F.A.I.T.H's guide to Character Creation~

[F.A.I.T.H 0]

CALLING ALL NEW MEMBERS/ROLE PLAYERS!

This is a simple guide to creating your characters. You can refer to this as a guideline to aid you on the path of creating a consistent and good character.

 

Here goes...

 

General

 

Full name: (Use original names. Names must fit with the nationality of the character or how he/she looks like unless explained thoroughly in the 'Personal History' section.)

 

Good example: Aiden Smith

Bad example: Tanaka Johnson, Blaine Yamato (The less references to canon characters, the better).

 

Nickname: (Use your imagination! Or you can even make use of legends from various mythologies. Just no references to the canon. Nothing too corny/cheesy as well.)

 

Good example: Shadow Dancer

Bad example: Destiny Warrior

 

Age: (One of the most important factors. PLEASE make sure that the age is reasonable. If your character is too young or old, they might not be able to take the physical stress when piloting mobile suits or understand enough to do so.) *Credited to Valiant.* Make sure the age also adheres to the events occurring within the Cosmic Era timeline. For example, if your character has fought in both wars, he/she is probably not so young anymore. *Credited to liubei013*

 

Good example: 18, 22, 27

Bad example: 13, 14, 66

 

Gender: (Self explanatory).

 

Race: (Only Naturals and Coordinators allowed. No Newtypes or SEED modes. If you wish to be an Extended, ask for permission from the moderators and only confirm it when it is granted.) For people having parents of 'mixed' races, it depends on whether he/she has underwent genetic altercation or not.*Credited to darkphoenix*

 

Occupation: (Occupations must go in accordance with the faction you wish to join later on when applied for. Remember: These are modern times. Try not to refer back to things which are long gone and things which are redundant to whatever you wish to be: military personnel or civilian. If the need arises, please do explain in detail in the personal history.)

 

Good example: Pilot, 1st Sergeant, journalist.

Bad example: Cook, Ronin, Salesman (dependent on what your character would be. Do note that it is relatively unrealistic to have a professional cook as a professional pilot as well unless stated otherwise in personal history.)

 

Birthplace: (Self explanatory. For Extendeds, permission must be granted.)

 

Citizenship: (Self-explanatory. Join in any faction you like, but do try to fill in places where the faction is lacking in numbers.)

 

Personality: (Try to add as many details as you can about his personality. What he/she likes, why he/she acts that way etc. Don't be stingy on the details. Try to reach at least one large paragraph or split them accordingly. For help, refer to Character library for reference. Eventually some of his behaviour should be linked up with his/her personal history.) I suggest making a non-generic character, where he isn't inherently evil or a goody-two-shoes for no reason save for the fact you want him to be. Breathe more life into his/her character with your words!

 

Appearance

 

Height: (Self explanatory. Nothing too tall or short. Remember for pilots that unrealistic heights might mean that your character might not fit into the cockpit comfortably, which would affect piloting skill. Of course, if this is about a civilian, circumstances can be different.)

 

Good example: 1.56-1.85 m

Bad example: anything below or above mentioned range.

 

Weight: (Again, nothing too heavy or light. Must be in accordance with the Build mentioned below.)

 

Good example:45-90 kg

Bad example: weight below or above mentioned range.

 

Hair Colour and Style: (Take note: Natural hair colors only allowed. Anything out of the norm must be dyed or due to some health problem which must be stated clearly in the personal history. Styles are up to you, but try to be original instead of carbon copying from canon Gundam characters.) *Credited to kct.*

 

Good example:Black, Brown, Auburn, dyed Blue or Green.

Bad example: 'Natural' Blue with gray fringe. You're making a realistic character, not Saruman of LoTR fame.

 

Eye Colour: (No multicolored eyes or eyes of different color unless explained thoroughly in personal history.)

 

Identifying Marks: (Nothing too drastic. It's hard to be original here but don't put any if you can't think of one. Please explain more about this in personal history.)

 

Skin Tone: (Self explanatory.)

 

Build: (Keep in mind this goes hand in hand with your height and weight. A 1.55m male weighing at 70+kg means that he would be squat and stout.)

 

Clothing: (Something normal/simple will do. Be original and creative.)

 

Handiness: Self-explanatory.)

 

Note: PLEASE try not to use pictures completely to explain the appearance. This would indicate that you have problems describing your own character like you should during role playing. If you need any help regarding description, either look for some of the more seasoned Role Players for help or wait for replies to your character profile regarding this fault. Thank you.

 

Background

 

Mother: (Try to state job and status here or in personal history.)

 

Father: (Try to state job and status here or in personal history.)

 

Siblings: (Try to state job and status here or in personal history.)

 

Wife/Girlfriend: (Try to state job and status here or in personal history. Ask for permission if you want your character to have a relationship with another.)

 

 

Personal History: (Okay, this one's the toughest. I highly recommend you take a look at the personal history from the character library, use that as a reference ONLY and make up your own. Try to put in as many details as possible, linking back to your identifying marks and personality as well as citizenship , job scope and family background. No one-paragraphers here. Separate certain details at his childhood life to his teenage life and up to the military life into various paragraphs, for example.)

