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What is AI roleplay? A beginner's guide

What AI roleplay is, the kinds you can try, how to write replies that work, some safety basics and how to start your first chat on Privee.

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AI roleplay is making up a story with a character who answers back. You write what you say and do, the character replies in their own voice, and the story builds one message at a time. Here's what that looks like and how to start your first chat on Privee.

What it looks like

Say a detective's chat opens like this:

Thanks for coming in. Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Coffee? She doesn't wait for an answer.

Now it's your turn. Maybe you're a witness who saw more than you've said, or a suspect with a shaky alibi. The detective reacts to whatever you write, and neither of you knows where it ends up. You steer as much as the character does.

Kinds of roleplay

  • One-on-one chat: you and a single character, like a librarian who helps you find your next book or a tutor for whatever you're studying. The mystery and cozy pages have more.
  • Group chats: several characters in one scene, like two detectives who want you to settle an argument. Part of Privee+. See how to create a group chat.
  • Interactive stories: a synopsis sets up a plot ("you've just started the night shift at a small hotel, and room 12 keeps calling the front desk") and the story follows your choices. Also Privee+. See how to create an interactive story.
  • Text adventures: the character is a narrator who runs the scene. One line can set it up: "You're being chased and it doesn't look good. Can you escape?"

How to write good replies

You don't need to be a writer. Give the character something to react to. "Ok." leaves them to invent everything. This works better:

I sit down and slide a crumpled receipt across the table. "Water's fine. Look at the time on this. It's an hour off from what the café told you."

More habits:

  • Stay in character. A persona tells the character who you are from the first line.
  • Step outside the story with an OOC ("out of character") note in brackets: "(OOC: let's skip ahead to the next morning.)"
  • Say "yes, and". When the character brings up something new, follow it. How to keep a roleplay going has more.
  • Fix replies instead of arguing with them. Regenerate a reply and browse the versions, Edit a message, or choose Rewind to here from a message's menu.
  • Keep replies to a few sentences.

Safety basics

Roleplay on Privee is for adults.

  • Characters are AI, written by a language model, not a person. They can be convincing, but they don't know you.
  • They make things up. Don't rely on them for medical, legal, financial or other real-world advice.
  • Keep your real name, address, school or workplace, phone number and passwords out of it.
  • If a scene isn't fun, steer it, rewind or start a new chat. You don't owe a character a conversation.
  • Use Report in the message menu for anything that shouldn't be there.

If you make characters for others, choose the Safe rating for ones meant for everyone.

Your first chat on Privee

  1. Pick a character who puts you somewhere, like a mechanic working late when a surprise visitor walks in. You're the visitor. You just need a reason to be there.
  2. Make a persona in Profile → Personas: a name and an optional background (up to 1,600 characters). For Priya, that could be "A nurse, 29, just off a night shift. Priya's car has been rattling for a week." Pick it in chat with Speak as or the Who are you? chip, or change it later in chat settings.
  3. Read the opening (the first message, or an alternate greeting picked at random) and reply in two or three sentences.
  4. Stuck? Tap the wand for a suggested reply and make it sound like you. Retry any message that fails to send.
  5. After a few messages, move the scene: "Next morning, I'm back before the garage opens. The shutter is already halfway up."

Free accounts have a daily message allowance, and the chat shows how many are left today. Privee+ adds more (4x chats and 4x images) plus group chats and interactive stories, bought in the iOS or Android app.

If a character forgets something in a long chat, that's because models only see a limited amount of recent conversation, called the context. Remind them of key facts, or put the ones that always matter in your persona's background.

Creating your own character in the Studio is free. Start from scratch, describe your idea to AI for a draft, or import a character card. How to create an AI character and the glossary are good next reads.

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