Character Creation

[Valiant 96]

Character Creation

by Valiant

 

Creating a character

 

Tip: Refer to the Character Creation Template when creating a character.

 

First, you need to let others know who will be playing this character as well as state the character number. If you have more than one character, please make sure that you have used the relevant Character Card or your character will not be approved. Refer to the Multiple Character Guide for more details.

 

You would also need to state which faction you wish to apply for in your character profile. Once the profile is approved, you will be automatically accepted into your faction of choice.

 

Player name:

Character number:

Faction:

 

 

Providing detailed information about your character gives your character a good start in the role play. A good character biography helps other players get to know you and your role play skills. In some sense, this is a "sample RP" that is required by some RPG sites. If you do not put an effort into describing your character, people would just think that you do not care about your character and the role play.

Full name:

Nickname:

Age:

Gender:

Race: (Natural or Coordinator)

Occupation:

Birthplace:

Citizenship:

These fields let us know a little about who your character is and give us a rough idea of what  he or she might look like. Players would have a randomised chance of being a Newtype and they will be informed after they posted their character profile.

 

Important: Please note that your citizenship would determine the factions that you would be eligible to join.

 

The age must be realistic. Many newbies tend to use their own age for their character's age. That is reasonable up to the point where you have 15 year olds fighting in war. Maybe if they are not fighting at the frontlines, it is acceptable. To have children bearing arms and fighting at battlefronts is just too unethical.

 

Personality:

 

Many people tend to be very vague about their characters' personality. Try to avoid stating "Depends on the situation" or something along that line. Give something solid that other players can relate to. Unique traits make your character easily recognizable.

Appearance

Height:

Weight:

Hair Colour and Style:

Eye Colour:

Identifying Marks:

Skin Tone:

Build:

Clothing:

Handiness: (Left-handed, Right-handed or Ambidextrous)

 

A big mistake in describing your character's appearance is to state "See avatar" or simply post an image of how the character looks like. It shows that you are not too interested in the role play and your character. The avatar is too small. Even if you attach a picture to show your character's appearance, do try to describe the appearance still. It is a good practice for your descriptive skills and it shows that you are serious about the role play. Do not let the image limit the appearance of your character. Let you imagination run free! Be creative!

 

You can choose to use the fields provided and tell us about your character. It would be more interesting and a good practice if you describe the character's appearance in prose form. Never refer to things outside the role play. Saying something like "She wears a suit like  the one worn by Aeon of Aeonflux." wouldn't make sense since there is no Aeonflux in the role play. You don't see a novelist using that kind of description.

 

Be realistic. Try to let your character's hair colour be natural. That does not mean that a character can be born with blue or green hair. They can have their hair dyed but remember to state the natural colour too.

 

Identifying marks can range from birthmarks to tattoos to scars to simple things like thin-framed glasses or neatly trimmed moustache. Scars and tattoos are overused. Small details can still be unique.

 

Please note that ambidextrous characters would be able to use skills as competently with both hands but would suffer a penalty compared to a character who favours one hand. In other words, the a right-handed character can write better with the right hand compared to an ambidextrous character while the ambidextrous character would write better with the left hand than the right-handed character.

 

Also, avoid embedding the image into your post. It might be too large and would stretch the board layout. Give a link to the image if the image stretches the page. Remember to credit the pictures if they are copyrighted. An original image would be preferred, of course.

Background

Mother:

Father:

Siblings:

Wife/Girlfriend:

These fields would help us to know who your characters are related to. Although they are not necessary, these information would tell us more about your character.

Personal History:

Try to think of certain important experiences your character has had. Personal history does not mean writing down your character's life story. That would just be too boring. Try to be creative and think of unique situations your character faced that shaped him or her into the person he or she is.

 

Avoid clichés. Some examples are:

The character is looking for a loved one who has gone missing.

Parents died when character was young.

The character's sibling or parent was killed in the war and wants revenge.

The character lost his or her memory.

 

 

Creating a good character

 

To create a good character, try to keep your character as realistic as possible. Strengths and weaknesses are not always what they are. A strength in a situation can be a weakness in another. No one is perfect. Everyone has a flaw which might turn advantageous for them in certain situations.

 

Personality oddities add an extra dimension and realism to your character. Play around with them to find a blend that suits you and create a character that is real, one that you can call your own.

 

Avoid sticking to cliché cool. Create your own kind of cool!

 

Characters can develop and change as time goes by. We change in real life, so can your characters. They grow with each experience they gain. They would eventually die, either of  old age or die a glorious death in battle. Continue to the Character Death guide to learn how to deal with deaths of your beloved characters.

 

If you want to role play more than one character, please take a look at the

Multiple Character Guide.

 

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Edited July 2, 2007 by Guest