RPR Archive The Character Designers Guild

And if you're playing D&D or d20, one usually uses something like this (parentheses indicate D&D):

Name:
Class:
VP/WP(Hit Dice/HP):

Initiative:
Speed:

AC:
Touch AC:
(Flat-Footed AC

Base Attack(/Grapple):
Attacks:
Damage:
Face/Reach:
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities:
Saves: Fort -, Ref -, Will -
Abilities: Str-, Dex - , Con -, Int -, Wis -, Cha -

Skills:

Feats:

Languages:
(Alignment
(Deity
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Weight:

Finances:

Equipment:

Equipment Weight:

Appearance:

Personality:

Biography:



It's actually not too hard to adapt to free form, as you can just fill in details using descriptors instead of numbers.

 

you have a point there nem, that is probably the most common one that i've seen. most people don't know the technical aspects, nor are they actually willing to look them up.

the d20 one is a fairly interesting one, and you get an extremely accurate look at the character if it is filled out in an accurate manner.

 

I like the one Nemisis posted, we have been using it for a while now and it has everything we need.

 

Not to late to join is it? No? Okay, I'm joining.

 

While I generally agree that more is better (by way of information), I still prefer an open-ended character sheet that is relatively vague (in the biography/personal history) because it enables players the opportunity to develop their character's history as the game progresses, rather than some haphazard attempt to explain how a character's come to be where they're at at one particular moment in time.

In the games I've played in, the GM or myself have stipulated that the character is to be less specifically described. This was also coupled with limitations, such as a 'no Jedi' rule to limit God-modding. For example:
Name:
Age:
Species:
Appearance:
Affiliation:
Inventory/credits:
This, I find, allows for better character development in-game because it means that players don't have to be confined by the short bio they came up with when joining a game. Also, in other games, I generally choose to keep the bio blank as, when more time is given to the characterisation, a better character is developed.

 

hmm... you have a point deto, but i still like to have a short thing to give a past to the character so i can at least know who it is. a brief sort of outline so that you can fit in some of the other stuff in the framework of it. both have their merits, both have their issues. you just pick whichever suits you/the game that you are in.

 

Examining the Finishing Product
I'm aware that the first topic wasn't really available for discussion, more of an overview. Now you can have some fun!

First of all, this:

Name: rob smith
Gender: m
Age: 25
Race: human
Personality: hes a crazy guy
Weapons: blaster
Biography: grew up on coruscant, then became a member of the rebel alliance.

IS NOT a character sheet. If anything, it's a mockery of character sheets.
If you want to make a good impression into a game, impressing the game master is a good place to start. Seeing as a huge majority of game masters now ask that you PM your character sheet to them, this is a good way to improve you character sheet, through the GM's wisdom. However, the more of the GM's time we save, the quicker we can get down to business, so let's make our character sheets worth reading.

Name: Robert Smith
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Race: Human
Personality: Though sometimes accused of being crazy by his friends and relatives, Robert gets his business done, when his business has to be done. Efficient and creative, he'll do what it takes in order to succeed.
Weapons: D-11 Heavy Blaster, Vibro dagger
Biography: Robert grew up on Coruscant, in one of the lowest parts of the city. The ragged, rough group of individuals with whom Robert grew up with was a rough group indeed. Exposure to the Smugglers, Bounty Hunters, and plain crooks were always a part of Robert's day, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't escape.

When he hit the right age, he left his shell of a home and set out to find a means of getting into the Rebel Alliance. After seeing so much of the destruction and hate in the lowest parts of humanity, and even being involved in it, Robert decided is was time to right some of the wrongs, and take the fight to the Empire. He had heard stories of how the Empire started. The deceit, the corruption behind the scenes at the Republic's head. The Jedi all but extinct.

Robert has since joined the Republic Navy, despite the losses that are continually dealt to the Republic's forces, he is holding steadfast, ready for action.

Now Open, the very first competition!
Welcome to the first competition of the Character Designer's Guild! The second example of a character sheet above is a very brief example of what I'd like to see portrayed in this Competition. The person who can create the best character sheet (Judged by yours truly) will win.

Good luck to those intending on joining, the competition is open as of now. Also, for those wishing not to participate in the competition (as well as those who do), discussion for the above topic is in order. Good luck to those who astound me with your Character Creation prowess, I look forward to some good reading!