 

While you role play, please adhere to the personality, looks and the habits of your character. Going Out of Character will only serve to damage your credibility. (E.g. Your character cannot suddenly start having knowledge of guns and suddenly become a sharpshooter when found in a tight situation.)

 

Lastly, use punctuation and spelling checks every now and then and save your profile at intervals lest you make a mistake. Take note that these rules are not made to make you suffer, but to provide you with a more realistic and enjoyable role playing experience. )

Edited April 3, 2007 by Guest

[Valiant 96]

Bravo! 

[liubei013 0]

Great guide.  Now we got something with a bit more substance.

If I may add though...it's helpful to write up the profile in some word processor and to save regularly, especially if the said person cannot finish the profile in one sitting.  Or do what some others have done by labeling their profile threads with (work in progress) or something like that.

 

EDIT: Geh!  I forgot one other recurring issue related to Age.  Not only should the age be 'appropriate' for whichever occupation the character will be, but it also must be compliant with the current timeline as well.  Though it isn't as much of a problem nowadays, there were profiles in which the age and history did not coincide with the timeline.  (i.e. Age 6 during First Valentine War and 19 at the 'present' time in CE85 would be an example of a 'good' age)

 

(I think I did the math right... )

Edited March 29, 2007 by Guest

[F.A.I.T.H 0]

Thanks for the add ons guys. I've added in the few things you people suggested. It's good to see people putting in effort to help newbies and such too.

[kct 0]

That is what everyone is here for .

[Vanguardian 0]

Well, one thing that's been giving me trouble is the family section of the bio.  Is it really all that necessary when you first post a bio?  I mean typically you stories often don't mention who the father and mother were for each of its characters, and even if the parents/siblings of a character were critical influences in the character's life, there are times when you don't find out anything until much, much later.

 

I was hoping to come back to that part later if I got any ideas in the future.  Right now I was hoping to get by with just whether or not my character's relatives were alive or not, maybe their age, and how well they got along with them.  Coming up with ideas for family is like creating NPC's, but they may not even show up in the RP.

[kct 0]

They are in all exist only by name most of the time, so you should not worry too much about them, unless you want to expand them beyond just 'names'.

[liubei013 0]

@Vanguardian:  That particular bit is just for basic personal information, I think.  Certain 'official' documents tend to list family members/next of kin/etc.  I don't think it's necessary to reveal every single little detail related to the family that may have affected the said character, but it should be enough for the general 'audience' (us) to get a good idea as to how the character is like.  There's nothing wrong with saving specifics for further development later on.

[OPA 0]

SPAM ALERT: *lunges at F.A.I.T.H. and latches onto his feet in a vice-like embrace*

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.  Now there's not much room for excuses fo extremely bad bio's- Thankyou.

[F.A.I.T.H 0]

I could do without the lunging, but you're most welcome, though I'm painfully aware it isn't entirely completed...I think.

 

Anyone who has anything to add or sees something important missing, feel free to add it in. I'll credit it to you if I find it most reasonable.

[darkphoenix 0]

Maybe some of our old discussion about "goody-two-shoes" characters ? Altough it's just IMHO.

[F.A.I.T.H 0]

Maybe some of our old discussion about "goody-two-shoes" characters ? Altough it's just IMHO.

 

Hmm...I'll think not to put that in as a rule, really, but if you want it as a recommendation to some players, I suppose it might be all right. We don't want to restrict them too much, like my guide has already done so.

[darkphoenix 0]

New suggestion about "Background" - if character - Coordinator, then it should be reflected was his parents Naturals or Coordinators, as it seems sometimes to be a problem (poor coordinators - Naturals doesn't have this problem with parents)))

[kct 0]

Depends though, we do not exactly know what to call the hybrids (those having both a Natural and a Coordinator as parents).

 

Although the word is as long as they haven't geen genetically altered in any way, then they are to remain a Natural.

 

On the matter of appearance, going 'as of pic' would not help, however, it would do as a reference material (like what some of us did). Preferably get the help of someone to try to come up with a proper description of the character's appearance.

[F.A.I.T.H 0]

That is correct. The main gist of being a Coordinator comes from having altered genes. I'll add this in as an extra point to take note of. Thanks for bringing it up darkphoenix.

[Valiant 96]

Depends though, we do not exactly know what to call the hybrids (those having both a Natural and a Coordinator as parents).

 

Although the word is as long as they haven't geen genetically altered in any way, then they are to remain a Natural.

 

On the matter of appearance, going 'as of pic' would not help, however, it would do as a reference material (like what some of us did). Preferably get the help of someone to try to come up with a proper description of the character's appearance.

 

This is an interesting point raised. If they have a Coordinator and a Natural parent, but was conceived naturally, would they be considered 2nd Generation Coordinators or some other form of intermediate? If a character has parents who are both Coordinators, they would be known as 2nd Generation Coordinators, since their parents are most probably 1st Generation Coordinators. (3rd Generation Coordinators have problems reproducing, remember?)

 

We would need to come to a consensus on how we should identify these people (ie, characters who have a Coordinator and a Natural parent). Half-Coordinator?