RP Terms You Should Know
In this section, we’ll cover some common Server Rules and RP Terms you should know as well as common in character lingo.
RP – Stands for roleplay. When you roleplay, you take on the persona of a character. Someone that isn’t you, but someone you’ve created who has their own goals, fears, strengths, weaknesses, admirrations, abilities, etc.
In RP, you fear for your life. Your actions have consequences and you act out situations as you would IRL (in real life). For example: if you fell off a cliff, you wouldn’t immediately get up and go on with your day. You’d likely have severe wounds or need treatment. Not to mention you’d be in quite a bit of pain. With RP, you can play out scenarios like this by things you say and do.’
But what does roleplay actually mean?
The BEST part about RP, are the interactions you have with OTHER RPers. Roleplay is basically like one giant game of improv. You can have a things in mind, but you must be ready to PIVOT! or adapt to the situation at any time, as the stakes are always changing and you never know what kind of scenario you may find yourself in. But trust me, that’s where the fun is!
Common Server Rules
Most servers have rules which help keep everyone in line and create a better, more immersive atmosphere for everyone. We’ll be covering a lot of these in this section.
ERP – Stands for erotic roleplay. (pretty self-explanatory, and not allowed on most servers) Essentially any RP performed mostly, or exclusively for the purpose of sexual behavior.
Whitelisted – Many RP servers require you to apply and become whitelisted. If you are whitelisted, it means your application on the server was accepted. I’ll talk more about WHY you want to join a whitelisted server in a bit.
IC – Stands for in character vs OOC – which stands for out of character.
Doing something IC, means, doing something AS your character. While OOC, means doing something as YOU, or OUT of character, essentially, breaking RP. Most servers require you to do everything IC, at all times. In my opinion this creates a more immersive experience and makes for better RP, all around.
But sometimes you need to talk OOC, don’t you?
No. Although, when you’re brand new to RP, it may seem the only way to ask a question or learn how to do something is to speak OOC. However, I challenge you to find a way to RP it out.
Say you’re having trouble getting on your vehicle. You can ask for help IC.
Here’s a video from my very first day on the RP server, TRP:
As you can see, I found a way to ask for help, IC, and the other person gave a hint, without breaking RP. I’ll talk more about these types of situations in a bit, when we cover commands and beginner tips for in-game scenarios.
What if someone else breaks RP / Speaks OOC?
So, what do you do if someone else breaks RP and speaks OOC? It’s unlikely, but say you get into a confrontation with someone and they call you a name, (not your character), and it’s clearly an intentional rule-break. Don’t further break RP, just report the player and move on.
More likely, however, if someone NEW to RP or new to the server is struggling to figure something out, and they accidentally break RP to ask something OOC, encourage them to RP it out and respond, IC.
When in doubt, RP it out!
It’s all about how you respond. And you can do so, IC, without ruining the RP. As you just saw in the video, someone asked for my number and I didn’t know how to access my phone. You may be surprised, but RP-ing out scenarios when you’re new is actually a really great learning experience. Someday, YOU’LL be the veteran player, helping out someone else new on the server. And remember, you can always find a way to do so IC!
SOME RP servers may allow some things to be done OOC but again, every server is different, so make sure you do your homework and research the server you’ll be playing on before you jump in. Respect their rules and the way they handle both IC and OOC situations, and you’ll be good to go!
Speaking of IC and OOC scenarios, the next term you REALLY need to be familiar with is metagaming.
Metagaming or MG – is when you use OOC knowledge when you’re RPing IC. This will pretty much land you an automatic ban on most servers, and even YouTube or Twitch chats. This is something the RP community as a whole takes very seriously, so I’ll explain a bit more to make sure you really understand what it means.
Basically, if you (yourself) learn something (OOC), you can not act on that knowledge (IC) as your character would have no way of knowing that information.
Some examples of megagaming:
Say someone posts in discord that Olof perma-died. You can’t IC say “so I heard Olof died”. YOU may know that, but your character doesn’t. Therefore, you can’t act on it.
Or, say you’re RPing as a cop and you happen to be streaming. If someone pops into your chat and says “the criminal is at Pillbox Hospital”, you can’t immediately head to Pillbox, as your character didn’t find out that information… YOU did. See the difference?
Don’t Megame. Period.
MG would result in a clear advantage for the offending party and can be seen as stream-snipping and it obviously completely ruins the RP. It’s a big no-no both on RP servers and in live stream chats so don’t do it! No need to stress, just make sure you never metagame or act on any OOC info you acquire from any means other than RP. It’s that simple.
