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 Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:06 pm
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CHARACTER CREATION INFORMATION AND FORMS
Welcome to In the Name of the Moon's Questing Subforum! All profiles are considering quests until they are officially acquired, and even officially acquired characters must be stamped before they can be brought into play.
Players are welcome to create a quest thread whenever they have inspiration for a new character, but only characters who have been won (either from an event, from a raffle, customs, or purchased with Crown Tokens) are eligible for official play! While you may play civilians without art, you must have completed powered art before your characters can ever ICly power up.
Remember: all new players are automatically granted one free civilian to bring into play! This character does not come with art but is considered acquired as a gift for joining the shop! They just need to set up a quest and post in the Acquired thread! Though these characters are brought into the shop as civilians, players can later win or purchase a slot to grow them into a powered character!
In the Name of the Moon has different rules and forms for different types of characters:
Civilian Characters - All new human character quests will need to have a civilian form filled out. Powered forms are optional and are only required if you intend to power up your civilian.
Senshi Characters - White Moon Senshi, Chibi Senshi, Corrupted Senshi, and Dark Mirror Senshi Quests will all use this form in addition to the civilian form. These are common characters and can be quested by anyone. Deep Space Senshi are the exception to this; they are Rare-Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least three months with no large gaps of inactivity, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
Knight Characters - Knight Quests will use this form in addition to the civilian form. These are common characters and can be quested by anyone. Moon Knights are the exception to this; they are Rare-Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least three months with no large gaps of inactivity, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
Negaverse Agent Characters - Negaverse Agent Quests will use this form. These are common characters and can be quested by anyone.
Half-Youma Characters - Half Youma characters will use this form in addition to the civilian form. They are considered Rare-Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least three months with no large gaps of inactivity, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
Youma Characters - Youma characters will use this form; they do not need to use the civilian form. They are considered Rare-Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least three months with no large gaps of inactivity, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
Mauvian Characters - Mauvian characters will use this form; they do not need to use the civilian form. They are considered Rare-Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least at least three months with no large gaps of inactivity, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
Vanguardian Characters - Vanguardian characters will use this form; they do not need to use the civilian form. They are considered Rare Characters and can only be quested for by players who have been active in the shop for at least three months, or who have one character posted for third stage growth.
If you are ready to submit your profile for a moderator to review, please sure you use the appropriate thread! If you have won a slot or have the art, you want to use the Acquired Slot stamping thread! If you haven't yet acquired a slot or the art yet but still want to have a stamper review your profile, you'll need to post in the Not-Slot stamping thread.
When you are posting for a stamper, please keep in mind—are you looking for crit or stamp? These are different things; a crit means you want the moderator to comb over your profile and offer suggestions to help improve the profile. This is more useful to players who want to make sure they have a well fleshed out character or intend to enter the character in concept contests. If you ask for a stamp, you are not asking for constructive feedback—you are asking for the stamper to make sure you meet the bare minimum requirements to play the character in the shop. This is best for people who already have a slot/art and aren't interested in attempting to enter concept contests.
Characters with an acquired slot will always take precedence over non-slot quests; these are players who are waiting to play their character. This means that the Acquired thread will usually move faster than the non-slot thread, but don't worry! Stampers should get to all profiles eventually!
The Acquired Stamping thread and the Non-Slot stamping thread have rules for how many quests you can post in each thread at a time, so please review that before posting for a crit or stamp!
While stampers try to get to all profiles as quickly as possible, you can also ask other players in the shop for feedback on your profile before submitting it for official review. While we have many talented and experienced players in our shop, please keep in mind that getting feedback and making changes based on player suggestions is not official critique, and you may still be asked to make changes to your profile by a staff member in the stamping process. Please also remember not to give feedback or post in someone’s quest unless the player has specifically asked for player feedback! |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:09 pm
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RULES AND GUIDELINES
There are a few rules to keep in mind when questing for a new character:
Respect the stampers and your fellow questers. Don't go into someone else's quest with intent on harassing them or providing unwanted criticism, especially if the player hasn't asked for feedback! Don’t post in someone’s quest unless they have specifically requested player feedback. If they have requested feedback, only give thoughtful, helpful feedback and don’t harass, bully, or criticize their ideas. If you can’t be supportive, respectful, polite, and constructive in your feedback, please don’t comment. Please also respect the moderators trying to work with you to stamp your profile; they are just doing their job! If you are having difficulties with a moderator helping with your profile, please PM the shop mule, The Space Cauldron, and we will review the situation and help however we can!
Don't steal ideas! It's okay if someone has a similar quest/concept to another player, or if you draw inspiration from an anime/video game, but don't deliberately steal ideas! Please respect the intellectual property of others!
Please remember that other players may be questing for the same name or sphere as you are, but this doesn't mean they are stealing your concept or trying to snipe! Please try to be respectful and keep an eye out for who is questing what, and if you and another player are after the same thing, it helps to have a backup plan in case they win before you! You cannot reserve names and the player who acquires the slot first will win the name/sphere.
Please don't alter the quest forum by adding additional information to it! Stampers care most about your current character, not their past history and/or family. You do not need to post background information unless you think it is something that needs to be approved or might not fit within the guidelines for creating new characters. Quests should only be set up to utilize the official forms. The first post in a quest should be the civilian quest; the second post (if applicable) should be the powered form. Players can set up a quest for a civilian, and later for an upgraded powered side for an existing civilian. Please also do not format the font in the form; do not alter coding or reorganize the form. If a stamper claims your profile and it is has been altered, you may be asked to remove extra coding before they provide critique. Reviewing a quest to stamp it can take anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours so please be considerate and keep the font as it is. It makes the stampers' job easier and will likely get your character approved quicker!
A quest may either receive a full, colored stamp, or a black and white trial stamp; a trial stamp means that a moderator or staff member without full stamping privileges has looked over your quest and given it an initial approval. A GM or someone with full stamping privileges will usually be in shortly afterwards to give final approval! Once you receive a full stamp, the profile will be locked and moved to the Accepted Quest subforum; if your character is Acquired, you may set up their journal and begin playing them. It is required that you set up a journal prior to playing new characters!
Civilians, or the civilian side of approved characters, can be played as soon as the slot is acquired. Players do not need any art to play acquired civilians, but they do need the powered art before they can play their powered side or begin doing roleplays for requirements to grow them. You cannot set up a journal without a stamp, even if you have the art. If you win a Civilian Character, their journal will go in the Civilian Journals, and if you win a Powered character, their profile will go in Powered Journals. A member of staff can move a Civilian Journal to the Powered Journal subforum after they have art and can be played as a powered character!
Deliberately insensitive or inflammatory characters will not be accepted. Celestial Body Names and Wonders related to locations that may be important to certain religions should be respectful, but are viable for powered characters. These locations are not the same religious sites; they are locations on other worlds that share the same name.
Please keep in mind that there are limitations to what you can get when it comes to your character’s art, from what a particular artist feels comfortable drawing to what works/doesn't work with the shop templates. Extensive scarring, super-detailed tattoos that cover a large area, and even the amount/detail/style of accessories are some of the things that may need to be changed to fit the shop's style. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:11 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER: THE CIVILIAN
The civilian profile is the core of all characters, and all human characters will be required to fill out the civilian form in addition to their powered form; this form must be filled out for all new quests, excluding Youma and Mauvians.
The civilian profile should detail your character's daily persona and should give everyone an idea of who they are; this is who they are underneath their powered disguise! These profiles help establish your character before bringing them into play and can be helpful for others to get a brief overview of your character. If you are looking for more tips to create a civilian character, or you would like more information on how stampers judge a civilian character, please read the ‘Tips for Creating a Civilian Character’ below the Civilian Form!
When you are ready to set up a quest, you will need to post a new thread with the following form filled out. Please do not edit the format/coding of any of the forms we have available, for civilians or powered characters! Any extra information you wish to include can be included in another post, but your quest thread should have the civilian form in the first post, and the powered form, if applicable, in the second post. Any additional info, like your character's family or your character's history, can be put in a third post, but this does not typically need approval.
[b]Name:[/b] (Please make sure you have a unique surname for your character unless you have player permission to use the same last name! You can check the Master Character List for last names that are already in play!)
[b]Nickname:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gender/Pronoun[/b]: (Optional)
[b]Age:[/b] (Some factions only allow characters to awaken within certain age ranges, so make sure your civilian fits within the appropriate range for their powered side!)
[b]Birthday:[/b]
[b]Sign:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gemstone:[/b] (Optional; follows your zodiac sign)
[b]Blood Type:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Fav. Food:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Hated Food:[/b] (Optional)
[b]School/Occupation:[/b] Schools are: Knightside Elementary (Elementary and Middle School Students) Meadowview High School (Highschool) , Crystal Academy (Highschool) , Hillworth Grammar School (Highschool) , St. Magdalena's Seminary (Highschool) , Azure Valley Academy (Highschool) , Romano's Constitutional Haven (Highschool) Sovereign Heights Prep School (Ages 18-22 only), Horizon Institute for Technology and Science (Grades 7-12, some college), Destiny City University (College, accepts all ages). Information about schools can be found in the Tips below the form! If your character does not go to school (or goes to school but also has a job) you can instead fill out their 'Occupation'! Please see the Tips below the form for information on what occupations are allowed!
[b]Hobbies:[/b] What does your character do outside of school/work during their civilian life? This should be an activity that they do on a regular basis, and should be something they could reasonably do in the setting and within their financial means. At least two hobbies are required, but up to five are welcome. Each hobby should be described with at least two sentences. Hobbies should be something that can encourage roleplay or be used to inspire roleplay, however players are allowed to have solitary hobbies as well.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Reading[/i] -- Matt enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction books. He’s usually overworked and physically exhausted from his day to day life, but reading is a stress free, low effort task that allows him to escape into other worlds. He is always looking for the next best book, and loves to support local authors. He has attended book releases and has a podcast where he reviews and recommends a few books a week.
[b]Virtues:[/b] These are positive aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be praised and admired for. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘likes animals’), shouldn’t be overpowered (such as ‘Perfect’), and shouldn’t be based on their physical appearance (such as ‘pretty’). Virtues are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Outgoing[/i] -- Matt is an outgoing guy. He's always the life of the party, and loves to socialize. He is always eager to make new friends, and he isn’t afraid to try new things. His social battery never seems to deplete, and his kind and carefree demeanor makes him easy to be around. He is always enthusiastic and gives everything his best effort.
[b]Flaws:[/b] These are negative aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be disliked or criticized. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘hates kids’), shouldn’t be based on fears (such as ‘afraid of the dark’), and shouldn’t be based on anything that manifests physically (such as ‘clumsy’). Phobias and illnesses (physical or mental) are not viable flaws. Flaws are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Forgetful[/i] -- Matt can be overenthusiastic and often bites off more than he can chew. He will agree to obligations or plans and completely forget that he’s made a commitment. He can come across as fickle and flaky because it’s never guaranteed that he’ll actually show up. He tends to forget names, dates, and other important things regularly and needs to be frequently reminded about important things. It is easy for him to become distracted and he often jumps from one thing to the next; he can come across as careless and negligent.
[b]PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION[/b]
[i]Hair and eye colors cannot change from civilian to powered form, nor can tattoos or piercings. If your character has a tattoo as a civilian it will appear on the powered art, though will have a glamour to prevent people who have seen both from identifying civilian identities. Hairstyles can change between civilian and powered form; only Corrupted Senshi have vastly different hair between civilian and powered forms (their hair grows extensively in length!) Unnatural hair and eye color are perfectly fine, and there is no need to say they use hair dye or wear contacts - your character is free to have been born with blue hair if you want. Genetic heterochromia is allowed, but please consider that this is still considered an oddity in our game environment; you are free to play with it but we encourage players to be considerate of this fact! If your character is intended to have different colored eyes due to injury, please make sure you have done adequate research and include relevant information when you post a quest, or PM the shop mule, [b]The Space Cauldron[/b], for help! Because civilian art isn’t required for play, this part of the form will be helpful in making sure others know how your character appears if you don’t yet have art for them.[/i]
[b]Eyes:[/b] Color, shape.
[b]Hair:[/b] Color, style, accessories. You can post references or style words!
[b]Face:[/b] Shape, features -- Does your character have a round or oval or heart-shaped face, freckles, big ears or not; this is just to describe their face!
[b]Skin Tone:[/b] If possible, a hex code may be helpful for the artist’s purposes, here!
[b]Body Type:[/b] Are they tall, short, muscular, curvy, lithe, etc.?
[b]Clothes:[/b] If you are getting student art, your character will be drawn in the school uniform. If you are getting a civilian outfit, this will discuss the general style of your character! This doesn’t have to be the only type of outfit your character wears, but filling out this part of the form can be helpful for others to imagine what your character looks like.
TIPS FOR CREATING A CIVILIAN CHARACTER
While first names can overlap, please make sure that you are using a unique surname for your character! You can go through the Master Character List to see which names are already in use. Last names can only overlap if players who have already claimed the name consent to others using the last name. Some players have multiple characters in the same family so may want to reserve the last name for themselves. If you cannot get in contact with a player to ask for approval, or if the player declines permission, please be courteous and choose a new surname!
Some characters can only awaken into a faction if they are within a certain age group, so keep this in mind when you are writing their civilian profile! For example, Knights and Negaverse Agents can only awaken once they are fourteen or older. While they don't have a maximum age group, Senshi do; an Order Senshi that awakens between the ages of 7-13 will awaken as a Chibi Senshi. Regular Senshi (Order and Chaos) can best awaken between the ages of 14-20. Once a Senshi hits their 21st birthday, they can awaken as a Senshi but will have a slightly different range of abilities while they adjust to awakening. Once a character hits their 28th birthday they are no longer able to awaken. For more information, please read the Senshi post! Once a character awakens, they cannot age out of their faction (except for Chibi Senshi), so they just need to awaken before they age out.
Some schools have restrictions; before choosing a school, please see the Destiny City Guidebook for information on all of our schools! Characters can also attend private schools or can be homeschooled.
While characters can have a wide variety of occupations, some positions are unavailable due to their limited nature. For example, the position of ‘Mayor’ or ‘Chief of Police’ of Destiny City is unavailable because there can be only one. Players can create their own businesses and manage them, but public officials or characters who are elected or appointed will typically not be approved. Characters should also not be A-List superstars or high profile celebrities to start out with, but if a player is prepared to work with staff to plot for it and get it approved, through roleplay their fame and popularity can grow. We only ask for characters to not start out as extremely famous to allow the character the IC opportunity to adjust to their powered life while juggling their civilian life. The shop will not treat celebrity characters specially and they will be expected to follow all rules the same as everyone else!
Personality traits should be applicable in a wide variety of situations. Try to avoid traits that appear only in specific situations. For example, if you list 'Aggressive' as a flaw but then state, 'Matt is usually very peaceful but will become aggressive when he sees people hurting animals,' then this is not a flaw; a specific action elicits the emotion, but this is not a trait that is applicable to a wide variety of situations. Personality traits should define the character as they are naturally.
Make sure your character's traits are logically consistent with their other traits. You cannot have a character whose virtue is "Friendly" if they also have a flaw, "Unfriendly". The profile needs to be cohesive. While there are some situations where seemingly opposite traits can coexist, you will need to put extra thought into explaining how this affects their personality and make sure that the profile is balanced and reasonable!
Their traits should be unique and distinct from other traits. A little bit of overlap is fine, but be wary of too much! If two or more traits lead to similar actions from the character and/or similar reactions from other characters, then it would be appropriate to merge them. A well-written profile can take a few traits and combine them into one!
