Character Creation Guidelines

The art of character creation is something that some loathe while others adore. Within a personal narrative the possibilities are quite literally limitless. Within a collaborative narrative such as this however, there are guidelines that are put into place to prevent narrative/lore cohesion/consistency from being broken. Having the basics of character creation down will help greatly, but so will knowing what can and can't be done. Knowing the limits of power can give a good idea where a character should be. Familiarity with the lore will also help of course, characters don't exist within a vacuum after all. The idea behind player characters is that they should ultimately be protagonists, but how does that play with the idea of heroes and villains? Finally, how are NPCs to be handled amidst a cast of player characters? This article seeks to answer those questions with brevity and accuracy.

The basics of character creation include many superficial attributes, but also some deeper ones that evoke "true character". Race/sex, appearance, skills, and equipment cover the superficial aspects. Personality, history, relationships, goals, and the motivation behind those goals cover the deeper attributes of what makes a character feel more genuine. The way in which these attributes are all decided upon will vary between writers, and it isn't wrong to say that there is no singular best way for everyone. Regardless, there is no shame in seeking advice from others. Growing together and sharpening one another is generally a better/quicker way to grow than to do it alone.

How much power might a character be granted before he/she is considered to be overpowered? How much power is considered average? At what point is a character considered weak? Provided at the end of this paragraph will be a link which will need to be read in order to understand the remainder of this paragraph. Once read, know that the vast majority of the world's denizens within the Era of the Dragon are level 1 and level 2 because magic is everywhere and can be used by most anyone. There are a few level 0 and level 3 folk, but level 4 folk are definitely out of the question for player characters as well as being out of the question for basically every character encountered within the narrative. This ties in directly with sphere mastery; at an absolute 100% mastery of any single sphere level 4 feats are possible, and thus player characters will need to dial that back to a reasonable amount. It should be noted however that 100% mastery over a single sphere is significantly more powerful than a 50% mastery of three spheres.

Being mindful of the lore can avoid a lot of problems and also help to understand a character better. Story elements don't exist within a vacuum and characters are no different. Characters are shaped by the world around them, are they of a different race? Consider how that race perceives the world differently from us. Are they from a foreign land? Consider how that will effect their personality and motivations. Brushing up on the lore will help and if questions arise, feel free to ask. Where legitimately blank areas exist, opportunities to add to the lore exist as well, and positive contributions are always welcome.

Protagonists, antagonists, heroes, and villains. Often times a hero is thought to always be a protagonist, and a villain is thought to always be an antagonist, but this isn't always the case and it can easily be reversed or zig-zagged. Player characters should ultimately be protagonists that are able to at the very least tolerate the presence of one another in a large party. However, player characters don't need to be the classic example of a hero, nor are they required be heroes at all. That being said, ruthless villains make for terrible party members, so try to make player characters who are at the very least tolerable by others. During a character's first arc, they need not join the party immediately and they can even be considered an antagonist, but as previously stated a player character should ultimately be a protagonist. If you want to create a straight up villain or arc villain, or if you want a character that is a permanent antagonist then you'll need to speak to the GM, these types of characters fall outside of the standard experience.

NPCs (non-player characters) within the context of a collaborative narrative such as this are essentially background characters and other characters created by writers that aren't important enough to be labeled as player characters. For the sake of this paragraph, we'll discuss the former. Background characters have plenty of leeway, and as long as they aren't ridiculous they may be considered pre-approved. However, if an NPC that doesn't fit within the narrative is introduced, they and the post they appeared in may need to be retracted. NPCs may be recurring characters or one shot characters, it doesn't matter, but keep it grounded in the lore. It's okay to have fun and explore ideas, just don't have Goku visit for dinner or something. As a quick note on arc villains, they are to be treated as the arc leader's player characters.

Character creation may be daunting for some and exciting for others, but regardless of that it is a writer's link to the world within the Era of the Dragon. Without a character to bridge the gap into that world, a writer will be but a mere reader. If you seek to join this story, simply look for the sign-ups topic located here.