Powergaming or (PG) – is another way to gain an advantage in an unfair scenario and is also prohibited on most servers. Methods of powergaming can include robbing other players without giving them a chance to escape or defend themselves, constantly talking over others without allowing them to respond or contribute to the conversation/situation or forcing dismemberment on another player without their consent.
Basically, you can’t just do whatever you want at the expense of another player without SOME form of RP. In other words, respect other players, interact with them as you would someone in real life and don’t force anyone to do something without giving them the chance to respond and RP it out.
It’s RP, not kill or be killed
No, you can not randomly kill other players without any RP whatsoever.
Deathmatch / Random Deathmatch or (DM / RDM) – is killing another player without a reason. In RP, your actions have consequences. You can’t just run up to another player and shoot them in the head and go on with your day. If there’s a confrontation, or they wronged you in some way and the situation escalates from there, then that’s RP!
That being said, if you happen to find yourself in an area that a gang has claimed as their territory, and they’re known for shooting on site, well- that’s RP as well!
Vehicle Deathmatch (VDM) – Killing another player with a VEHICLE for no reason… Running someone over intentionally, trying to kill someone with your vehicle without a RP reason.
Spawn Kill (SK) – Is when someone shoots you or kills you the moment you spawn on the server. Before I was whitelisted on TRP, I decided to try some public servers to see what it was like. I tried about three or four of them and just gave up, because this is exactly what happened to me. The moment I spawned in, without fail, someone would kill me instantly, making it impossible for me to do anything.
If you’re serious about trying out RP, this is just another reason why I highly recommend you apply to a whitelisted server. They have rules, they have regulations that just prevent things like this from happening and it makes for a better RP experience for everyone.
If I die, do I die for good?
Like hardcore mode in certain games, your character can die FOR GOOD. But only on your terms.
Perma Death – Only YOU can decide when your character dies – permanently. Still, you must react to close-calls or severe injuries. For instance, say someone hits you in the head with a bat. You can’t just get up and go for coffee. You’d be in some serious pain. You might not even be able to talk. If you do respond, be sure to do so IC. Again, only you can decide if a truly fatal incident occurs for your character.
Perma-death means your character dies FOREVER. This is not a decision you should make lightly. Remember, you’re RPing with a ton of other players and your character’s actions, even death can impact others on the server as well.
A permadeath must be confirmed (usually via discord PMs) before a death certificate can be written. In general, it’s very hard to reverse a perma-death so if you proceed with this route, consider it- PERMANENT.
Team Kill (TK) – is killing someone from your own gang or organization. Many gangs have rivalries with one another, and this might get heated as situations unfold. However, most gangs rely heavily on the loyalty of their members, so keep that in mind.
An exception might be if a gang member went rogue or did something that really pissed off the gang leader, and the gang comes to a collective decision to the player out. If this is a perma-death situation, the player in question would have to agree. Remember, every server is different, so check the rules before proceeding with something like this.
Remember, if you’re not sure, just ask.
Most servers welcome questions, especially from new players.
FearRP / Value of Life – Fear RP or sometimes referred to as Value of Life means exactly what it sounds like. You fear for your life, as you would IRL. It should go without saying, but in RP, you must value your life at all times, and the lives of others! If someone pulls a gun on you and threatens your life, you should react accordingly. Don’t run away or pull out a melee weapon that wouldn’t win in a gunfight. Act like you would in real life. If your life is being threatened, act like it.
One of the quickest ways to ruin RP (besides speaking OOC) is to downplay a serious situation, such as being held at gunpoint or being physically threatened.
Fail RP – Fail RP is when someone fails to roleplay something properly, meaning they intentionally do something they wouldn’t do IRL. For example, not roleplaying serious injuries, say being shot multiple times and walking away with zero reaction.
Griefing – intentionally pestering, or harassing others or stalking them to force RP (strictly forbidden on most servers)
Combat Logging – is logging out while in combat. For obvious reasons, don’t log out in the middle of combat. Similarly, most servers won’t let you hide in an apartment while running from the cops either.
Text RP – In certain situations, you may want to communicate something without breaking character. You can do this in Text RP. We’ll discuss this more in a bit when we cover Character.
