Post by StoryTeller on Sept 4, 2008 3:29:06 GMT
As you get started and looking around (which I presume you have done already), I am sure you have come up with many questions on how to play here. Lets start with this room...
You have noticed there are several categories entitled; Player profiles, Player equipment list and Player/Character journals.
Player Profiles: In this room, create your characters biography by clicking on the start a new thread link. Title it by your characters name. For example: Jonas Valgardsen. Within the room you have created, use the following template to create your characters biography for others to view at any time. Be sure to lock down the room by using the "lock thread" box under your post so that nobody can mess with your biography or post to it.
Name: As mentioned above, your character name should be something fantasy-ish. A name like Bob or Sue, or even worse...Biker13, just wont cut it. If you seriously lack inspiration, check out one of seventh sanctum's name generators (http://www.seventhsanctum.net). If the name has an abnormal pronunciation put that in too, and also any nicknames your character has or aliases they go by.
Race: When you choose a race, think carefully about how you may offset the whole balance of the rpg your taking part in. Many rp'ers like to play half dragons or other such nonsense which are just far too powerful. Here, on this site... please stick to the basics. There are the base races of Human, Halfling, Dwarven, Elven, Orc-ish and Goblin or any half combo of those. Thats it. This allows for a huge variance on how you can look and act. For example, you could be a tall muscular male with a protruding brow, bad temper, long pointed ears and grow a beard. Basically, Orc/Human/Dwarf/Elf mixed. Interesting but fun too. Bad example I guess because we only have two combinations on this site. You will see in your profile the option to choose your race.
Class: Like race, think this through and make sure you understand it and how it could affect your games before rping. I recommend writing up the rest of your character's info before choosing a class for them. When you rp, make sure what your character does makes sense for someone of their race e.g. a berserker is not going to visit the town library.
Gender: Do I need to explain this?
Age: Age is a finicky thing. Please keep in mind... the older a character is, the more life experience they have and thus are better at things than others. There is no fun to be had when role playing with a person who's character is a master at everything. Humility in game play and character creation can and will make the experience enjoyable for everyone, including you.
Nature: Usually referred to as alignment in other game systems. Describe your characters nature as you see fit. Your looking for something along the lines of... couldn't hurt a fly but could easily dispatch a goblin without much guilt! Or... Appears to be a warm loving individual but has over 200 kills to his name under contracts. You could also just leave this blank in order to keep it more fun during game play. A mystery. There are three choices to be shown on your profile, Good, Neutral and Evil. Ask an administrator to make the change to your profile for you.
Realm: Once the map is complete, you will need to update your biography with this information. Please stand by for it. Its nice to have a place to call home. This will also add some flavor as the site grows as there will inevitably be some smack talk from members from other parts of the realms.
Appearance: OK, the interesting part. What most people forget about appearance is that it's short for "Physical Description". So we want more than "hair: black, skin: white", you need to describe. You should try and incorporate some of these elements into the description (my suggestions are by no means the only ones to choose from, they're just general ideas):
Do not just make a list of these traits and put them in your profile. Put the following in paragraph form, not list form!
Face
- general shape: heart shaped, narrow, oval, round
- jaw: straight, angular, large
- eyes - shape, color, size: almond shaped, slanted, hazel, grey-green, squinty, lustrous
- brows: straight, bushy, plucked, curved
- chin: pointed, rounded, straight, clefted
- ears: large, small, pointed, round
- nose: aquiline, high, broad, narrow-bridged, wide nostrils
- teeth: straight, crooked, stained, missing, black, false teeth, gold tooth, silver filling
Body
- limbs: long, lithe, pudgy, muscled, emaciated
- torso: broad-chested, *insert words to describe cleavage here*
- build: heavy, light, medium, slim
Attire
- general, everyday wear: green open-necked shirt, brown tunic, leather boots, velveteen cape
- jewelry: signet ring, necklace, pendant
- extras: piercings, tattoos.
Do include details which correspond with the class and/or race, e.g. calloused hands from gripping masts daily and put the above in paragraph form, just don't make a list.
Family: Write about family members, including basic descriptive words for appearance, maybe history, and personality. If there are no family members, explain why, and who they were.
