Welcome to Gaia! ::

If the character you're working on isn't due to be in an RP with it's own skeleton, use this one. It's assumed and likely best suited for a character based on the Fairy Tail manga/anime, but you can use it for other characters. Be sure to note if it is not a Fairy Tail character though.

If any fields are not filled in, it assumed you need help with those aspects of your character.

"Magical Abilities" can either be a description of what your character can do in general, or a list of spells and their effects.

"Weaknesses" are supposed to be limits to your abilities, both magical and mundane. Something like, "would do anything for X" is a character flaw, not a weakness, and should be described under "Personality".



If you're making a character for the NBS and have no idea what to put for spell names/descriptions, use this skelly!

[NBS] The Lore by Amaiiko
This thread relating to our Battle System is a great resource when trying to figure out what kind of magic you want you mage to have. As even Amaiiko will tell you, these aren't "official" names for the powers, and you aren't restricted to just those. It's a great thread for magical inspiration!

The Character Creation Thread by Arcturus Highwind
A great thread that you should read at least twice. Wonderful insight into character creation.

100 Questions to ask About Your RP Character
Extremely useful to literally get into character. If you have a general idea of the character's background, answer these questions as the character you want to create.

The Mary Sue Litmus Test The Writer's Mary Sue Test
I recommend everyone try this out, just to see where their character stands. It's another one of those tools that can make you aware if you're projecting your wants onto your characters. The struck-out one is still useful, but I find the second one slightly better because at the end it gives you a "rating" of sorts, explains what areas your character may be lacking in, and gives suggestions to fix them up.

So You Wanna Take it Outside, Huh? (Combat RP Guide) by Wahoozerman
The second post has a list of different things people do when roleplaying AND creating characters that really can just ruin a roleplay. The thread is worth reading for that alone. However, it is a good read since we're bound to do a lot of fighting here in Fairy Tail.




-Always remember that your character is just that - a CHARACTER. They are not your children, they are. Not. You. I find that a surprising amount of people take their characters waaaay too seriously, and spazz when you ask them to change/tweak their character or criticize any aspect of the character.

-Try not to copypasta your character built for one RP into another RP. Especially if the settings/universes are completely different. I doubt your Naruto OC is going to fit into a steampunk RP. Not just in powers, but in personality and background too, and that's horrible because those two things are what really define a character. Feel free to keep the name and sex from your previous character, but more often than not each RP you join will require you to do some major re-tooling of who your character is essentially if you want to fit into the RP, and let others enjoy it too. I can tell you that trying to shoe horn a character based on one universe into a different one leads to a dissatisfying roleplay experience. It really separates your character and makes it difficult to connect with other characters. It probably really annoys the other RPers too. Wouldn't it be frustrating if someone in a Fairy Tail RP had a character that was a 1000 year old (but looked 24) elven king in a mech-suit with laser eyes named Leu'din'ayer? Elves in Fairy Tail likely aren't very similar to the Elves in your previous RP, so you'd probably want to change your race. Also, in Fairy Tail living to be that old is extremely rare. Like both the age and the name, you better have a DAMN GOOD explanation in your bio for everything. I can tell you right now that if I was hosting the RP, I would outright reject this character. If you're reusing a character idea, be sure to look through not only your character's powers, age, and race, but also the biography. Ask yourself, "Does this make sense in the context of this RP?" Someone trained in the ways of the katana and kung fu does not make sense in a medieval Europe RP. A more specific question you should ask yourself, in addition, for series-based RPs, "Does this contradict series-established lore?" Whether that matters or not is entirely up to the Host of the RP, but it's better if your history/biography matches up with the events described in the RP at the very least.

-Try something different once in a while. If you've roleplayed on Gaia before, you'll likely notice that most OCs are between the ages of 13-21. This is because most people on Gaia are between those ages in real life. I understand that a 16 year old will have a hard time feigning the life experience of a 30 year old in an RP, but that doesn't mean you can't go younger, or even maybe five years older than you really are. Maybe try making a character of the opposite sex. The most common thing I see is that a character's personality is a mix of stereotypical good/evil traits and the creator's own personality. OR the character's personality is how the creator wishes they were like. A socially awkward 16 year old boy might (and in many cases do) make a 16-21 year old character, who's outgoing, handsome, and has to beat ladies off him hourly, lest he suffocate. The moral of the story is to try different things for age, sex, and personality if you find yourself becoming bored with RPing.

