Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alrightie then. I will start searching. =]

I can definitely see why you liked the Harvest Moon one--I myself might apply for it, if I get the chance. It seems to have just enough information in all departments.

Talk to me about the Alice in Wonderland one. What intrigued you about it, and did you find it lacking in any information?

Oh, of course. You did just great.

As far as multi-characters, it depends on the preferences of the GM. Some like it, some don't. I can see why someone would be in better control of the story with two characters, but then again, both characters have to react to stimuli in their own ways. It's harder to keep up with two or more characters, anyhow. Still, sometimes the story needs a certain number or type of person to proceed, so someone takes up another character to fill the role.

I'd put both of them at a "semi-lit" level, really. She was great at mechanics and she seemed professional, but she could stand to organize things better. There were a few other things I thought could be fixed: the bright, multi-colored text (very hard on the eyes to read all that) and the lack of direction. The skeleton was bare-bones, and the plot itself seemed open-ended. Still, I do like the theme, and it could easily turn into something good.

Now, time for the next step.

1st Guess: History
2nd Guess: Personality
~~
First guess is because History is an important thing in Role Play, you want to know about the character, and you need to know his/her past to role play better with that character. (In my point of veiw)

Second Guess is because it is also another thing you should know, you should know if the character is nice, shy, mean, or even has multi-personalities.

And I hope to God I am right.

I'd say, one of the worst things one can do to a character is skimp on the history. I can understand if there's a maximum length, but otherwise there's not any reason at all to do so. A lot of people like to cheat by saying their character has "amnesia" or a "mysterious past".

I hate this with a burning passion.

There are a ton of problems with doing this. Not least among them is that the person has missed a great chance to enrich their character. However, the real problem is that it may cause problems later. Someone can use it as an excuse to claim possessions, attributes, and powers by simply explaining that they came from the mystery grab-bag that is their past. Of course, this comes very close to God-modding. So, how do you have a character with missing or concealed memories? Just go ahead and write the whole history out, including the circumstances leading to the memory problem. Instruct the GM which memories the character would have, along with what the average person would be able to find out. The character then reveals their past bit by bit through the story, and everyone's happy.

Other problems deal with inconsistencies and a lack of balance. Let's deal with balance later.

When crating your character's history, you use your imagination, but you also rely on any information provided by the author. He or she will usually put limits on things such as race, occupation, factions, powers, and many other things. The important thing to remember is that limitations are GOOD. They tell you what you can and can't do, giving guidelines to construct your character. Well-planned RPs will usually have a lot of information in the beginning that discusses the world and the inhabitants within. Use this to your advantage.

In addition to your imagination and that of the author, you'll also need to rely on outside information. This varies on a case-by-case basis, but usually it involves being realistic. Take, for example, one of the character profiles I read recently. The character was a 17 year old boy whose parents were killed at a young age. A master blacksmith took him in and taught him the trade, and by the time he was 17, he had mastered the craft. Since he had superhuman vision, he was capable of making blades that were so sharp that the edges were one molecule wide. He was also a master of swordfighting. Now, what are the problems with this?

-For starters, the whole lost-parents-at-a-young-age deal is waaaaay overused. But I'll get to that in a second.

-Second, the guild system would never have allowed him to progress to mastery at such a young age. The way they work is that at around the age of 10 (not 5, as the author originally intended), a child would be taken in and made an apprentice. He would be taught the bare basics, but it would usually take a decade or two before he would be trusted with guild secrets. At that point, he would produce a work that represented his learning, and he'd become a journeyman capable of being paid daily wages. From there, he'd have to spend another decade or two of travelling the world and learning from other masters. Once he had the approval of many masters, he'd submit his "master piece" along with a donation of gold and supplies. Even if made a master, there may still be other pepole better than him. At the young age of 17, he'd probably still be an apprentice, though; at best, if he were such a virtuoso, he'd just be starting his journeyman years.

-Third, he was also a "master swordsman". However, the guild work would've eaten up a lot of his time. If he were practicing fencing, he'd have to balance his time between the two. Thus, there' no way he'd be a master of both--I'd doubt he'd master either if he were fully devoted!

-Finally, molecular-sharp blades are extremely difficult to make and upkeep. Odds are, just by swishing it around, one would knock a lot of molecules off; it'd still be very sharp indeed, but not molecularly so. Even if the boy had inhuman vision, he'd also need inhuman fine motor skills to work with things that small.

I know, a lot of this stuff isn't common knowledge. However, doing your homework and researching what you want to write will only help you in the end. If you're ever unsure of a character, submit it to an analysis in the proper guild subforum, or just ask me. wink

Two more inconsistencies to watch: geographical and temporal errors. If an RP is set in a specific time period, you'll have to make sure there aren't any things from the future or (in most cases) the ancient past. For the latter, there ought to be a good reason why you have it. What's more, a character who has grown up in a certain time period will tend to take on characteristics and prefer things concurrent to their time. There are exceptions, of course, but generally they'll subconsciously gravitate that way. Geographical errors are similar, but as civilizations engage in trade, they begin to break down. Still, values are important to watch. For example, Japanese people TEND to prefer harmony and the common good over individuality and speaking one's mind. What may be appropriate and expected in one society may startle and offend another.

Alright, I will probibly work on it tomorrow, I would do it now but my bird is being a annoyance and will NOT shut up... its hurting my ears too. >-<

And hes not helping me think of a History line, lol.
Sorry.

~Liz