MAKING YOUR CHARACTER.

[allie♥♥]

●● where you should start!

Joining a new site that’s based on an original storyline which is in someone else’s head can be a prove to be a little difficult, at first, but if you start in the right places and build up knowledge of the site through reading information provided, you should get a hang of it all quickly enough. First of all, it is strongly suggest that you read the Beginning of Our Time and the Great War and then, if you haven’t already, the site’s plot – Chapter One (all in that order). That will give you the foundations of what exactly the site began from, who these ‘Gods’ are you keep hearing about, and why that Azrazel Realm isn’t terribly populated. After that, you should read through the General Knowledge posts in each of the Realm’s sub-boards in this board so you can acquire information regarding those. After all of that reading, you should get a snack and something to drink, then read the rest of this post.

●● races of prelude

Prelude is a completely original site with unique type of races that you most likely don’t know all too much about. It’s strongly suggested to read up on all of the races (you can find information for all five in this board) and ensure that you have a good enough knowledge of them to play a character of the race you chose. After all, there are quite a few things regarding the races that you have to take into consideration and really understand, so that the character you make matches their race. The staff are going to be rather thorough in ensuring that the character isn’t ‘racially out of character’ so you should keep on the ball when making it. Take into account the characteristics of the race, the dominant personality traits that they generally all have, and even the races’ history itself.

●● originality

“Originality is the aspect of created or invented works by as being new or novel, and thus can be distinguished from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or derivative works. An original work is one not received from others nor one copied based on the work of others. The term "originality" is often applied as a compliment to the creativity of artists, writers, and thinkers.” – Wikipedia.

Originality is one of the key, most important aspects of making a character, these days. Sure, in this world with billions of people in it, it’s a little hard to come up with things that other people haven’t… but it’s not so hard to come up with a character idea that hasn’t at least been completely bashed into the ground of the role playing society we’re in. Evil guys with interior motives that are actually good, blind warriors, Metamorphi who can’t shift – hell, even some kind of intriguing whore. Just something, you know? There’s plenty of original ideas you could come up with, especially for a completely original site like Prelude.

●● typically clichéd characters

“A cliché, or cliche, is a saying, expression, or idea which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning, especially when at some earlier time it was considered distinctively meaningful or novel, rendering it a stereotype. The term is likely to be used in a negative context. It is frequently used in modern culture to reference an action or idea which is expected or predictable, based on a prior event.” – Wikipedia.

This type of character – the ‘Mary-Sue’ or ‘Gary-Stu’ – has to be one of the most annoying and tiresome things that staff some across with character applications. The, “she’s perfect, with a rockin’ body and a sweet, loving personality,” and the, “he’s a genius, amazing at fighting with the most toned six-pack, ever,” are along the lines of what this is all referring to. These types of characters are considered cliché, typical, and a whole lot of other words that are a lot more nasty. Now, it’s fully understood that every writer/role player has their own style and way of things, but come on, really? If you’re considering making a six foot blonde with blue eyes who’s an ice queen, do yourself a favor, and don’t. This site is an advanced, mature one who’s staff highly and most prominently support a little thing called originality. Let yourself be warned now that if you submit a overwhelmingly clichéd character, it’s going to be instantly rejected and thrown into the garbage can. Of course, if it’s not entirely clichéd, the staff will generally spare your feelings and instead walk you through what you’ve done wrong and help you change it. However, please keep characters that are even close to being Mary-Sue’s or whatnot off of this site.

●● what do i do now?

After reading through all of the above, you should be ready to start creating your character! If, however, you’re unsure or confused about something, post a request for help in this board and a staff member will get to you ASAP. Now, continuing on. You should have decided what race you want your character to be by now – if not, what have you been doing?! Get to and read through the races again, and find what one most interests you and gets that ol’ idea mill in your mind running.

So, now that you’ve picked out a race that you understand and have at least a general knowledge of, the best step to take next is to find a face claim for the character and claim it in the face claim thread!. Remember! Try your best to ensure that the face claim you find generally matches the race you chose your character to be; it doesn’t have to be perfectly exact, but y’know, don’t go and use a pink haired chick for a Daemi face claim. After ensuring you’ve got a good, proper face claim, you need to decided if you want this character to be a normal civilian of the realm, apart of the realm’s army/military, or if it’s a Metamorphi, if you want it in a Tribe! You can look through possible reservations and positions in this board. If you decided to have them put in an important position, or a Tribe or something of the sort, make sure you do the proper things needed, and then continue on with this. Now! Here’s where we come to the fun part, choosing a character template and actually making your character!

Now, each template already has a bit of information for what you need to do in each section, so that will help you with the next steps in making your character. I’ll leave you with the parting advice to listen to what that information tells you and really put it to good use. Remember! Originality is a key success point, and always steer clear of the dreaded case of TCC! Oh, and remember to have fun with making your character, and don’t kill yourself over it; just make sure you spare a little effort for it and that should satisfy the reviewers.