Getting Started with Grand Theft Auto® RP
If you are just getting started with FiveM and GTA V roleplay, this guide explains how you can get started with joining a server, common terms, and the different parts of GTA roleplay.
What Is GTA V RP? #
GTA roleplay can best be explained as acting as a certain character in the game Grand Theft Auto V. GTA roleplay has become quite popular lately with streamers on platforms such as Twitch. It is one of the most-watched game categories, which for an 8-year-old game is not bad!
What is FiveM®? #
FiveM® is a game mod built on top of Grand Theft Auto V, which allows you to easily load scripts and other resources like vehicles and clothing automatically.
It also allows you to connect to thousands of FiveM® servers. Each server has a unique community that you can join and different kinds of servers with modifications.
Why play GTA RP? #
GTA RP allows you to play as a variety of characters; whether you want to be a police officer or a criminal, a business owner or a politician, anything is possible in roleplay.
Characters #
Grand Theft Auto V® and FiveM® provide a lot of opportunities for unique characters. You can change their facial structure, hair, clothes, body, and much more – so making a unique character for you to become is easy!
Each character you create can have a backstory, history, thoughts, emotions, and more.
Many servers require that criminal personalities be a different character from those in departments, to prevent a conflict of interest between the department and their criminal activities. It would not look good for a police department that employs a drug dealer, or criminals in general.
🧔 Civilians
Civilians are characters in the server who are not affiliated with any department. They can either be a normal, law-abiding civilian with a regular job – or a criminal mastermind and anything in-between.
A regular working civilian character is a great way to get started with roleplay and is likely required before applying to a department.
👮♀️ Police
In traditional RP servers, the police department is often the largest and the most important for keeping the balance between civilians and the law.
If you are quick thinking, can follow orders, and can work within a team, then Law Enforcement might be right for you.
👨🚒 Firefighters
Firefighters provide the same essential role in roleplay as they do in real life. Responding to fires in an organized fashion is their primary function, but they also provide medical services and first responder services.
Firefighters are a highly organized department, emboldened by pride, training, and organization.
👩⚕️️ EMS
And last but certainly not least, is the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) department. Not all servers may have an EMS department, but when they do, they will do their best to keep you breathing.
If you are quick thinking, and good at communicating, then medical services may be a good department for you.
Important Concepts #
In Character (IC) & Out Of Character (OOC) #
An especially important concept of roleplay is staying In Character (IC). This means putting yourself in your character's shoes. You are only aware of what your character is aware of, you feel your character's pain, emotions, thoughts, and much more. While RPing, you will always want to remain in character, unless you are explicitly talking Out Of Character (OOC).
Talking OOC while in-game is not allowed. This is called breaking RP and interrupts the ongoing conversation. This also ruins the RP for anyone else and is also a punishable event on servers.
In most FiveM® servers, you can talk in OOC chat by pressing the Enter key and putting /ooc before your message.
Doing Actions In-Character #
Most FiveM® servers also have a command to "do an action" as your character.
For example, if you want to pick up a penny on the sidewalk, you would run the following command:
/me picks up a penny
These actions are always in the first person. It can be used to describe items you have, emotions you are feeling, and other things you may need to communicate while in character non-verbally.
However, there are limits to these actions. Your actions are limited to your character, you cannot tell others what to do, or what will happen — This is called power-gaming. This doesn't allow the other player to respond or contribute to the roleplay.
Naming Your Character #
Your character will need a name, and the possibilities are endless! You can make it as realistic or funny as you want, but there are typically a few common rules that servers enforce:
As long as you follow these guidelines (and common sense), all you have to do is come up with a creative name for the personality you want to create.
CAD Systems #
A CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system is commonplace in GTA RP servers. It is a system used to keep track of virtual citizens, just as a real government system would. It's also used to organize the dispatching of emergency services to calls and to store data about your driver's license, and past criminal history is stored.
You will likely be required to register your character in a CAD system, even for civilian characters. If you fail to register, you may be fined or even arrested in-game while playing, as you have no "legal" ID.