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Personality Profiles


Civilian profiles are often a bit of a challenge to wrangle together. It's worth it to keep in mind that as well as depicting your character in a balanced and practical fashion, they are literally advertising what other players can expect when RPing with the character.

The most basic things to consider are that any character should have at least two hobbies, and an equal number of virtues and flaws. In addition to this, everything needs to add together into a personality that is fully RP viable.



IN GENERAL, PERSONALITY TRAITS SHOULD BE...

• ...applicable in a wide variety of situations. If a description includes a phrase like "Although he rarely shows it..." or some other implication that it happens rarely, then that's a sign it needs to be revised -- if it almost never applies, it's almost never going to have an impact on other characters. In the same vein, anything that has a very specific set of conditions in order to 'activate' it is also not very valid as a trait. In essence, any personality trait a character has should have the potential to be applied in any RP they are a part of!
  
  
• ...observable by other characters. Having interesting thoughts and motivations is all well and good... but if they stay in the character's mind there is no way for others to respond or react to them! There should ALWAYS be an external element to a trait, whether it's how the character speaks, how the character acts or both. This should be substantial enough that it can help shape the opinions others might make of the character: crying a bit when you are sad is not very substantial. Being overdramatic and exaggerating what you are crying about, however, is.
  
  
• ...logically consistent with other traits. If there are any contradictions between any characteristics, then they either need to be revised or appropriately explained. A statement like "In spite of _____, she will do ____" is not satisfactory because it dismisses the inconsistency instead of addressing it. If a character is Caring in the virtue set and Callous in the flaw set, then there needs to be some justification for how these seemingly opposite traits can coexist -- such as the character expressing their caring nature through their actions, but being abrasive and inconsiderate in their words.
  
  
• ...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. Try and boil things down to their basic idea when you read them over. If there's too much matching up, then the profile needs some cleaning up. In addition, there should be minimal talking about OTHER traits in the description: if it depends too much on another to be explained, then it should be merged with that other characteristic (unless it's a flaw-side to a virtue or vice-versa).

Another way to think of it is that ideally, any virtue or flaw should have answers to the following:

1. How does it affect their THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS? What's their motivation with this?

2. How does it affect their ACTIONS? What are they doing with their motivation? How are they expressing it?

3. How does it affect OTHER CHARACTERS? If it's a virtue, how can this lead to making them liked or respected? If it's a flaw, how can it earn them dislike or disrespect?

The first part is not as necessary, but still helpful. In the end each trait should tell you something about what it would be like to interact with the character in a general sense.


THINGS TO DEFINITELY AVOID:

• ANYTHING WHATSOEVER that allows godmode or metagaming. Any given personality trait should not 1. allow the player to specifically dictate what another character does in response, or 2. 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 is not okay. Likewise, neither is a trait that allows someone to know, guess, or correctly assume the feelings / thoughts / deep dark secrets of another character. In other words: if it has the POTENTIAL to allow powerplay, then it needs to be revised -- any OOC-given justifications or promises not to powerplay do NOT change the IC reality that the character has the capacity.
  
  
• Skills or characteristics that are otherwise inconsiderate or unrealistic. It's a given that no one should be the BEST EVER at something in an RP setting -- an ability to best or beat absolutely anyone 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 and that same student being a museum curator. The latter isn't exactly likely to happen!
  
  
• Having TOO MANY skills. This is kind of a subset of the above! 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 one or two 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: an overabundance of them means something needs to be cut out.

Powered Profiles: Negaverse and Knights


Since Negaverse are essentially corrupted Knights, there is a bit of similarity between the two when it comes to their progression:


1. Both are item users, able to summon a weapon as a tool for combat. Each weapon is unique to each character! However, overlap on basic weapon type is not something to worry about.
2. Both get ONE EXTRA EFFECT PER STAGE for their weapon when they level up! At the first stage they're simple and somewhat useless, but by the third stage their weapon makes them extremely formidable opponents.