-Give your character room to grow. This is even more important if you plan on using the same character in the same universe in similar RPs, or if the RP doesn't have a definite "end." You'll have very little to actually do if you're already a master at what you claim your character to have only skills in. If it gets to the point where the only way to have your character to grow is to add new and unrelated powers, then you know you started out too strong. One of the biggest advantages of an "apprentice" type character is that getting better at your chosen skill is an RP adventure all by itself! If you have limits built into your character, there's virtually zero chance of you having to worry, "Is this God-Modding?" Although, it should be noted that sometimes an RP revolves around the experiences of a Badass Crew, at which point your character will have some sort of specialization in which they are the best in the group. Remember, it all depends on how you roleplay!

-"Min-maxing." Don't do it. Min-maxing is when someone tries to "balance" their character's super-amazing powers by giving them a "weakness" that is totally unrelated to their powers. MANY MANY people do this, and that's why I had to clarify the Weaknesses section of the skelly. If you're a Fairy Tail fire mage, and I ask you what are your weaknesses, stuff like, "I really love candy," "I'm afraid of spiders," "I will do anything to help a woman in need," has NOTHING to do with your magic, and are realistically so obscure that they won't even have an impact on the outcome of a fight, let alone on your behavior in the actual RP. In an RP that asks for your weaknesses (especially in one with supernatural powers) they are asking, "What are the limits to your abilities?" Keep in mind that they must be realistic and fair to other RPers. Even if the skelly doesn't have a section for weaknesses, as the good littler RPer you are, you should already have your character's limits in mind.

-The biography says a lot about not only your character, but you as well. I say this because there certain types of characters that are used a lot. An orphan or a hybrid of species that is highly unlikely (e.g. half demon + half angel, half werewolf + half vampire, and of course the infamous "three halves" - half-demon, half-vampire, half-catgirl) are probably the most common ones on Gaia. So common in fact, that many people see such backgrounds as half-assed attempts to make a character "interesting" or "complex" without actually taking the time to craft a legitimate history for the character. It seems some people just want to act like bad-assery on legs, and don't bother treating their character like a new person, needing a history or a goal or a driving force, because they subconsciously identify themselves as that character. If you can successfully separate yourself from your character, you'll find it's easier to create interesting histories and personalities, and therefore more characters you'll enjoy roleplaying as.

Reserved

Reserved

Open! =D Oh yeah, if you see something worded oddly, quote that little bit so I can fix it. whee And if anything is vague, ask me about it so I can clarify! 4laugh

Heh, yeah, it's kinda funny that people chose that option but haven't posted profiles yet. ^_^; Hopefully they will soon!

I would try filling out a separate profile for Ragnarok just to make sure he's a fully fleshed-out character, and then when submitting it for RPs, just combine his and Kimiko's if you plan on playing them at the same time.

I actually have mixed feelings about playing more than one character. sweatdrop On one hand, it's a great way to have fast-paced conversations that you normally can't have in an RP, and you can use that as a unique way to develop both characters and express their personalities.

On the other hand, I've seen the abuse of using two characters, and it doesn't end up pretty. I think if someone plans on creating and using two characters at the same time, they need to make sure that each character is able to stand on their own, and they aren't just two halves of one character. You know what I mean? One thing I see pretty often is an RPer wants a character to have powers A, B, C, X, Y, and Z, but they can't put them in one character because no one would accept it, so they simply give one character powers ABC and the other XYZ, and submit it.

Characters with different personalities suffer from similar issues. The creator just wants their character to have so many different powers, so the character may be possessed by some other spirit/demon that gives them additional powers, sometimes different "form" that not only change power sets once again, but personality as well.

I guess the main point of ANY thread on character creation is that you can do just about anything... if you develop it enough. rofl



Also, if in the next few days no one submits their profile, I'll throw up the newest one I've been working on. 3nodding

Okay, to get things started, I'm going to post my latest character, and all of YOU get to give me feedback! =D

Normally you would just post the entire skelly here, but since this is still the front page, I didn't want to stretch things out too much. sweatdrop