Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)Welcome to the Character Creation Topic
Our mission here is to come up with a general list of guidelines and principles to help with creating a new character. No, I'm not talking about making complete lists of acceptable skills, equipment, races, and the ilk. No. Rather, some loose guidelines to help guide through the common pitfalls of character creation, and how to make your profile/bio stand out in the crowd.
Hopefully this thread will help both those quite serious about their roleplaying, helping them examine their own characters, and those that are new to roleplaying.
Help is always appreciated. If you wish to submit some content here, just PM me, or post it in the thread, and it will be looked over and added if deemed helpful.
The Character Creation Guide Code of Conduct:
As follows are rules that shall be enforced, considering conduct of those who enter this thread. I'm a benevolent ruler, and willing to let some things slide. However repeated and blatant infractions will not be tolerated. I know some people can get into the spirit of the moment and forget themselves... so there will be some leniency.
1: Information Submitted to this thread must be created by the poster. This applies to profiles that are sent in to be critiqued, or articles written for the guide. The exception being if you have the permission and full knowledge of the original content creator to do so.
2: The standards of civilized behavior will be enforced here. This means when you disagree with someone, personal attacks will not be tolerated. You are free to disagree of course, but keep it within the realm of the issue at hand rather than such topics as can be taken as a personal insult.
3: Linking and Referencing. This is a Guide and Resource after all. You do not need to ask me to post a link to this guide in your thread or roleplay. However, I ask that you do not quote my guide in other locations, and instead just post links.
4: Keep posting in this thread OOC. Historically when I have posted this topic some Roleplaying has bursted out in the topic. While roleplaying is great, there are other places to do it.
News:
12/1/11: Bow before your new overlord! HA HA HA HA!
Table of Contents:
1st post: Mission Statement, news, table of contents.
2nd post: The Works, basic profile construction.
3rd post: History Lessons
4th post: Descriptions
5th post: Silk, Steel, and Sorcery: Lessons for the Combative Character
6th post: How to be a Team Player: NPCs, Organizations, and Groupies
7th post: Race: Angels, and Demons, and Vampires, Oh My.
8th post: The Best Blade is the Most Balanced Blade
9th post: Submitting New Content
10th post: Reader Submissions
About the Author:
I've been a roleplaying veteran for many years now, having first started roleplaying online back in Yahoo! Clubs (Before it was changed to groups) in early 1998. And before that, I had been a GM in many tabletop RPGs (Mostly Robotech, but I had done some WoD, D&D, and RIFTs). Now I have nearly 16 of roleplaying, and GMing experience under my belt, both online and off.
I have been involved in one part of another with many of the quasi legendary "events" on certain other roleplaying forums, massive short term roleplays involving upwards of 50 characters. The most successful of these (Or at least the the most memorable ones) being run by the legendary "Opaj". For every event he has run, I've been a Bio/Profile Grader, and usually a GM of some capacity. Just GMing and grading Profiles for his events, I've more than likely seen over 260 profiles in that capacity.
In addition to my regular hunting through other forums and roleplaying sites for good roleplay.
While I consider myself a general expert on roleplaying and profiles, there are some admitted weak points in my skills, mostly because I either don't care to play that setting, or have no experience with it. This includes, but is probably not limited to "High School" RPs, Magical Girl type roleplays, "Lifestyle" roleplays, and "Romance" roleplaying.
I do feel confident however, especially after grading and looking over so many profiles and characters that I do have a good grasp of the basics and the art of character crafting.
The Works:
Some people need this, some don't. But its worth covering for those that do. There parts that make up a working profile. Now I'm not going to deign to decree some official character profile style that shall be used across all of the site. But there are certain things that all good character profiles do have, and need. Here I will cover those things.
The Introduction: Should be at the very top of your profile. A lot of the most basic information should be here. The wide strokes that at a glance will tell someone how to roleplay with your character. This obviously means covering such things as Gender, Race, and Names. How much more you add beyond this is up to you. But that's all I consider really, really necessary. You can easily go overboard if you start adding in things like Height, Weight, Zodiac Sign, Hometown, and all the other things I've seen there. Of course if an RP demands something such as Hometown, or Zodiac Sign, or Pet, what have you, this is an excellent place to put it.
A standard one might look like this:
Name: Bob Roberts
Gender: Male
Race: Human (Bearer of a Chaos Shard)
Notice I tossed in a little note there next to human, right? If for some reason you are not a typical member of your race, for example, having bionics, or being a biological experiment with some alien arm graft, I usually like to note it there. Lets the person reading your profile know what is going on before reaching your history or abilities and going "What do you mean Alien Arm, you're human, aren't you?!".
The Meat: Here should be one of the sections you really spend time on. This is the Description section. Now there are stylistic differences. Some like to go bullet point list down it, mentioning height, weight, nationality, skin tone, hair color, eye color, distinguishing marks, clothes, etc, etc, etc. The list can get quite long, and that style tends to stretch out your profile. Not bad if you're thin on details, but for something with a little more meat the Descriptive Style works better.
