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 Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:57 am
Questing & Character Creation Guide
Welcome! This guide will explain how you, too, can create an awesome TiH character to quest for. While questing is not the only way to get a RPable character in TiH, many people like designing a completely custom character to quest for as a goal. Making a quest thread is not a guarantee that you will get a character, but it can be a lot of fun, and sometimes there will be special opportunities for questers!
If you don't have a specific character in mind, you may want to keep an eye out for special events, where pre-made characters are often available. You can give pre-made characters any personality you like, but their faction, species, and appearance is already determined! People who obtain pre-made characters also have to make a thread in the quest forum to present their character for approval.
Remember, the most important thing you can do to make a successful quest is read! Read the front page of the main thread, read some of the other guides in the Guides & Resources forum, read some of the other quests, and get to know the TiH community! And read this thread, especially.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
--- Step One: Do's and Don't's
--- Step Two: Fill Out the Form (Amityville Students)
--- Step Two (Alternate): Fill Out the Form (Hunters)
--- Step Two (Alternate): Fill Out the Form (Horsemen/Lost Clan)
--- Step Three: Posting Your Quest Thread
--- Step Four: Getting Your Quest Character
--- Step Five: I Got My Character - Now What?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that quest characters may not be roleplayed unless there is a special event permitting this! We know you want to RP your character really badly, but please wait and only do this in approved events. Thank you!
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:14 am
Thread Tags And You
To keep the forum organized, please tag your quest thread appropriately! A tag should be placed in your thread title, like so: [Q] Howl the Werewolf.
[Q]: A quest! Other than stickies or enrollment threads, all the threads in this forum should be quests.
READY: Added to a quest title, this means that your character form is entirely complete, and that you are ready for the staff and others to take a look at your character!
ACCEPTED: This means that a staff member has looked over your quest and decided that it fits into TiH's setting and world. This DOES NOT mean that you have won your character! It just means that your character will be good to go with minimal changes when you do get them. (Note that changing your character significantly after acceptance means you'll need to get re-accepted!)
[ENROLLMENT]: This is for characters who are going to be an official student or Hunter! This means that your character's official art/cert/etc. is on the way! ONLY use 'enrollment' if you have been contacted by a member of TiH staff! Once your enrolled character has been approved, you may create your journal and begin to RP.
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:16 am
STEP ONE: Do's and Don't's
To start, here's a little information on what you can and cannot quest for!
YES, YOU CAN HAZ!
- Students at Amityville Academy: most characters at TiH are students of this school in Halloween Town! All students fall into one of five factions: reapers, demons, monsters, ghosts, or undead. Students are the easiest type of character to get!
- Hunters at Deus Ex Machina: these human characters carry special weapons and fight against the "dark forces" of FEAR and Halloween! They live on an island far away from Halloween Town, and occasionally have missions to Amityville where they will interact with students. Hunters are more difficult to get, and are recommended for those who have more experience in TiH.
- Horsemen/Lost Clans characters: after the destruction of their home Isles, the remains of the Four Clans society have ended up in a sanctuary in Halloween. They have their own reserve where they live, and at the moment do not interact with Amityville students to any great extent. (This may change in the future!) Like Hunters, Horsemen are recommended for those who have more experience in TiH.
- Any kind of monstrous, scary Halloween creature (as an Amityville student): yes indeed! You can select something from myth, folklore, urban legend, or even try your hand at making up a creature yourself.
- Duplicates of species that already exist: is there already a werewolf student in TiH? No problem! You can have a werewolf too! Just keep that person's character in mind when you design yours.
- More than one quest: you can quest for as many characters as you'd like, though if you get too crazy too fast people may look at you funny!
---------------
NO, YOU CANNOT HAZ!
- A character that already exists in myth, folklore, mass media, etc.: i.e. you cannot be Dracula, Jack Skellington, Medusa, etc. - but you could have a vampire, skeleton, or gorgon student!
- Students that are half-and-half: i.e. you cannot have a half-demon, half-monster student. You must pick one!
- Students that are not a "scary" creature. Halloween is a place created from and maintained by fear: if you are not scary, fearsome, horrifying, creepy, etc. then you would not exist in Halloween to begin with!
- Humans that are not Hunters or dead (ghosts, undead); if you have a ghost or undead that was once human, keep in mind that they cannot remember anything of their human lives! See the Human World guide for more information.
