Post by Seikatsu Raito on Sept 13, 2010 13:27:55 GMT -5
This is a character creating guide to help anyone, new or old, noob or veteran, to help help make their applications. Well first off, I'll be speaking generally not specifically to this roleplay. I'll also relate the parts with how I usually create my application. In this guide, I'll go through the basics of making a character. And how to get into more details with your character. Your character is real being in making, and may take more than couple hours of your time to finish the creation. The best characters are the ones that are thought of creatively, and aren't simply made to own. Characters should be complex, and intriguing. Some people base characters on themselves, personality-wise, or even appearence wise. Use the real world to inspire your characters. This guide is very, very, very not well made. So do not judge me.
Alright the minor details of your characters are the easiest and shortest. They usually consist of your name, age, location, date of birth, residence, etc. Every roleplay can vary on these minor details due to the story, the original anime its based on, and so on. On these parts, you will most likely be typing a one-word answer. Keep in mind though, these minor details can affect your character. For example, a rookie pirate of the age of 10 in a One Piece RP, will not be able to be the Fleet Admiral. It obviously doesn't give enough time for a child to rank up in the marines.
Most of this part is common sense and basically a test of your IQ when making an application.
This is the less important part of your application, but it helps define your character uniquely. Most people do not even pay attention to your characters appearence, but others do. This helps one's imagination of how you picture the character. I personally think appearence matters a lot and it should be detailed. Have you heard of the quote, "A picture says a thousand words"? I believe in that. But instead of a picture, you'll be writing those thousand words. Not literally. It's very easy to write 3-5 paragraph on how someone looks.
You should include their clothing description, hair color, eye color, facial features, and etc. When describing the appearence, just go into detail. Like if your character has scars or tattoos, explain them. Go into detail what they mean to your character, but do not get off track. Don't start explaining that the tattoo will trigger an emotion in your character, and he'll start acting some way or another. That will go in the personality section.
What helps me a lot is, getting a picture I like that my character looks like. I look at that picture and describe my character via the picture. I add accesories/clothing that I see fit, but other than that I usually describe what I see. Appearence is usually the area I see that lacks a lot. Since people don't really pay attention to it much.
Personality, and history- this is best thing about characters in my opinion. This is what makes your character really unique and how they change the course of a thread. You make your character the way you want, based on your favorite anime, manga character. Or you might base the personality on someone you know. This might sound crazy, but I see that there are different 'sides' of me, or different personalities. (I might be schizophrenic... who knows?) And I base my characters on these personalities of myself. Weird, huh? I guess there are advantages to being schizo~
Personality should be a good amount of length since they describe how your character reacts to certain things. Enemies, lovers, friends, and other random things. You should describe all the things that make your character motivated, demotivated, mad, sad, frustrated, etc. Remember when I said, you could base your character on real world things. Using inspiration from exterior sources, help you focus on these personalities. If you have a physical example to have reference, it will make describing and putting your thoughts into words, easier.
Likes, Dislikes, Flaws, and Goals... these stuff are details that help people to know your character. This will help easier interaction with each other. If two characters both like alcohol and are both Captain's, and they would like to roleplay with each other... what easier way in the roleplay but to have some drinks and rp drunk. Because one thing I hate about free roleplays are that they are usually boring and meaningless. I like threads based on a certain plot, or storyline.
History, biography, etc. This is your character's STORY. This is almost as important as the actual roleplay. Especially in a Bleach roleplay, your characters can be hundreds and hundreds of years old. And if you write a simple three paragraphs for it... that is just sad. Your character is not a real person. It is a make believe character, and so your history is make believe. Go crazy with it... make up the craziest story you can think of. Give twists and turns, make it a fun story for the mods, admins to read. Have fun with the application, don't make it something you have to do to roleplay. Make it so that you'll be happy about your application in the end and happy to roleplay with it. Remeber though, don't bore the mods and admins with a boring history. Because most likely, they will not even finish reading it.
Fighting, special powers, and the attacks that will make your character go 'Wow'. Lets see... first of all your character will have a defined Fighting Style in most roleplays. Remember to think this one out, because a moderator can easily bitch you out if you are fighting defensively and strategically when your fighting style is 'ruthless, daunting, and relentless'. So think about how your character will fight, it should be similar to your personality. If your character is a scared, unconfident, and unsure- you will probably find him a very defensive and careful fighter.
Powers... these powers are what makes your character fun to roleplay. Stepping outside the limits of realism, you enter roleplaying to have your daily dose of imagination quenched. This is the easiest part for most people since they want to make incredible powered Characters. Basically on this just have fun with it, create something that will have limitations but hidden. You don't have to make a God-mod power, but a very strong power with its weakness that will be hard to figure out for the character. Learn from the animes, mangas you watch. People do not have obvious weaknesses, which is the point.
