Hello

[Setus]

Hello! I suppose for the purpose of this site I'll be going by the name Setus. I'm a RL friend of Blood Ravenous and Alalia Morrigan/Aeryn/Kari, and they recommended this site to me.

I haven't had much experience role-playing, so I apologize ahead of time if I really suck. At the very least, I'm passing my English class, so you don't have to worry about me throwing "l33t" at you (Blood told me I'd get massacred if I use poor grammer here).

So far I'm having a little trouble creating a character (due to my lack of experience RPing), but I have read the rules and settings many times, so I think I understand what's going on. I'd really appreciate any assistance on creating a character that would fit the setting.

Sincerely,
-Setus (name may be due to change, since it's supposed to be the same as the character name)

[Blood Ravenous]

Massacred is a bit harsh, buddy! I said try not to use bad grammar! What a monkey

I'm so happy he finally came, so be nice to him!

[Amira Lum]

Massacred is pretty accurate, actually.

Kidding, kidding!

Welcome to the boards, Setus! Hope you enjoy yourself! Have fun creating your character, and feel free to let me know if you need anything. I'm not sure how helpful I'd be, and just how much havoc I'd wreak, but...worth a try, eh?

Welcome!
~Lydia

[Sir Karsimir]

Have you RP'd elsewhere? Table-top even?

If so, think of the type of character you usually enjoy playing, go with that and work some personality and history into it.

Read the existing character profiles here for what HAS fitted in. They are fairly diverse, the setting is not very restrictive. When you think about it, the astral plane can cover nearly any cosmology you care to apply. If the local setting does not fit your character, make them an outsider, since the rest of the world has been left a blank slate.

Find a theme for your character, then build them from there. Give them a motivation. What are they after? How would you like to interact with x? That should give you ideas of what you want from an RP.

You do not need a perfect application first try, once you have ideas post your basic build of the character and adjust as the mods say. The concept will easily get narrowed down for you.

[Setus]

Thanks! I'll try to get an operational character as soon as humanly possible. I usually get my ideas from dreams, so I'll sleep all through school tomorrow and hopefully I'll come up with a character.

[Lanya Caliope]

Welcome to the board! I'm Jenica Sabiny's player Jess (also play Lanya, obviously), and one of the mods 'round here. We're all pretty laid back about everything but quality. As long as you can write, you'll be fine.

Also, do not play with me or Kamar (another mod) if you find violence not-fun, for we have violent natures and our posting tends to be, well, violent! You young kids should stay away from bad influences like us.

[Amira Lum]

Welcome to the board! I'm Jenica Sabiny's player Jess (also play Lanya, obviously), and one of the mods 'round here. We're all pretty laid back about everything but quality. As long as you can write, you'll be fine.

Also, do not play with me or Kamar (another mod) if you find violence not-fun, for we have violent natures and our posting tends to be, well, violent! You young kids should stay away from bad influences like us.

Ahh, you're not a bad influence. You're just have a well-developed sense of fun!

Well, it may be a bit mutated.

But still, fun!

I hope "you young kids" doesn't include me. Because it's far too late to stay away from you. Shoulda forewarned me.

Not that I'm a young kid. Quite. Anymore.

[Julen]

Greetings Setus! Welcome to Thar Shaddin!

I'm a relative newbie myself. Before coming here, I'd never done any play-by-post RP, but everyone here has been extremely welcoming, friendly, and helpful. It's great fun.

As for creating a character, I absolutely agree with what Railtus said about knowing what your character wants. Their goals -- to prove themselves, to stay out of jail, to gain power, or whatever -- are going to drive what they do and how they interact with everyone they meet. There is no more important piece of information.

Other than that, there are a couple of mistakes I've noticed people make when creating a character. One of them is that they make their character too powerful. Aside from the fact that insane levels of power aren't allowed for new characters, I think it actually makes the characters harder to play. The more unusual abilities that a character has, the further they are from being "human" -- and, assuming that you're human, that means you're less able to draw on your own experience when writing them. I'm not saying that it can't be done. Several people here do it very well. But it's not the easiest place to start.

Besides, it's not necessary to have godlike powers, since no one can kill your character without your permission. (They can, I suppose, beat you senseless and steal your clothes, but that hasn't happened to me...yet.)

The other mistake I notice is people creating characters who are complete loners. Since the whole point of RP is to interact with other characters, this seems to be giving yourself an unnecessary hurdle. Again, I'm not saying it can't be done -- circumstances can force even a hermit to deal with others -- but be aware that you're going to have to work a bit harder.

Anyway, those are my opinions. And very presumptuous opinions they are, considering that I've only been here a month. But I hope you find them helpful.

Again, welcome!

[Aislinn Vahtees]

Hello and welcome to Thar!! I am RPing with Blood at the moment, so any friend of Blood's is so very welcome!

Julen made some great points about character creation. Powerful character's seem to be the biggest problem for most newbies right now. My advice is keep it simple, and make a character you can relate to. Now, Julen made a good point about unusual powers and loners. My character, Aislinn, has both premonitions and is/was a loner, but because I like/am good at playing these types of characters, it works fine for me. I am also a bit of a veteran RPer, and have two boards of my own, and have crammed a lot of writing into my time online; making it easier to RP just about anything. :p

Work to your strengths and think ahead so you don't find yourself in a dead end. Simple powers or none, that's my advice. Feel free to ignore me.