There you go into a paragraph style description of your character. I like to start with generalities first, then refine into details. For example, first describing the build of the man, then coloration, including clothing and the styles they like to wear. I generally don't go into details about specific out fits. Too much. But saying generalities like 'Usally wears baggy clothes' or 'wears blue jeans and tee shirts'. Then finally, the minor refinement details. If you have any important objects, such as weapons, momento, and the like, make sure to mention it in your description, as well as where you usually keep it. Of course don't forget scars. Scars are important and overlooked. Saying you have that scarred knee from when you were three and fell off your first bike gives your character an added dimension that really makes them stand out better.
Of Steamworks and Magick Obscurae: Well, lets face it. Most RPs have combat and adventure of some sort. Those that don't, just don't bother with this section.
I speak of course to the Combat related section of the profile. This includes your character's equipment, and your character's skills, abilities, magics, special techniques, etc, etc, etc. There is so many sort of things you could put here, I won't even bother trying to list it.
However, I will suggest a few little somethings. One, make sure your Equipment, and your Abilities actually make sense in the context of your character's history. I can't even count the number of times I've seen Earth native characters with random magical powers, or westerners with Katana, civilians with high tech, secret, still classified weapons... the list goes on, and on, and on.
The other pitfall I wish to discuss right now is Power Curve. Its a touchy subject. But generally I'd suggest, if you're making a character from scratch, don't give your character the Legendary Sword of DOOM, or the Staff of the Archmage Blow Stuff The Hell Up. For one, it gives your character more options, not less, when roleplaying. I mean, it sounds so typical (But oddly enough is never done on Gaia, at least not that I've ever seen), but if you have only normal equipment to start with you can launch a nice, epic quest to find that ultimate sword of doom. Because to me, roleplaying to get your awesome powers and equipment is so much more fun than actually having it.
At the very least, if you're thinking of joining a demanding, literate roleplay, not creating a character with Legendary Status, will more likely get you invited to play. Again it comes down to standing out from the crowd. On most sites where there are so many Legendary Swordsmen, Demons of Ultimate Power, Magic Powers that can blow up a large chunk of the world, being just "normal", or even just "Low Level" really makes you stand out as a unique, talented roleplayer.
You can always accumulate those ungodly powers during your adventures.
Back to the business at hand. Description is KING here. A profile that describes their power armor in detail, including weaknesses as well as strengths, will always appear more intersting than one that just says...
"Diety Inc. Power Armor with Gauss Rifle".
((Note: I'm not picking on people that actually play from Diety Inc. They've always been great roleplayers, and very detail heavy on their profiles.))
Another thing. Just because you have magic, doesn't mean you shouldn't bother with details. People say it's better to be vague than BS about something you don't know. That works fine for Tech. But Magic is already vague enough. When you create a magic weilding character try to be more descriptive with your abilities than "Makes a ball of fire".
The Dressing: I call it that, because frankly, I don't see it as necessary. Some people demand it however.
Personality. That's what I'm talking about. As well as different subsets such as Alignment and "quirks". Lets face it, these things aren't going to define your character. In fact, the best characters generally use this area to reinforce things in their History sections. For example, someone might notice in 'quirks' that they don't look people in the eye when talking to them, using it to reinforce a parent that might have been overbearing in their history.
Beware of The Paradox. I see it a lot. People that say things like "Shy... but will always stand up for what she believes in". Or things like "Coward but will always stick up for her friends". Both of which I've seen quite often. Sure, there are little contradictions in people's personalities in real life. But not to those extremes. Personality, and related sections are one of the few places I'd tell you to be purposefully vague.
The Grand Daddy: This, almost without fail, will tend to be the largest section of your profile. The only thing that should compare is perhaps your combat related section, depending if you go all Deity Inc and into every little bit of ballistic details and mechanics.
History. History, yes. History is like the Force (Or Duct tape), is surrounds your character, flows through your character, binds your character together. History should, optimally, be referenced in part throughout your bio. Use bits of history in your descriptions. Use bits of history to relate how you learned your abilities or gained your equipment. Use your history to explain your personality.
Everything, optimally, in your profile should link to, and make sense in the context of your history. In the worst case, your history would have nothing to do with your character, either his description, or abilities. For example, a profile I graded for Triad had someone from Earth, with a normal-ish childhood (Though it involved a school shooting), who, for an unstated reason had Naruto style ninja powers.
Yeah...
That's pretty much what I thought.
So when you look over your profile, keep in mind two driving principles. One, Detail is KING. As my friend would say "It's like sex, more is always more desirable than less".
The second principle, everything should more or less make sense in the context of the history you have written.
History Lessons:
I do believe that History is the most important part of a profile, and a character. A good history shows not only where a character came from, but gives you a look into why he is where he is, where he might be going, what can motivate him, and what his weaknesses might be.
In short, it makes a character into a person, rather than a collection of equipment and stats. History is what separates great console RP heroes like the silent Chrono, with the great literary heroes such as Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. (I consider him a well written character, with a deep history that was always just below the surface)
There is one major, huge cardinal rule of History, one that cannot be understated.
Just because your character has amnesia, or otherwise does not remember your history, doesn't mean it didn't happen, and that your GM shouldn't know it.
Too often I've seen people cop out on their histories saying something like "Woke up in a forest one day and doesn't remember anything".
Too often I see that later turned into something game breaking like "Oh, yeah, she's actually a fallen god of destruction with limitless power that she just discovered". Robbing your GM of this information isn't just bad roleplaying or character creation, it's almost criminal. It can kill off a roleplay, and it can turn even the most innocent character into a sudden Mary Sue type (In the sense that they are randomly the most powerful, take the spotlight, good at anything, etc).