It is important to remember that traits are specifically personality traits; physical, mental or health issues do not count as flaws! 'Feeble' would not count as a flaw because it describes a physical body. 'Clumsy' does not count as a flaw because even if someone is hurting themselves because of this, being clumsy is a physical issue and not related to their personality. Medical issues do not count as flaws, so having an illness (mental or physical) is simply an aspect of the character. Flaws are essentially reasons why you might not like someone—it is inherent in the way that they act. Each trait should tell you something about what it would be like to interact with the character in a general sense.
When writing a profile, you should try to avoid anything that allows godmoding or metagaming. Any given personality trait should not allow the player to specifically dictate what another character does in response, or potentially act as a way for them to make OOC knowledge IC for the character. Any trait that spells out a definite ability to change another's behavior in its description will not be approved. Likewise, we will not stamp a trait that allows someone to know, guess, or correctly assume the feelings or thoughts of another character. In other words: if a trait has the potential to allow powerplay, then it needs to be revised.
When writing a profile, you should try to avoid skills or characteristics that are otherwise inconsiderate or unrealistic. No one should be the absolute best at something in an RP setting;an ability to best or beat absolutely everyone at a given activity, etc. is not going to fly. Along with this, you should keep in mind that when it comes to personality and skills, this is a realistic-Earth setting. Traits, hobbies and skill levels need to be appropriate for the character's age and the setting they are in. It is perfectly acceptable (and encouraged!) for someone to have unique or eccentric interests, but there is a difference between a high school student loving art history (approvable!) and that same student being a museum curator (not approvable!)
When writing a profile, you should try to avoid having too many skills. It's okay for a character to be incredibly good at something, but a Jack-of-all-trades should not be a master of many. Ideally any character should have high skill levels in only a few things. Anything else can still be added on as a general hobby or interest, but no one should be a sports star and a master artist and an incredible public speaker and have deductive reasoning skills that rival top scientific minds. This applies to virtues and hobbies, and it's a good idea to keep a mental list of skills that the character has. A player can be interested in many things but they should not excel in every skill!
When writing a profile, you should try to avoid cosplays. It is fine to draw inspiration from your favorite character, but please do not try to slip in a cosplay character! Remember, this shop takes place in real time, so your favorite character already exists in this RP environment in the same way they do in the real world. When making a character, please do not have them take the same name, appearance, personality, or hobbies as any existing character. Tributes (sharing similar design elements/'nods' to the character) are acceptable, but your character should not be the embodiment of them.
When writing a profile, you should try to avoid self-inserts. While not unacceptable, these characters are discouraged because criticism of the character can lead to personal offense; we don't want to accidentally offend someone or hurt their feelings because the character might need tweaks. Not everyone is going to like every character, but if you make a character modeled after yourself it is sometimes harder to deal with criticism. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:13 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER: SENSHI
Senshi are some of the most numerous characters in the shop; all Senshi are considered common characters, which means that they can be won in customs or purchased for a lower Crown Token price than rare characters. New players can quest for any Senshi without restrictions. Deep Space Senshi are the exception to this, as they have different rules than other Senshi and are rare characters; Deep Space Senshi are rare characters and can only be quested by players who have been an active member of the shop (at least a few tags per month) for three months or you have posted to grow at least one character to third stage.
Senshi have three stages that can be unlocked through roleplay, but all Senshi magic needs to be approved before they can come into play. All Senshi, including White Moon Senshi, Chibi Senshi, Corrupted Senshi, and Dark Mirror Senshi use the same form, however they may be stamped with slightly different abilities. Information about this can be found in the form and in the ‘Tips for Creating a Senshi Character’ found below the form!
Chibi Senshi can awake between the ages of 7-13 and can only be Order characters; standard White Moon Senshi, Corrupted Senshi, and Dark Mirror Senshi awaken between the ages of 14-20. These Senshi can also awaken between ages 21-27, however cannot awaken as of their 28th birthday. These Senshi are considered ‘Late Blooming Senshi’ and though they will use the same form as other senshi, they will have erratic magical abilities that will manifest in roleplay until they complete a ritual to balance themselves out.
Please fill out the following form if you want your civilian to power up into a Senshi. This form should be in the second post of your quest thread.
[b]Senshi:[/b] Senshi name and Sphere. The Senshi Name must be an unclaimed Celestial Body (such as a star, comet, moon, planet, or asteroid). You [b]must[/b] provide a link to the celestial body of the same namesake as your senshi! The Senshi Sphere is the theme of their power and should be what their magic is based on; these can only be based on things that are older than five hundred years. For example, “Sailor Venus, Senshi of Love,” or “Sailor Pluto, Senshi of Time”. Some Celestial Bodies and Spheres are limited so please see the Tips below the form!
[b]Uniform Color:[/b] Main and secondary. Give us a hex code if you'd like. The bodices of Order Senshi (including chibis) will always be white, and the bodices for Dark Mirror and Corrupted Senshi will always be black. Characters should have at least one main color and one secondary color, but other colors can be used as needed.
[i]Main Color:[/i]
[i]Secondary Color:[/i]
[b]Uniform:[/b]
Reference pictures may be used in place of descriptions, but please be prepared to give extra detail if your artist requires it!
[i]Tiara[/i] -- Every Order senshi is required to have some form of tiara. Beaded? Traditional? Woven fabric across your forehead? Corrupted Senshi do not need a tiara; instead they have a cracked black hole in their forehead.
[i]Choker[/i] -- Choker is a classic, or a necklace? Or a scarf?
[i]Collar[/i] -- Plain sailor collar? All senshi [i]must[/i] have a collar with one stripe at first stage.
[i]Bodice[/i] -- A swimsuit-type bodice? Order Senshi need a white bodice; Chaos Senshi need a black bodice. Some factions, like the Dark Mirror Court, have specific uniform requirements for their bodice and the amount of skin showing, but no other Senshi have restrictions. The bodice simply needs to be visible and be the lowest layer of fabric on their uniform.
[i]Chest Bow[/i] -- You need some form of frontal decoration and all senshi must have some kind of bow. All Senshi but Corrupted Senshi require a chest bow.
[i]Brooch[/i] -- Round? Shaped like anything? Keep this plain for the first incarnation. All Senshi but Corrupted Senshi require a brooch; instead, corrupted senshi have a cracked black hole in their chest.
[i]Sleeves[/i] -- Got sleeves?
[i]Gloves[/i] -- Any gloves?
[i]Buttbow[/i] -- All Senshi need a buttbow or sash around their waist
[i]Bottoms[/i] -- Shorts? Capris? Miniskirt? Tea-length cocktail skirt? Your typical school girl skirt? All Senshi bottoms need to have one stripe or at least one layer of fabric for first stage.
[i]Shoes[/i] -- Go crazy!
[i]Accessories[/i] -- Any accessories? Earrings? Jewelry? Some factions, like the Dark Mirror Senshi, have extra uniform features (like a transparent overlay, or metallic bracers) ; please make sure that you have checked the character uniform requirements! A link to this can be found in the ‘Tips for Creating a Senshi Character!’ found below the form.
[b]Attacks:[/b] These are your senshi's abilities and should correspond to your senshi's sphere. Senshi unlock a new magical ability to use in battle as they rank up ICly! Chibi Senshi should have weaker versions of the standard magic, or should have magic that backfires. Corrupted Senshi are allowed to have ‘darker’ magic. ‘Late Blooming Senshi’ ages 21-27 should have magic written the same as other standard Senshi but should have IC effects or erratic magic. More information can be found in the tips below! Senshi magic should be written to have a duration, a range, and number of uses. Senshi magic should be written to have a base ability, however players [i]can[/i] include optional effects, such as more powerful or lasting damage, that their RP partner can choose to be affected by! Senshi magic can be a buff or debuff, can be offensive, defensive, or create illusions. Senshi magic should typically only be one type of magic; it should not be a buff, and be offensive and defensive, for example.
[b]Sailor Scout Attack:[/b] Name.
This is your most basic attack. Magic for Basic Senshi ages 14-27 typically lasts for about thirty seconds, has three uses, and affects enemies within ten feet, however this is all subjective and depends on the type of attack. Chibi magic should be less powerful than standard magic, and may have a shorter duration or a smaller range.
[b]Super Sailor Scout Attack:[/b] Name.
This attack is an upgrade of your first attack! It should be written nearly the same, except it can have more powerful effects. Magic for Super Senshi ages 14-27 typically lasts for about thirty to thirty five seconds, has two uses, and affects enemies within ten to fifteen feet, however this is all subjective and depends on the type of attack. Chibi magic should be less powerful than standard magic, and may have a shorter duration or a smaller range.
[b]Eternal Sailor Attack:[/b] Name.
This attack can either be an upgrade of your super attack OR a completely new magic! It is the most powerful Senshi magic. Magic for Eternal Senshi ages 14-27 typically lasts for about thirty five to forty five seconds, has one use, and affects enemies within fifteen to twenty feet, however this is all subjective and depends on the type of attack. Chibi magic should be less powerful than standard magic, and may have a shorter duration or a smaller range.
[b]Deep Space Senshi:[/b] (Please delete this and the below section if you are not questing for a Deep Space Senshi. When creating a Deep Space Senshi, some information on the civilian form will be different, such as age; please include what age they appear [i]as well as[/i] their actual age. Their birthday can be the date they arrive on Earth or any other day they choose. Their blood type should be any human blood type but should always be compatible with humans.)
[b]Physical Features[/b]: Deep Space Senshi can have limited non-human features, but full information on this can be found in the Senshi information thread. Please describe your features here as best as possible before getting art so we can ensure that they meet guidelines.
[b]Backstory/History[/b]: Because these are rare characters, you must include a brief backstory for them prior to arrival so we can make sure this abides with canon. Please see the Deep Space Senshi post in the Senshi thread for information about backstories, age, and arrival. If you would prefer to PM this in to the mule to make sure it works, you can do that instead but this must be approved before your character can come into play.
TIPS FOR CREATING A SENSHI CHARACTER
Age is important to consider when creating a Senshi. Any Senshi who awakens between their seventh birthday and the day before their fourteenth birthday will awaken as a Chibi Senshi; these are Order only characters and cannot be corrupted. Chibi magic must be written to be weaker than standard Senshi magic and ICly it may malfunction or backfire. Chibi are Senshi in training and because they are young, their magic has not properly manifested. Their starseeds are not as strong as Senshi who awaken a little older and, to avoid hurting themselves or others without understanding their magic, their magic is limited. Chibi Senshi can complete a growth ritual once they turn fourteen and can access stronger magic; full information about this is in the Chibi Post above. Any White Moon Senshi, Corrupted Senshi, or Dark Mirror Senshi who awakens between their fourteenth birthday and the day before their twenty first birthday will awaken with standard magic. Any of those Senshi who awaken between their twenty first birthday and the day before their twenty eighth birthday will be considered ‘Late Blooming Senshi’; information about Late Blooming Senshi can be found as ‘Alternate Senshi Stages’ in the linked Faction information. Late Blooming Senshi have access to the same standard Senshi magic, but ICly their magic may manifest in different ways than approved. But Super stage, they should complete a growth ritual to get more consistent magic. Characters cannot awaken as a Senshi as of their twenty eight birthday.
Depending on which Senshi Faction a character belongs to, they may have different uniform requirements. Please check the Powered Uniform Guidelines to make sure your character meets all uniform requirements!
Senshi must be named after Celestial Bodies. These can be Stars, Minor Planets, Moons, or Asteroids. Constellations, Nebulae, Galaxies, and Black Holes are not viable Senshi names. You must use the most common, traditional name for Celestial Bodies; this is to prevent overlap and accidentally approving players to claim the same Celestial Body using different names. You should not use an antique name, alternate name, or foreign name without first discussing it with your stamper. Usually we require that the most current/common name is used to prevent accidental overlap; alternate names or nicknames will very rarely be approved. There are exceptions! If your Celestial Body has a Greek letter in the name (such as Alpha Star, Beta Star, etc), and the Celestial Body has a common nickname, you may apply with the nickname to prevent overlap with someone who might share the same base Celestial Body name.
There can only be one Senshi of any Celestial Body. Binary Stars or Tertiary Star Systems may not be approved if any multiple system of stars use the same name; if the stars have different names, the name may be valid, but please check with a stamper!
Senshi magic takes its form as a power sphere unique for each individual. An appropriate sphere is a concept that can be traced back at least 500 years. Not all spheres are viable; a senshi cannot have a 'weapon' sphere (such as Spears, Axes, Blades, etc), cannot be based on a group of people (such as occupational jobs, cultures, or natives to an area; (a ‘Senshi of Writers’ would be invalid, but a ‘Senshi of Writing’ would be valid), cannot be a phobia or disease, cannot be a religion, cannot be anything that is not PG-13, cannot be a sphere on the locked list, and cannot be a sphere that has already been claimed. Please check the Master Character list to see what spheres have already been claimed! While plant and animal spheres are viable, only a specific species can be quested for, and this species must have a common name that does not use an adjective to describe it or differentiate it from other similar species. For example, the Northern Cardinal is valid because it is known as the ‘Common Cardinal’; this can be quested for as ‘Senshi of Cardinals’. However, the name ‘Northern Cardinal’ is invalid because it uses a regional adjective, and ‘red cardinal’ is invalid because it uses a physical descriptor. Scientific names cannot be used for senshi spheres. If there are no eligible species in a genus (such as a genus full of species with invalid names, like the ‘Fiji Hummingbird’ (regional name) or ‘Pink Breasted Hummingbird (physical descriptor), then the genus name can be used. We understand that this rule can be very confusing and require a lot of research, however it is the only way that we can ensure there are not hugely overlapping spheres. If you need help finding a plant or animal sphere that is valid, please PM The Space Cauldron and we will help! Remember, spheres can be similar but should not overlap; similar spheres should be careful not to have overlapping magic!
A Senshi's magic must appropriately reflect the power sphere! This means that your attack should be appropriate for the concept. A senshi of Predators should not be able to heal people, and a senshi of Paint probably wouldn't be seen doing blunt force damage. Your sphere should influence your attack. A well written attack will utilize the power sphere in the attack description, even if just as a visual reference or through symbolism. The best way to do this is to see if you can guess the sphere based on the description of the attack!
Attacks need to have specific usage limits. Make sure your attack includes how long the magic lasts (and if it is instantaneous, or has a fixed duration), who can be affected (number of targets, or range/area of effect), and how many times it can be used in a fight. Attacks will be approved on a case by case basis, so not every attack will have the same duration or affect the same number of people, especially if one magic does a lot of damage and another is distraction magic. It is important to remember also that a senshi can only immobilize someone for a maximum of fifteen seconds at a time; if someone is unable to defend themselves, they are easy prey and can be killed while unable to defend themselves! Remember, battles tend to last about five minutes ICly so attack durations should be mindful of this! No magic should be able to last for large proportions of the battle!
Attacks need to have a finite and consistent set of effects. Magic should also not be able to change what it does depending on the conditions of the battle; try to avoid attacks where the effects are based on too many variables. For example, a senshi should not be able to direct their magic to be either healing, or defense, or do damage depending on the situation. Magic can only last for a certain period of time, so once the magic ends, so should all the effects. Magic is temporary and the effects of it should expire after a time! If your character summons something, it should disappear when the magic's duration ends. The only exception to this is if the magic has optional additional effects that are left up to the RP partner to experience. For example, a Senshi with fire magic might create the sensation of first degree burns for thirty seconds, but the magic might also say ‘Players may choose to take lasting damage or feel the effects of the burns after the magic ends’. This means that all magic has a guaranteed ability, but can have lasting effects if both RP partners consent.
