Roleplaying is defined as the acting out or performance of the part of a person or character. If you don't have a character yet, check out this thread on how to create a character!

roleplay etiquette

i. Follow the roleplay rules.

ii. The person who made the thread makes the rules.

iii. Inform your roleplay partners if you don't like how the roleplay is going and try to work it out.

iv. Notify the thread's creator if you're not able to post for a while.

v. Try to match your roleplay partners' writing length.

how to roleplay
On Cloudless, we roleplay using threads and posts. You roleplay with other people by replying to their thread or post.

Here, we roleplay through written narration, meaning this:
...turns into this:
Short and simple, but straight to the point. However, this kind of post would be considered semi-literate at best: short sentences, short overall post, simplistic language, and little description.

A good rule of thumb is to go through the five Ws and the one H:

i. Who?

ii. What?

iii. Where?

iv. When?

v. Why?

vi. How?

You don't have to use all of them all the time, but, quite often, it's one of these components missing from a post that lowers its overall quality.

i. Who is Examplepaw?

ii. What is she doing?

iii. Where is she?

iv. When is this happening?

v. Why is she doing what she's doing?

From context, we know Examplepaw is an apprentice. We know she woke up, left the apprentices' den, and sat down in camp. That's three Ws down: Who, What, and Where. But what about the other three?
Who is Examplepaw? She's an apprentice. What does she look like? She's a white she-cat. Where is she going? Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? She's in camp. When is this happening? It's morning. Why is she doing what she's doing? She's looking for someone to talk to.

Short sentences aren't necessarily a bad thing, but too many makes your writing seem jerky, disjointed, and sometimes just plain bad. Often, two or even three short sentences can become one big Franken-sentence.

Be careful when merging sentences - nobody likes a run-on sentence. Remember: conjunctions are your friends.
If you feel your language is too simple, try a thesaurus!
But don't overdo it. That's when it becomes purple prose:
No thanks.

Describe, describe, describe! Describe actions, setting, and appearance, not necessarily in that order. By using description one sentence can become two or three, or even become a paragraph!
Now, wait for someone to reply with their character:
You can then choose how you would like to respond.
These are all acceptable responses! What you think, say, and do is separate from what your character thinks, says, and does. You don't have to feel bad if your character is mean or rude to another character, and vice versa.

how to fight
If you were reading a Warrior books, you might expect to see this:
If you were reading a post on Cloudless, it would look more like this:
The difference is, if you saw the first one on here, that would be powerplaying. The second one gives Blankpaw's roleplayer the chance to react to, defend against, or even prevent Examplepaw clawing Blankpaw.

When roleplaying an attack, try to answer the following questions:

i. What are they trying to do?
ii. Where are they aiming?
iii. How much force did they use?
When roleplaying a defence, try to answer the following questions:

i. What did they do?
ii. Where did they aim in retaliation?
OR
ii. Where did they move when they dodged the attack?
iii. How effective was their defence?
Usually, you should have both an attack and a defence in the one post so it isn't just Examplepaw doing all the fighting and Blankpaw doing all the dodging.
Take some damage. If you don't take any at all, it simply becomes unrealistic, and, if done in excess, is godmodding.
How does your character feel:
i. physically?
e.g. Examplepaw feels a sharp, stinging pain in her ears.

ii. mentally?
e.g. Examplepaw doesn't care where she claws Blankpaw, only that she does.

iii. emotionally?
e.g. Examplepaw feels blind fury.
Incorporate dialogue!
It's common sense to end the fight here. However, if the other roleplayer gives you the okay to keep going, feel free to do so.
Just remember to PM me for permission if you want your character to die, and remember that killing cats often has dire consequences in character.

