Welcome to Gaia! ::

As we previously said, you are welcome to do as many or as few of the tasks as you like. If you have never role-played before, or have had little success in a role-play, it is suggested that you participate in all of the tasks. If you are more advanced at character development already, you can probably skip the first five tasks. However, it is still suggested that you at least read through the other steps, you never know if you’ll run across something you haven’t thought of before!



Task One: Finding a Character Idea
Most often the type of character that you pick depends on the setting of the role-play you are participating in. For example, it would not be appropriate to try to role play a Space Pirate Ninja Catgirl in MOST Dungeons and Dragons or teen werewolf style role plays. However, it would be appropriate to include something like a gnomish druid in most D&D style campaigns. If you are designing a character with an existing RP in mind, read up on what the leaders of the RP have to say about what types of characters you can and cannot have, as well as what the setting and history of the RP are. Think about how the setting and history set up for certain types of characters, and how you think you can relate to the setting and history in context of the given character guidelines. Usually you can get a pretty good idea of what type of character you would like based on this information, even if all you have in mind is something lik a race and the setting. This is a perfectly acceptable way of beginning to develop a character.

Luckily for you, you've joined a guild RP that has a setting! Life takes place right here in Delmor! Looking around the guild will get you lots of useful information about the setting of this RP. From historical background in the roleplaying tutorial, to the newspaper article on the home page (which also gives you insight into the general climate of Delmor in response to the special individuals), to the posts in Channel Q News regarding past events, you should be all set figuring out your place in our world.


Task Two: A/S/L?!?!
From a general idea, you should work on getting some smaller details. This is a generally easy step. Age, Sex, Name, and context are all important details. If you are designing the character for an existent role play, you probably have a context already, so just jot down a few notes on what the context is. Where and when does the role play take place? What is going on in the world at the start of the role play? What has already happened? Again, if you are just designing the character for fun, you’ve got a bit of work to do, and be creative with it!

Next, decide on the age and sex of your character (remember, sex is biological, gender is a social construct!). For beginning role players, it is often easiest to stick with one’s own age and gender, but feel free to play around. Sometimes it can be fun to play someone completely different than you. Once you have an age and sex decided, you can pick a name. If culture of the name is important, try doing a google search of baby name generators that let you select different cultures. My personal favorites are http://www.babynames.com or http://www.parenthood.com/babynames.html . They have a pretty good selection of names. Another fun trick is to make a jumble of a word that is important to the character you’ve created. For example, I once made a highly spiritual character, so for her name I jumbled the word “Interfaith” into “Aerith Fint”. Names are definitely something you can have some fun with, so don’t be afraid to try a couple different things!

Task Three: For better or for worse, for good or for evil?
I think at this point it is important to mention that creative minds should not fear change. You can ALWAYS go back and change the things in a profile after you’ve started them. If while you are doing the next tasks you feel the need to go back and change the things you’ve already “decided”, it is absolutely allowed. Creativity means acceptance of changes during this process, and honestly if you feel like you need to change something, it means you are thinking hard enough about the development of your character. Change happens, and it’s important that you let it.

With that out of the way, let’s develop some character background! This section will mostly be questions, and you can think as little or as much as you like (though we tend to aim for the “much” end of the spectrum! It makes for better developed characters!)

How about your characters formative years first? It’s good to know the situation your character comes from too, as relationship (or not) with family and friends can have a lot to do with a person’s personality. It can affect character’s moral structures and habits, as well as their goals and motives. Based on the context your character lives in, how do you think they might have grown up? Did they have a good relationship with their parents? Did they pick up or rebel against any beliefs or habits from their parents/guardians? Do they have siblings? Or pets? How do they get along with the siblings/pets? What about extended family? Are they (your character) educated? How much? While they were growing up how did/do people view your character? How has your character responded to the events/history of the world they live in?

Now think about goals and motives for your characters. This can be something that motivates every action your character makes. Perhaps they are just looking for something to believe in? Or desperately hunting vengeance for some trespass? Does your character have a goal at all? Are they seeking vengeance, or just striving for a desire? Why is the goal so important to the character? Did something happen in the past that influenced the character towards this goal?

Be creative! (I can’t stress that enough!) What else do you think is important about your character’s background? Are there any events that stand out that made your character who they are today? No matter how small they might seem to someone else, some events can have a lasting impact on a person and the ways they behave.