For example:
If you drown and need to be revived, EMS may use Text RP to check your pulse. They’d do this by typing /me checks pulse into their text box and it would appear on-screen. This is a way to confirm you want to be revived. In this situation, your character likely can’t speak (or shouldn’t). By using Text RP, you can convey information by typing /me has a pulse so the EMS knows to revive you.
In general, Text RP should not be overused. However, sometimes, it’s the best way to convey necessary information. In certain situations, it can even add to the RP, if the situation makes sense.
IC Lingo
As I mentioned earlier, most servers require you to stay IC at all times. A good way to do this is to pay attention to the lingo others use. Slang may vary per server but here’s some common ones you’ll hear on most servers. Using slang is the best way to stay IC and keep the RP going, even when you’re explaining how to do something.
Locals – You’re probably familiar with this one. No matter which server you play on, referring to NPCs in Los Santos as the locals is pretty universal. You can usually tell the difference between a local and an actual player right away. Locals will likely ignore you unless they feel threatened. And they’re TERRIBLE drivers. No, seriously. They’re the WORST.
Downed – means your character is knocked out, unconscious, or has severe injuries and you need to be revived by EMS. You should be unable to move, think or talk normally while in this state.
Scuffed – If you hear something being referred to as scuffed, this means it’s either broken or glitched. If someone says, “my pockets are scuffed”, this probably means they can’t access their inventory.
I’m sorry, I don’t speak robot
Cough Drop – My very first time interacting with someone, I said “hello”, and they told me I needed a cough drop. That seemed odd to me, but I figured they were trying to tell me something.
Luckily, I was already recording myself, to test my sound settings before going live on my Twitch stream. I thanked the person and quickly hid in a bush while I watched back my video. Sure enough, I sounded- like a robot.
Clearly I did something wrong while setting up my audio. This is yet another reason why it’s SO important to test your settings! Do a sample recording and listen back to make sure everything is exactly the way you want it. We’ll go over all settings pertaining to RP later in this guide to help you avoid mistakes like this.
Headache / Head Popped – If someone says they have a headache, this means they’re getting dropped frames or lag. If you hear someone say, “my head popped”, it likely means they crashed or got disconnected.
Flex Your _ Muscle– If you hear something like “flex your ‘Y’ muscle” someone may be hinting for you to press the “Y” key. Or, if you hear “think about sitting three times”, they could be telling you to the third sitting position.
New City, Who Dis?
In Town / The City – Remember you live in Los Santos. Stay IC when asking questions or conveying info. For example, if someone asks if Johnny is around you can say something like, “I don’t think they’re up this early” or “they’re not usually in-town at this time” vs: “they’re not online right now”.
If someone asks, “How long have you been in the city?” they’re wondering long you’ve been on the server. If you hear “in the last city I lived in…” someone is probably referring to the previous server they played on.
Tusnami – Refers to the server having a reset. Depending on the server, this may be at a scheduled time every day and they may have rules leading up to the reset like “carry on with RP as usual” meaning, it’s not a free-for all just because the servers are about to go down.
Take a nap – If someone says they need to take a nap, this means they need to reconnect or log off and back on, usually to fix a bug.
Ticket to Ride
Taking the train – Referring to “on the train” or “waiting for the train” usually refers to the queue to get onto the server.
Spider – If someone tells you have a spider on your foot, that means you need to jump cause you likely have an animation that is bugged for other players.
Inside my head / Meditating – means they will be AFK (away from keyboard) for moment and won’t be able to respond for a short time. Basically, they’ll BRB.
Go to Sleep – When someone says they have to “go to sleep” that typically means they are logging off for the night.
Prison Talk – When referring to prison, months usually equates to IRL minutes, for example, 2 months, is 2 minutes, while years, equates to IRL days, such as 2 years would be 2 days. “The nines” is sometimes used to refer to someone that is in prison “for life” .
Use Your Eyes – If someone tells you to look through your eyes, this means to go into first-person view.
Voices – If someone refers to the “voices in their head” this is likely referring to their Twitch chat.
Government – can sometimes refer to the admins of the server, but keep in mind things like this tend to slip into OOC talk and referring to something like the “Land of Discordia” or things like this could be strictly forbidden, depending on the server.
Again, you will learn SO MUCH through RP itself. As you interact with others, you’ll start to pick up on the lingo specific to that server but I hope in the meantime, this gave you some basic knowledge on some of the IC lingo and RP terminology commonly used in GTA RP.
Looking for more beginner tips? Check out these other guides:
GTA RP – Complete Beginner Guide
Drinker of Coffee, Lover of Games, Creator of Content
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