As players, you should be ashamed if you stoop to such dirty tactics to sneak in God Characters and Mary Sues. As GMs and Moderators of Roleplays, you should never allow someone to get away with such a history that could leave them as the Chosen One that can do everything on their own. (What's the fun of a roleplay if one character can do everything and doesn't need anyone?)
Again, even if your character doesn't remember a part of their history, put it down. It saves people from having nasty shocks later on when the veil is pulled back and it's all revealed.
Point Two: Orphans.
I find myself wondering why, momentarily, that so many roleplay characters are Orphans. Then I realize what it seems to be, as an objective reader, is a cop out. A way to avoid having a family, and thus possibly loved one to be used against you. Or to simplify a profile history while trying to make it look like it has depth.
Take a look at the roleplaying event know as Triad. For that event we had almost 50 bios. Almost 30 of which featured characters who had no Mother or Father. Usually their family slaughtered in some accident when they were younger than 10, and somehow they managed to take up the sword/firearm and go on a crusade of justice. Or just hoboing around. Or becoming a Mercenary, all before they hit puberty.
I know and understand some settings features younger than real world ages. I mean, 16 on here can have you being some ungodly powerful Mage. 18 and you can be running some massive mafia, which you rose through from the very bottom, of course, probably some foot soldier/dope dealer at the age of 6.
Let me tell you though. There is nothing wrong with having a family. Hell, there is nothing wrong with having a normal, functional, loving family. (Out of the 20 so other bios in triad, it seemed 7 had seriously dysfunctional families, and 3 others had psycho parents from hell) In fact, given the numbers, your character is actually more unique for having a 'boring' family life and childhood than being some Batman-esque figure with slaughtered parents.
That brings me to another point.
Overkill. Detail is GOOD. I won't begrudge you that. However, be wary of going into too much detail. Your history should reflect your character, not every birthday, and minor event in his life from birth to present. In general, I say stick with a loose overview of your history. Where did he come from, what sorta place did he live in, how did he fit into society, any special, out of the normal behavior, and Major Events. For example, Parents being Slaughtered, while not recommended, is a major event you go into detail about. Not just...
"Oh, and some guy killed my parents in front of me... moving on"
((Aside: I had actually read a bio once that said, and I quote "She was fighting in the battle. And then she almost died. Then she rescued..." so you see that I'm not blowing smoke, this does happen))
Finally, when you approach your history sections, it is important to have a Policy about it. A set of guidelines and rules you yourself follow when creating it. I cannot stress enough:
RULES BREED CREATIVITY, NOT STIFLE IT!
Set Rules for yourself. Keep yourself on those rules. And call BS when you start figuring out a loophole around your rules. The Rules will force your mind down new paths, new histories that you never would have discovered for yourself. Get specific with your rules. Get downright nasty, and really burn your brains trying to work within them. Trust me, it'll pay off.
Lastly, consider how you want to write you history. Do you want a "Top Down" character, or a "Bottom's up" character?
Top Down characters, by that I mean characters that are designed from the Top, Down, on the profile sheet. Come up with your name, race, gender first, then your description, then your abilities, equipment, etc, and finally, you try to find a history that fits all those details you want. This can be a real organic method. Especially if you have a specific hook you want to hang the character on.
For example, one of my most comedic characters was created this way. Jim, the Underpants Magi. All based around a line I uttered in a roleplay (I ambushed someone in the shower, and he asked to cover his nakedness with his boxers on the floor. My nervous character cried out, "No, for all I know you're some Underpants Magi!". Thus I created the character solely on the idea of a Mage who uses underwear to cast magic.
A Bottom's Up character therefor, is created History First, and then abilities, equipment, description, name, race, etc, all flow out from the history. These characters tend to have a very interconnected profile, as the history comes first, it can be constantly referenced in the other sections. So what you have is something that feels more like one piece describing your character, rather than several different sections breaking it apart.
I love the Bottom's Up style myself. I use it for most of my characters. Including the now infamous Isoroku Ikari (The only character profile that got a perfect score in Triad from the profile graders), Daniel, Morgan Flare, Bob Roberts, Randolf O'Keefe, and many others.
Each has its own unique advantages, and you really need to find the style that works for you. Those are but two of them. The two I use, and can vouch for. Remember if you use a Top Down method, to reference your skills, abilities, and items of importance in your history. Look up, see what major items you have. A silver chain you always wear? Write up a section in your history about where your got it, and why you always wear it. Learn a skill like Magic, or Picking Pockets? Where, when?
Interconnect your profile to your History, and watch it soar by leaps and bounds.
Descriptions:
We all have them. We all know them. And we so easily can fail at them. They're not that hard, and can be a lot of fun, as long as you keep your eyes out for these potholes on the road.
As I've said before, your appearance should link to your history. Just like everything else. For example, that Japanese Warring States era character probably won't have Kevlar vests, tennis shoes, and Hawaiian shirts. Just as that modern character you have probably shouldn't have a suit of armor and an ancient katana.