Task Three-Point-Five: I HAVE THA POWAH!!!
Alright, since powers have to develop somehow, I've decided that now is the best time to think about what powers your character is going to have. The way LoSI does this is with a Primary Ability, or the ability/trait your chracter uses most often; A Secondary ability, which is either complimentary to the primary ability or a specialized version of the primary ability; and Weaknesses, which are pretty self explainatory. This is the step where you will want the most feedback from the crew. Powers can be very tricky to develop (and sometimes place limits on) so my advice for working on this is in depth is to state what your general idea is and any additional information you have thought through, and then wait for a crew member to get back to you. We are usually pretty prompt, so don't worry. But, if it makes you feel better, while you are waiting you should work on other aspects of your character too.

Task Four: But she had a great personality…
You may have started thinking about personality while you were working on the background. This is a good thing, the background feeds directly into the person/vampire/werewolf/dwarf/etc that your character is right now (relatively). Now you get to actually apply the background to how the character behaves. You get to talk about what makes your character truly unique. Don’t worry too much about getting it written down yet, if you do the more advanced activities your character’s personality will begin to shape itself, but you have to have some kind of set guideline to start with.

Is your character a neat-nick or a slob? Are they anxious or easy-going? Do they collect things? How does your character deal with money? Do they have a hero? Are they introverted or extroverted?

How do they treat their friends? With loyalty or without much care? How do they react to injustice in the world around them?

Does your character like themselves? Do they like other people? Do they communicate well? Are they in any relationships?

Do they believe in God? Why or why not?

Does your character have any vices? (Chocoholic, bite nails, compulsive liar, etc… This has room for creativity too!) Does your character have nervous habits, like nail biting or running their fingers through their hair? When they get excited do they have any odd habits? ( I had a friend once who would talk in an Australian accent whenever she got angry, so seriously, have some fun…) Does your character have pet peeves?

What would you say is your character’s strongest personality point and why? Weakest? What things make your character really unique?

How does your character feel? Are they usually happy, or continuously angry? (for a list of feelings check http://www.searchingwithin.com/journal/abptb/feel.html )

Most of this you are really going to dig through on your own, because personality is such a variable thing. What sticks out in your mind about this character? What would you want other people to know about them? What do you want to know about your character? (If you don’t love your character, it will be hard for other people to love them!)

Task Five: Don’t Judge a book by its cover
Appearances of people generally reflect their personality and backgrounds, but this does not always have to be the case. But remember that your characters appearance is the first thing another character is going to take note of, and a large portion of the assumptions they make about your character will be based on those appearances (at least, if they are good role players, this will be the case…Usually.)

Look at the people around you, observe their body language. Most of communication is done non-verbally. Introverted people generally look to the ground, don’t make eye-contact, and have slumped shoulders. Extroverted people generally stand up straight and make eye contact. Think about how the personality relates to appearance. If your character has a cold personality how would they appear? Would they have a hard stare or a goofy smile?

Then think about the smaller details. What color eyes does your character have? What color and style of hair? Are they tall or short? Do they have a lean body type, or could they be described as pudgy? Do they have distinctive marks? Scars, tattoos, glasses? All of these can be important for describing your character’s appearance, and give other players a trait that they can recognize you with. Do they have freckles? Do they have all their fingers and toes? Do they have any jewelry that they consistently wear? What kind of clothes do they wear? Are they tan or light skinned? How does their ethnicity come into play regarding their appearance?

Task Six: Pulling it all together into a profile
Now you get to do the fun part! You get to put things together in an easy to read profile! This will vary depending on the role-play you do, but I’ve included a sample one for our purposes here. Have some fun with it, and add or remove things as you see necessary, Remember, your profile is generally the only reference other players have to your character.



Important Things To Note:

• You are filling this out according to what YOU know about your character. Please don't put "unknown" or anything like that. The exception is "AKA," as others may determine this.
  
  
• You character doesn't have to be officially "good" or "evil." In fact, it will be much more fun if they haven't yet chosen a side and do heroic or dastardly deeds as they see fit.
  
  
• Your profile isn't set in stone. You will want to edit this as things happen to your character. The "Bio" topic, in particular, should be updated whenever something major happens to your character.
  
  
• If you choose to submit tekteks of your character with your profile, you must also provide a text description of your character's appearance and/or costume.

Will be added once I've worked on a few characters in here with you guys.

Task 1: Finding a Character Idea


Task Two: A/S/L?!?


Task Three: For better or for worse, for good or for evil?


Task four: But she had a great personality...


Task five: Don't judge a book by its cover...


Task Six: Pulling it all together into a profile

I'd really like to work on one of my old character who I feel was under-developed. So, for the purposes of the workshop I'd like to work on Jay first and figure out how I plan on eventually developing her into heartburn. She probably will not have complete control over her powers for a while, but I do want to figure out how I might like to do that. I'd also like to work on her relationship with her father while avoiding making her character a big role in her story. Most of their interaction should be done thinking back on past actions and within Jay's head. I think Jay should also still live in the houseboat... Will need more thought later.