Weapons are magically enhanced with each level up: for Negaversers, the Chaos energy from being promoted feeds into the weapon, causing it to transform into something more dangerous. For Knights, the increased level of planetary power they have access to unlocks new abilities they can use. As such, there is one main difference between these two classes when looking at their powers:

• For Negaverse, magic is CONFINED TO THE WEAPON. The item ITSELF becomes more formidable in physical combat through enhancements like chains, spikes, or even minor effects that inflict a target upon contact. As such, magical prowess for Negaverse weapons is typically limited.
  
  
• For Knights, the weapon ENABLES THEM TO PERFORM MAGIC. The item becomes a CHANNELING MECHANISM that allows the user to impose some kind of effect on the field or on a target. As such, physical prowess for Knight weapons is typically limited.

While there CAN be a bit of leeway here and there, any concept for either of these factions should stick to this basic idea: Negaverse weapons can have a magical effect as part of their enhancements, but cannot be OVERTLY magical and should never be used to cast spells. Knight weapons can be used in self-defense to some degree, but should not be overtly physical and should not be used exclusively in direct combat. In either case, greater physical prowess calls for a need to cut down on magical prowess and vice versa -- otherwise the weapon in question is going to be way too powerful!

Weapons: Knights


Page weapons are simple, plain versions of what they will be using in the future. Like Lieutenant weapons, they do not create a significant advantage in battle.

Squire weapons grant their users access to one new magical ability! In addition, it upgrades in appearance.

Knight weapons can add a second spell OR enhance the first spell somehow. It also gets an upgrade in appearance!


HOW MAGIC WORKS:


For most spells a Knight will have a set total amount of time they can channel for: this means they can stop casting and recast later, but they run out of power once their magic use has cumulatively reached that number. Other spells may have an extremely short duration (ten seconds or less) and have a set number of uses. Any effect that can last longer than ten seconds has to be actively channeled -- being able invoke spells that last bigger chunks of time is in the senshi venue.

In other words: Senshi spells are cast once and the magic stays for a fixed duration. Knight magic is actively channeled and NOT fixed in duration, though they have a limited time pool to use.

Knight spells are largely passive in nature, and impose some kind of effect that grants them / allies an advantage or enemies a disadvantage. This means that they cannot have directly offensive magic -- no one should be shooting around fireballs or lightning. However, indirect ways of causing damage, such as an electric field that zaps or knocks backs an enemy if they get too close, are acceptable.

A spell that conveys a more significant advantage should have a shorter total channeling time or fewer uses; likewise, a spell that gives a less significant advantage can be a bit less limited. It is very important to think about exactly how the Knight's magic will change a battle RP and what effect it will have on what different characters can do. For example, something that can completely immobilize should not last very long due to the fact that the target is totally vulnerable (and therefore very easy to kill) for as long as they are affected. A spell that only slows movement, on the other hand, can last longer because the target still retains some capacity to react to the battle.

For a point of reference: a slowing spell can typically get away with having a total time of 30~40 seconds or so. An immobilizing spell should last no more than 15~20.

As a final note, Knight magic needs to fit the theme of their planet somehow! This can be a pretty loose connection -- but a Uranus Knight, whose theme would be air, speed and bravery, should not be healing or restraining people.


THINGS TO DEFINITELY AVOID:

• Full-on, literal weapons. Knight weapons CAN be used for self-defense, but they should not be used solely for defense / offense! If a weapon progression looks perfectly acceptable as a Negaverse concept, then that means that it strays too far to be an acceptable Knight concept.
  
  
• Gizmos, gadgets and guns. Yup, this applies here too. Knight weapons are ancient and timeless, passed down from generation to generation. Their appearance should reflect this! Mercury Knights can have a tinge of gadgetry due to their aesthetic theme, but only in moderation and only if it doesn't look like modern technology of Earth.
  
  
• Spells that force character development or are overly specifically controlling. Iliciting 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: this is somewhat godmoding and not very fun to write against.

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!