Forum Roleplaying breeds... strangeness. Eras and character types that shouldn't be together, everything from Future Tech, to Modern Anime, to Medival, are bumping right next to one another. Thus there is no real reason why your Feudal Japanese warrior couldn't have gotten his hand on some laser pistol in some scene from one of the Future Tech types. Nor why your modern Anime style character can't have an ancient staff of Magical Doom. While it can be interesting my advice is to wait. Pick a time period, setting, etc, for your character, and when you create them, give them only clothes, items, and other descriptors from that time period. As they roleplay with others you can start adding in your mismatched items from across time and space.
And may the lords of RPing help you if you think you can be clever. To show an example... I had a character profile I was grading for Triad. Who said, and I quote "Does not wear traditional warrior's garb but instead a black shirt, black jeans, and a black cloak".
Can anyone tell me what was wrong with that? For one, he implies his warrior is not traditional, and dresses as his own man. Secondly, the clothes he describes are in fact what a majority of warrior type characters wear when wandering around that particular (And many other forum board) site. So that is actually more "Traditional" than wearing armor, or a uniform.
Keep your eyes open. Read other people's descriptions. Soon you should start to see patterns. Patterns are bad. If you follow the pattern, your character isn't visually distinguishable from others.
For example, the four most common colors for clothing seem to be, in order, Black, White, Blue, and Red. Four colors. That's all. So as you're creating your character, and you find yourself typing up the likes of "black shirt" or "white cloak", pause, look over what you typed, and ask yourself, "Does it really need to be that way?"
As well, think before you leap. Make sure your description fits the character. Strong characters aren't going to be thin and twig like. (With the obvious exception of some magically strong race perhaps) Short people just aren't going to be as fast as taller people. People in snowy climates tend to have less summer clothes than warm, baggy winter gear. People in warm climates tend not to have heavy jackets. Think about what sort of abilities you want, and where your character comes from. Make sure the character you describe fits with these minor little details. (No more 6 foot tall Japanese men)
Don't be afraid to go from the norm on your description. What is the norm? Roughly here's what it seems to be. Tall, thin, all muscle, no fat, long hair, usually age 16-22, either dressed as a Civilian (Tee shirt, jeans, jacket maybe), a Rogue (Read: Cape, black clothes, hood), or soldier (Body armor, uniforms, helmets, always seems to have some sort of automatic weapon). This is by no means a complete list, but in my experience it is a list of the three most common archetypes. With anime style humans favoring the first, demons and theives the second, and Mercenaries the third. (Note that "Badasses" are found in all three, and also this is describing male characters. Female characters have their own lists...)
There is nothing wrong with the above descriptions. If you can do them, and pull them off in a way that is interesting to read, more power to you. If you don't believe you have the skills to take something that any moderately experienced GM has probably read a couple dozen times at least, move on.
Like history, setting some Rules for yourself can really help you create a visually distinctive character. Personally I like to start with a Hook of some type. Say... I want to create a Fat character. Or an old guy who's on the verge of life and death. Or a 12 year old kid. Or maybe a Priest. These hooks can give me a lot of information not only for my history and other sections later on, but on my description as well.
For example, the Priest tells me several distinctive things. One, that as a religious man, he probably has strict codes and disciplines. This can include standard vestments or garb that he's limited to wearing. Also it can suggest that he would carry some sort of holy symbol upon himself, a mark of his faith. Also, as a Priest, I can determine that he probably has vows of poverty, chastity, and perhaps others, all of which will visually distinguish him. Because of his poverty charity his clothes tend to be simple, natural fibers, cotton perhaps, wool, no silks, no velvet, no golden ropes or metalic embroidery. And as he vows to be chaste, he takes no particular efforts to make himself look good to the opposite sex.
Which bring up another point. Attractiveness. Lets face it. Real people, there are more ugly ones, or plain ones, than real knockouts and lookers. But player characters aren't supposed to be average joe. No, they're supposed to be Above Average Tim. So it seems natural they would look better than their plebian counterparts, right?
Well, consider what your character does. A life of hard labor, or fighting, is likely to leave skin scarred, cracked, exposed to the elements. They might have blemishes from when they came down with some disfiguring disease... an adventurer's life ain't for pretty boys. There's a lot of stuff out there that'll scuff up the shine on your boots and your teeth.
Finally, one last bit before I take my rest for the night.
Senses.
Descriptions tend to be one dimensional. The most convenient sense for describing how someone looks is, well, sight. Descriptions tend to be entirely sight based. He is of X dimensions. Color, form, shape.
Liven up your descriptions. Bring some color into it. Take four senses instead of one. Describe how your character smells, perhaps the noise of that old metal hip he has makes when he walks around. How does the character feel? Rough skin? Tough leathery hides? Soft, smooth silk clothing?
Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch. Use them all. Taste is generally out of the question. Unless you plan on being eaten. (Hey, it could happen in a Zombie/Vampire Roleplay)
Correction, one last bit. Finally, if you want a unique description, there is one thing to go to. Everyone else's profile. If you're joining an established roleplay, then most likely there are profiles up there already somewhere. Characters that have been completed, accepted, and are running around.
Look them over, check them out, see what patterns they have, what archetypes they have, then try to avoid using them. That simple.
Like many other arts, creating a visually distinctive character starts with studying the characters around you. See what features are commonplace. Dark skin? Blond hair? Thin? Short? Tall? Dark clothes? Hawaiian shirts? Compile a list in your mind, then try to find a way to describe your character without using the descriptors on that list.