History: For a very detailed history, start at the beginning of your character's life. When and where were they born? To whom, and how did people feel about it? Carry on through childhood, and as childhood is the time when personality develops, give experiences which correspond with personality. Go into as much detail as you want, and describe all major events that have happened so far in your character's life, e.g. gained a girlfriend, lost a girlfriend, mother died, father got sick, ran away etc. To make the history more realistic, go through the boards here and read the descriptions, and incorporate places from the Realms into the story.
Personality: Just some general words you can use here:
- outgoing
- earnest
- intense drive
- active
- lazy
- untidy
- intelligent
- brutal
- cold-blooded
- passionate
- sympathetic
- sensible
- proud
- vain
You could also briefly describe or allude to the reasons behind each trait, if not already covered in History.
Weaknesses: Race and class are a great starting point for thinking of weaknesses. We don't want a pathetic character who's scared of everyone and everything, but we can't accept characters who don't have any weaknesses either. You could refer to past events, e.g. weak wrist on left arm because it has been broken. Fears are also a key weakness - and everyone has a fear, e.g. spiders, fire or losing.
The more detailed and interesting your characters biography is, the more likely you are to become "attached" to your character and when that happens, so to does the "magic" of role playing happen. You will become immersed in your characters experiences, you will live vicariously through them, you will feel their pain, you will enjoy your characters joy's and so on. Its a beautiful thing when this happens and its what brings us long time players back time and time again.
Player Character Journals:
This is a place on the forum for you to have a journal of your characters exploits, maintain a character sheet, have a running list of your wealth, etc. Its your characters journal so use it as you see fit. To obtain a journal, contact the site moderator to give you one. Its just one more way of becoming more involved in your character.
If you think you need more information, go back to the main page and look for a thread entitled "Newbie Guide" where you can learn even more. I highly recommend this before you get started.
Your next big question I'm sure is "where do I play"? Well, this site is a free form play by post rpg site and as such, you can make up your rpg any where you like. I have placed a map on the site to be used and perhaps, by the time your reading this, there may be several maps. You can choose to play in a place on those maps or just make up a place entirely on your own. Your rpg is your world. Its your story and as such, your choice as to how things play out in it.
Lastly, if you are leaving the site permanently or for a prolonged amount of time, please make a post regarding the matter in the ooc thread. This is just in case others are waiting on you to make a post in a rp, they will wait no longer and continue without you. Its just a courtesy thing.
Thanks.
~Story Teller
You have noticed there are several categories entitled; Player profiles, Player equipment list and Player/Character journals.
Player Profiles: In this room, create your characters biography by clicking on the start a new thread link. Title it by your characters name. For example: Jonas Valgardsen. Within the room you have created, use the following template to create your characters biography for others to view at any time. Be sure to lock down the room by using the "lock thread" box under your post so that nobody can mess with your biography or post to it.
Name: As mentioned above, your character name should be something fantasy-ish. A name like Bob or Sue, or even worse...Biker13, just wont cut it. If you seriously lack inspiration, check out one of seventh sanctum's name generators (http://www.seventhsanctum.net). If the name has an abnormal pronunciation put that in too, and also any nicknames your character has or aliases they go by.
Race: When you choose a race, think carefully about how you may offset the whole balance of the rpg your taking part in. Many rp'ers like to play half dragons or other such nonsense which are just far too powerful. Here, on this site... please stick to the basics. There are the base races of Human, Halfling, Dwarven, Elven, Orc-ish and Goblin or any half combo of those. Thats it. This allows for a huge variance on how you can look and act. For example, you could be a tall muscular male with a protruding brow, bad temper, long pointed ears and grow a beard. Basically, Orc/Human/Dwarf/Elf mixed. Interesting but fun too. Bad example I guess because we only have two combinations on this site. You will see in your profile the option to choose your race.
Class: Like race, think this through and make sure you understand it and how it could affect your games before rping. I recommend writing up the rest of your character's info before choosing a class for them. When you rp, make sure what your character does makes sense for someone of their race e.g. a berserker is not going to visit the town library.
Gender: Do I need to explain this?
Age: Age is a finicky thing. Please keep in mind... the older a character is, the more life experience they have and thus are better at things than others. There is no fun to be had when role playing with a person who's character is a master at everything. Humility in game play and character creation can and will make the experience enjoyable for everyone, including you.