Senshi should not have lethal magic and their magic should not have something that permanently affects the environment. For example, your magic should not be capable of killing someone, or tearing up the battlefield. Because magic is finite, the effects should fade when the duration ends.
When writing Senshi Magic, there are a few things to keep in mind:
When writing shielding magic, it is important to write fair magic; your character can typically create a shield that can protect against all physical attacks, but may only be able to resist some magical attacks. For example, a character may be able to create a shield that blocks all physical attacks and also magical attacks from members of the same rank or below; they might take slightly less damage from magical attacks from higher ranking characters but could not block them completely. A first stage character could only block first stage magic, but might get reduced damage from second stage magic, and would have no protection from third stage magic or higher. A third stage character might be able to block all magical damage from everyone third stage or lower, but would only take reduced damage from fourth stage magic.
When writing healing magic, please keep in mind that magic cannot heal bones or completely heal major injuries; healing magic can only slightly improve severe injuries or stabilize someone enough to get treatment at a hospital. This is to prevent injuries from rapidly healing wrong. Major injuries typically count broken bones, injuries that require surgery to repair, or injuries that are immediately life threatening. Typically only third stage characters can have magic with any effect on major injuries, and at this stage they can have healing magic that also completely heals moderate and minor injuries. Second stage characters typically have healing magic that can somewhat heal moderate damage, and can completely heal minor damage. First stage characters can typically slightly heal moderate injuries and completely heal minor damage.
When writing magic replenishment abilities, please keep in mind that a character can only restore magic up to their rank and cannot restore magic of higher ranked Senshi. For example, a second stage character cannot restore an Eternal Senshi’s magic but it could restore one usage of their second stage magic. When restoring Knight magic, only one magic pool can be replenished at once, though players can choose which magic pool to replenish if they have used more than one. A character cannot restore magic that has not been used. Fourth stage magic cannot be restored.
When writing immobilization magic, please keep in mind that magic cannot immobilize someone and leave them vulnerable for more than 15 seconds at a time; if magic pins someone down and makes them vulnerable to attack, it can only last in 15 second increments to prevent them from being too vulnerable in battle. 15 seconds would be enough time to cause significant damage to someone who cannot fight back. However, magic that imprisons or immobilizes someone and prevents others from attacking them (such as encasing someone in a box that cannot be broken out of, or into) can still last for standard durations.
Avoid anything potentially deadly. An attack description should never flat-out state it can kill people. It also shouldn't make it too easy to kill an enemy by virtue of its effects. Take care to think about the aftermath of a spell and how vulnerable (or powerful) the participants of a battle can become as a result. We won't be able to stamp an attack if a character could feasibly die in the next post.
Avoid spells that force character development or are overly specifically controlling. Eliciting a general emotional or physical response that is up to player interpretation is just fine. However, an attack should not impose particular thoughts or behaviors onto a target: this is somewhat godmoding and not very fun to write against. A senshi of Remorse can make a target feel deep remorse, but she cannot make another character specifically feel deep remorse for joining the Negaverse and their actions as members of the organization. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:16 pm
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CHARACTER FORM : KNIGHTS
Knights are an Order faction, aligned with the White Moon Senshi. They are considered common characters, which means that they can be won in customs or purchased for a lower Crown Token price than rare characters. New players can quest for any Knight without restrictions. Moon Knights are the exception to this, as they have different rules than other Knights and are rare characters; Moon Knights are rare characters and can only be quested by players who have been an active member of the shop (at least a few tags per month) for three months or you have posted to grow at least one character to third stage.
Knights can awaken once they turn fourteen years old and can awaken at any point in time after that. There are many different Knights, and their appearance and magic are greatly affected by what planet they serve. You can find information on all available Knight types in the Knight thread linked above! More information about creating a Knight can be found in the form and in the ‘Tips for Creating a Knight Character’ found below the form!
Please fill out the following form if you want your civilian to power up into a Knight. This form should be in the second post of your quest thread.
[b]Knight Title:[/b] (Wonder Name), Page of (Planet Name) ; a Knight Wonder is the source of their power. This can be named after a natural landmark on Earth (such as a mountain, river, hill, forest), a manmade location (such as a city that is at least five hundred years old), or a landmark on the planet being quested (such as a crater on Mars for a Mars Knight). Make sure to include a link to your Wonder! More information on choosing a Wonder can be found in the ‘Tips’ below the form!
[b]Wonder Description[/b]: (This section only needs to be filled out for Moon Knights; please disregard this section if you are questing for any other Knight! Because Moon Knights are newly assigned Wonders, they must reflect the themes of the Moon. Players should describe the physical location they want as well as why that area might have been symbolic or meaningful in the Moon Kingdom in the past. Players may need to work with staff to adjust Wonder description and lore to fit canon. Moon Knights named for features on the Moon should use the Latin names. When the Code chooses a Wonder for a new Knight, it will only assign locations that are reasonably able to be protected by one person. Moon Wonders will be no more than 30 miles wide in any direction; if a large feature, such as a sea, is used to name a Moon Knight, the player will need to design an important location within the natural feature that will share the name, but they will not protect the [i]whole[/i] location. For example, a Knight named for Mare Serenitatis would be known as Serenitatis, Knight of the Moon; they would protect a single location no more than thirty miles in diameter within Mare Serenitatis; other Wonders maybe located in the actual observable Mare Serenitatis.)
[b]Uniform:[/b] Knights all have a different theme depending on what Planet/Celestial Body they represent. Check the Knight Information Thread to get an idea of what designs would be appropriate to best represent your Knight's planet! Each Planet has a specific color palette so make sure you are drawing from that when designing your Knight! The outfit might have a few accent colors that stray from the palette, but the majority of the colors should match it. Metallic colors are allowed for [i]all[/i] Knights regardless of color scheme, but the uniform must feature predominantly palette colors! Dark colors should not dominate the uniform so even if the color palette is naturally dark, please keep this in mind! You can incorporate white or gray into your design in moderation, Your Knight should have their planetary symbol presented as a major motif in their outfit, so please consider where these symbols might best appear on their uniform! These things, and more information about uniform guidelines, can be found in the Knight Information Thread and the Custom Procedures Thread! Links to these threads can be found below in the ‘Tips’ below the form!
Reference pictures may be used in place of descriptions, but please be prepared to give extra detail if your artist requires it!
[i]Top[/i] -- Thigh-length traditional side-fastened coat? Shorter? Longer? Exposed undershirt? Cropped? Buttons? Toggles? Long sleeves, or short sleeves? Sleeves at all? What's the collar like? Is it a dress? You are generally as basic as it gets here and should be something you can be very active in.
[i]Bottoms[/i] -- Skirt? Pants? Shorts? Culottes?
[i]Gloves[/i] -- Got any?
[i]Belt[/i] -- Belt? No belt?
[i]Shoes[/i] -- What kind?
[i]Shoulders[/i] -- Epaulettes? Shoulderpads?
[i]Accessories[/i] -- What kind? Pages and Squires cannot have capes, so please keep this in mind!
[b]Weapon & Magic[/b]
Knights fight with a magical artifact that they can channel magic through once they reach their second stage. This artifact is called a ‘weapon’, though it cannot be bladed or lethal, cannot be anything that could not be reasonably held, and must be a single item. They cannot be a pair of items (such as a pair of gloves) ; magic can only be channeled through one item. As they grow in power, their weapon will grow, and their magic will as well. Knight weapons will have three forms and should always be timeless. These are ancient antiques that have been passed down through each incarnation. At second stage, a weapon can have magic themed on the planetary powers of the world their Wonder is located on. Tips about writing magic can be found below the form!
[i]Page Weapon:[/i] This should be a broken or weak object, or a toy or accessory. A Page Weapon might be a necklace, a broken hilt, or a basic item themed on the planet the Knight serves. A Neptune Knight, who has a power theme of ‘music’, might have an old musical instrument, such as a wooden flute. You have no magic at this stage.
[i]Squire:[/i] At this stage the weapon grows into something more useful. It can do damage but it should not be immensely powerful or lethal. From the examples above, a Squire Weapon might evolve into a heavy chain, a dull ceremonial sword, and a pretty flute.You gain access to your magic pool at this stage. Magic is channeled from a pool of energy and can be turned on and off at will. Magic must reflect the power themes of the world the Knight serves. The casting time for Squire magic pool is typically between 30-45 seconds at this stage depending on effects; offensive and debilitating magic will generally have a smaller magic pool, but healing magic, shields, and illusion magic usually have a larger magic pool. Most magic will typically have a range of about ten to fifteen feet at this stage but this may vary depending on effects.
[i]Knight Weapon:[/i] At this stage the weapon grows into its final, most useful stage. It can do damage but it should not be immensely powerful or lethal. The weapon can become more ornate, or capable of doing more damage. From the examples above, a Knight Weapon might evolve into a heavy chain with a lantern at the end, a dull, but extravagant ceremonial sword, and an ornate flute.Your magic may become more powerful at this stage, and you gain a longer channeling time. Magic is channeled from a pool of energy and can be turned on and off at will. Magic must reflect the power themes of the world the Knight serves. The casting time for a Knight’s magic pool is typically between 45-60 seconds at this stage depending on effects; offensive and debilitating magic will generally have a smaller magic pool, but healing magic, shields, and illusion magic usually have a larger magic pool. Most magic will typically have a range of about fifteen to twenty feet at this stage but this may vary depending on effects.
TIPS FOR CREATING A KNIGHT CHARACTER
Age is important to consider when creating a Knight. Knights must be at least fourteen to awaken, but they can awaken at any age after there; there is no limit to how old someone can be to awaken as a Knight.
Knights draw their powers from the Code Piece hidden in the Wonders of planets they were sworn to guard, and take the name of the Wonder. Knight Wonders can be real, natural landmarks on Earth (like mountains, hills, forests, lakes, rivers) or natural landmarks other planets (such as craters, mountains, seas, etc. on the planet the Knight is serving on). Wonders can also be manmade cities and structures that are at least five hundred years old, or they can be mythological places that have existed in myth for over five hundred years. While cities are allowed, large territories or countries are not viable Wonders. Municipalities, Eras, and counties are not viable options for wonders. Locations on earth and in mythology can be used as Wonders for any planet, but other landmarks on specific planets must be reserved for Knights serving that planet! Even if a landmark is chosen on Earth for the namesake, the actual Wonder will be on the planet the Knight serves. Players have complete freedom to worldbuild their Wonder but should read The Knight Thread so that their Wonder is in line with the planetary write up.
Wonder names must be the most common/current name for a location. You should not use an antique name, alternate name, or foreign name without first discussing it with your stamper. Usually we require that the most current/common name is used to prevent accidental overlap; alternate names or nicknames will very rarely be approved. There are exceptions! For Knight Wonders, if the location has been translated into English and sounds silly you may be able to use the original location name (for example, if a cave in Spain has a name that when translated becomes 'Mossy Cave', you might want to use the original Spanish name to prevent your night from being 'Mossy Page').
Knights can serve an array of Planets/Celestial bodies, however each Planet has a different appearance and power theme. You should consider the theme for each planet when considering your Knight's name and uniform, as well as their weapon and magical abilities: they should ideally relate or reflect in some way. You can read about all the Planets Power and Appearance Themes in the Knight Information Thread! Knights must meet uniform guidelines and have the appropriate colors. You can find more information on Knight uniform requirements in the Custom Procedure Thread.
Knight weapons are timeless; this means they should always have a very ancient feel to them. They shouldn’t be themed on modern day items and shouldn’t be made out of plastic. They don't have to be actual weapons, either! Many Knight weapons are more like enchanted items that tie into the theme of their wonder. For example, a Saturn Knight might have a pair of glasses to tie into Saturn's theme of 'Watchers'. Weapons grow and become more elaborate as the Knight grows stronger. At first stage, they do not have any magical abilities, however they have access to magic at Squire stage and higher. Knights must be holding onto their item or touching it to channel magic, so try to choose practical weapons! Weapons must be something that can be easily held, so even though a Neptune Knight might have a musical instrument, they couldn’t have something as big as a piano since that can’t practically be held, but they could have a cello by third stage though! Mercury knights are very tech savvy, so they might have items based on technology; even though this isn’t ‘timeless’ for us, it would be ‘timeless’ for them given their power themes and lore!
Knight weapons evolve as the Knight ranks up. Weapons start out simple and sometimes useless; however, they evolve with the knight as they unlock more power. It is common for weapons to evolve from flimsy, minimalistic, relatively useless items at Page stage into something more useful and detailed at Squire stage. Squire weapons can have function but neither they nor Knight weapons can be lethal. Knight weapons are the most advanced weapon and are useful, powerful, and are often highly detailed. Weapons should be natural progressions; you shouldn’t start with a necklace, have it grow into a sword, and then have it grow into a shield. Weapons can change, and players can also submit revisions to have plots to change what their weapon is, but a standard growth should make sense.
Knight magic must reflect planetary power themes. You can get creative in how you want your Knight’s magic to manifest, but it must be based off of the power themes of the world they serve under. You can sometimes include other aspects, but it is most helpful to include at least one keyword from the power themes. For example, Mars’ power themes are judgment, war, and spirit; fire is associated with Mars, but not included in the power theme. So a Mars Knight could have magic that “makes it feel as though the target is being judged harshly, and the harder they judge themselves, the more crippling the effects will be”, they might “activate the spirit of war and give allies a strength boost”, or they might “renew the fighting spirit in an ally and can heal minor injuries”. Players could write magic that includes fire, for example, as long as they also include a power theme. Such as, “The target is judged for their flaws and it feels like a fire inside is eating them up with guilt,” or “the target feels as though war has ravished the land and the channeled magic creates an illusion of fire and ruin and the sensation of loss is heavy in the air,” or “the target’s spirit is rejuvenated and it feels like they have a warm fire inside of them giving them strength.” You can get creative, but you must use power themes from that planet; you can use multiple power themes from that world, but you should not rely heavily on power themes from other worlds.
Knight magic is channeled from a pool of energy. Instead of duration and usage limits like senshi attacks have, Knights have a limited pool of energy to draw their magic from. This means they can choose to channel magic from their energy pool and stop to conserve energy; they can use the attack as many times as they want provided they still have time left to do so. For example, a Knight's magic pool might provide him with thirty seconds of channeling time; he could either use that all at once, or break it up to use his magic in two fifteen second increments. Please keep in mind that battles tend to last about 5 minutes ICly. Attack durations should be mindful of this! No magic should be able to last for large proportions of the battle! Knight magic is regularly 30-45 seconds at Squire stage and 45-60 at Knight stage. Knights must be holding their weapon to channel their magic, as the magic comes from the weapon.
Weapons cannot be lethal and must balance out with magic. Knights can use their weapons in many ways; they may get a shield to defend themselves, or a staff to attack, or just have a trinket that they carry around. Offensive weapons, such as swords, cannot have sharp edges; they must be dull or ceremonial and not be capable of slashing or piercing damage. Heavy weapons that could reasonably cause blunt force damage should be slower. Guns and gun-like weapons will not be approved for Knights; crossbows and bows can be approved, but Knights only have one weapon that their magic is channeled through; they cannot have physical bolts or arrows to shoot out of their weapon. The more dangerous a weapon is, the less offensive their magic should be.
When writing Knights, try to avoid spells that force character development or are overly specifically controlling. Eliciting a general emotional or physical response that is up to player interpretation is just fine. However, a spell should not impose particular thoughts or behaviors onto a target as there is no way to do this without godmoding. Magic might make a target feel sad, but it should be up to the player to interpret how their character reacts while feeling sad.
