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Section 1.1 - I'm in your base, naming your dudes.

Now a name is very important. It's what your character will be called for the rest of the game, and in some cases, what people will come to think of you as.

But it is also important to how your character is viewed. It does not do well for a Elf to be named "Nick-Nack Paddywocky." in a serious fantasy thread unless he was named by gnomish crazies. So thus:

a) Always consider the setting, genre, and nature of the character you are naming before giving it a name.

b) Often, consider naming the character last, after all other details of the character have been filled in.

c)Always make sure your character fits with the naming conventions of the time period you are in, as well as it's race, or you will just look silly.

d)While easy and descriptive, try to avoid names that as basically two or words smashed together, like Windgrace or Shadowsfury. These can be appropriate at times, for certain characters, but often are misused if not handled properly. Always consider using one of these as a first or last name only, coupled with a real name to offset the wordplay. And always refer to Guideline A in picking the words.

e) Avoid using names that are the same as well known pop-culture character, famous anime characters, famous video game characters, or mythological figures. Anything that can be seen as a 'rip-off'. Sometimes this guideline can be stretched, as there is a fine like between allusion and plagiarism, for example, having a human thief named Hermes. But if you're playing a demon named Beelzebub who eats corpses, you've stretched too far.

f) Keep in mind to your character backstory. People are normally named by their parents or guardians. These people have their own motivations for naming a person the way they do. Consider those motivations. Nicknames are picked up, normally, based on either happenstance, wordplay, or due to accomplishments. It's important to consider this as well.

Section 1.2 - Wait...You are a WHAT NOW?

Giving your character a race is a great way to help people easily identify your character, as well as make it unique. But it's easy to lose creditability by abusing Races that are well established in certain genres.

a) When in doubt, be a human. There is nothing wrong with being a human. Human beings are versatile, adaptable, often ambitious, and realistically fit into almost any role they wish. Remember that often the most effective thing in being believable, is what is easiest and simplest to play. Anyone can identify with a human, because...to my knowledge at least...everyone is already one in real life.

b) A little research goes a long way. Everyone groans at me when I say this one. I think because it implies to them that they have to work hard. In reality, research can be as simple as typing a term into Wikipedia and reading the text to make sure you have a firm grasp of a character idea. This is invaluable to plotting your character's backstory, lifestyle, personality, skills and abilities, and many other things.

c)Regarding cross-breeds. This is something that plague's alot of new role-players. They believe they are being clever and compelling when they are making strange mixed breed characters, when in reality, they are ruining their character's ability to be taken seriously. Or at least, I thought I was when I made my half-phoenix character.

Or they feel that by mixing together many of different races and gaining powers from each, they can make a really powerful character without effort. And as much as I hate to admit it, I've done this as well. sweatdrop

In truth, half-breeds take alot of thought. The science behind mixing two races genetically is very fickle. And failure to acknowledge this science of biology can lead a person into the uncanny valley and/or make your character a large joke.

It's best to, once again, go human for the first half of your half-breed. Fantasy teaches us that humans can cross-breed with everything from orcs to elves to dragons. This holds true in most other genres as well.

And cross-breeding through a human generally keeps the character free of strange powers, physical quirks or defects, or a mindset that alienates people from finding the character unbelievable.

AT ALL COSTS, do not make 1/3, 1/4, 1/8 or any other division of bloodline in a cross-breed greater than a half. Most half-breeds, you understand, are biologically very difficult to get to produce children with different half-breed. So to think that someone can be a Human-Dwarf-Angel-Dragon Man is just absurd.

Section 1.3 - Always obey your elders, kiddies.

Like cross-breeds, new players often see being an extreme age as a way to become really powerful, really fast. And I have never understood why.

Picking your character's age is an important part of deciding their mentality. People at different ages act differently to situations, and need to be handled and played differently to remain believable.

Here's some guidelines to picking your character's age.

a) Excessive aging is NOT a key to being more powerful. As you age, your mind does indeed grow stronger and sharper with experience. But at the price of your body slowly degrading over time. Even with the strength of adulthood, you still have to deal with a weakening in metabolism and immune system. And then you get to really old age, and your mind degrades too...

b) Avoid immortality. Immortality is one of the hardest things in the world to play correctly, believe it or not. Immortality always comes at a cost, realistically at the cost of your character's morality or humanity or at the cost of their sanity. The truth is that mortal beings where never meant to last forever, our minds and psychology are just not set for the strain of remaining timeless in a world that changes constantly.