—— battle moves
— back kick
Description: Lashing out with your back legs when the opponent is behind you, putting weight on your front paws
Use: As an explosive surprise move

— badger defence
Description: Leaping over the opponent, turning on your back legs, then biting the opponent's leg
Use: When fighting badgers

— belly rake
Description: Slicing your claws against the opponent's belly
Use: Often when you are pinned down

— duck and twist
Description: Ducking then twisting around, rolling over onto your back, then springing to your paws
Use: As a simple defensive move

— front paw blow
Description: Bringing your front paw down hard on the opponent's head with claws sheathed
Use: As a frontal attack

— front paw strike/forepaw slash
Description: Slicing your front paw down at the opponent's face or body
Usage: As a frontal attack

— half-turn belly rake
Description: Turning on your side, slipping under the opponent's belly, raking it with your claws, then swiftly turning back onto all fours out from under your opponent

— jump and pin
Description: Leaping backwards, bouncing off the wall, and landing on the opponent with precise accuracy

— killing bite
Description: Quickly biting down through the back of the opponent's neck
Use: Usually as a last resort

— leap-and-hold
Description: Springing onto the opponent's back then gripping it with unsheathed claws
Use: Often against larger cats, and to escape the opponent's range and to position yourself so you can inflict severe wounds
Counter Move: Drop-and-roll

— partner fighting
Description: Falling into a defensive position with another cat while fending off opponents on either side
Use: To protect each other

— play dead
Description: Going limp then pushing yourself up explosively when the opponent relaxes their grip
Use: When in a tight situation to throw off an unwary opponent and put you in an attacking position

— scruff shake
Description: Securing a strong teeth grip in the scruff of the opponent's neck then shaking violently until they are too rattled to fight back
Use: Against rats for greatest effect

— tail yank
Description: Hrabbing your opponent's tail then yanking it with great force
Use: To throw your opponent off balance

— teeth grip
Description: Sinking your teeth into your opponent's legs, tail, scruff, or ears then holding
Use: To escape the opponent's range

— upright lock
Description: Rearing up on your back legs and bringing your weight down on the opponent
Use: As a final, crushing move on an already weakened opponent
Counter Move: Wrestling the opponent and flipping them under you

glossary
—— advanced
Excellent at roleplaying, having very high skills in spelling, grammar and punctuation, and being able to use literary conventions and techniques to great effect, able to write posts many paragraphs in length in incredible detail, while not being verbose to the point of tedium.

—— chatspeak
Very informal language, characterised by a lack of grammar, and the use of abbreviations and symbols.

—— gary-stu
An idealised male character with little to no relevant flaws.

—— godmodding
Manipulating a character's ability, skill, knowledge, and/or powers so they are superior in a situation.

—— ic
In Character.

—— illiterate
Poor at roleplaying, continually disregarding spelling, grammar and punctuation, and frequently failing to use literary conventions and techniques with competency, able to write posts a couple of sentences in length in very little detail, usually in chatspeak or otherwise substandard forms of writing.

—— intro
The first post in a thread, or the first post a character has made in a thread.

—— literate
Very good at roleplaying, having high skills in spelling, grammar and punctuation, and being able to use literary conventions and techniques well, able to write posts numerous paragraphs in length in great detail, while understanding the value of brevity.

—— mary-sue
An idealised female character with little to no relevant flaws.

—— metagaming
Allowing one's character to possess information they should not logically have.

—— one-liner
A post consisting of one line.

—— ooc
Out of Character.

—— post
A message in a thread.

—— powerplaying
Controlling another character without their roleplayer's permission, or not allowing another roleplayer to prevent an action done to their character.

—— reply
A post made on in response to another post.

—— retconning
Undoing, reinterpreting, or altering a past event.

—— semi-literate
Decent at roleplaying, having passable skills in spelling, grammar and punctuation, and being able to use literary conventions and techniques satisfactorily, able to write posts a few paragraphs in length in some or excessive detail, while perhaps being overly wordy at times.

—— spotlighting
Constantly bringing attention to one's character in a way that distracts from the main thread.

—— thread
A collection of posts under the same subject, started by an initial post.