When writing shielding magic, it is important to write fair magic; your character can typically create a shield that can protect against all physical attacks, but may only be able to resist some magical attacks. For example, a character may be able to create a shield that blocks all physical attacks and also magical attacks from members of the same rank or below; they might take slightly less damage from magical attacks from higher ranking characters but could not block them completely. A second stage character could only block second stage magic, but might get reduced damage from third stage magic, and would have no protection from fourth stage magic or higher. A third stage character might be able to block all magical damage from everyone third stage or lower, but would only take reduced damage from fourth stage magic.
When writing healing magic, please keep in mind that magic cannot heal bones or completely heal major injuries; healing magic can only slightly improve severe injuries or stabilize someone enough to get treatment at a hospital. This is to prevent injuries from rapidly healing wrong. Major injuries typically count broken bones, injuries that require surgery to repair, or injuries that are immediately life threatening. Typically only third stage characters can have magic with any effect on major injuries, and at this stage they can have healing magic that also completely heals moderate and minor injuries. Second stage characters typically have healing magic that can somewhat heal moderate damage, and can completely heal minor damage.
When writing magic replenishment abilities, please keep in mind that a character can only restore magic up to their rank and cannot restore magic of higher ranked Senshi. For example, a second stage character cannot restore an Eternal Senshi’s magic but it could restore one usage of their second stage magic. When restoring Knight magic, only one magic pool can be replenished at once, though players can choose which magic pool to replenish if they have used more than one. A character cannot restore magic that has not been used. Fourth stage magic cannot be restored.
When writing immobilization magic, please keep in mind that magic cannot immobilize someone and leave them vulnerable for more than 15 seconds at a time; if magic pins someone down and makes them vulnerable to attack, it can only last in 15 second increments to prevent them from being too vulnerable in battle. 15 seconds would be enough time to cause significant damage to someone who cannot fight back. However, magic that imprisons or immobilizes someone and prevents others from attacking them (such as encasing someone in a box that cannot be broken out of, or into) can still last for standard durations.
When writing Knights, try to avoid complete overlap. It is incredibly possible to have similar weapons and similar magic to another character, but please just try to be considerate when designing. There are a finite set of powers that each Knight can draw from depending on their Planetary alignment, and if choosing a thematic weapon, there is a huge risk for similar weapons and powers. Please just try to be respectful of existing Knights. Similarly, please be open minded that there may be accidental overlap! |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:18 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER: NEGAVERSE AGENTS
Negaverse Agents are a Chaos faction. They are considered common characters, which means that they can be won in customs or purchased for a lower Crown Token price than rare characters. New players can quest for any Knights without restrictions.
Negaverse Officers can awaken once they turn fourteen years old and can awaken at any age after that. Unlike other factions, Negaverse Agents do not awaken automatically and are not necessarily predestined to power up. Negaverse Agents are chosen to join the Negaverse. Because officers are recruited into the Negaverse, you need to keep in mind something about your character that should appeal to the Negaverse to make them want to recruit your character. This might be as simple as they get good grades, are active on a sport’s team, are wealthy and influential, or have special skills that can help further the Negaverse.
More information about creating a Negaverse Agent can be found in the form and in the ‘Tips for Creating a Negaverse Agent’ found below the form!
Please fill out the following form if you want your civilian to power up into a Negaverse Agent. This form should be in the second post of your quest thread.
[b]Negaverse Alias:[/b] Lieutenant (Mineral Name). Remember to provide a link to your mineral! There are some restrictions to mineral names, so please see the ‘Tips’ below the form for full information!
[b]Uniform:[/b] The Negaverse is a military organization, uniforms should be in the style of professional or ceremonial military uniforms or business themed. There are a lot of rooms for variations and bringing in themes, but ultimately the goal is to make sure they look organized and professional! Your stamper or artist will be able to help you if you are struggling with designs. While some designs may be sultry, please try to avoid overly sexual outfits! Negaverse characters can be as young as fourteen, so please try to keep your uniform appropriate. Negaverse Uniforms should be predominantly dark; you may use lighter colors in moderation to provide piping or other accents to the uniform.
Reference pictures may be used in place of descriptions, but please be prepared to give extra detail if your artist requires it!
[i]Top[/i] -- Thigh-length traditional side-fastened coat? Shorter? Longer? Exposed undershirt? Cropped? Buttons? Toggles? Shoulderpads? Long sleeves, or short sleeves? Sleeves at all? What's the collar like? A dress? Lieutenant outfits tend to be free of many decorations and should not contain armor of any sort at this stage.
[i]Bottoms[/i] -- Skirt? Pants? Shorts? Culottes?
[i]Gloves[/i] -- Got any?
[i]Belt[/i] -- Belt? No belt?
[i]Shoes[/i] -- What kind?
[i]Shoulders[/i] -- Epaulettes?
[i]Accessories[/i] -- What kind? Remember, capes are reserved for Negaverse Generals (though not all are required to have them), so they should not appear on Lieutenant or Squire artwork!
[b]Weapon[/b]
Negaverse Agents fight with a weapon that grows in strength and power as they rank up. At Lieutenant stage, weapons should be toy or gag items; they can be based on just about anything that can reasonably be held, but by Captain stage they should evolve into a useful weapon. By third stage, the weapon can be lethal and may have a slight magical enhancement. Negaverse Agents are not magical characters, so the magic on their weapon should be something akin to a slight enchantment rather than channeled or casted magic. Tips about this can be found below the form!
[i]Lieutenant Weapon:[/i] This should be a toy, prop, or gag weapon, or should be a fragile trinket that generally cannot cause damage. At this stage, it has no magical power at all. Lieutenant weapons cannot cause much damage but should be a good base to grow into the Captain and General weapon.
[i]Captain Weapon:[/i] At this stage, the weapon evolves into something more useful and should be able to do some damage. It should not be immensely powerful or lethal but it can cause significant harm once you are skilled enough to use it effectively. Magical properties are incredibly rare at this stage, and if any are present then the weapon must have significantly reduced lethality. This weapon must be a middle weapon between the Lieutenant and General weapon and should follow a reasonable growth pattern.
[i]General Weapon:[/i] General weapons are typically very powerful; they can do a lot of damage and should be a reasonable progression from their Captain weapon. Some Generals may get two weapons, or weapons such as a bow and arrow, but Negaverse Agents should never get guns or bombs. At this stage, weapons may have slight magical enchantments, but these should not be anything channeled or cast as a spell. Generals cannot cast spells or activate magic; the magic will always be in their weapon. The magic should not be the prime feature or function of the weapon, but it can be added on provided the weapon is not already extremely powerful. Negaverse magic might be something like ‘the blade is cold to the touch and can chill the skin upon contact’, or ‘the dagger can cause dizziness and nausea for 15 seconds when it cuts someone’. More information about this and weapon restrictions can be found in the ‘Tips’ below the form!
TIPS FOR CREATING A NEGAVERSE AGENT CHARACTER
Age is important to consider when creating a Negaverse Agent. Negaverse Agents must be at least fourteen to awaken, but they can awaken at any age after there; there is no limit to how old someone can be to awaken as a Negaverse Agent.
Negaverse Agents must be named after minerals. There are many resources to find mineral names, but it is important to keep in mind that not all minerals might be valid. Organic minerals or organic gemstones (such as Amber or Pearl) are not valid names and will not be accepted for the Negaverse. Not all gemstones are considered minerals, so please make sure that the gemstone is valid! Similarly, rocks that are not also minerals will not be valid names. Some minerals have multiple names; players can quest for different names of the same mineral provided they are respectful of characters who are already using that mineral for inspiration. Minerals differentiated by colors cannot be used; ‘Beryl’ might be valid, but ‘Green Beryl’ would not be. ‘Pink Diamond’ would not be valid. Some mineraloids may be valid provided they are not organic in nature and share enough similarities with minerals to be accepted, but players are encouraged to PM The Space Cauldron before getting attached to any names or to have a backup name in mind when they post for stamping.
Negaverse Agent uniforms need to look professional. They should not have any armor at lieutenant stage, and should be either business professional, or ceremonial style military uniforms. They should be dark in color and shouldn’t have masks or capes. You can find more information on Negaverse Agent uniform requirements in the Custom Procedure Thread.
Negaverse weapons evolve as the Agent ranks up. Weapons start out simple and sometimes useless; however, they evolve with the Negaverse Agent as they unlock more power. It is common for weapons to evolve from flimsy, minimalistic, relatively useless items at Lieutenant stage into something more useful and dangerous at Captain stage. Captain weapons can be dangerous when handled effectively. General weapons are the most advanced weapon and are useful, powerful, and are often lethal. Weapons should be natural progressions; you shouldn’t start with a necklace, have it grow into a sword, and then have it grow into a shield. Weapons can change, and players can also submit revisions to have plots to change what their weapon is, but a standard growth should make sense.
Negaverse weapons can be ranged or come in sets. A Negaverse character might have two swords instead of one weapon by General stage, but if they are getting two weapons these need to be balanced. A set of swords might not be as long or lethal as a General with one sword, and a set of swords might not have any magical enchantment on it unless they have other drawbacks. Negaverse weapons can also be ranged, such as a boomerang, darts, shuriken, or a bow or crossbow, however these need to have reasonable drawbacks, such as no rapid fire. Weapons, such as bows and crossbows, usually only come with a set amount of ammunition, but arrows and bolts can be summoned back. They must be loaded into the weapon to be fired.
Negaverse Weapons have some limitations! Modern technology, such as guns or high tech gadgets, cannot be used. Guns, bombs, fire, and other legitimate explosives are similarly not allowed. These items are too powerful—they are difficult to dodge, cause huge amounts of damage, and can kill instantaneously. Weapons may look somewhat modern, but they should not have the same abilities as modern weapons. While smoke or flash bombs may be permitted, a bomb that contains shrapnel or could be lethal will not be permitted. As a general rule, if a weapon is extremely difficult to dodge and causes huge amounts of damage it will not be permitted. Please work with your stamper if you want some sort of smoke or flash bomb, as these would be considered very underpowered for the Negaverse since they are only distractions and cannot cause real damage. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:19 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER: HALF-YOUMA NEGAVERSE AGENTS
Half-Youma are Negaverse Agents who have been partially corrupted and mutated due to Chaos; they are a Chaos faction. They are considered rare characters, which means that they cannot be won in customs and can be purchased for a higher Crown Token price than common characters. Players can only quest for a Half-Youma if they have at least one character at third stage, or if they have been active in the shop (with no large gaps of inactivity) for at least six months.
Half-Youma Agents can awaken once they turn fourteen years old and can awaken at any age after that. Unlike other factions, Half-Youma Agents do not awaken automatically and are not necessarily predestined to power up; they should have awakened as Negaverse Agents, but something either went wrong with their awakening or something happened to mutate them within the first two weeks of them powering up into a Negaverse Agent. Negaverse Agents are chosen to join the Negaverse. Because officers are recruited into the Negaverse, you need to keep in mind something about your character that should appeal to the Negaverse to make them want to recruit your character. This might be as simple as they get good grades, are active on a sport’s team, are wealthy and influential, or have special skills that can help further the Negaverse.
A Negaverse Agent may also complete a plot to corrupt into a Half-Youma Agent; please see the side-swap thread for information on how to submit a plot for an existing Negaverse Agent to become a Half-Youma.
More information about creating a Half-Youma Agent can be found in the form and in the ‘Tips for Creating a Half-Youma Negaverse Agent’ found below the form!
Please fill out the following form if you want your civilian to power up into a Half-Youma Agent. This form should be in the second post of your quest thread.
[b]Negaverse Alias:[/b] Lieutenant (Mineral Name). Remember to provide a link to your mineral! There are some restrictions to mineral names, so please see the ‘Tips’ below the form for full information!
[b]Uniform:[/b] The Negaverse is a military organization, uniforms should be in the style of professional or ceremonial military uniforms or business themed. There are a lot of rooms for variations and bringing in themes, but ultimately the goal is to make sure they look organized and professional! Your stamper or artist will be able to help you if you are struggling with designs. While some designs may be sultry, please try to avoid overly sexual outfits! Negaverse characters can be as young as fourteen, so please try to keep your uniform appropriate. Negaverse Uniforms should be predominantly dark; you may use lighter colors in moderation to provide piping or other accents to the uniform. Half-Youma officers [i]may[/i] have torn, or slightly more ‘feral’ style outfits, but because they are Negaverse Agents at their core, they should still mostly follow the uniform guidelines for Negaverse Agents.
Reference pictures may be used in place of descriptions, but please be prepared to give extra detail if your artist requires it!
[i]Top[/i] -- Thigh-length traditional side-fastened coat? Shorter? Longer? Exposed undershirt? Cropped? Buttons? Toggles? Shoulderpads? Long sleeves, or short sleeves? Sleeves at all? What's the collar like? A dress? Lieutenant outfits tend to be free of many decorations and should not contain armor of any sort at this stage.
[i]Bottoms[/i] -- Skirt? Pants? Shorts? Culottes?
[i]Gloves[/i] -- Got any?
[i]Belt[/i] -- Belt? No belt?
[i]Shoes[/i] -- What kind?
[i]Shoulders[/i] -- Epaulettes?
[i]Accessories[/i] -- What kind? Remember, capes are reserved for Negaverse Generals (though not all are required to have them), so they should not appear on Lieutenant or Squire artwork!
[b]Physical Appearance:[/b] Half-Youma characters should remain clearly human and just have some monstrous physical changes. They are still human at their core and should not have more than 50% abnormal or youma-esque features. They will always appear humanoid and may simply look as though they have adopted some animalistic or monstrous qualities. Half-Youma appear to be humans with monstrous youma parts; all youma parts must be biological in some way. They can appear animalistic, plant-like, or even utilize some crystals. Half-Youma characters may have abnormal skin or eye colors that would not be permitted on human characters. Half-Youma mutations should be biological and should not be mechanical or cybernetic in nature. They must obviously be mutated and should not be able to hide their youma parts beneath their clothing. [i]All[/i] Half-Youma art must be approved by staff to make sure it’s within guidelines, and staff will work with players and their artists to ensure an appropriate level of youmafication is displayed on the art!
[b]Abilities[/b]: Half-Youma do not have weapons like Negaverse Agents. Instead, they have two special abilities. Abilities can have either physical abilities or magical abilities; they can have one of each or two physical, or two magical abilities. Physical Abilities should be things that give them an advantage in battle due to their unique build. Sometimes, certain physical traits can be combined to only count as one ability, allowing them to have a magical ability as well. Magical abilities usually have a finite set of uses, range, and abilities. Information about the parameters of Half-Youma abilities can be found in the ‘Tips’ below the form!
[b]Ability 1[/b] : (Physical or Magical)
[b]Ability 2[/b] : (Physical or Magical)
TIPS FOR CREATING A HALF-YOUMA CHARACTER
Age is important to consider when creating a Half-Youma. Negaverse Agents must be at least fourteen to awaken, but they can awaken at any age after there; there is no limit to how old someone can be to awaken as a Negaverse Agent, or be Half-Youmafied.