I'd also like to flesh out Cait because she too is going to be normal for a long period of time before developing her powers, as well as her rival Rowena. Their relationship has to be very tense or things that happen later in the plot won't make much sense.

Cait Kassidy: (super, civilian)


Jay Carney: (super, civilian)


Rowena Lasairona: (super, civilian)


I'm also thinking of turning Rowena's powers into mental abilities... We'll see...

Yay! I finally have someone to play with!

The second task is to jot down the general information about a character. Since I've had these characters a while, this information is pretty easy, but as far as my rationalle for the plot goes, I'll elaborate.

Since it seems from teh recruit thread that a lot of the plot has to do with teen sensations, B.A.N.D., and very probably prom, I've decided to make my characters seniors in high school. However, because Delmor is so small, I think as VC I'll make the executive decision for all fo you guys that senior prom is open to juniors too (as long as they can afford the ticket price), and of course you could always find yourself an older date to go with you. So I could conceivably play any high school age and still be involved in the prom plot. In fact, I think I'll play a junior instead.

So that makes these three characters... 16? Yeah, I think I was 16 my junior year. I don't think I turned 17 until after school was out, so I guess I could make Cait and Rowena a little older than Jay just to be unique, and Jay can remain 16 (since the person she's based on is a little younger than me anyway).

So, in summary, the full names of these three characters are also Cait Kassidy, Jay Carney, and Rowena Lasairona. All three are female and they are 17, 16, and 17. They all live in Delmor, but Cait lives in one of the middle class houses, Jay lives on a houseboat with her teacher father, and Rowena lives in an upscale McMansion.

Does that about cover it?

Wow, NO WAI! You know, you are totally allowed to combine steps like that in the future....

Alright, so I guess it is background story time...

I guess I'll start with Cait. I basically want to roleplay out the entirety of Cait's story, so she isn't going to start with any powers. She is an honors student at DUHS and works herself too hard. On Saturdays she commutes off-islandinsula for a specially designed academic program called BTY that provides further challenges that DUHS cannot provide. She spends 8 hours at the BTY program every Saturday, with a one hour commute both days. On sundays she does her homework. On weekdays she rarely leaves her house because she is always studying. When she gets too stressed out, Cait plays loud music and "sings" to it to keep her focus, and she drinks a LOT of coffee. In fact, she's fairly short because she has consumed so much caffeine. But there is another reason for her coffee obsession, Cait is a narcoleptic. In fact, whenever she becomes overly emotional she falls asleep incontrolably, so it is all that Cait can do to keep herself at a fairly steady level of the jitters by constantly consuming coffee. There are no medications to treat her condition, so this is the best she can do. Cait also lives next door to Josh Baroob.

Jay is also not going to start with any powers. Jay is Cait's best friend, though they only just met at the beginning of their junior year and became fast friends through the BTY program. Jay's been living on a housboat at the Delmor Marina for a few years now but used to live on the mainland. The reason for the move was her father's teaching job on Delmor. Jay's relationship with her Dad is uneasy at best and bordering on abusive at worst. Her mother quietly goes along with whatever her father says because she feels she does not have a choice to do otherwise, and this has led to resentment of both parents. She loves to study chemistry, and often hangs around Mr. Attomos helping him with his experiments. Jay is an only child, so all of her parents sheltering and nesting has gone straight onto her. It is as if her father does not want her to be a unique person and instead she should automatically be what he thinks she should be. Obviously this causes tension, as Jay is a high school student trying to figure out who she is. Unfortunately, her father is also her track coach, and Jay's brilliance at the pole vault is the only thing her father can pride in, but god forbid he show it. Instead, he continues to push her. It's only a matter of time before she gets hurt.

Rowena....is a b***h. She can Cait were best friends once, a long time ago. Probably in elementary school or sometime. Since then, Rowena has become just too darn pretty and too darn rich to hang out with anyone like Cait, who looks rather plain and can't swim in a golden bathtub. Everyone believes Rowena to be an innocent girl, as she's just too sweet looking to do anything wrong, and very few people see through the facade. Because of her beauty, Rowena is also one of the most popular girls at DUHS, but don't dare come up to her if you aren't a member of the in-crowd, because she will quite litterally sneer at you, but she's too lady-like to spit. Rowena is also not very intelligent and struggles in school, getting by on flirting with teachers and reminding them of how rich her daddy is (though he and her mother are always away, leaving the housekeepers to take care of her and make sure they cater to all Rowena's needs.) She becomes frustrated with people who are smarter than her and therefore resents Cait for being a "stuck up brain". She thinks everyone should just be pretty and have lots of money and then the world would be a better place. Because of her expressed frustration with people smarter than she is, a housekeeper has been teaching Rowena a few mental meditative excercises with manipulating the world around her. She hasn't had much success though, making her further frustrated.