Our mission here is to come up with a general list of guidelines and principles to help with creating a new character. No, I'm not talking about making complete lists of acceptable skills, equipment, races, and the ilk. No. Rather, some loose guidelines to help guide through the common pitfalls of character creation, and how to make your profile/bio stand out in the crowd.
Hopefully this thread will help both those quite serious about their roleplaying, helping them examine their own characters, and those that are new to roleplaying.
Help is always appreciated. If you wish to submit some content here, just PM me, or post it in the thread, and it will be looked over and added if deemed helpful.
The Character Creation Guide Code of Conduct:
As follows are rules that shall be enforced, considering conduct of those who enter this thread. I'm a benevolent ruler, and willing to let some things slide. However repeated and blatant infractions will not be tolerated. I know some people can get into the spirit of the moment and forget themselves... so there will be some leniency.
1: Information Submitted to this thread must be created by the poster. This applies to profiles that are sent in to be critiqued, or articles written for the guide. The exception being if you have the permission and full knowledge of the original content creator to do so.
2: The standards of civilized behavior will be enforced here. This means when you disagree with someone, personal attacks will not be tolerated. You are free to disagree of course, but keep it within the realm of the issue at hand rather than such topics as can be taken as a personal insult.
3: Linking and Referencing. This is a Guide and Resource after all. You do not need to ask me to post a link to this guide in your thread or roleplay. However, I ask that you do not quote my guide in other locations, and instead just post links.
4: Keep posting in this thread OOC. Historically when I have posted this topic some Roleplaying has bursted out in the topic. While roleplaying is great, there are other places to do it.
News:
12/1/11: Bow before your new overlord! HA HA HA HA!
Table of Contents:
1st post: Mission Statement, news, table of contents.
2nd post: The Works, basic profile construction.
3rd post: History Lessons
4th post: Descriptions
5th post: Silk, Steel, and Sorcery: Lessons for the Combative Character
6th post: How to be a Team Player: NPCs, Organizations, and Groupies
7th post: Race: Angels, and Demons, and Vampires, Oh My.
8th post: The Best Blade is the Most Balanced Blade
9th post: Submitting New Content
10th post: Reader Submissions
About the Author:
I've been a roleplaying veteran for many years now, having first started roleplaying online back in Yahoo! Clubs (Before it was changed to groups) in early 1998. And before that, I had been a GM in many tabletop RPGs (Mostly Robotech, but I had done some WoD, D&D, and RIFTs). Now I have nearly 16 of roleplaying, and GMing experience under my belt, both online and off.
I have been involved in one part of another with many of the quasi legendary "events" on certain other roleplaying forums, massive short term roleplays involving upwards of 50 characters. The most successful of these (Or at least the the most memorable ones) being run by the legendary "Opaj". For every event he has run, I've been a Bio/Profile Grader, and usually a GM of some capacity. Just GMing and grading Profiles for his events, I've more than likely seen over 260 profiles in that capacity.
In addition to my regular hunting through other forums and roleplaying sites for good roleplay.
While I consider myself a general expert on roleplaying and profiles, there are some admitted weak points in my skills, mostly because I either don't care to play that setting, or have no experience with it. This includes, but is probably not limited to "High School" RPs, Magical Girl type roleplays, "Lifestyle" roleplays, and "Romance" roleplaying.
I do feel confident however, especially after grading and looking over so many profiles and characters that I do have a good grasp of the basics and the art of character crafting.
The Works:
Some people need this, some don't. But its worth covering for those that do. There parts that make up a working profile. Now I'm not going to deign to decree some official character profile style that shall be used across all of the site. But there are certain things that all good character profiles do have, and need. Here I will cover those things.
The Introduction: Should be at the very top of your profile. A lot of the most basic information should be here. The wide strokes that at a glance will tell someone how to roleplay with your character. This obviously means covering such things as Gender, Race, and Names. How much more you add beyond this is up to you. But that's all I consider really, really necessary. You can easily go overboard if you start adding in things like Height, Weight, Zodiac Sign, Hometown, and all the other things I've seen there. Of course if an RP demands something such as Hometown, or Zodiac Sign, or Pet, what have you, this is an excellent place to put it.
A standard one might look like this:
Name: Bob Roberts
Gender: Male
Race: Human (Bearer of a Chaos Shard)
Notice I tossed in a little note there next to human, right? If for some reason you are not a typical member of your race, for example, having bionics, or being a biological experiment with some alien arm graft, I usually like to note it there. Lets the person reading your profile know what is going on before reaching your history or abilities and going "What do you mean Alien Arm, you're human, aren't you?!".
The Meat: Here should be one of the sections you really spend time on. This is the Description section. Now there are stylistic differences. Some like to go bullet point list down it, mentioning height, weight, nationality, skin tone, hair color, eye color, distinguishing marks, clothes, etc, etc, etc. The list can get quite long, and that style tends to stretch out your profile. Not bad if you're thin on details, but for something with a little more meat the Descriptive Style works better.