Half-Youma must be named after minerals. Because they are Negaverse Agents and their core, they share this in common. There are many resources to find mineral names, but it is important to keep in mind that not all minerals might be valid. Organic minerals or organic gemstones (such as Amber or Pearl) are not valid names and will not be accepted for the Negaverse. Not all gemstones are considered minerals, so please make sure that the gemstone is valid! Similarly, rocks that are not also minerals will not be valid names. Some minerals have multiple names; players can quest for different names of the same mineral provided they are respectful of characters who are already using that mineral for inspiration. Minerals differentiated by colors cannot be used; ‘Beryl’ might be valid, but ‘Green Beryl’ would not be. ‘Pink Diamond’ would not be valid. Some mineraloids may be valid provided they are not organic in nature and share enough similarities with minerals to be accepted, but players are encouraged to PM The Space Cauldron before getting attached to any names or to have a backup name in mind when they post for stamping.
Half-Youma uniforms need to look professional. Because they are Negaverse Agents and their core, they share this in common. They should not have any armor at lieutenant stage, and should be either business professional, or ceremonial style military uniforms. They should be dark in color and shouldn’t have masks or capes. You can find more information on Negaverse Agent uniform requirements in the Custom Procedure Thread. Half-Youma may deviate somewhat from the standard Negaverse uniform because of their youma nature, but they should still follow the rules in the Custom Procedure thread.
Half-Youma may become more monstrous as they rank up. At their Lieutenant stage, they should appear obviously partially youmafied. They should appear to be humans with monstrous influence. It is player choice if they want their character to appear more monstrous as they rank up, but they should always appear humanoid and be at least 50% human. They typically should not have extra limbs or greatly altered body types; for example, a centaur replaces a horse’s head and neck with the entire upper body of a human; even though this is 50% of a human, it is 75% of a horse and is too drastic of a difference. A centaur type character would be considered a full-youma. Each Half-Youma is unique and needs to be approved by staff before an artist can do the art; staff will work with players to make sure they are within Half-Youma guidelines! Half-Youma growth changes need to be approved by staff at every stage; you will need to send a WIP to The Space Cauldron for approval before an artist can move forward with the art.
Half-Youma abilities may grow stronger as they rank up. Due to the unique nature of Half-Youma, it is impossible to approve appearance and ability changes between their Lieutenant, Captain, and General stages; after a player has posted to grow their Half-Youma, they may contact The Space Cauldron to make revisions to their youma abilities. Half-Youma get all the abilities of a Negaverse Officer as they rank up, except they do not get weapons;they get two abilities instead. Revisions to Half-Youma abilities must be considered in tandem with any potential changes to the Half-Youma art as they grow in rank.
Physical Half-Youma abilities are a set of physiological differences that allow a half-youma to function differently than a normal human could be expected to. There are usually a few different physical changes that are meant to assist a youma in battle. Typically physical abilities mean the half-youma gains a few boosted physical traits based off of their physical changes. A half-youma based off of a snake may have retractable fangs and claws, a poison bite, enhanced smell or hyper awareness of nearby movement, and scaly skin that offers a bit of defense. The more impactful your physical abilities are, the less physical abilities a half-youma should have. Some abilities may have drawbacks! For example, Half-Youma may not gain the ability to fly unless they sacrifice durability; bird bones are very thin to allow them to carry themselves. These will be approved on a case-by-case ability; stampers need to consider the youma’s physical appearance, physical abilities, and magical abilities to approve. Abilities will always be approved with the Half-Youma’s rank in mind; players can post for revisions as their character ranks up, but we will only stamp for their abilities as they could reasonably be played at first stage.
Magical Half-Youma abilities must be an effect that is temporarily cast and creates a specific result. These abilities should be written with the same parameters as any other magical attack (so must include duration, number of uses, cooldown information, and effect). This is a magical ability that either causes damage or can provide a boost for others; it should be written to be about the same power as a second stage senshi attack. These attacks are best compared to Pokemon attacks. These will be approved on a case-by-case ability; stampers need to consider the youma’s physical appearance, physical abilities, and magical abilities to approve. Abilities will always be approved with the Half-Youma’s rank in mind; players can post for revisions as their character ranks up, but we will only stamp for their abilities as they could reasonably be played at first stage.
When writing shielding magic abilities, it is important to write fair magic; your character can typically create a shield that can protect against all physical attacks, but may only be able to resist some magical attacks. For example, a character may be able to create a shield that blocks all physical attacks and also magical attacks from members of the same rank or below; they might take slightly less damage from magical attacks from higher ranking characters but could not block them completely. A second stage character could only block second stage magic, but might get reduced damage from third stage magic, and would have no protection from fourth stage magic or higher. A third stage character might be able to block all magical damage from everyone third stage or lower, but would only take reduced damage from fourth stage magic.
When writing healing magic abilities, please keep in mind that magic cannot heal bones or completely heal major injuries; healing magic can only slightly improve severe injuries or stabilize someone enough to get treatment at a hospital. This is to prevent injuries from rapidly healing wrong. Major injuries typically count broken bones, injuries that require surgery to repair, or injuries that are immediately life threatening. Typically only third stage characters can have magic with any effect on major injuries, and at this stage they can have healing magic that also completely heals moderate and minor injuries. Second stage characters typically have healing magic that can somewhat heal moderate damage, and can completely heal minor damage.
When writing immobilization magic abilities, please keep in mind that magic cannot immobilize someone and leave them vulnerable for more than 15 seconds at a time; if magic pins someone down and makes them vulnerable to attack, it can only last in 15 second increments to prevent them from being too vulnerable in battle. 15 seconds would be enough time to cause significant damage to someone who cannot fight back. However, magic that imprisons or immobilizes someone and prevents others from attacking them (such as encasing someone in a shell that cannot be broken out of, or into) can still last for standard durations.
Characters acquired as a Half-Youma must have an associated plot. This must be sent to The Space Cauldron upon claiming the character or getting them stamped. This doesn’t have to be something incredibly detailed, but there are a few ways a character can be brought into play as a Half-Youma:
An effort to awaken the character as a Negaverse Agent could have been botched; a General or higher ranking Negaverse officer could have attempted to awaken the character and due to some outside influence, pushed too much Chaos into their starseed. An example of this might be an Order character attacking while they were mid-awakening.
A Negaverse Agent ranked General or higher could have found a sick or dying civilian and chosen to Half-Youmafy them to save their life; the civilian would still need to have the potential to be a valuable member of the Negaverse, and partially youmafying them could save their life and in debt them to the Negaverse.
A character could have been awakened as a Negaverse Agent and, within the first two weeks something happened to partially youmafy them. When a character is brought into the shop, they have two weeks to backdate awakening or having powered plots occur to set their character up. A Negaverse Agent could have consumed too many starseeds, or somehow accidentally merged with a youma. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:20 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER: YOUMA
Youma are characters who have been completely overwhelmed by the power of the Negaverse and have been mutated into a sub-human species. Youma are a Chaos faction and are aligned with Negaverse Agents, Corrupted Senshi, and Corrupted Mauvians.They are considered rare characters, which means that they cannot be won in customs and can be purchased for a higher Crown Token price than common characters. Players can only quest for a Youma if they have at least one character at third stage, or if they have been active in the shop (with no large gaps of inactivity) for at least six months.
Youma are unnatural characters and must be forcibly created from either unpowered civilians, or powered characters. Unpowered civilians will create Feral Youma, who are the weakest type of youma. Powered characters will create Humanoid Youma, who are fairly strong, intelligent youma. A civilian of any age can be turned into a youma, but a powered character must follow their standard rules for awakening first, and then be youmafied afterwards. Chibi Senshi cannot be youmafied, so Humanoid youma should have been at least 14 years old when youmafied.
Youma are created from human; civilians and powered characters both are youmafied for a wide variety of reasons. Players who are questing for a character who starts as a youma will need to be aware of a few things before creating a backstory for them, so please see the ‘Tips for Creating a Youma’ found below the form for information on how to bring a youma into play! Youma only get one stage of art and do not naturally grow in power.
A civilian or powered character may also complete a plot to corrupt into a Youma; please see the side-swap thread for information on how to submit a plot for an existing character to become a Youma.
More information about creating a Youma can be found in the form and in the ‘Tips for Creating a Youma’ found below the form!
Please fill out the following form if you want to bring a Youma character into play; they do not use the civilian form and instead have an adjusted form due to their differences. This form should be the first post of your quest thread.
[b]Name:[/b] (Youma typically only go by one name; this can be the civilian name they had when they were youmafied or a completely new name. Characters acquired through youma cannot claim a Mineral, Wonder, or Celestial Body; existing powered characters who corrupt into the Negaverse can keep their powered names, though!)
[b]Nickname:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gender/Pronoun[/b]: (Optional)
[b]Fav. Food:[/b] (Optional; youma do not need to eat food and consuming food can make them sick. Some youma may choose to eat, and may still be able to enjoy it)
[b]Hated Food:[/b] (Optional; youma do not need to eat food and consuming food can make them sick. Some youma may choose to eat, and may still be able to enjoy it)
[b]Hobbies:[/b] What does your character do outside Negaverse duties? This should be an activity that they do on a regular basis, and should be something they could reasonably do in the setting and within their financial means. At least two hobbies are required, but up to five are welcome. Each hobby should be described with at least two sentences. Hobbies should be something that can encourage roleplay or be used to inspire roleplay, however players are allowed to have solitary hobbies as well. Youma are severely limited in what they can do as they have a difficult time acting like normal humans; they cannot usually pass for civilians even though they can take a human glamour. These should be hobbies they could reasonably do as a youma.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Exploring[/i] -- Matte has always been a curious creature and seems to enjoy scouting out new areas to find unique locations. He is not afraid of intruding on dangerous or claimed territory and is fascinated by the ever-changing landscape of the Rift. Sometimes he will sneak into the Dark Kingdom and try to explore dilapidated houses, or see who is doing what within the city limits. He can become distracted when wandering Destiny City because he can’t keep up with the ever-changing terrain and often winds up in places he shouldn’t be.
[b]Virtues:[/b] These are positive aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be praised and admired for. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘likes animals’), shouldn’t be overpowered (such as ‘Perfect’), and shouldn’t be based on their physical appearance (such as ‘pretty’). Virtues are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other. Youma personalities are typically more animalistic or basic; they are often shells of who they used to be and take on more feral traits.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Fearless[/i] -- Matte is not afraid of anything and will tackle any task bravely. He thrives on situations that might ordinarily scare others and the boost of adrenaline makes him feel alive. He will engage in any task without hesitation and will even enter combat against dangerous opponents without concern for his own well-being. He is capable of acting quickly and without hesitation.
[b]Flaws:[/b] These are negative aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be disliked or criticized. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘hates kids’), shouldn’t be based on fears (such as ‘afraid of the dark’), and shouldn’t be based on anything that manifests physically (such as ‘clumsy’). Phobias and illnesses (physical or mental) are not viable flaws. Flaws are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other. Youma personalities are typically more animalistic or basic; they are often shells of who they used to be and take on more feral traits.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Savage[/i] -- Matte doesn’t know how to hold back in any capacity. When given a command, he tackles it ferociously. He is merciless and does not know how to show compassion. When in battle, he is fierce and relentless and doesn’t care who gets hurt--himself, or allies--as long as the enemy is handled. This level of brutality makes him a danger when in groups; sometimes he cannot focus on delicate tasks because he goes into a rage when confronted with a threat.
[b]Outfit:[/b] (Some youma may not wear clothes at all, depending on their body type, but some may have the remnants of the outfit they wore before youmafying. There are very few concrete guidelines for what a youma can wear, but they cannot wear something that could be mistaken for another faction, and they cannot wear armor. Players will need to work with their artists and get GM approval on all WIPs of their art.
Reference pictures may be used in place of descriptions, but please be prepared to give extra detail if your artist requires it! If you are writing a description, please include as much detail as possible in paragraph form here.)
[b]Physical Appearance:[/b] Youma characters should clearly be well past the state of Half-Youma and should not be mistaken for a human. They are no longer human and should have more than 50% abnormal or youma-esque features. While they may still appear somewhat human, they need to clearly be drastically different and have extreme animalistic or monstrous qualities. All youma parts must be biological in some way. They can appear animalistic, plant-like, or even utilize some crystals. Youma characters may have abnormal skin or eye colors that would not be permitted on human characters. Youma mutations should be biological and should not be mechanical or cybernetic in nature. They must obviously be mutated and should not be able to hide their youma parts beneath their clothing. [i]All[/i] Youma art must be approved by staff to make sure it’s within guidelines, and staff will work with players and their artists to ensure an appropriate level of youmafication is displayed on the art!
[b]Youma Type[/b]: Feral or Humanoid? Please see the ‘Tips’ below if you need information on the difference between a feral or humanoid youma!
[b]Abilities[/b]: In addition to a unique body type, Youma have two special abilities. Abilities can have either physical abilities or magical abilities; Youma can have one of each or two physical, or two magical abilities. Physical Abilities should be things that give them an advantage in battle due to their unique build. Sometimes, certain physical traits can be combined to only count as one ability, allowing them to have a magical ability as well. Magical abilities usually have a finite set of uses, range, and abilities. Information about the parameters of Youma abilities can be found in the ‘Tips’ below the form!
[b]Ability 1[/b] : (Physical or Magical)
[b]Ability 2[/b] : (Physical or Magical)
TIPS FOR CREATING A YOUMA CHARACTER
Age is important to consider when creating a Youma. While age is not a part of the profile, players need to be aware that there are some restrictions on when a youma could have been created. To correspond with Sailor Moon canon, civilian characters can be youmafied at some point in the mid 1980s. Youma cannot have awakened prior to Beryl's return in the 80s, as there were no Negaverse Agents to awaken them between that and the fall of the Silver Millennium. Youma who were alive during the Silver Millennium would be too broken or too powerful to be brought into play. Powered characters that were youmafied must have been done so at some point in time after 2011. All characters brought into the shop as youma (also referred to as ‘straight-to-youma characters’) must have been youmafied within two weeks of powering up, or must otherwise be an unpowered civilian.
Youma brought into the shop as new characters need backstories approved before they come into play. These characters will be handled on a case by case basis and before anyone establishes any history for their youma, they should reach out to The Space Cauldron for approval. You cannot reserve a name or sphere/wonder if you get a youma character; you can only say that they were powered. Please consider that your character cannot have a backstory that would give them an advantage to other characters who are freshly awakened! This must be sent upon claiming the character or getting them stamped. This doesn’t have to be something incredibly detailed and can be a sentence or two, but players need to consider how they want their character to have been youmafied. There are a few ways a character can be brought into play as a Youma:
A civilian may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time; an officer might have youmafied them so their identity wasn’t compromised, or so they couldn’t escape with information they shouldn’t have had. An officer might youmafy a civilian they don’t like, or a lower ranking officer (such as a Captain) might accidentally youmafy a civilian if they tried to awaken them into the Negaverse. Civilians will always become the weakest type of youma, a feral youma. Civilians can awakened at any point in time from the 1980s to present day, but the longer they are a youma, the less they remember of their civilian selves.
An effort to awaken the character as a Negaverse Agent or Corrupted Senshi could have been botched; a General or higher ranking Negaverse officer could have attempted to awaken the character and due to some outside influence, pushed too much Chaos into their starseed. An example of this might be an Order character attacking while they were mid-awakening. Powered characters should become a powerful type of youma known as a humanoid youma when corrupted. Players can also handwave that this happened to their character at some point in time after 2011, but characters cannot play with canon information or any information that would give them an unfair advantage compared to other new characters.
While unlikely, a Negaverse Agent or Corrupted Senshi might have done something horrible within their first two weeks of awakening and the only justifiable punishment was a forced youmafication. When a character is brought into the shop, they have two weeks to backdate awakening or having powered plots occur to set their character up. It would be very difficult for a first stage character to do something so extreme that they were punished in this way, but it might be possible with the right plot. Powered characters should become a powerful type of youma known as a humanoid youma when corrupted. Players can also handwave that this happened to their character at some point in time after 2011, but characters cannot play with canon information or any information that would give them an unfair advantage compared to other new characters.