- Students that are older than Year One, without a Damn Good Plot-Related Reason. For the most part, all Amityville Academy students start at Year One and work their way up to higher years.
- Make sure that students in ART FORM / student form are human looking, they cannot have extra limbs, etc etc, and must look and be dressed like a STUDENT. Wings, attentae, etc etc are okay, but be sure to look at the general appearance of students in the shop before going overboard. Centaurs and mermaids for example - how would they sit in the desks?
- Professors or other Staff: these characters are all owned by shop staff and GMs.
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:24 am
STEP TWO: Fill Out the Form - Amityville Students We've provided a handy form for you to fill out and post in your quest thread, a profile that will help you create your character! When you post this form, please do not change, add, or remove information: it's important that we can read your forms quickly and easily. You are welcome to put extras (like expanded history, questions, etc.) in another post of your quest thread! The blank form for Amityville Academy students can be found here! Not sure how to fill it out? Keep reading and we'll explain! (And if you feel you understand the form and don't need an explanation, then rock on and go for it.) (WIP from Lirende)
[size=18][b]Stage One[/b][/size]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Desired Species:[/b]
[b]Hair Style:[/b]
[b]Hair Color:[/b]
[b]Eye Color:[/b]
[b]Skin Tone:[/b]
[b]Body Type:[/b]
[b]Clothing Style:[/b]
[b]Extras:[/b] (Piercings/Tattoos/Scars/Etc)
[b]Personality:[/b] (Six traits. Three Positive and Three Negative, please expand on these.)
[b]Hobbies:[/b] (Minimum three, please expand on these. How did your character come to like these things?)
[b]Likes:[/b]
[b]Dislikes:[/b]
[b]Brief History:[/b]
[b]--------------[/b]
[size=18][b]Stage Two[/b][/size]
[b]Appearance Changes:[/b]
[b]Projected Personality Changes:[/b]
[b]Pathway:[/b]
[b]Job:[/b]
[b]Traits:[/b] (Species related perks)
[b]Abilities:[/b] (If applicable)
[b]Spells:[/b] (If applicable)
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND FOR AMITYVILLE STUDENTS - Students do not know much about the Human World, and have certainly never been there before! Even if a student is a formerly-dead human (i.e. a ghost or undead created from a human's death) they will not remember anything of their former human lives. Everything they know about humans they will learn at Amityville. - Regarding natural forms: all Amityville students wear skull pins as part of their 'uniform'. If your character's natural form is not humanoid naturally, then the skull pin magically forces them into a human shape for their classes and so on. It also adjusts height: if your character is naturally a tiny pixie or a giant, it would either grow them to 2 feet tall (minimum) or shrink them to 7-8 feet tall (maximum). This human shape matches their official student art! If your student has a natural monstrous/non-humanoid form, they can switch between their humanoid (official art) form and their natural form either a.) outside or b.) in their dorm room. They cannot switch in a classroom, in the hallway, etc.! This is for the comfort of all students. - The only characters that can switch willy-nilly between a humanoid form and a monstrous/non-humanoid form are characters who have shapeshifting as a natural ability. For example, if you have a werewolf character whose natural ability is shapeshifting, they can shift between forms anywhere! However, if your character is naturally a giant snake, and does not have shapeshifting as a natural ability, they can only shift to their natural forms in approved areas. - Halloween creatures can come into being in three different ways: being born (via pumpkin), dying (for ghosts or undead), or simply popping into existence through sheer FEAR (for example: a hit horror film about slime demons is released in the Human World! Human fear of slime demons skyrockets, and as a result a number of slime demons appear in Halloween). For more information, read The Little Scareling Primer. - Simply because it's come up before: all gender identities and sexual orientations are fully accepted in Halloween! There is no social stigma of any kind for same-gender relationships, for example, so please don't write such into your character. - They do not know anything about the Hunters. - Students are creatures of fear. Scaring is a virtue and the lifeblood of Halloween! All students will have to learn to be scary and to scare, or else they will be the Halloween equivalent of bums on the street. - Actually killing humans is frowned upon in Halloween. The creatures of Halloween thrive off of human fear, not off of human blood, life-source, or anything else... just fear, which is only produced when humans are alive. Think of humans as lovely cattle which are to be used but not actually butchered! - You can find out more about Halloween and the creatures that live in it in the World of Halloween subforum!