There you go into a paragraph style description of your character. I like to start with generalities first, then refine into details. For example, first describing the build of the man, then coloration, including clothing and the styles they like to wear. I generally don't go into details about specific out fits. Too much. But saying generalities like 'Usally wears baggy clothes' or 'wears blue jeans and tee shirts'. Then finally, the minor refinement details. If you have any important objects, such as weapons, momento, and the like, make sure to mention it in your description, as well as where you usually keep it. Of course don't forget scars. Scars are important and overlooked. Saying you have that scarred knee from when you were three and fell off your first bike gives your character an added dimension that really makes them stand out better.
Of Steamworks and Magick Obscurae: Well, lets face it. Most RPs have combat and adventure of some sort. Those that don't, just don't bother with this section.
I speak of course to the Combat related section of the profile. This includes your character's equipment, and your character's skills, abilities, magics, special techniques, etc, etc, etc. There is so many sort of things you could put here, I won't even bother trying to list it.
However, I will suggest a few little somethings. One, make sure your Equipment, and your Abilities actually make sense in the context of your character's history. I can't even count the number of times I've seen Earth native characters with random magical powers, or westerners with Katana, civilians with high tech, secret, still classified weapons... the list goes on, and on, and on.
The other pitfall I wish to discuss right now is Power Curve. Its a touchy subject. But generally I'd suggest, if you're making a character from scratch, don't give your character the Legendary Sword of DOOM, or the Staff of the Archmage Blow Stuff The Hell Up. For one, it gives your character more options, not less, when roleplaying. I mean, it sounds so typical (But oddly enough is never done on Gaia, at least not that I've ever seen), but if you have only normal equipment to start with you can launch a nice, epic quest to find that ultimate sword of doom. Because to me, roleplaying to get your awesome powers and equipment is so much more fun than actually having it.
At the very least, if you're thinking of joining a demanding, literate roleplay, not creating a character with Legendary Status, will more likely get you invited to play. Again it comes down to standing out from the crowd. On most sites where there are so many Legendary Swordsmen, Demons of Ultimate Power, Magic Powers that can blow up a large chunk of the world, being just "normal", or even just "Low Level" really makes you stand out as a unique, talented roleplayer.
You can always accumulate those ungodly powers during your adventures.
Back to the business at hand. Description is KING here. A profile that describes their power armor in detail, including weaknesses as well as strengths, will always appear more intersting than one that just says...
"Diety Inc. Power Armor with Gauss Rifle".
((Note: I'm not picking on people that actually play from Diety Inc. They've always been great roleplayers, and very detail heavy on their profiles.))
Another thing. Just because you have magic, doesn't mean you shouldn't bother with details. People say it's better to be vague than BS about something you don't know. That works fine for Tech. But Magic is already vague enough. When you create a magic weilding character try to be more descriptive with your abilities than "Makes a ball of fire".
The Dressing: I call it that, because frankly, I don't see it as necessary. Some people demand it however.
Personality. That's what I'm talking about. As well as different subsets such as Alignment and "quirks". Lets face it, these things aren't going to define your character. In fact, the best characters generally use this area to reinforce things in their History sections. For example, someone might notice in 'quirks' that they don't look people in the eye when talking to them, using it to reinforce a parent that might have been overbearing in their history.
Beware of The Paradox. I see it a lot. People that say things like "Shy... but will always stand up for what she believes in". Or things like "Coward but will always stick up for her friends". Both of which I've seen quite often. Sure, there are little contradictions in people's personalities in real life. But not to those extremes. Personality, and related sections are one of the few places I'd tell you to be purposefully vague.
The Grand Daddy: This, almost without fail, will tend to be the largest section of your profile. The only thing that should compare is perhaps your combat related section, depending if you go all Deity Inc and into every little bit of ballistic details and mechanics.
History. History, yes. History is like the Force (Or Duct tape), is surrounds your character, flows through your character, binds your character together. History should, optimally, be referenced in part throughout your bio. Use bits of history in your descriptions. Use bits of history to relate how you learned your abilities or gained your equipment. Use your history to explain your personality.
Everything, optimally, in your profile should link to, and make sense in the context of your history. In the worst case, your history would have nothing to do with your character, either his description, or abilities. For example, a profile I graded for Triad had someone from Earth, with a normal-ish childhood (Though it involved a school shooting), who, for an unstated reason had Naruto style ninja powers.
Yeah...
That's pretty much what I thought.
So when you look over your profile, keep in mind two driving principles. One, Detail is KING. As my friend would say "It's like sex, more is always more desirable than less".
The second principle, everything should more or less make sense in the context of the history you have written.
History Lessons:
I do believe that History is the most important part of a profile, and a character. A good history shows not only where a character came from, but gives you a look into why he is where he is, where he might be going, what can motivate him, and what his weaknesses might be.
In short, it makes a character into a person, rather than a collection of equipment and stats. History is what separates great console RP heroes like the silent Chrono, with the great literary heroes such as Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. (I consider him a well written character, with a deep history that was always just below the surface)
There is one major, huge cardinal rule of History, one that cannot be understated.
Just because your character has amnesia, or otherwise does not remember your history, doesn't mean it didn't happen, and that your GM shouldn't know it.
Too often I've seen people cop out on their histories saying something like "Woke up in a forest one day and doesn't remember anything".
Too often I see that later turned into something game breaking like "Oh, yeah, she's actually a fallen god of destruction with limitless power that she just discovered". Robbing your GM of this information isn't just bad roleplaying or character creation, it's almost criminal. It can kill off a roleplay, and it can turn even the most innocent character into a sudden Mary Sue type (In the sense that they are randomly the most powerful, take the spotlight, good at anything, etc).
