How Do I Use {user} and {char} on RolePlaya?

The short answer: type {user} anywhere in your character’s greeting or background and RolePlaya swaps it for the reader’s Playa name, so every reader is greeted by their own name. Use {char} in the background to mean your character’s main name. Double bracket versions from other sites, such as {{user}} and {{char}}, work too.

The tokens you can use

Type	Becomes	Where
{user}	The reader’s Playa name, or their display name if they have no Playa	Greetings and background
{player} or {playa}	The same as {user}	Greetings
{char}	Your character’s main name	Background
{{user}} and {{char}}	Treated the same as the single bracket versions	Characters imported from other sites

An example greeting

*She looks up from the bar as the door swings open.* "{user}. I wondered when you'd turn up again."

A reader whose Playa is called Sam sees: “Sam. I wondered when you’d turn up again.”

Tips

Use it once or twice. Hearing your own name in the first line is powerful. Hearing it in every sentence is not.
Don’t describe the reader. {user} could be anyone. Avoid giving them a gender, look or job in the greeting unless your character is built for one kind of reader.
In the background, write relationships with {user}, such as “{char} has known {user} since school”, so every reader slots into the story.

More on greetings: How Do I Write a Greeting That Gets Replies on RolePlaya?

Frequently asked questions