---

[b]I'd also like to extend a welcome to our newest Member![/b]:
Dahlia_Santary! Welcome to the CDG! [face_happy]

 

I don't believe you said it had to be SW.

Name: Henry L. Polfer
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Race: Caucasian
Personality: A bit of a recluse, Henry suffers from Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder
Weapons: None
Biography: Henry L. Polfer was born with a broken leg due to awkward complications in his birth. The leg never heled properly, restricting Henry to a wheelchair for most of his life. Naturally weak, Henry opted for the motorized model at a young age. Entry into high school changed that. Henry swiftly learned that not all people are kind and accepting.

Switching to a motorless wheelchair, Henry soon switched over to walking with a cane as his health steadily improved. Becoming a huge music fan, Henry began collecting records. This often conflicted with his other hobby: collecting comics.

As time went on, Henry was accepted into Oxford, graduating 6th in his class. He went on to write three successful books on modern culture and mythology. Eventually, this fame allowed him to break into film. His first movie, a documentary, was hugely successful. His next, while well-received by critics, was panned largely by the movie going crowd. Thankfully, this failure was short lived. His third movie, in production now, analyzes his favourite book - Beowulf. Using live actors to act out the tale, and actual historians and professors to provide detail and history on the saga, the film proves to be a huge success.

Sadly, however, his childood problems scarred his psyche, and Henry has become an Obsessive/Compulsive recluse - symptoms of a rough childhood.

 

I tend to view filling out a sheet as a necessary evil, like filling in an application form for a web service, but I know there have been times when I've been drained after some intense posting, and spotted a new rpg that instantly appeals, and just screams for multiple characters (I have a couple of character teams that I keep around like a Fantasy Football team) and I just have to PM the GM right there and then, but find a daunting Sheet format that wants to know what colour underwear they are wearing (who fraggin' cares what the lightsabre hilt looks like?), and decide I don't want to fill that out multiple times.

I'm guilty of PM-ing a blurb for each character and just laying it on the line - these are my characters, if you don't like the format, I'll just leave it. No heard feelings, eh?

Wow. Am I really this much of a rebel?

---

[b][color=red]COMPETITION ENTRY[/color][/b]

[quote=Sith-I-5]

using the DANGER ROOM template.

[b]Name: [color=blue]Doctor Rodney McKay[/color][/b]
Gender: Male
Age: ??
Species: Human
Homeworld: Earth, Canada
Affiliation: Stargate Command. Atlantis expedition, Pegasus galaxy
Personality
---Traits: Self-obsessed. Loves blonde women, especially Colonel Samantha Carter of SG-1. Can be brave in short bursts, but outside purely scientific situations, always fears the worst.
Eg. not just the glass is half empty, but it wasn?t his glass in the first place, and belonged to that big Wraith that has just come back from the loo.
---Likes: People who worship his genius, and give him room to work; anyone who he can talk his ideas over with, and will ideally take a bullet for him.
---Dislikes: People who ignore his self-evident brilliance, and then expect him to shi?err?defecate miracles.
---Habits: Thinking aloud, rushing headlong with ideas, interrupting people with own thoughts
Appearance
---Skin Color: Causasian
---Hair Color: Brown
---Eye Color: Brown
---Clothing: Brown and blue uniform jacket and trousers, blue short sleeve t-shirt. Jacket has Canadian flag patch on right shoulder, and an SG Atlantis patch on the other.
---Other Attributes: Carries a small hand-held sensor and a wooden rod that he can attach it to. Refers to it as a ?MALP on a stick?. A MALP is a wheeled probe device that his organisation use as an extraterrestrial probe.
---Other Details:
Weapons: Zat. Alien weapon that fires electrical blasts. One shot stuns. Automatic handgun. Sometimes he can shoot it rather efficiently, sometimes he?ll jettison the ammo clip unintentionally. Never can tell.
Biography:
---Personal History:

Spent several years in the subterranean Area 51 facility researching the stargate and other alien artefacts.
Has been to Russia to help them install and build their own Naquata reactors, and is currently assigned to a human expedition based at Atlantis, a water-bound city on some waterworld in the Pegasus galaxy.
By virtue of his job, is fairly used to the idea of being transported to alternate dimensions.