As players, you should be ashamed if you stoop to such dirty tactics to sneak in God Characters and Mary Sues. As GMs and Moderators of Roleplays, you should never allow someone to get away with such a history that could leave them as the Chosen One that can do everything on their own. (What's the fun of a roleplay if one character can do everything and doesn't need anyone?)
Again, even if your character doesn't remember a part of their history, put it down. It saves people from having nasty shocks later on when the veil is pulled back and it's all revealed.
Point Two: Orphans.
I find myself wondering why, momentarily, that so many roleplay characters are Orphans. Then I realize what it seems to be, as an objective reader, is a cop out. A way to avoid having a family, and thus possibly loved one to be used against you. Or to simplify a profile history while trying to make it look like it has depth.
Take a look at the roleplaying event know as Triad. For that event we had almost 50 bios. Almost 30 of which featured characters who had no Mother or Father. Usually their family slaughtered in some accident when they were younger than 10, and somehow they managed to take up the sword/firearm and go on a crusade of justice. Or just hoboing around. Or becoming a Mercenary, all before they hit puberty.
I know and understand some settings features younger than real world ages. I mean, 16 on here can have you being some ungodly powerful Mage. 18 and you can be running some massive mafia, which you rose through from the very bottom, of course, probably some foot soldier/dope dealer at the age of 6.
Let me tell you though. There is nothing wrong with having a family. Hell, there is nothing wrong with having a normal, functional, loving family. (Out of the 20 so other bios in triad, it seemed 7 had seriously dysfunctional families, and 3 others had psycho parents from hell) In fact, given the numbers, your character is actually more unique for having a 'boring' family life and childhood than being some Batman-esque figure with slaughtered parents.
That brings me to another point.
Overkill. Detail is GOOD. I won't begrudge you that. However, be wary of going into too much detail. Your history should reflect your character, not every birthday, and minor event in his life from birth to present. In general, I say stick with a loose overview of your history. Where did he come from, what sorta place did he live in, how did he fit into society, any special, out of the normal behavior, and Major Events. For example, Parents being Slaughtered, while not recommended, is a major event you go into detail about. Not just...
"Oh, and some guy killed my parents in front of me... moving on"
((Aside: I had actually read a bio once that said, and I quote "She was fighting in the battle. And then she almost died. Then she rescued..." so you see that I'm not blowing smoke, this does happen))
Finally, when you approach your history sections, it is important to have a Policy about it. A set of guidelines and rules you yourself follow when creating it. I cannot stress enough:
RULES BREED CREATIVITY, NOT STIFLE IT!
Set Rules for yourself. Keep yourself on those rules. And call BS when you start figuring out a loophole around your rules. The Rules will force your mind down new paths, new histories that you never would have discovered for yourself. Get specific with your rules. Get downright nasty, and really burn your brains trying to work within them. Trust me, it'll pay off.
Lastly, consider how you want to write you history. Do you want a "Top Down" character, or a "Bottom's up" character?
Top Down characters, by that I mean characters that are designed from the Top, Down, on the profile sheet. Come up with your name, race, gender first, then your description, then your abilities, equipment, etc, and finally, you try to find a history that fits all those details you want. This can be a real organic method. Especially if you have a specific hook you want to hang the character on.
For example, one of my most comedic characters was created this way. Jim, the Underpants Magi. All based around a line I uttered in a roleplay (I ambushed someone in the shower, and he asked to cover his nakedness with his boxers on the floor. My nervous character cried out, "No, for all I know you're some Underpants Magi!". Thus I created the character solely on the idea of a Mage who uses underwear to cast magic.
A Bottom's Up character therefor, is created History First, and then abilities, equipment, description, name, race, etc, all flow out from the history. These characters tend to have a very interconnected profile, as the history comes first, it can be constantly referenced in the other sections. So what you have is something that feels more like one piece describing your character, rather than several different sections breaking it apart.
I love the Bottom's Up style myself. I use it for most of my characters. Including the now infamous Isoroku Ikari (The only character profile that got a perfect score in Triad from the profile graders), Daniel, Morgan Flare, Bob Roberts, Randolf O'Keefe, and many others.
Each has its own unique advantages, and you really need to find the style that works for you. Those are but two of them. The two I use, and can vouch for. Remember if you use a Top Down method, to reference your skills, abilities, and items of importance in your history. Look up, see what major items you have. A silver chain you always wear? Write up a section in your history about where your got it, and why you always wear it. Learn a skill like Magic, or Picking Pockets? Where, when?
Interconnect your profile to your History, and watch it soar by leaps and bounds.
Descriptions:
We all have them. We all know them. And we so easily can fail at them. They're not that hard, and can be a lot of fun, as long as you keep your eyes out for these potholes on the road.
As I've said before, your appearance should link to your history. Just like everything else. For example, that Japanese Warring States era character probably won't have Kevlar vests, tennis shoes, and Hawaiian shirts. Just as that modern character you have probably shouldn't have a suit of armor and an ancient katana.