Nature: Usually referred to as alignment in other game systems. Describe your characters nature as you see fit. Your looking for something along the lines of... couldn't hurt a fly but could easily dispatch a goblin without much guilt! Or... Appears to be a warm loving individual but has over 200 kills to his name under contracts. You could also just leave this blank in order to keep it more fun during game play. A mystery. There are three choices to be shown on your profile, Good, Neutral and Evil. Ask an administrator to make the change to your profile for you.
Realm: Once the map is complete, you will need to update your biography with this information. Please stand by for it. Its nice to have a place to call home. This will also add some flavor as the site grows as there will inevitably be some smack talk from members from other parts of the realms.
Appearance: OK, the interesting part. What most people forget about appearance is that it's short for "Physical Description". So we want more than "hair: black, skin: white", you need to describe. You should try and incorporate some of these elements into the description (my suggestions are by no means the only ones to choose from, they're just general ideas):
Do not just make a list of these traits and put them in your profile. Put the following in paragraph form, not list form!
Face
- general shape: heart shaped, narrow, oval, round
- jaw: straight, angular, large
- eyes - shape, color, size: almond shaped, slanted, hazel, grey-green, squinty, lustrous
- brows: straight, bushy, plucked, curved
- chin: pointed, rounded, straight, clefted
- ears: large, small, pointed, round
- nose: aquiline, high, broad, narrow-bridged, wide nostrils
- teeth: straight, crooked, stained, missing, black, false teeth, gold tooth, silver filling
Body
- limbs: long, lithe, pudgy, muscled, emaciated
- torso: broad-chested, *insert words to describe cleavage here*
- build: heavy, light, medium, slim
Attire
- general, everyday wear: green open-necked shirt, brown tunic, leather boots, velveteen cape
- jewelry: signet ring, necklace, pendant
- extras: piercings, tattoos.
Do include details which correspond with the class and/or race, e.g. calloused hands from gripping masts daily and put the above in paragraph form, just don't make a list.
Family: Write about family members, including basic descriptive words for appearance, maybe history, and personality. If there are no family members, explain why, and who they were.
History: For a very detailed history, start at the beginning of your character's life. When and where were they born? To whom, and how did people feel about it? Carry on through childhood, and as childhood is the time when personality develops, give experiences which correspond with personality. Go into as much detail as you want, and describe all major events that have happened so far in your character's life, e.g. gained a girlfriend, lost a girlfriend, mother died, father got sick, ran away etc. To make the history more realistic, go through the boards here and read the descriptions, and incorporate places from the Realms into the story.
Personality: Just some general words you can use here:
- outgoing
- earnest
- intense drive
- active
- lazy
- untidy
- intelligent
- brutal
- cold-blooded
- passionate
- sympathetic
- sensible
- proud
- vain
You could also briefly describe or allude to the reasons behind each trait, if not already covered in History.
Weaknesses: Race and class are a great starting point for thinking of weaknesses. We don't want a pathetic character who's scared of everyone and everything, but we can't accept characters who don't have any weaknesses either. You could refer to past events, e.g. weak wrist on left arm because it has been broken. Fears are also a key weakness - and everyone has a fear, e.g. spiders, fire or losing.
The more detailed and interesting your characters biography is, the more likely you are to become "attached" to your character and when that happens, so to does the "magic" of role playing happen. You will become immersed in your characters experiences, you will live vicariously through them, you will feel their pain, you will enjoy your characters joy's and so on. Its a beautiful thing when this happens and its what brings us long time players back time and time again.
Player Character Journals:
This is a place on the forum for you to have a journal of your characters exploits, maintain a character sheet, have a running list of your wealth, etc. Its your characters journal so use it as you see fit. To obtain a journal, contact the site moderator to give you one. Its just one more way of becoming more involved in your character.
If you think you need more information, go back to the main page and look for a thread entitled "Newbie Guide" where you can learn even more. I highly recommend this before you get started.
Your next big question I'm sure is "where do I play"? Well, this site is a free form play by post rpg site and as such, you can make up your rpg any where you like. I have placed a map on the site to be used and perhaps, by the time your reading this, there may be several maps. You can choose to play in a place on those maps or just make up a place entirely on your own. Your rpg is your world. Its your story and as such, your choice as to how things play out in it.
Lastly, if you are leaving the site permanently or for a prolonged amount of time, please make a post regarding the matter in the ooc thread. This is just in case others are waiting on you to make a post in a rp, they will wait no longer and continue without you. Its just a courtesy thing.
Thanks.
~Story Teller