A character could have been awakened as a Negaverse Agent or Corrupted Senshi and, within the first two weeks something happened to youmafy them. When a character is brought into the shop, they have two weeks to backdate awakening or having powered plots occur to set their character up. A Negaverse Agent could have consumed too many starseeds, or somehow took in an extreme amount of Chaos. Players can also handwave that this happened to their character at some point in time after 2011, but characters cannot play with canon information or any information that would give them an unfair advantage compared to other new characters. Powered characters should become a powerful type of youma known as a humanoid youma when corrupted.
Youma characters can be either Feral or Humanoid. Feral Youma are typically weaker and are made from civilians; Humanoid youma are more powerful and are made from powered characters.
Not everyone can become a youma. Mauvians, Dark Mirror Senshi, and Chibi Senshi cannot be youmafied. Mauvian starseeds will begin to deflect the Chaos when their starseed is full and they will not transform. Dark Mirror Senshi have a unique type of starseed protection that prevents them from youmafying. Chibi Senshi are too pure to be youmafied. This is important to keep in mind when creating your character’s backstory! Civilians, White Moon Senshi, Knights, Corrupted Senshi, and Negaverse Agents and Half-Youma officers can become youma. Half-Youma Agents are particularly susceptible and must be very careful when consuming starseeds or coming into contact with too much Chaos or they can easily tip into full youmafication.
Youma can be named after anything but cannot have names that overlap with other powered faction requirements. Players can choose any name they like for their youma, but characters who are quested for and are brought into play cannot use Mineral names, Wonder names, or Celestial Body names. This is to avoid taking viable names that could be used for other factions. If a character is brought into play first, and later corrupts into a youma through a plot, they can keep their approved powered name or take on a new name, but new youma characters cannot.
Youma only get one piece of art and do not grow. Youma should appear to be less than 50% human and should appear extremely monstrous and not easily mistaken for a Half-Youma. They may be vastly different in build and appearance; they may get extra limbs, greatly altered body types, or appear incredibly strange and unusual. Each Youma is unique and needs to be approved by staff before an artist can do the art; staff will work with players to make sure they are within Youma guidelines! You will need to send a WIP to The Space Cauldron for approval before an artist can move forward with the art.
Youma clothes are unique and don’t have specific guidelines. Youma can come in many shapes, sizes, and forms, and as such can also appear wearing a variety of clothes. They cannot have uniforms that could allow them to pass for characters in other factions, but they may have traces of parts of their previous outfits if they were youmafied while powered. They cannot have a surplus of armor that would give them an additional IC boost. You can find more information on Youma appearance requirements in the Custom Procedure Thread.
Youma abilities may grow stronger as they are roleplayed. Due to the unique nature of Youma, it is impossible to approve ability changes before seeing them played. When a youma is first brought into the shop, they should be considered the same rank as any other first stage character. Youma do not have growth requirements and while they may be able to revise their magic at some point in time after roleplay and plot, players should not expect that they will be given vastly different powers. The abilities in this form should be on par with what is expected of a first stage character for the most part, but there is wiggle room in some places. Players may contact The Space Cauldron to make revisions to their youma abilities after they have been in play; there will need to be an IC plot associated with this, even if it’s just bonding to a Negaverse officer, or said bonded officer growing in rank.
Physical Youma abilities are a set of physiological differences that allow a youma to function differently than a normal human could be expected to. There are usually a few different physical changes that are meant to assist a youma in battle. Typically physical abilities mean the youma gains a few boosted physical traits based off of their physical changes. A youma based off of a snake may have retractable fangs and claws, a poison bite, enhanced smell or hyper awareness of nearby movement, and scaly skin that offers a bit of defense. The more impactful your physical abilities are, the less physical abilities a youma should have. Some abilities may have drawbacks! For example, Youma may not gain the ability to fly unless they sacrifice durability; bird bones are very thin to allow them to carry themselves. These will be approved on a case-by-case ability; stampers need to consider the youma’s physical appearance, physical abilities, and magical abilities to approve. Abilities will always be approved with the Youma’s rank in mind; players may post for revisions as their character is played and has plots to ICly explain the changes, but we will only stamp for their abilities as they could reasonably be played at first stage.
Magical Youma abilities must be an effect that is temporarily cast and creates a specific result. These abilities should be written with the same parameters as any other magical attack (so must include duration, number of uses, cooldown information, and effect). This is a magical ability that either causes damage or can provide a boost for others; it should be written to be about the same power as a second stage senshi attack. These attacks are best compared to Pokemon attacks. These will be approved on a case-by-case ability; stampers need to consider the youma’s physical appearance, physical abilities, and magical abilities to approve. Abilities will always be approved with the Youma’s rank in mind; players may post for revisions as their character is played and has plots to ICly explain the changes, but we will only stamp for their abilities as they could reasonably be played at first stage.
When writing shielding magic, it is important to write fair magic; your character can typically create a shield that can protect against all physical attacks, but may only be able to resist some magical attacks. For example, a character may be able to create a shield that blocks all physical attacks and also magical attacks from members of the same rank or below; they might take slightly less damage from magical attacks from higher ranking characters but could not block them completely. A first stage character could only block first stage magic, but might get reduced damage from second stage magic, and would have no protection from third stage magic or higher. A third stage character might be able to block all magical damage from everyone third stage or lower, but would only take reduced damage from fourth stage magic. Youma should start out with basic first stage abilities but may be revised as they are roleplayed and complete plots that may show growth.
When writing healing magic, please keep in mind that magic cannot heal bones or completely heal major injuries; healing magic can only slightly improve severe injuries or stabilize someone enough to get treatment at a hospital. This is to prevent injuries from rapidly healing wrong. Major injuries typically count broken bones, injuries that require surgery to repair, or injuries that are immediately life threatening. Typically only third stage characters can have magic with any effect on major injuries, and at this stage they can have healing magic that also completely heals moderate and minor injuries. Second stage characters typically have healing magic that can somewhat heal moderate damage, and can completely heal minor damage. First stage characters can typically slightly heal moderate injuries and completely heal minor damage. Youma should start out with basic first stage abilities but may be revised as they are roleplayed and complete plots that may show growth.
When writing immobilization magic abilities, please keep in mind that magic cannot immobilize someone and leave them vulnerable for more than 15 seconds at a time; if magic pins someone down and makes them vulnerable to attack, it can only last in 15 second increments to prevent them from being too vulnerable in battle. 15 seconds would be enough time to cause significant damage to someone who cannot fight back. However, magic that imprisons or immobilizes someone and prevents others from attacking them (such as encasing someone in a shell that cannot be broken out of, or into) can still last for standard durations. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:21 pm
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CREATING A CHARACTER : GUARDIAN CATS
Guardian Cats, or Mauvians, are cat-like aliens that exist to awaken and promote Senshi. All Guardian Cats start out as Order aligned but can be corrupted by the Negaverse to become Corrupted Guardian Cats. They are considered rare characters, which means that they cannot be won in customs and can be purchased for a higher Crown Token price than common characters. Players can only quest for a Guardian Cat if they have at least one character at third stage, or if they have been active in the shop (with no large gaps of inactivity) for at least six months. Players can also only have one Guardian Cat!
When a Guardian Cat is acquired, they will get art of their cat form, and their humanoid form, however they can only access their humanoid form after they meet certain growth requirements. They are not guaranteed any art or additional stages after this, but players may choose to have their Guardian Cat reach an optional, free stage after they meet certain guidelines. This stage is known as a Mauvian Senshi Form.
You can find extra information about creating a Guardian cat in the ‘Tips for Creating a Guardian Cat’ section found below the form!
Please fill out the following form if you want to bring a Guardian Cat character into play; they do not use the civilian form and instead have an adjusted form due to their differences. This form should be the first post of your quest thread.
[b]Name:[/b] (Guardian Cats typically only go by one name; this name counts as a powered name so cannot overlap with other powered characters in play. Players are encouraged to avoid names that are based on a Mineral, Wonder, or Celestial Body because this can take viable powered names from other characters)
[b]Nickname:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gender/Pronoun[/b]: (Optional)
[b]Breed:[/b] (Mauvians must be based off of an accepted and existing breed of domestic Earth cat)
[b]Alignment:[/b] (Order or Chaos; if it is a Chaos cat, it will be aligned with the Negaverse specifically)
[b]Attached to:[/b] (Order or Chaos; Cats can only bond to a Senshi. These bonds are important and sometimes come with unique perks, but if the need arises can be broken. Order Cats can only bond to Order Senshi, and Corrupted Cats can only bond to Corrupted Negaverse Senshi; they cannot bond to Dark Mirror Senshi. Some Order cats might live with Knights, and some Chaos cats might live with Agents, but they cannot bond to anyone who is not a Senshi, and they can only be bonded to someone of the same alignment as them. This section is optional and can be determined through RP at a later point in time if you choose to bond your Mauvian to a Senshi!)
[b]Fav. Food:[/b] (Optional; Guardian Cats do not have the same physiology as normal cats and can eat any human-safe food without repercussions)
[b]Hated Food:[/b] (Optional; Guardian Cats do not have the same physiology as normal cats and can eat any human-safe food without repercussions)
[b]Hobbies:[/b] What does your Guardian Cat do for fun? This should be an activity that they do on a regular basis, and should be something they could reasonably do in the setting and within their financial means. At least two hobbies are required, but up to five are welcome. Each hobby should be described with at least two sentences. Hobbies should be something that can encourage roleplay or be used to inspire roleplay, however players are allowed to have solitary hobbies as well. Guardian Cats should have hobbies that they can do while in the form of the cat, as this takes up most of their time. While they can unlock the ability to access a human civilian glamour, this is for a brief period of time. Guardian Cats are very creative, but please try to pick hobbies that make sense given their limitations.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Reading[/i] -- Meowt enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction books. He’s usually overworked and physically exhausted from his day to day life, but reading is a stress free, low effort task that allows him to escape into other worlds. He prefers to read digitally because he doesn’t have to lug around books that weigh more than he is, and he can easily leave reviews using the touch screen on his tablet. He has created a V-tuber personality specifically so he can interact with other readers and recommend a few books a week.
[i]Exploring[/i] -- Matte has always been a curious creature and seems to enjoy scouting out new areas to find unique locations. He is not afraid of intruding on dangerous or claimed territory and is fascinated by the ever-changing landscape of the Rift. Sometimes he will sneak into the Dark Kingdom and try to explore dilapidated houses, or see who is doing what within the city limits. He can become distracted when wandering Destiny City because he can’t keep up with the ever-changing terrain and often winds up in places he shouldn’t be.
[b]Virtues:[/b] These are positive aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be praised and admired for. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘likes animals’), shouldn’t be overpowered (such as ‘Perfect’), and shouldn’t be based on their physical appearance (such as ‘pretty’). Virtues are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Outgoing[/i] -- Meowt is an outgoing guy. He's always the life of the party, and loves to socialize. He is always eager to make new friends, whether it be online where he can pretend to be anyone he wants, or in person when he is with people who understand him. His social battery never seems to deplete, and his kind and carefree demeanor makes him easy to be around. He is always enthusiastic and gives everything his best effort.
[b]Flaws:[/b] These are negative aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be disliked or criticized. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘hates kids’), shouldn’t be based on fears (such as ‘afraid of the dark’), and shouldn’t be based on anything that manifests physically (such as ‘clumsy’). Phobias and illnesses (physical or mental) are not viable flaws. Flaws are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Forgetful[/i] -- Meowt can be overenthusiastic and often bites off more than he can chew. He will agree to obligations or plans and completely forget that he’s made a commitment. He can come across as fickle and flaky because it’s never guaranteed that he’ll actually show up. He tends to forget names, dates, and other important things regularly and needs to be frequently reminded about important things. It is easy for him to become distracted and he often jumps from one thing to the next; he can come across as careless and negligent.
[b]PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION : CAT FORM[/b]
[b]Eyes:[/b] Color, shape. This should be the same as their human form!
[b]Body:[/b] Is your guardian an adult, or a kitten ? Underweight ? Pudgy spoiled housekitty ?
[b]Fur:[/b] Fur color and length; if possible, a hex code may be helpful for the artist’s purposes, here! Mauvians may be fantasy colors, however these shouldn't be hugely saturated. Cats cannot have more than two unnatural colors (so no rainbow cats), but they can have varying shades or values of the same general color.
[b]Star Color:[/b] All Mauvians have a five point star on their forehead--[i]unless[/i] they are an Order Mauvian and are the designated cat for a Team or Court, in which case they might have the Court's symbol on their head instead of a star. Order Cats [i]must[/i] have a light colored star and Chaos cats [i]must[/i] have a dark color. This should be the same color as their cat form.
[b]Accessories:[/b] Does your cat wear a collar ? A bell ? A small hat or shawl? Mauvians typically only wear an accessory or two while in this form and should not be fully dressed or in full costumes. They should typically share an accessory or trinket in common with their human form. Cat outfits must be fantasy styled! Traditionally Order cats have lighter colored outfits and accessories and Chaos cats have darker colored outfits and accessories, but this isn't mandatory.
[b]PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION : HUMAN FORM[/b]
[b]Eyes:[/b] Color, shape. This should be the same as their cat form!
[b]Hair:[/b] Color, style, accessories. You can post references or style words!
[b]Face:[/b] Shape, features -- Does your character have a round or oval or heart-shaped face, freckles, big ears or not; this is just to describe their face!
[b]Skin Tone:[/b] If possible, a hex code may be helpful for the artist’s purposes, here!
[b]Body Type:[/b] Are they tall, short, muscular, curvy, lithe, etc.?
[b]Star Color:[/b] All Mauvians have a five point star on their forehead--[i]unless[/i] they are the designated cat for a Team or Court, in which case they might have the Team/Court's symbol on their head instead of a star. Order Cats [i]must[/i] have a light colored star and Chaos cats [i]must[/i] have a dark color. This should be the same color as their cat form.
[b]Clothes:[/b] Cat outfits must be fantasy styled but cats [i]never[/i] wear shoes; their heel and toes must be exposed. The number of designs they take on is unlimited! Traditionally Order cats have lighter colored outfits and Chaos cats have darker colored outfits, but this isn't mandatory. They should typically share an accessory or trinket in common with their cat form. If you are getting art on a template, it is important to remember that Guardian Cats can [i]only[/i] go on templates specifically designed for their use; some pieces can be spliced from other templates, but you must start with a Guardian Cat template.
[b]OOC APPROVAL[/b]
[b]Is this your first Mauvian?[/b]: (If yes, please just put yes; if no, please link to your most recent Mauvian’s growth claim, growth log, or RP log that shows they have unlocked their humanoid form)
[b]Is your Mauvian new, reborn, or sealed in stasis?[/b]: New Mauvians did not have any sort of past life and have no past life memories to uncover; their starseeds are ‘new’. Reborn Mauvians existed during the Silver Millennium but were reborn on Earth in present day; they can unlock past life memories. Mauvian sealed in stasis were alive during the Silver Millennium but have lost many memories, some of which can be recovered through gameplay. They are the same as they were during the Silver Millennium. They can awaken from a stasis pod on Earth [i]or[/i] on other worlds if certain criteria is met. Please see the first post of the Mauvian information thread for more information; if your Mauvian is intended to awaken from a stasis pod on any world other than earth it MUST have plot approval first so please PM the Space Cauldron with your ideas for this when you post for a stamp.