This is the problem I personally have with the character of Edward Cullen in Twilight, just to give an example of this. Edward is a vampire, a 200 year old one. He was turned at the age of 17, so he has been going to high school for 200 years. Let that just sink into you for a moment, then think about it again. That means for the past 200 years of Edward's life, he has been going to High School, participating in the same lectures, classes, courses and studies for two hundred endless years of his life. I, myself, barely survived high school with sanity intact, and can barely stand 2 months of the same routine without needing a break in the schedule. Now imagine trying to live like that for over a hundred years and to have no chance of ever getting a break from it. You would be insane, simple as that.

c) What about races of longer lifespans? Ahh, now this is the tricky one. What about things like elves and perhaps an alien species that lives exceptionally long lives. The answer is simple, most long lived races have their children develop much slower than ours, mentally and physically. So even though, for example, my Gray Elf in the BPLB storybook RP is 165 years old, he has the mentality of a 19 year old.

In my opinion, it's best not to pick a race that lives over 600 years. Because consider this, if your character's race lives to be 10,000 years old, and your character is 1000...That means he is only mentally 10 years old. In addition to this, he develops so slowly mentally and physically, that he barely has time to learn something complicated, before it is changed or made obsolete.

d) Play to your strengths and experiences. If you are a 16 years old kid who has struggled with home life problems, play that. If your a 24 year old girl who's frustrated over her job, play that. If your a 66 year old who...why are you still role-playing, guy? >_< Aren't you a little old for this?

Point being, play to what you know how to. It can be a great challenge to play someone who's older than yourself. But take it from me that playing way older than you really are is a hard mindset to work yourself into and come off as believable.

Section 1.4 - Who's got mad skillz?

What your character can do quickly becomes very important in most RPs. This is normal the centerpiece of your profile and the part that is referenced most often. They also become key to the credibility of your character.

a) ALWAYS consider the genre and setting. When deciding your character's skills and abilities, always think over where you are, and what your character would be capable of learning in this world. If you are in the midst of a science fiction campaign, for example; it makes no sense for you to give your character the ability to pick locks when 90% of locks will be electronic and need to be hacked via computer. Having odd misplaced skills makes a character seem more like a Mary Sue than a contributing member of the story. This goes hand in hand with...

b) Decide your Niche. Your role is important. What you pick for your character to do makes it fill an important place in the RP. For this, it is best to either go against the grain or with it, but never in-between.

For example, say your RP is a Modern Day Zombie Apocalypse RP...where Humans are fighting against hordes of zombies. Say 90% of the players are playing as a rag-tag bunch of ex-military types, you can greatly increase your character's credibility by going against the grain and playing say a surgeon, or a wildlife photographer, or a helpless lawyer. Something that contrasts to everyone, but still fits to the world your in. Likewise, you can blend into the group and increase the believability of the world itself by making a character that matches theirs slightly. But don't try to be too many things at once.

c) Consider your race. Every race comes with specialties for it, that suit it's culture. And there is nothing wrong with those cliche'. They exist for a reason. And nothing wrong with playing them to put your personal spin on them. People know them and are comfortable with them.

It takes a good role-player to know when it is time to disregard a race's culture in favor of an odd race-class/skill combination. It fits hand in hand with knowing for niche. If you are confident your character's backstory is a good reason to disregard a race's culture in favor of a unique outlook for the character, go ahead and roll with it. Just make sure to be realistic about it, refer to your research you looked up earlier to temper your idea with solid lore.

d) Avoid being a Mary Sue. Your skills and abilities should never be to become the center of attention with your gleaming and unnatural proficiencies. Doing this detracts from the storyline as a whole.

e) Avoid being Mr. Fix-it. You should never be able to solve all the problems in a role-play with a skill set designed just to solve everyone's problems. If you do this, your character is no longer compelling and is simply a detraction.


Section 1.5 - Sit with me stranger, tell me your tale.

The final piece of your profile to assure your character creditability, is it's backstory. This is where literacy becomes important. Because in my experience, the proficiency of how you tell your backstory on a profile is often how people will judge your character.

a) Consider your character. What's it's gender? what's it's personality? What sort of parents did it have? How were it's friends? What is it's race? These things paint a picture of what the character was like as it grew. Understanding this, helps you plot out any dramatic events you want your backstory to be centered around and realistically decide how your character will react to them.

b) Refer back to your earlier research for any questions or to clarify anything you are unsure about.

c) Keep a clear image in your head of where you want the character to end up after his or her backstory concludes.

d) Always proofread your backstory before submitting the post. It's a simple step...one I personally neglect far too many times. xp