Forum Roleplaying breeds... strangeness. Eras and character types that shouldn't be together, everything from Future Tech, to Modern Anime, to Medival, are bumping right next to one another. Thus there is no real reason why your Feudal Japanese warrior couldn't have gotten his hand on some laser pistol in some scene from one of the Future Tech types. Nor why your modern Anime style character can't have an ancient staff of Magical Doom. While it can be interesting my advice is to wait. Pick a time period, setting, etc, for your character, and when you create them, give them only clothes, items, and other descriptors from that time period. As they roleplay with others you can start adding in your mismatched items from across time and space.
And may the lords of RPing help you if you think you can be clever. To show an example... I had a character profile I was grading for Triad. Who said, and I quote "Does not wear traditional warrior's garb but instead a black shirt, black jeans, and a black cloak".
Can anyone tell me what was wrong with that? For one, he implies his warrior is not traditional, and dresses as his own man. Secondly, the clothes he describes are in fact what a majority of warrior type characters wear when wandering around that particular (And many other forum board) site. So that is actually more "Traditional" than wearing armor, or a uniform.
Keep your eyes open. Read other people's descriptions. Soon you should start to see patterns. Patterns are bad. If you follow the pattern, your character isn't visually distinguishable from others.
For example, the four most common colors for clothing seem to be, in order, Black, White, Blue, and Red. Four colors. That's all. So as you're creating your character, and you find yourself typing up the likes of "black shirt" or "white cloak", pause, look over what you typed, and ask yourself, "Does it really need to be that way?"
As well, think before you leap. Make sure your description fits the character. Strong characters aren't going to be thin and twig like. (With the obvious exception of some magically strong race perhaps) Short people just aren't going to be as fast as taller people. People in snowy climates tend to have less summer clothes than warm, baggy winter gear. People in warm climates tend not to have heavy jackets. Think about what sort of abilities you want, and where your character comes from. Make sure the character you describe fits with these minor little details. (No more 6 foot tall Japanese men)
Don't be afraid to go from the norm on your description. What is the norm? Roughly here's what it seems to be. Tall, thin, all muscle, no fat, long hair, usually age 16-22, either dressed as a Civilian (Tee shirt, jeans, jacket maybe), a Rogue (Read: Cape, black clothes, hood), or soldier (Body armor, uniforms, helmets, always seems to have some sort of automatic weapon). This is by no means a complete list, but in my experience it is a list of the three most common archetypes. With anime style humans favoring the first, demons and theives the second, and Mercenaries the third. (Note that "Badasses" are found in all three, and also this is describing male characters. Female characters have their own lists...)
There is nothing wrong with the above descriptions. If you can do them, and pull them off in a way that is interesting to read, more power to you. If you don't believe you have the skills to take something that any moderately experienced GM has probably read a couple dozen times at least, move on.
Like history, setting some Rules for yourself can really help you create a visually distinctive character. Personally I like to start with a Hook of some type. Say... I want to create a Fat character. Or an old guy who's on the verge of life and death. Or a 12 year old kid. Or maybe a Priest. These hooks can give me a lot of information not only for my history and other sections later on, but on my description as well.
For example, the Priest tells me several distinctive things. One, that as a religious man, he probably has strict codes and disciplines. This can include standard vestments or garb that he's limited to wearing. Also it can suggest that he would carry some sort of holy symbol upon himself, a mark of his faith. Also, as a Priest, I can determine that he probably has vows of poverty, chastity, and perhaps others, all of which will visually distinguish him. Because of his poverty charity his clothes tend to be simple, natural fibers, cotton perhaps, wool, no silks, no velvet, no golden ropes or metalic embroidery. And as he vows to be chaste, he takes no particular efforts to make himself look good to the opposite sex.
Which bring up another point. Attractiveness. Lets face it. Real people, there are more ugly ones, or plain ones, than real knockouts and lookers. But player characters aren't supposed to be average joe. No, they're supposed to be Above Average Tim. So it seems natural they would look better than their plebian counterparts, right?
Well, consider what your character does. A life of hard labor, or fighting, is likely to leave skin scarred, cracked, exposed to the elements. They might have blemishes from when they came down with some disfiguring disease... an adventurer's life ain't for pretty boys. There's a lot of stuff out there that'll scuff up the shine on your boots and your teeth.
Finally, one last bit before I take my rest for the night.
Senses.
Descriptions tend to be one dimensional. The most convenient sense for describing how someone looks is, well, sight. Descriptions tend to be entirely sight based. He is of X dimensions. Color, form, shape.
Liven up your descriptions. Bring some color into it. Take four senses instead of one. Describe how your character smells, perhaps the noise of that old metal hip he has makes when he walks around. How does the character feel? Rough skin? Tough leathery hides? Soft, smooth silk clothing?
Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch. Use them all. Taste is generally out of the question. Unless you plan on being eaten. (Hey, it could happen in a Zombie/Vampire Roleplay)
Correction, one last bit. Finally, if you want a unique description, there is one thing to go to. Everyone else's profile. If you're joining an established roleplay, then most likely there are profiles up there already somewhere. Characters that have been completed, accepted, and are running around.
Look them over, check them out, see what patterns they have, what archetypes they have, then try to avoid using them. That simple.
Like many other arts, creating a visually distinctive character starts with studying the characters around you. See what features are commonplace. Dark skin? Blond hair? Thin? Short? Tall? Dark clothes? Hawaiian shirts? Compile a list in your mind, then try to find a way to describe your character without using the descriptors on that list.