TIPS TO CREATING A GUARDIAN CAT CHARACTER
Guardian Cats must wear fantasy style outfits in their Humanoid form. Guardian Cats can wear nearly anything as long as it is clearly fantasy or magical girl inspired; it should not be an outfit that you should expect to see people wearing day to day. Typically Order Cats wear lighter colors and Corrupted Cats wear darker colors, but this is not a requirement. They cannot wear armor or masks, or be mistaken for other factions. You can find more information on Guardian Cat art requirements in the Custom Procedure Thread. |
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:18 am
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CREATING A CHARACTER: VANGUARDIANS [VELENCIANS]
The Vanguard is an elite group of Velencians; they are aliens who come from the synthetic world of Velencya. They are on Earth looking for the secrets of revitalizing life and protecting it. They are a neutral faction and can be aligned with the Negaverse (Negaverse Agents, Corrupted Senshi, Corrupted Mauvians and Youma ) or Order characters (White Moon Senshi, Knights, and Order Mauvians). Velencians are loyal to each other first and foremost but can pursue alliances with whomever they think will best help them on their mission on Earth. They are considered rare characters, which means that they cannot be won in customs and can be purchased for a higher Crown Token price than common characters. Players can only quest for a Velencian if they have at least one character at third stage, or if they have been active in the shop (with no large gaps of inactivity) for at least six months. Velencians do not follow the same rules as other characters so only experienced players should quest for these. They have specific rules that must be followed!
Velencians are not typical powered characters; they do not have an energy signature or magic and rely on their technology to give them a fighting chance on Earth. Velencians will be around 100-300 years old, however it is more likely that they would be at least 150 years old if they have joined the Vanguard. Velencians cannot join any other faction but the Vanguard, and only Velencians can join the Vanguard.
Players who are questing for a Vanguardian will need to be aware of a few things before creating a backstory for them, so please see the ‘Tips for Creating a Vanguardian’ found below the form for information on how to bring one into play! Vanguardians have three stages that can be unlocked through roleplay. Because they are rare characters, the form also requires confirmation that you have read their information thread and a small section to describe how they will come into play.
Please fill out the following forms if you want to bring a Vanguardian character into play; they do not use the human civilian form and instead have an adjusted form due to their differences. The following forms are the only ones you need to fill out for Vanguardian character and should be the first two posts of your quest thread.
[b]Civilian Glamour Name:[/b] (Velencians will take on a human glamour when they arrive on Earth; they will need to assume a civilian name to fit in. They use their Velencian name as their powered name, so their civilian glamour name is an alias. Please make sure you have a unique surname for your character unless you have player permission to use the same last name! You can check the Master Character List for last names that are already in play!)
[b]Nickname:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gender/Pronoun[/b]: (Optional)
[b]Age:[/b] (Velencians age differently than humans and can live to be 2200-2600 Earth years. Velencians that can be brought into play can only be around 100-300 years old. They are commonly at least 150 years old if they have joined the Vanguard and have been approved to go to Earth; any younger should need special approval. 150 years old is the equivalent of a 21 year old human)
[b]Birthday:[/b] (Optional; Velencya uses a different calendar than Earthlings and birthday are not celebrated, but they can choose a date from Earth’s calendar to celebrate if they like)
[b]Sign:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Gemstone:[/b] (Optional; follows your zodiac sign)
[b]Blood Type:[/b] AB+ (Velencians all appear to have AB+ blood type and can receive blood from human donors, but cannot donate their own)
[b]Fav. Food:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Hated Food:[/b] (Optional)
[b]School/Occupation:[/b] Schools are: Meadowview High School (Highschool) , Crystal Academy (Highschool) , Hillworth Grammar School (Highschool) , St. Magdalena's Seminary (Highschool) , Azure Valley Academy (Highschool) , Romano's Constitutional Haven (Highschool) Sovereign Heights Prep School (Ages 18-22 only), Horizon Institute for Technology and Science (Grades 7-12, some college), Destiny City University (College, accepts all ages); Velencians can choose to enroll in school [i]if they like[/i], but they are not obligated to. If they do not go to school but have chosen an occupation, please just fill out the 'Occupation' they are pursuing! This is optional and they can create fake credentials if need be. This should be written as they will be played on Earth; on Velencya they would simply have been members of the Vanguard.
[b]Hobbies:[/b] What does your character do outside of school/work during their civilian life? This should be an activity that they do on a regular basis, and should be something they could reasonably do in the setting and within their financial means. At least two hobbies are required, but up to five are welcome. Each hobby should be described with at least two sentences. Hobbies should be something that can encourage roleplay or be used to inspire roleplay, however players are allowed to have solitary hobbies as well. This can be a hobby that they had prior to coming to Earth, or something they will pick up after arriving.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Reading[/i] -- Natte enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction books. He’s usually overworked and physically exhausted from his day to day life, but reading is a stress free, low effort task that allows him to escape into other worlds. He is always looking for the next best book, and loves to see the creativity of Earth authors while simultaneously pointing out the scientific inaccuracies and unrealistic plotlines. He has attended book releases and has a podcast where he reviews and criticizes these things, and shares the scientifically accurate methods that would need to be employed instead.
[b]Virtues:[/b] These are positive aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be praised and admired for. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘likes animals’), shouldn’t be overpowered (such as ‘Perfect’), and shouldn’t be based on their physical appearance (such as ‘pretty’). Virtues are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Outgoing[/i] -- Natte is an outgoing guy. He's full of life, and loves to socialize. He is always eager to make new friends, and he isn’t afraid to try new things. His social battery never seems to deplete, and his kind and carefree demeanor makes him easy to be around. He is always enthusiastic and gives everything his best effort.
[b]Flaws:[/b] These are negative aspects about your character's personality that affect them on a daily basis, and are things your character could be disliked or criticized. These traits shouldn’t be too specific or only manifest in specific situations (such as ‘hates kids’), shouldn’t be based on fears (such as ‘afraid of the dark’), and shouldn’t be based on anything that manifests physically (such as ‘clumsy’). Phobias and illnesses (physical or mental) are not viable flaws. Flaws are things that are directly related to how your character behaves. Traits should be balanced, so all profiles need an equal number of Virtues and Flaws and should not contradict each other.
[i]Example:[/i]
[i]Forgetful[/i] -- Natte can be overenthusiastic and often bites off more than he can chew. He will agree to obligations or plans and completely forget that he’s made a commitment. He can come across as fickle and flaky because it’s never guaranteed that he’ll actually show up. He tends to forget names, dates, and other important things regularly and needs to be frequently reminded about important things. It is easy for him to become distracted and he often jumps from one thing to the next; he can come across as careless and negligent.
[b]CIVILIAN GLAMOUR: PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION[/b]
[list][i]Velencians use a device that gives them a synthetic appearance; they typically only have one standard civilian appearance, however if it is compromised they can create a new one with minor plot approval. Because Velencians look different from humans, their civilian glamour can change their hair, eye, and skin color, as well as the shape of their pupils and ears to match humans. They will always be the same size and shape as their true form; this is just a cosmetic screen over their appearance to make them fit in on Earth. Tattoos can appear differently between forms; they can be programmed to exist or not exist. Hairstyles can change between civilian and powered form but should always have the same length. Unnatural hair and eye color are perfectly fine, and there is no need to say they use hair dye or wear contacts - your character is free to have been born with blue hair if you want. Genetic heterochromia is allowed, but please consider that this is still considered an oddity in our game environment; you are free to play with it but we encourage players to be considerate of this fact! If your character is intended to have different colored eyes due to injury, please make sure you have done adequate research and include relevant information when you post a quest, or PM the shop mule, [b]The Space Cauldron[/b], for help! Because civilian art isn’t required for play, this part of the form will be helpful in making sure others know how your character appears if you don’t yet have art for them.[/i]
[b]Appearance[/b]: Please include the civilian glamour's eye color, hair color and style, skin tone, and general information on body type or face shape. You can use reference pictures or describe how your character's human glamour appears. You can use hex codes to give a more specific color reference if you prefer!
[b]Clothes:[/b] If you are getting student art, your character will be drawn in the school uniform. If you are getting a civilian outfit, this will discuss the general style of your character! This doesn’t have to be the only type of outfit your character wears, but filling out this part of the form can be helpful for others to imagine what your character looks like. All Vanguardians arrive with a 'basic' outfit (up to players to interpret) that should allow them to blend in. However, after they are on Earth they can dress however they like so it might be more useful to describe their taste in fashion after establishing themselves.
[b]Velencian Name:[/b] (Velencians use the same alphabet we do, but they commonly use the consonants ‘C, D, F, G, L, N, S, and V’ and the vowels ‘A, E, I, and Y’. They should sound like science fiction inspired names; they have only a single name and do not have individual surnames. These count as powered names and should not overlap with any powered names.)
[b]Uniform Style[/b]: (Velencians have three standard uniforms; ceremonial military with skirt, ceremonial military with pants, and bodysuit activewear. Ceremonial military outfits consist of an undershirt under a professional blazer. The uniform comes with pants tucked into standard issue boots, or a knee-length skirt. The bodysuit activewear offers no physical benefit but is form fitting to stay out of the way; please choose one style!)
[b]Uniform Colors[/b]: The base color of all uniforms is always [color=#D9CADC][b]Thistle[/b][/color].
[b]Primary Accent Color[/b]: The standard uniform uses [color=#9eb2d1][b]Pale Blue[/b][/color] but this can be any color.
[b]Secondary Accent Color[/b]: The standard uniform uses a[color=#5a7cb3][b]Darker Blue[/b][/color] but this can be any color.
[b]Accessories[/b]: Velencians should not have many accessories at this stage; accessories and individualization would be discouraged. Small accessories that help them function, such as glasses, or a single piece of jewelry (like a family heirloom) might appear on art but these should be kept to a minimum.
[b]Appearance[/b]: This covers their natural appearance and should include hair color and style (hair can be any color and style), eye color (eyes can be any color but Velencians have a cat-slit pupil), skin color (skin can be any soft pastel color). Hair and eye color might be the same as their civilian glamour but this is not necessary. They can have freckles, scars, or birthmarks; any condition that affects the color of the skin will typically affect saturation, not hue.
[b]Weapon[/b]:
Vanguardians fight with a weapon that grows in strength and power as they rank up. Their weapons should be based on sci-fi type weapons and use a special crystal to power them. Their crystal will always be the color as the primary color of their uniform. These weapons are typically not designed to do immense damage and are instead supposed to stun or incapacitate their target. These weapons are synced to the Velencian’s starseed, so only they can use the weapon; they must manually be upgraded as they are promoted. At their first stage, weapons should be fairly weak and only capable of causing minor agitation or weak stunning abilities. By second stage they should evolve into a more useful weapon capable of causing agitation or temporary stunning abilities. By third stage, the weapon can be an upgraded version of the previous weapons that more effectively stun or disorient, or you may be modified to be a more offensive weapon. Tips about creating weapons can be found below the form!
[b]Cadet Weapon:[/b] This should be a fairly weak weapon capable of causing minor agitation or weak stunning abilities. These weapons should be influenced by sci-fi weapons both in appearance and function. These are essentially ‘training weapons’ that can be used as if they were real weapons, but they have limited strength to ensure the Cadet does not hurt themselves or others while in training. At this stage, it cannot do lasting damage but can have disorienting or distracting effects. This weapon will be the base weapon that can be enhanced to grow into the Corporal and Commander weapon. Cadets will choose the weapon they feel most comfortable with, but common starting weapons are a blaster type weapon capable of firing every ten seconds and causing a tingling and numbing sensation for 5 seconds upon contact, or a small dagger with an energy blade that can cause a tingling and numbing sensation for 15 seconds upon contact.
[b]Corporal Weapon:[/b] At this stage, the weapon evolves into something more useful and is capable of causing moderate agitation or temporary stunning abilities. These weapons should be influenced by sci-fi weapons both in appearance and function. These weapons have fewer safety precautions than the Cadet weapons and can be used as if they were real weapons. It cannot do lasting damage but can have disorienting or distracting effects. This weapon will be an intermediate stage between the Cadet weapon and the Commander weapon and should be a natural progression. Common upgrades might be a blaster type weapon capable of firing every ten seconds and causing a tingling and numbing sensation in a one foot radius for 10 seconds upon contact, or a foot long sword with an energy blade that can cause a tingling and burning sensation for 15 seconds upon contact.
[b]Commander Weapon:[/b] At this stage, the weapon evolves into something very powerful and either grows into something that can greatly stun or disorient [i]or[/i] may become a more offensive weapon. These weapons should be influenced by sci-fi weapons both in appearance and function. These weapons have no real safety precautions; the Commanders are expected to be experts at this point in time. This weapon can have massively disorienting or distracting effects [i]or[/i] can do lasting offensive damage if it is upgraded to do so. This weapon will be a natural progression from the Corporal weapon. An upgrade of a non-offensive weapon might be a powerful blaster capable of firing a ball of concentrated energy every ten seconds; this ball will explode on impact and create a tingling or numbing sensation in a six foot radius that lasts for ten seconds. The explosion does not cause actual damage but the electric field can cause dizziness and feel like static is in the air for anyone within the radius. If it hits a target directly they will feel the full brunt of the initial blast but it will taper quickly in power; if the environment is hit, the blast retains full strength and affects all those that pass through the radius. An upgrade of an offensive weapon might be a full sized sword with a laser blade that is so cold it can ‘freeze’ skin when it comes into contact for more than a few seconds. A slight glance with the blade can cause a tingling, frosty sensation for up to fifteen seconds upon contact, but the blade is powerful enough to slice or stab.
[b]Have you read the Vanguard Faction Info?[/b] (These are rare characters that come from an established society so you must be familiar with their backstory as this should affect how you play them!)
[b]Backstory[/b] (Because these characters are being sent from Velencya, they must have a reason for coming to Earth. This can be something simple, like they requested to assist in the ongoing mission, they could have been specially requested for a skillset they have, or maybe they have close ties to someone sent already and they believe they can help. These characters should always be Cadets and should still be fairly new to the Vanguard by Velencian standards. They cannot be the 'best' of anything in their field, but they can be skilled. They should know that Caedus is a long-lost King of theirs, however he was perceived as strange and they only knew him briefly. They should have been trained by Commodore Lyndin, who will be familiar with them as the leader of the Vanguard. This does not have to be an incredibly detailed section, we just need to work with you to establish how and why your character is being sent to Earth. Velencians can be sent together in a single pod, or they can be sent in small groups.)
TIPS FOR CREATING A VANGUARDIAN CHARACTER
Velencian names should strongly utilize letters common in their alphabet. Though Velencians use the same alphabet as Earth, a player should take into consideration the common letters of the alphabet when planning a Velencian. Velencians are not truly powered characters in that they do not ‘power up’ to access their power, however their unique genetics and technological abilities combined with their powerful crystals put them on par with other powered characters. Because of this reason, they use their Vanguardian ranking (Cadet, Corporal, Commander, Commodore) as their ranking title, and their birth name as their powered name. They can choose whatever human civilian name they like for their Earth alias.
Velencian uniforms are always uniform at first stage. Because the uniforms are issued as part of the Vanguard, there is no customization at first stage. They might be able to wear a single accessory, or something small, but this should not detract from the uniform. Uniforms come in three styles and there are six semi-premade uniforms a player can choose from or they can request the uniform of their choice on the template of their choice. The only thing that can be customized at this stage is the primary and secondary accent colors; the base uniform will always have one of three base cuts and will always have a thistle purple base. Velencians can customize their uniforms as they grow, but you should see the Faction Uniform Guidelines for more information!