Abilities, basically the same thing as powers. But these are more exact and definite. These are the special techniques from your powers you gain. This is the same thing as your power, except they will have power levels and what not. The abilities have defined strength and level they are at. Remember to keep in mind of the rules of the forum, and make sure that your abilities are in the guidelines.
Well this is it for the guide, thank you for reading this guide. I know it wasn't the best you've read, but I've made it through my experience. Hope you enjoyed it, and learned a thing or two from it.
Alright the minor details of your characters are the easiest and shortest. They usually consist of your name, age, location, date of birth, residence, etc. Every roleplay can vary on these minor details due to the story, the original anime its based on, and so on. On these parts, you will most likely be typing a one-word answer. Keep in mind though, these minor details can affect your character. For example, a rookie pirate of the age of 10 in a One Piece RP, will not be able to be the Fleet Admiral. It obviously doesn't give enough time for a child to rank up in the marines.
Most of this part is common sense and basically a test of your IQ when making an application.
This is the less important part of your application, but it helps define your character uniquely. Most people do not even pay attention to your characters appearence, but others do. This helps one's imagination of how you picture the character. I personally think appearence matters a lot and it should be detailed. Have you heard of the quote, "A picture says a thousand words"? I believe in that. But instead of a picture, you'll be writing those thousand words. Not literally. It's very easy to write 3-5 paragraph on how someone looks.
You should include their clothing description, hair color, eye color, facial features, and etc. When describing the appearence, just go into detail. Like if your character has scars or tattoos, explain them. Go into detail what they mean to your character, but do not get off track. Don't start explaining that the tattoo will trigger an emotion in your character, and he'll start acting some way or another. That will go in the personality section.
What helps me a lot is, getting a picture I like that my character looks like. I look at that picture and describe my character via the picture. I add accesories/clothing that I see fit, but other than that I usually describe what I see. Appearence is usually the area I see that lacks a lot. Since people don't really pay attention to it much.
Personality, and history- this is best thing about characters in my opinion. This is what makes your character really unique and how they change the course of a thread. You make your character the way you want, based on your favorite anime, manga character. Or you might base the personality on someone you know. This might sound crazy, but I see that there are different 'sides' of me, or different personalities. (I might be schizophrenic... who knows?) And I base my characters on these personalities of myself. Weird, huh? I guess there are advantages to being schizo~
Personality should be a good amount of length since they describe how your character reacts to certain things. Enemies, lovers, friends, and other random things. You should describe all the things that make your character motivated, demotivated, mad, sad, frustrated, etc. Remember when I said, you could base your character on real world things. Using inspiration from exterior sources, help you focus on these personalities. If you have a physical example to have reference, it will make describing and putting your thoughts into words, easier.
Likes, Dislikes, Flaws, and Goals... these stuff are details that help people to know your character. This will help easier interaction with each other. If two characters both like alcohol and are both Captain's, and they would like to roleplay with each other... what easier way in the roleplay but to have some drinks and rp drunk. Because one thing I hate about free roleplays are that they are usually boring and meaningless. I like threads based on a certain plot, or storyline.
History, biography, etc. This is your character's STORY. This is almost as important as the actual roleplay. Especially in a Bleach roleplay, your characters can be hundreds and hundreds of years old. And if you write a simple three paragraphs for it... that is just sad. Your character is not a real person. It is a make believe character, and so your history is make believe. Go crazy with it... make up the craziest story you can think of. Give twists and turns, make it a fun story for the mods, admins to read. Have fun with the application, don't make it something you have to do to roleplay. Make it so that you'll be happy about your application in the end and happy to roleplay with it. Remeber though, don't bore the mods and admins with a boring history. Because most likely, they will not even finish reading it.
Fighting, special powers, and the attacks that will make your character go 'Wow'. Lets see... first of all your character will have a defined Fighting Style in most roleplays. Remember to think this one out, because a moderator can easily bitch you out if you are fighting defensively and strategically when your fighting style is 'ruthless, daunting, and relentless'. So think about how your character will fight, it should be similar to your personality. If your character is a scared, unconfident, and unsure- you will probably find him a very defensive and careful fighter.
Powers... these powers are what makes your character fun to roleplay. Stepping outside the limits of realism, you enter roleplaying to have your daily dose of imagination quenched. This is the easiest part for most people since they want to make incredible powered Characters. Basically on this just have fun with it, create something that will have limitations but hidden. You don't have to make a God-mod power, but a very strong power with its weakness that will be hard to figure out for the character. Learn from the animes, mangas you watch. People do not have obvious weaknesses, which is the point.
Abilities, basically the same thing as powers. But these are more exact and definite. These are the special techniques from your powers you gain. This is the same thing as your power, except they will have power levels and what not. The abilities have defined strength and level they are at. Remember to keep in mind of the rules of the forum, and make sure that your abilities are in the guidelines.
Well this is it for the guide, thank you for reading this guide. I know it wasn't the best you've read, but I've made it through my experience. Hope you enjoyed it, and learned a thing or two from it.