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:25 am
STEP THREE: Posting Your Quest Thread
Is your form filled out? Then it's time to post your quest in the Halloween Subspace forum! Please follow this format to title your quest thread:
[Q] Howl the Werewolf
The [Q] indicates a quest, and keeps things nice and tidy for all!
You may also see other notations in people's quest thread titles. Here's an explanation of what they mean, and when you should use them:
READY! added to a quest title means that your character form is entirely complete, and that you are ready for the staff and others to take a look at your character!
Some people may mention crits. Short for 'critique', a crit is someone else's opinion on your character, offered in a helpful fashion! Crits can help you strengthen your character. If you crit other people's quests they may help you with yours also. Remember, when giving crits, be nice and be constructive! Help others, don't put them down.
ACCEPTED means that a staff member has looked over your quest and decided that it fits into TiH's setting and world. This DOES NOT mean that you have won your character! It just means that your character will be good to go with minimal changes when you do get them. (Note that changing your character significantly after acceptance means you'll need to get re-accepted!)
Lastly, [ENROLLMENT] is for characters who are going to be an official student or Hunter! This means that your character's official art/cert/etc. is on the way! ONLY use 'enrollment' if you have been contacted by a member of TiH staff! Once your have your art, you may create your journal and begin to RP.
One final note: when your quest is accepted or enrolled, you may be asked by the GMs to change aspects of your quest to better fit the shop setting! They will help you out, so don't panic.
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:26 am
STEP FOUR: Getting Your Quest Character
There are several different ways you can make your quest character a reality! Drumroll, please...
1.) Customs: Custom slots are available from time to time! Pricing and information on custom students can be found in the Alley; openings will be announced in the main thread. Due to high demand, custom slots are usually handed out in a raffle format.
2.) Bribes: Sometimes an artist may open up a bribe slot! These openings for custom students are higher priced. Offer the artist something you think will be tempting... both in terms of your payment and your character!
3.) Special Events: From time to time, TiH will host special events that may use custom slots as prizes! Keep an eye on the main thread to see if an event like this will be happening soon.
4.) The Quest Fairy: Last but certainly not least is the beloved TiH Quest Fairy, which selects quests to be made real for free! This happy event may come to those who are active in the TiH community... exactly who or when is impossible to predict... wait, participate, and hope!
Please note that the Quest Fairy does not visit quests just because the quester is being active in thread. Being active is a good thing and will get you noticed, yes, but there are mysterious qualifications both a quest and the quester must have in order to get a visit from the Quest Fairy. We don't expect you to brown nose or suck up - however we do request that you be yourself. Be warned, though: selfish, crass, rude, and generally dickish behavior counts against you. Always.
The only time a member of staff will contact you concerning the Quest Fairy is if your quest is being picked up! Besides, they say that the Quest Fairy is rather shy and tends to visit those who don't make mention of it... just like Sandy Claws.
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:27 am
STEP FIVE: I GOT MY CHARACTER YAY! Now What?
The first thing you should do after being contacted by a TiH staff member - and you have been contacted, right? Because if you follow these steps without a TiH staffer telling you "YOU ARE GETTING YOUR STUDENT", then you will only make the staff mad. And you wouldn't like that. smilies/icon_sad.gif Neither would we!
Anyway. You've been contacted yes?
Great!
1.) Make sure your quest is completely the way you want it! The artists will use your form to create your character's official art, so make sure your description is complete and correct. Everything else should also be polished and perfect until you can say: YES! This is the character I want to RP!
2.) Change your quest title from [Q] to [ENROLLMENT], and make sure READY! is in the title as well! This will let us know that your quest is ready for us to look at! For example:
[Q] Howl the Werewolf
would become
[ENROLLMENT] Howl the Werewolf - READY!
3.) Post in the enrollment thread. This will get your character in line to be checked over! Please be patient - this can take some time, as sometimes there is a long list of people who need attention. We will get to you as soon as we can! Until then, patience!
4.) When a TiH admin PMs you to discuss your quest, be awesome! When it's your turn to be checked, an admin will look over everything and talk to you about any changes that need to be made.
5.) Wait for the TiH admin's approval! And please, please be patient. Otherwise, well... we'll be mad. smilies/icon_sad.gif But your patience will be rewarded, as once you have approval you can... oh yes...
6.) ROLEPLAY IN TiH!! You can now set up your dorm room, request an official cert, make an emblem, and roleplay happily forever. Hooray!
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