[Jenica Sabiny]

To add to the suggestions offered (which are all fantabulous), and just to make sure this is clear: play something you WANT to play. Don't create a character 'cause you think you'll be able to make it enjoyable; create someone who you can't wait to play, someone whose actions will entertain you. This is a double bonus: you love to play the character, and are passionate about your writing, and you won't leave the board in disinterest, leaving other players waiting forever on ya. It's good both ways!

[Sir Karsimir]

Greetings Setus! Welcome to Thar Shaddin!

I'm a relative newbie myself. Before coming here, I'd never done any play-by-post RP, but everyone here has been extremely welcoming, friendly, and helpful. It's great fun.

As for creating a character, I absolutely agree with what Railtus said about knowing what your character wants. Their goals -- to prove themselves, to stay out of jail, to gain power, or whatever -- are going to drive what they do and how they interact with everyone they meet. There is no more important piece of information.

Other than that, there are a couple of mistakes I've noticed people make when creating a character. One of them is that they make their character too powerful. Aside from the fact that insane levels of power aren't allowed for new characters, I think it actually makes the characters harder to play. The more unusual abilities that a character has, the further they are from being "human" -- and, assuming that you're human, that means you're less able to draw on your own experience when writing them. I'm not saying that it can't be done. Several people here do it very well. But it's not the easiest place to start.

Besides, it's not necessary to have godlike powers, since no one can kill your character without your permission. (They can, I suppose, beat you senseless and steal your clothes, but that hasn't happened to me...yet.)

The other mistake I notice is people creating characters who are complete loners. Since the whole point of RP is to interact with other characters, this seems to be giving yourself an unnecessary hurdle. Again, I'm not saying it can't be done -- circumstances can force even a hermit to deal with others -- but be aware that you're going to have to work a bit harder.

Anyway, those are my opinions. And very presumptuous opinions they are, considering that I've only been here a month. But I hope you find them helpful.

Again, welcome!

Assuming that you're human, heh.

Excellent point about loners, since loners tend to stay by themselves and never get involved with things. If you want to get involved in an RP then having a character willing to get involved with things is a good start.

To second that point about powers, first of all stories are mostly about conflict and challenges, and an overpowered character has fewer challenges and thus less RP potential. Furthermore, playing a "novice" character enables you to enjoy the character development and growth. If you notice, both Railtus and Krevster are on their way towards becoming MUCH greater things, but both transformations I would never miss out on.

[Frug]

w3rd up th3rz nuthing wrong w/ 1337 u kno

Imho itz hawt so ne1 who dont luv it can gtfo!!!1one

[Aislinn Vahtees]

I half agree with what you are saying about powerful characters. When they are too powerful and have no challenges it can be hard to RP. What I tend to do is give them massive flaws, huge chinks in their armour. Its like any RPG, if you have a magic character they tend to be weak with melee, and defensively poor. Same goes for a strong barbarian type of character, they should be rubbish with magic. Someone who has it all is boring. Saying that the chars i have that are good at fighting and magic tend to be rather reckless and get injured because they won't wear armour, and are arrogant. I like bringing those characters down to earth and teaching them in the RP's that power does not equal intelligence. :p

[Julen]

w3rd up th3rz nuthing wrong w/ 1337 u kno

Imho itz hawt so ne1 who dont luv it can gtfo!!!1one

I don't know what's scarier -- that some people actually write like that, or that I managed to figure most of it out.

I agree that powerful characters can be made interesting by giving them flaws, but again, you have to be willing to play those flaws. It may be hard for a newbie to get inside the head of someone so arrogant that they believe wearing armor when fighting dragons is purely optional.

Of course, the other thing with powerful characters is making sure they have appropriate challenges. For instance, Kamar is currently breaking out of the Justice Hall -- a task appropriate for a character of his skill level and abilities. If, instead, his goal was assassinating Julen, that would be a very short thread indeed. (Insert the sound of a bug being squished.) Although, now that Julen has Railtus to hide behind, maybe it wouldn't be such a complete massacre...

And, as Railtus pointed out, there is great joy in watching your character grow. The hope is that you'll be writing this person for a long time to come, so it makes sense to take pleasure in documenting their entire journey, even from the days before they could kick major ass.

[Sir Karsimir]

I don't know what's scarier -- that some people actually write like that, or that I managed to figure most of it out.

I agree that powerful characters can be made interesting by giving them flaws, but again, you have to be willing to play those flaws. It may be hard for a newbie to get inside the head of someone so arrogant that they believe wearing armor when fighting dragons is purely optional.

Of course, the other thing with powerful characters is making sure they have appropriate challenges. For instance, Kamar is currently breaking out of the Justice Hall -- a task appropriate for a character of his skill level and abilities. If, instead, his goal was assassinating Julen, that would be a very short thread indeed. (Insert the sound of a bug being squished.) Although, now that Julen has Railtus to hide behind, maybe it wouldn't be such a complete massacre...

And, as Railtus pointed out, there is great joy in watching your character grow. The hope is that you'll be writing this person for a long time to come, so it makes sense to take pleasure in documenting their entire journey, even from the days before they could kick major ass.

1) I have known some newbies who have trouble getting OUTSIDE the head of someone who believes that armour vs dragons is purely optional, which is why they pick such overwhelming powers. They don't realise that fighting a dragon SHOULD be the most harrowing (and usually final) experience of a character's life.

2) Not so much of a massacre. Julen may get, say, a 5 minute head start?

3) Think of Krevster, he is on his way towards becoming a champion of evil, there must be some horrific and soul-wracking tasks involved (starting with going toe-to-toe with a 90-foot centipede, do giant centipedes even have toes?). Proving himself is part of the fun, and doing things this way adds richness and detail to his descent into evil.