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The first thing that people usually say about their character is how they look, how they're dressed, eye color, facials and the life. Often, people try to be imaginative with their character's appearance, giving their character wild and crazy features. Catlike bodies, Green hair, purple eyes, Tails- it has all been done.

The first thing I'm going to advise you about in this section is; You don't have to be Original! You don't have to be Different! Making your character stand out with his/her/it's appearance is not important! The only thing that is important with your character's appearance is making them visual to another person's imagination. Meaning, if you listed all of your characters features right here to me, I want to be able to look into my mind, piece them together easily, and form an idea of what your character looks like without a picture. That being said, Generality is not your enemy here. Your enemy is nonspecific detail.

The essential things that you need to go over in a character's appearance are really quite simple.

• Race (only applicable for roleplays that have more than human character)
  
• Skin tone (Pale, white, black, Asian, Aborigine, Albino, green?)
  
• Build (I.E; Muscular, skinny, awkward, limp, frail, anemic, etc.)
  
• Hair (Brown, black, blonde, even Blue, etc. Also includes length)
  
• Eye color (Brown, blue, green, gold, purple, etc.)
  
• Other facial appearances. (nose, cheeks, teeth, etc. Not so much detail required here)
  
• Age
  
• Height
  
• Weight
  
• Clothing. What is your character usually found wearing? This can change from RP day to RP day, giving you something new to post about you characters appearance every now and then.

That covers the standard for a characters appearance, which means you're about a third of the way done.

If the above confused you, Let's do an example. Say we're trying to make a character for a Medieval Roleplay. We'll call him Troy. Now, we don't know what Troy looks like yet, so we're gonna go down this list and guesstimate what we want out character to appear like to others.

• Race: Human
  
• Skin tone: Pale
  
• Build: Skinny and slim
  
• Hair: Dark brown, Goes down to his shoulders.
  
• Eye color: Greenish-blue
  
• Other facial appearances: Some freckles dot his cheeks
  
• Age: 24
  
• Height: Five feet Seven inches (5"7)
  
• Weight: 107 Pounds (lb for short)
  
• Clothing. Known to wear a Dark Forest-green tunic with grey breeches. When traveling, he also has an overcoat that is Wooly Grey.

Simple, No? This gives us the first part of any character skeleton. I personally like to keep the Age, Height, and Weight separate from the rest of the physical appearances, but everything could theoretically be compiled into one section labeled 'Physical Appearance'

• Character Name: Troy
  
• Age: 24
  
• Height: 5"7
  
• Weight: 107 lb
  
• Physical Appearance: Has dark brown hair that runs almost to his shoulders. His eyes are curved a little bit, making them look a little bit Catlike. Freckles dot his face. He is a skinny and slim man, who has a pale complexion, possibly from being indoors too much. Known to wear a Dark Forest-green tunic with grey breeches. When traveling, he also has an overcoat that is Wooly Grey.

Congratulations, You are Two-Thirds of the way done with making a better character.

The third part of every profile is a character's background and his/her/it's skills. Such important questions, such as 'Where does your character come from?' and 'What can your character do?' Such things are essential, because it give others the picture of what your character's life was like and why their personality is the way it is now. Although not completely mandatory, not doing this always gave me the impression of someone who doesn't want to type up a Biography simply because they are lazy.

First off, what does your character do for a living, or what does he do to get through everyday life? It can be as simple as naming a job, or complicated as explaining your characters outlook towards life. Making a list of all the possible choices here is too extensive, so feel free to use your imagination and choose what you want.

Second off, what was you character's past? This is a question that many roleplayers actually avoid, simply because they are either holding in that information to reveal later in the roleplay for dramatic tension. Or, they just simply cannot be bothered to think of one at that moment. Occasionally, it's both. There's a few key pieces to every Biography that should be explained.

1. Your character's social status growing up. Rich? Poor? Upper class? Nobility? Peasant?

2. How your character was treated growing up. Was he spoiled? Abandoned? Abused? ((remember, not all characters have to have a sob story behind them. Sometimes sob story's have been known to get a little overboard and become annoying.))

3. How much of an education did your character receive? Ivy League Graduate? Privately Taught? Illiterate?

4. Where was your character raised? ((Make this in relation to your roleplay. If the roleplay has a map, use it.))

5. Lastly, How has all of the above affected how he sees the world today?

Third off, what does you Character do? Meaning: What is physically possible for him to accomplish, or what special skills does he have? If you are partaking in a roleplay where you might be in combat with other characters, this is especially important. Skills for your character vary depending on the roleplay. If it's fantasy, then you may be allowed to use such things as magic or perhaps your character is a swordfighter. If it's set in the future, maybe he's a scientist or a technician. Setting what skills your character has is important; it sets a guideline for yourself, so that way other people can check your status and say, "Hey, since when can your character do This?"


I'll use Troy as an example again. What he does in life is relatively simple, I'll make him a scribe to a noble lord. As for his Biography, I'll write down the bare minimum here, but when it comes to your characters Biography, go ahead and write more. Because the more detail, the better.

• Livelihood: Troy makes his living as the Scribe of a Noble lord, who is the Earl of Sevenna.
  
• Biography: Troy was born as the third child of five to a poor family in the farmlands of Sevenna, a few miles away from the town. His parents were farmers, and he lived in a small hutch helping to till the land. Having to always till the land, his parents left him mostly to himself during his childhood. However, due to his apparent intelligence, he self-taught himself to read. When the word came around that the Earl of Sevenna was in need of a new scribe, Troy headed for the city to apply at the age of Eleven. He competed against the other five people whom applied, and was chosen, due to his perceptive nature and lack of spelling errors.
  
  He made his living off of this, and rose to a middle class citizen. He lived in the servant's quarters of the Earl's estate, which were lavish compared to his first home in the farmlands. He doesn't believe in the system where every man should stay at his station until death. He believes that people should rise by Merit, as he did.