Making a character: The do's and don't's.DO:Try to be diverse.If we wanted to see a million characters who were exactly the same, we'd be playing on HorseCity.com right now. Try to make your character as realistic as possible; there's no such thing as a flawless person. Likewise, if you try to make your character uber-powerful with insignificant flaws, you will receive a warning. Besides, this game is based off of puzzles, not combat. Strong characters are pretty pointless... the only thing your class changes is how the puzzles are solved. Puzzles get pretty damn boring if you can do everything.
Comply with racial standards.There aren't going to be many Wolvens who can cast spells, nor Falcons who can rely on brute strength. If you're making a mixedbreed, keep in mind that you may mix and match any attributes from your ancestry EXCEPT for Wolven strength and Falcon speed. Wolven strength is based off of exceptionally large muscles. Falcon speed is based from long, lightweight bones and general body structure. What happens if you put huge muscles on a small, weak body? Your character will be a cripple. So, if you want to do this, by all means, try. However, you'll probably die.
xp Also, with every generation farther away from the original race, the racial abilities become more and more diluted, especially with incompatible races. So, a Falcon/Serpent mixedbreed will have higher magical capabilities than a Wolven/Serpent mixedbreed, because Wolvens' bodies cannot naturally store magic whereas a Falcon's already can to a mediocre degree.
Ask me for help if you don't know what the names are like.There will be a sticky on the naming system, but that still doesn't mean that the naming process isn't hard.
xp Hannah calls me the 'Human Name Generator', and, as the name implies, I can supply you with a list of random names suitable for your race if need be. However, I would encourage you to come up with names on your own. Naming your character something ridiculous or unusual for racial standards will not get you a warning, but most (if not all) NPCs you encounter will notice the difference and your character might be at the wrong end of some violence because of it, especially if your character happens to be in school or any other situation where a large group of young peers are forced together for an extended period of time.
Describe your character fully.GOOD EXAMPLE: Renku, as with most Falcons, is outrageously lanky and stretched out, with long, light blond hair and blue eyes. He has pale, pinkish skin, which is-- yet again-- common to his race, with high-set eyes, thin lips, a long, narrow nose, and protruding cheekbones that are accented by a gaunt face. Because he's older, a few fine lines have started around his eyes, forehead, and mouth, expressing that he tends to smile quite a bit. He stands rather cockily, and almost always seems to have a mischievous expression plastered across his features. He has a crooked jaw that is plainly shown every time he does anything involving speech or oral expression.
((Alright, so my sentence structure was down the shitter, but you get the idea. This kind of description gives you a good idea what this character looks like as well as an inkling about his personality and the ways he is given to behave.))
BAD EXAMPLE: Nyn has a normal hair color for Wolvens and the same color of eyes, with an average skin tone. She's fairly pretty, but not drop-dead-gorgeous. She's sort of muscular, which shows that she'd be good at fighting to an extent, but not to the point that would make her gross-looking or ugly.
((What... the ********? This doesn't tell anyone ANYTHING about the character. Here's why:
-There was no specified color for any of her features. The words 'normal' and 'average' don't work at all, because normalcy deviates from province to province in Wolven, in addition to being vague beyond belief.
-'Pretty' is in the eye of the beholder, and that was the main basis for description. So, while one person might be picturing Nicole Kidman or some other overpaid movie diva like that, another might be picturing a three-foot-tall furry Slavic woman. Just describe what exact features the character has, and others will decide whether they find those features attractive or not if they're into that sort of thing. There is no one person that everyone finds attractive. If your aim is to make someone like that, either get therapy or make an account on HorseCity. Just get the ******** out of here.
-Wishy-washy words like 'fairly' and 'sort of', which could imply anything in between extreme and faint, were used as often as adjectives describing attractiveness. Last I checked, something didn't 'sort of' exist. Either it is or it isn't.))
Neither of these explained dress style at all, because I didn't feel like typing it out. There will be an explanation on continental fashion in the racial sticky, and while I'd prefer it if you said what kind of clothes your character wears and I will describe what my NPCs are wearing, it is perfectly optional not to include this and just say that they wore clothing common to their race. The reason that this is allowed is because Falcon clothes can get to be pretty damn tricky.
xp DON'T:Try to start out unusually or powerfully.Seriously, there's absolutely no point. NOBODY who's been playing this game over the past six years has gotten into a single sword fight. Besides, humans are at the bottom of the sentient food chain on Syeski, so unless you want to pick fights with everyone else, I'd move elsewhere.
Say that you're older than Syeskians can grow to be.Umm, they live to be just as old as we do. So, if you try to convince me that you're name is Count Dracula and you're thousands of years old, you're going to meet my ban stick, no exceptions.
Try to make multiple main characters in a single game.This rule was made more to be nicer to my brain than to be practical for you. X{P It would just be too hard for me to keep track of multiple characters from one person per game. I have no problem with you starting a new game with a new character once your current game is over (or if you cancel your current game), but please be nice to me.
gonk It's hard enough to keep track of multiplayer games.
Stack racial bonuses that don't make sense.Again, if you're playing a Wolven/Serpent Nantuu, the Nantuu is not going to have strong muscles just because you're part Wolven. I have no problem with stacking bonuses, but bonuses cannot be stacked undiluted or to a point that wouldn't make sense or would make the game too easy.
Steal pretty pictures from the internet.Okay. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. And, guess what? Since this is MY guild, this gets to be a rule. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT take a picture from Google(or any similar search engine), post it here, and say it's, "your character". Not only is this disgustingly rude, but it is also PLAGIARISM, and thus very illegal.
I've had people say, "I don't see any copy rights." when I've asked them not to steal artwork like this before. This is bullshit because...
Copyright Law
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
...meaning, it is automatically copyrighted to the creator(s) the moment the work is finished. Although buying a fancy paper that says, "copyright" on it helps when in court, this is only when someone else has claimed to make it. If you want to use a picture that you did not make say who drew it. That's all I'm asking. It'd be nice if you could give a link to their web page, too, but this isn't required. If you say that you drew it and I don't know you, then I will ask for proof. Proof could be anything from the original, unflattened .psd (or similar) file to a scanned picture of your roughs. A huge, obvious watermark or readable signature can also be counted as proof, but since these can be added onto an unsigned picture after it's already done I would prefer a name. If it is a drawing that you commissioned from someone else (which would classify it as work made for hire and as such all copyrights would belong to you and not the artist), I will still want the name of the artist or web page if it is not obvious that it was commissioned to you. Obviously, if it's a screen shot of a TV series or a picture taken out of a comic and you don't know the name of the artist, it is easy to find their name if you (A) look in the credits if you own the game/movie/comic, or, if you don't own it, just Google the name of the series and dig around for the artist. If I suspect that you've posted a phony name or web address, then I will dig around and if I can't find anything, I'll give you a warning and ask you to remove the image if you fail to have the artist contact me. Failure to give credit or proof will result in the same, unless edited before I notice.
One last note on this to all who have done this before: Would you go to an RP, copy someone else's character biography, and then paste it and say it was your own character? Many, MANY of the pictures you'll find on the internet were RPers just like you trying to draw their very own characters, and by taking THEIR art, you are, essentially, doing the exact same thing.
I've had one of my drawings stolen like this before. It is THE single most disgusting feeling I've ever had, hands down.
If you read all of this, put
Name: In the year of '39, assembled here the volunteers under your request to join.