Velencian weapons evolve as they are promoted. Weapons start out simple and fairly weak but, as the Cadet grows in skill and experience they will be promoted. When they are promoted, they can upgrade their weapon. Velencians are technologically advanced and will manually upgrade their weapon. If a weapon is broken, it must be repaired. Weapons can be revised and adjusted ICly, but they should always evolve logically and any changes should have a natural progression. When writing a weapon, they should always be sci-fi in nature. There is a lot of room for how this is interpreted, so when writing your weapon please try to be as descriptive as possible! All weapons use a crystal to power it; this crystal should be the primary accent color of the uniform.
Vanguardians can only have one weapon at a time. Vanguardians cannot dual wield or have weapons that have multiple functions. If they have a sci-fi style shield for a weapon, it should not also be able to fire lasers to do damage. Weapons should typically be designed to be durable and need as little repair as possible. Vanguardians only have one crystal to build a weapon with, so cannot build a set, or a weapon that can break into pieces.
Vanguardian weapons can get more ‘effects’ as they grow stronger. While all Vanguardian weapons begin with standard type magic, players can get more creative with the effects of their weapon as they get stronger. Some weapons may utilize elemental themes, but they should all utilize charged energy in some way.
Vanguardian weapons have some limitations! These should be inspired by sci-fi technology; even if a weapon is themed off of an archaic weapon (such as a sword) it should clearly have a sci-fi edge to it. The part of the weapon that does damage should always be some sort of laser or energy drawn from the crystal. A sword will not have a metal blade, it will have an energy blade; a gun typed weapon will not have hard ammunition but will fire blasts of energy. Vanguardian weapons cannot cause damage to themselves to be used (so no bombs) and should be balanced; because the crystals use energy to generate side effects, it will take time for the energy to recharge enough to do damage again. |
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Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 12:52 pm
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FAQ
Civilians
Is there a limit to what sort of hobbies my character can have? To how many they can have?
There isn't really a limit to what sort of hobbies your character can have unless they are completely outlandish or would be difficult to portray. Hobbies should be reasonable and account for your character's age, abilities and finances. For example, a child should not be betting on horses or partaking in anything vastly illegal, and no one should have hobbies that exceed a PG-13 rating. Feel free to explore some eccentric hobbies for your character, though! If you have questions about what might be appropriate, you can always ask for crit on a profile or refer to a stamper for assistance! Your character can be interested in a wide array of things, but try to keep their list of actual hobbies to four or less. If you find that your character is falling out of one hobby, they are free to replace it with another! When writing your hobbies, you should remember that they are things that can facilitate and encourage RP with other characters, so while it is fine to have a few solitary hobbies it is also important to pick things that can occur in roleplay as well!
Do I need to include my character's history?
Only if you feel like it is necessary! We usually do not need to approve a character's backstory for them to come into play, however if you have an idea for your character that pushes what we have comfortably outlined here, please run it by us! Your character should not have any important history with powered characters, should not be a wanted criminal, or should not be anyone exceptionally famous, but if you have an idea for something that might push at those boundaries, please contact us with a plot/to run over your backstory. If you are playing an average character, we don't need to approve history at all!
Can my character be famous? Can they be related to anyone important?
Characters can have varying degrees of fame, but they should never be someone the public always had their eye on. Child stars who have faded from the spotlight, semi-popular Youtube stars, B-Movie actors, etc. may work, but if your character is going to power up it is important that they have some degree of privacy--otherwise it is unrealistic that the media would not pick up on their powered activities. While your character may be related to important figures, they shouldn't be related to certain important figures. For example, you may be related to an NPC movie star, but you cannot be related to the mayor, the police commissioner, or any other important figure in Destiny City. You may be related to a high ranking police officer or someone important on the city council, but your character cannot be, and cannot be related to, 'the best of the best'/the highest ranking position. If you have an idea you want to run by us or questions to clarify, please PM the shop mule, The Space Cauldron! After characters have established themselves somewhat and gotten comfortable in their powered life, they may rise in fame or celebrity status within reason, but please let the mule know of your intentions so we can help guide you to playing in this environment!
If my character is from Japan, would they have extra information about the original/canon Senshi?
No! This would not have been advertised in any way in Japan, so if your character was alive or in the area of the original/canon senshi at the time the canon storyline was occurring (the 80s-90s) then they would not be able to have any information or recollection of the original Senshi. No one should enter this world knowing anything about the strange happenings in Japan at the time.
Are there any notable differences with heterochromia in game as opposed to real life?
Not really! Genetic heterochromia (two different colored eyes) is still statistically considered a genetic rarity so players are encouraged to consider this before questing for any character with two completely different color eyes. The only difference is that we allow anime colored eyes. Matching hazel eyes (or matching eyes with gradient colors) do not count as heterochromatic eyes. Additionally, if your character sustains an injury, either in battle or by natural causes, this may reflect on their art, however you must do adequate research and be prepared to play with this realistically. If possible, we ask that you cite links to backup the desired appearance and side effects.
Can civilians or powered characters be people with disabilities? Can my character be blind? Nonspeaking? Use a wheelchair? Be a person with a disability?
Characters with disabilities can be brought into the gameplay as either a civilian or powered character but there are some things to keep in mind for this. If you are bringing in a character with a disability, please include this in your character’s description! The same equipment that is used in real life can be used as an aid ICly, and if a character powers up they may gain some magical or Mauvian tech to better equip them for a battle environment. For example, a blind character is at a disadvantage when fighting characters with magic and lethal weapon; Mauvian technology might be utilized to provide them with the ability to sense magic coming at them when they cannot see it. Characters who are nonspeaking may utilize their preferred method of communication, be it any form of sign language, or a glamoured version of any aided augmentative and alternative communication device they may use as a civilian.
Characters who use a wheelchair have a place in our world and we will work with players who want to pursue these characters; we don’t want to exclude anyone but ask that players consider that many of our events take place in locations that are not wheelchair accessible, and some factions may have a bias against characters who use a wheelchair. However, Mauvian technology can be utilized to give these characters better accessibility. This may mean they can have a Mauvian mobility aid, or an altered wheelchair to use while powered. Characters may have prosthetics in civilian life that either get a glamour in their powered form, or they may get Mauvian technology. Staff is willing to work with players who want to bring in characters with disabilities, but we ask that everyone is respectful and researches rather than assumes. Staff acknowledges that we are not experts on this matter and welcome feedback on how to better word or improve this section to be more inclusive and appropriate. We want players from all walks of life to play characters they identify with and will work with players to do so.
Can my civilian have English as a Second Language? What if I want to play an immigrant who struggles with English? Can my character be nonspeaking and, if so, how does affect play?
Your character can speak English poorly, but please keep in mind how this might affect roleplay! It might not always be fun to RP with someone who has difficulties understanding what others are saying, so your character should have a basic enough understanding of the English language that they are able to communicate with others or carry a plot! Your character can be non speaking and still power up and cast magic just by willing it; powering up will not magically grant a voice to a character who does not have one; if a character cannot speak in civilian form, they will not suddenly find themselves with the ability while powered. They may utilize their preferred method of communication, be it any form of sign language, or a glamoured version of any aided augmentative and alternative communication device they may use.
Can civilians have mental or psychological conditions, such as diagnosed OCD or schizophrenia?
Yes, but if you are interested in playing a character, please do not fall into tropes! There are people in this shop that may be dealing with these conditions, so please do not generalize or play disrespectfully! Do adequate research before diagnosing your character with anything—mental or physical. If you are deliberately disrespectful or ignorant of an illness or condition you are playing with, the staff may have to ask you to do further research or remove mentions of it (but we will always try to work first!). Please remember that a physical or mental illness or condition is not a flaw; your flaws must relate to their personality. Remember that any illness or condition can be a part of a person, but it does not define the person; your profile's entire personality should not be built around a condition they have.
Can characters have a criminal history? Drug problems?
Yes, but please try to play this realistically! Your fifteen year old should not be charge with murder and now out on the streets. You will need to do adequate research to play this realistically. Please always remember to keep your roleplay PG-13 and within Gaia's Terms of Service; you should not be describing anything in graphic detail. It would be unrealistic to pretend like characters with criminal histories or drug problems don't exist, but please don't glorify these situations.
Is it possible to tweak a character's family/history from what was written and stamped before they were won?
Absolutely! You can tweak personal family histories as long as the character hasn't been mentioned or is important to the backstory of other player's characters. If you have characters that would affect another player/character's backstories you should work it out with them first, but you don't need to clear that with stampers!
General Powered
Can a quest name be reserved? What if someone has been questing for months and someone starts questing the same thing?
Quest names are not considered claimed until a slot has actually been won; it is common courtesy to check and see if anyone has been questing for a character before setting up your own quests—however there is no rule against it! Any name or sphere is free until it is officially claimed (meaning, either won or purchased).
What's A Cavalier? Or a Parallel Senshi? Where are the forms for these characters?
Cavalier and Parallel Senshi are special character factions that existed in a previous incarnation of the shop. Because many of the original creators of these factions and staff members left, these character classes were retired and are no longer questable.
Senshi
How do I pick a Senshi sphere?
Just thinking about something interesting or meaningful to you or the character you want to play can help! Senshi spheres must be something that has existed for at least a thousand years and should be a single thing (so you couldn’t be the senshi of Love and Beauty!). Just look around you for inspiration, but keep in mind that it should be something you can write attacks for, and it shouldn’t overlap with an existing Senshi sphere. Try to pick something that isn't too broad!
Is it possible for my Senshi's magic to do permanent damage?
Senshi magic cannot be written to always cause permanent damage however if you write the magic to give players the option to take more severe damage, there is some leniency here. For example, your senshi may have fire magic that we approve that can give the sensation of a third degree burn for the duration of the magic, but we will not approve that it can regularly create a lasting third degree burn or scar. You can, however, include in your attack that players have the option to plot to have this effect. This way no one is forced to take on extreme damage, but if the damage serves a plot purpose and is planned by both players, the magic can have lasting damage. Permanent changes to the environment or summoning permanent items are still not possible, though!
Can Senshi be named after Celestial bodies that were destroyed? What would happen if a Senshi named after a Celestial body and it was destroyed? Would their sphere be up for grabs if the Celestial Body was destroyed?
Senshi cannot be named after Celestial bodies that have been destroyed; the Senshi needs their homeworld to draw power from. If a Celestial Body was destroyed, ICly the senshi should also lose all of their powers as well as their ability to even power up (they'd be just a regular civilian!). However OOCly we will never punish players in this way if their Celestial Body is destroyed in real life after they acquired it.
How close can spheres be before overlap becomes a concern?
In the past, some very broad spheres were approved. We have since changed our rules on what spheres can be quested to try and make spheres more specific, but this means that some spheres might fall under the spectrum of another sphere. For example, we have a Senshi of Fish but also a Senshi of Koi. In this instance, the spheres have a sort of overlap, so you would have to make sure that the magic was different enough to be distinctive. As a general rule of thumb, spheres can be similar but the magic should always be vastly different. In some instances, one sphere will be too close to another and will need to be turned down for fairness's sake. This is usually handled on a case by case basis depending on the spheres in question, but if you are using a synonym for an existing sphere, it can be overlap if the magic winds up identical and the new quest may be asked to make adjustments if the stampers catch it. Sometimes, if you have player permission of the character you are worried about overlapping with, there is some wiggle room but you should never assume or harass someone for permission. Generally there can be a lot of similarities, but you should try to make your character as unique compared to senshi with similar spheres.
Can a Senshi have a weapon?
No; Senshi rely on their magic only and do not get a weapon like Knights or Negaverse agents.
There are some minerals, like Gold, that exist as a Celestial Body. Are these valid Senshi names?
No; Gold is not even a valid Negaverse name despite being listed as a Mineral! Anything on the Periodic Table of Elements is ineligible to be a Senshi or Negaverse name.
Knights
I found a Wonder that is really neat but it's only 450 years old. Is that too young to be a wonder?
We typically ask that Wonders be five hundred years or older, however we allow a little bit of wiggle room. If the Wonder is over 450 years old there is a chance we will allow it! Please just be mindful that in some instances we may have to ask you to pick an older Wonder, so try to have a good reasoning for wanting that Wonder, or be prepared to select another one.
Is my wonder actually on Earth? What if I chose a location on Earth for my Wonder but my Knight's Planet is Venus?
A wonder is always on the planet the Knight is affiliated with; if you chose a location on Earth to base your Venus Knight's wonder off of, we say that the location was built on Earth as a monument to reflect the location as it existed on another planet. Earth was a very popular location and people from all across the universe could visit; the Knight Academy was on Earth, so it is realistic to assume that people would have built tribute locations on Earth to reflect great monuments they had seen on other locations. Earth locations, for the sake of playability (as, many ancient locations are popular tourist locations), are stated to be on an alternate plane of existence—magically concealed from our Earth to protect them. Earth Knights must travel to these locations in the same way Knights from other planets must travel to their wonder; Earth Knights cannot simply walk to their Wonder from Destiny City even though both are on Earth.
If a mythological location has two different names, can two different Knights be based off of the location as long as each uses a different name?
No, sorry! This can tread into unfair overlap for players who might be uncomfortable with people using the same location/themes in their characters, so we'd prefer to avoid Wonders being based off of the exact same location.
Can a Knight be named for a location that existed over five hundred years ago but has since been destroyed?
Yes! Knight Wonders have some wiggle room; because we also allow mythological locations, it would be okay to use a Wonder that has been destroyed. To try and explain why Wonders on Earth haven't been invaded by tourists/under heavy guard that would prevent their Knights from exploring, we typically say that Wonders exist on a magical plane. So, even if a Wonder was destroyed on Earth, that doesn't necessarily mean the 'real' Wonder was also destroyed.
If a Wonder existed five hundred years ago but its name has changed, which name should be use?
The most common or well known name is the name we would prefer to be used (because it is the name people will most commonly associate with the Wonder and know that it is claimed), but if you have a good reason for wanting an older name used, you can include this information in either a plot to the shop mule, The Space Cauldron, or in the quest thread!
Guardian Cats
Why don't Guardian Cat forms require a birthday? There are ‘kitten’ and ‘adult’ cat templates; do they age?
Guardian Cats don’t require a birthday because they age differently than humans. On the forms, we need to make sure that human characters are in the appropriate age range (either to attend specific schools, hold specific occupations, use specific templates, or awaken in specific factions). Mauvians don’t have these limitations and the age at which they awaken isn’t as important. For Mauvians born on Earth, they start off as unaware cats and awaken into their power at any point during their life. You may have a five month kitten awaken as a Mauvian or a twelve year old cat awaken as a Mauvian (as, until they awaken into their powers they live their lives as if they were an ordinary Earth Cat) but the age they awaken at is irrelevant to what powers they come into or what information they can start with when they awaken. For Mauvians that arrived on Earth after going through statis, they would be preserved at whatever age they were when they were put into stasis. Similarly to Earth born cats, they could have been put into stasis at any age but they would all awaken with the same powers and the same information as other Mauvians.
While Mauvians can age, we leave this up to player decision. For example, if they would like to have an older cat that looks like a kitten, they have access to all templates. Many cat breeds, even while adult, can be small or look like they are still kittens, so because of the extreme variation in breeds we do not have age specific templates. Some players may choose to keep their Mauvian in a kitten-esque stage for their whole life, and others may choose to have a kitten they want to eventually grow up. |
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