A lot of my character's personality comes right frmo their background, so this is a fairly easy step. I feel like you can't know who you are without knowing where you come from.

Given Cait's background, I'd have to say she is a perfectionist. She stresses out about not doing things exactly right constantly, and doesn't sleep well, exacerbating her narcolepsy. Because she puts all of her focus on schoolwork, Cait is a slob, and hasn't cleaned her room in a few years. The caffeine makes Cait anxious all the time, mostly because falling asleep is very embarrasing for Cait. All around, Cait is kind of a miserable person. She doesn't really have a lot of friends because she spends so much time studying, but education is kind of the only thing that makes Cait happy, so it work out in the end... kind of....

Jay is very easy going and yet still gets everything done, even with track practice. However, she doesn't sleep much, seeming to get her energy from a hidden battery pack. Cait even refers to her as "The Energizer Bunny" on occaission. Jay goes against the grain on everything, and often stand with Cait opposite to the mainstream. Together, they looove to cause trouble and stir up a fight, and when doing so together, they can do so ceaselesly.

Rowena is a manipulative b***h. She likes people to think she is good and innocent, but in reality is always causing problems and spreading rumors to make things happen her way. She really is quite smart about it, if only she could translate that into the classroom... All the administrators believe her to be faultless because she is so pretty and sweet and kind when people are looking, but it's what happens in the shadows that is really the issue. In fact, administrators are so blinded by "Daddy's Money" that whenever someone does say something bad about Rowena, the Principal believes the acuser to be lying and promplty drops their butt in detention. In Rowena's world, she's the only one that matters. And she feels a strong sense of entitlement for whatever she wants.

Task Four
Josh isn't a pack rat as much as he's a magpie. If he sees something he thinks is cool lying on the ground (or anywhere else) and finds it to be unclaimed, he will drag it back to his basement bedroom. The result is a collection of "treasures" that drives his mother insane and makes most people wonder why Josh lives in a landfill. As you might guess, he's also a bit of a slob. He'll clean when he can no longer function within the space or when his mother finally nags him into it, but never before. The closest thing Josh has to a vice (other than this unwillingness to clean) is the simple fact that he is a terrible klutz. It's a terrible trait to have when your room is stacked with roadside debris.

Josh is incredibly easy going when it comes to the rises and falls of everyday life. There is a reason for this, however: Josh has an uncanny luck when it comes to little things. They always seem to work out in his favor. He has faith that every bad will be followed by a good. When it comes to dealing with people, however, all this faith and confidence disappears. People are far too unpredictable for Josh's liking and he tries to rely on anyone but his close friends as little as possible. That being said, it's not hard to become one of Josh's "close" friends. As much as he hates to have to rely on them, Josh really enjoys the company of people. He believes in the inherent good of every human being and tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

The thing the really shines through Josh as his single most important trait is his strong sense of justice. He has a powerful desire to do good and to help his fellow man. When it comes to deciding between right and wrong, he excels. The irony is, when it comes to decisions with no moral values, he freezes up. Whether you as him about future careers, college choices, or anything else about the future, Josh simply doesn't know what he wants. He much prefers to put off the choice until other people or missed deadlines make it for him.

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Penelope isn't a neat-freak, but she does like to keep her space clean. This is a constant source of frustration in her house where dusty old heirlooms and dirty floors are all part of the "charm." She does what she can and has, for the most part, learned to live with that. Her worst vice is her need to know exactly what's going on anywhere that she might be remotely connected too. This doesn't come from a manipulative desire or anything of that sort, it's important to note. She just thinks she needs to know.

Penelope only has one true friend who isn't related to her, and she treats him like family. She keeps everyone who is important to her close and almost ignores everyone else. Her relationship with her sister is worth noting. Though the two of them are very close, Penelope feels like their mother subtly favors Elizabeth (truth be told, she does). It's never enough to start an actually rivalry between the two sisters, but it does wear on Penelope's nerves.

The one thing that really defines Penelope is her fierce loyalty to her friend and family. If they ask her to do something she may grumble, but she will do it. She loves her family dearly (and is beginning to feel that way about Josh). She doesn't truly ignore everyone else, but if they don't engage her, she won't engage them. Most people don't engage her.