I'd love to see a Middle-Earth based, non-Lord of the Rings RP though I would be incredibly picky because I'm... well I've been absorbed in this series for the last 20 years and have written several essays and theses on various aspects of the lore soooo it would have to be VERY good.

I'd also love to see a magical RP that isn't based on Harry Potter or any pre-existing magic setting.

I don't know if I can think of anything else though; I have more fun with fandom RPs than I do non-fandom ones, since it's easier to get people interested and participating.

[Former Member]

I usually quit halfway through making a RP forum. My RP forums were usually something weird and unique, as you'd call it, but I stopped halfway, because....more people like wolves, dogs, cats, etc...I didn't think mine would be good.

I believe - in my opinion - that most people think, "Hey, I'll do a warrior cats rp so it will be an active forum!" Sure, you'll most likely get an active forum - so many people like warrior cats - so no one does anything else 'unique', like a, for example, a mystery RP forum.

Like Kami said above, though, it is fun to RP in those type of forums because...Well, there's usually alot of active members, and it does seem that wolves, harry potter etc are fun to RP as...