Jateshi
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(6/26/04 11:21 pm)
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Character Creation Guide
This is open to change and addition, so check back when it is updated.
If you've ever calculated the ratio of rejected applications to accepted ones, you would see that our standards here are high, but they usually produce the desired results as far as level of roleplayership in our RPGs population. The following information has been provided for you as a guide, so that when you consider making a new character, you will understand what is, and is not, expected of you. These are the guidelines you should follow when choosing all the traits of your character.
What is your character's full name? The first and probably one of the simplest fields to fill in. However, at times I have seen this one meet some undeserving abuse. The name of your character should be a window into their life, yes, but the problem is that everyone wants to give their characters special names. Here's the kicker, however, with playing a Harry Potter RPG that hangs on every one of JK Rowling's words: Special names are at times an oddity. Interesting, cool sounding names are often only attributed to characters who are going to have some major relevance to the book's overall plot, like Severus Snape, Gilderoy Lockhart, Sirius Black, Tom Riddle, Remus Lupin, Madeye Moody, and so forth. One must note that these names were not chosen just because they sound cool. Each of these names have many inward meanings, and at times tend to betray outward appearances. Because, however, names such as these are often made for characters that will add substantially to the major plot in the Harry Potter story, your character's name should probably not be massively striking. Flowery names don't make the character interesting. It's all well and good to have an original name, but subtlety is key. If you throw something that you think sounds absolutely beautiful, or cool, or mysterious, then you've told your character's story already, and there is therefore no reason for anyone to look into them to find anything interesting. Big, striking, and entirely new names (or common names that are simply spelled differently to make them special) are often interpreted as an attempt to draw more attention to one's character. That can be good in some cases, but in most, it can just be annoying. As a final note, just a pet peeve of mine: Don't use Japanese names if your character is not Japanese.
Give a physical description of your character: I have had to tell people this time and again. You must approach the appearance of your character from an objective stance. You cannot use such phrases as "attractive in most everyone's eyes," or "having lustrous, blood-red hair that is bound to turn anyone's head". Why can't you say things like this? Because everyone has a difference in opinion. It is recommended that you describe simple details, like hair and eye color with as few adjectives as possible, and simply give readers a basic rundown. Let the players decide if they are attracted or not. Description pieces resembling any of the following will likely lose you points:
-- "all the right curves in all the right places"
-- "natural highlights"
-- "eyes so deep one could lose themselves in them."
et cetera et cetera et cetera.
Please be realistic about physical attributes. No weird haircolors for no reason. As a matter of fact, no weird haircolors. If there is a uniform policy, I'm sure there is one about dying your hair pink or sky blue, too.
Lastly, avoid describing what your character "usually" wears. This is a uniform school. Therefore, your character "usually" wears the uniform. If you have to describe casual wardrobe, do it in your posting, but describe it minimally. I know I'm not alone when I say that wading through a list of Hot Topic accessories is a pain in the patilla.
Describe his/her personality: Ladies and gentlemen, three sentences will not cut it. End of story. Try to go as far into detail as you can regarding this, but do not try to make your character's personality replace their history. Something that you should try to avoid at all costs is contradictory information. Your character cannot be a loner and take to people well at the same time. Your character cannot be shy and outgoing. Your character cannot be gentle and violent. Your character cannot be vain yet open-minded to other people. Do we see a pattern here?
I know this is going to come up, so I'll put it out now: If your character has a clinical mental history, as in they did time in an asylum, they cannot be accepted to Hogwarts, the greatest wizarding school in the region, unless someone with a doctrate says they are completely reformed. End of story. Likewise if your character has a criminal history. I would also stress against incorporating abuse of any kind into the personality or history, as there are not many people who can write it properly and legitimately. It's generally used as a ploy to get the character extra attention.
Explain his/her history: Never, under any circumstances, submit an application with a history that is only a paragraph long. You just wrote out your character's personality, and now it is time to back it up. If your character is not a first year, then you at least have room to describe your character's years at Hogwarts. Observe rules for pets, as well. You may have a cat, an owl, or a toad. Take your pick. No unicorns. No falcons. No eagles. No anime animals.
Special Note About Exchange Students/Transfers: Applications with students who are from America are not often accepted. Transfers are just as seldom. Here's why: Hogwarts sends letters to students in the Britain/Scotland/Ireland area. If your character is American or from anywhere not in the three countries above, there is a slim chance that he or she will exchange. If your character's family moves to England, you have more of a shot. Still, there are things to be considered if this is not your character's very first year ever at school. If it's an American Transfer, namely This: America has one of the lowest standards for education in the world. Especially public school. This could essentially mean that your character could be thrown back several grades to make up for a lack of qualification. As for exchange students from other countries, you must follow guidelines. I'll use Japan as an example: If your character comes from Japan, has a traditional Japanese wizarding family, and went to a Japanese wizarding school before Hogwarts, then you must observe some things. 1) Understand Japanese culture. Your character will not be extremely open and outgoing. He or she will be very polite and very focused on studying. Doing well and going on to get a good job is the goal here. Your character will not show affection in public. Your character will be very humble and soft spoken, and will not begin to refer to people on friendly terms (like using "-chan" and "-kun", or even another character's first name) for quite some time. And only for the closest of people. 2) Saying your character is going to Hogwarts because the parents thought it was a better school is, for this case, bollucks. For other countries, do research to see if it applies. A Japanese family would believe that the best school must reside in Japan and would therefore never leave the country.
What year? Observe the proper things having to do with age and year. If you're girl or guy, you won't really start getting serious romantic attatchments until fourth or fifth year. Until fifth year, you won't be very skilled in anything, and you certainly won't be able to pull off unforgiveables, or be an expert duelist, unless you're close to year seven. Things of that nature. Remember that year 5, you are taking OWLS, year 6 or 7 is NEWTS.
Which house would your character prefer? Sort yourself. Don't say "either or". We won't sort you. Do not pick a house based upon lineage. Don't pick it because your character has a crush on a character from that House. Read the Sorting Guide in the Join section and pick which one fits your character's personality.
Why? Go into detail. And if you're submitting for a canon character, do not say "Rowling wanted the character in this house."
Give an example of your role-playing: Stay in 3rd person. Write at least six sentences. Try to write more. Check your spelling and useage. And when you post in roleplay, keep your character in character. If you said that your character is generally mean, don't make them all sweetness and light. If your character is shy, don't make them speak up a lot.
Guide © And the Pale Rider Was Death 2003-2004
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What makes something Unforgivable? Pain? If so, I am Unforgivable also... |
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