[color=green][b]Maj. John Sheppard:[/b] [[i]the sensors have discovered a powerful energy field[/i]] You think it's worth checking out?
[b]Dr. Rodney McKay:[/b] Any significant energy emission generally indicates technological civilization.
[b]Maj. John Sheppard:[/b] So... you think it's worth checking out?
[b]Dr. Rodney McKay:[/b] [[i]sarcastically[/i]] I'm sorry. Yes. Energy field [i]good[/i].[/color]

[link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stargate_atlantis_rodney_mckay1.jpg]Picture[/link][/quote]

 

Here is a starter character for a AD&D or LotR, or some other generic medieval adventure RPG thing....

Name: Narmer Shadling
Class: Rogue (thief)
Race: Halfling
Gender: Male
Age: 43 (Halflings can live to be 150 years of age)
Height: 4'0"
Weight: 60 lbs

Finances: Narmer does not believe in a steady job as he seems to have no trouble gaining funds as needed, but he usually has a few coins and at least 1 valuable gem on hand.

Equipment: Dagger, Hand Crossbow (small crossbow able to be aimed and fired much like a pistol), thieves tools (lockpicks, housebreaking equipment, etc..), 1 vial sleep poison.

Appearance: Narmer is an unopposing fellow, he is small and like most halflings knows how to remain unseen. His face is plump his belly is rounding with age, he never was known to pass up a meal. He wears his brown hair short, and is always garbed in travelling cloths with a cloak on his back.

Personality: He is a thief pure and simple, he loves to steal. Besides this dishonest love, he is a kind man who avoids violence when possible, he also finds many friends wherever he travels. He justifies his thefts by taking from the rich and greedy, he does not pretend to be a "Robinhood" however and just keeps the profits to pay for his lavish lifestyle.

Biography: Narmer came from a long line of thieves, his father was a thief, as was his grandfather, as far back as any Shadling can remember to tell the truth. Because of this heritage he gained a knack for pocketing items at an early age, and soon he was the pride of the family, his exploits and adventures had served as entertainment for many a gathering. But in time he grew bored with the small city exploits, there was no challenge in picking over houses that every thief worth his lockpick had hit, he needed new challenges so he left his home and set off to lands unknown.

 

i hate when i see sheets even close to the first one posted in a game i'm involved in. it makes me think i might very well regret joining the game at all. seeing oens that are well done, those are the ones i enjoy. a lot of the time i will barely glance over the poorly done sheets, just get the name and race and that'd be about it cause they're just boring. unless you want to make fun of the sheet in your mind, which i hate doing. the good ones, those i really enjoy reading. when they have an intersting past, and have had things described in an interesting way, which is sadly all to rare. there are indeed some good writers out there however that put so much into it, and do everything they can to make it interesting. those people i respect, and enjoy rping with.

anyhoo, here's my entry. it was a character i designed for a different site, and am now using in a fantasy RPG here. hope you enjoy him

 

Okay, it might be just me, but an introductory post that will mostly be ignored by me.

Completely unnecessary beyond the first 400 lines!

I think character descriptions are good, for if my character is going to meet your character, I can skip back to the CS and visualise what my char' is seeing.
Pictures/photos can be good too, but I would recommend with a colour picture, or a mixture of details and pic.

 

then mines still safe as it's only 315.

but seriously, i wouldn't actually post one quite that detailed in a game. that's the pm to the gm so they can look over and know what the character is. i'd post a very abbreviated one in the thread, like mainly cutting the advantages/disadvantages and probably have the three minds be developed over the course of the game.

 

Here's my entry, elaborating on one of the characters I used for the Music non-Star Wars rpg.

Name: Jason 'Jazzer' Arch
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Species: Human
Homeworld: Earth, London, Chessington
Affiliation: The punk rock band Dross, himself
Personality
---Traits: Arrogant but dim-witted, whiny, lives on Planet Jazzer most of the time, misplaced faith in his own musical ability and that of his bandmates.
---Likes: Being onstage, singing, getting fans (especially fangirls), watching cartoons, talking about himself.
---Dislikes: Getting beaten up by his bassist J.M, being told to shut up, practising guitar or singing (why improve on perfection?).
---Habits: smashing his instrument during performances, cowardice, volunteering his band for things without consulting them first.
Appearance
---Skin Color: Causasian
---Hair Color: Mousey brown, scruffy
---Eye Color: Brown
---Clothing: Black baggy jeans, brown t-shirt with 'MM' scrawled on it (he won't explain), black tie which J.M uses to throttle him with, battered black and green trainers.
---Other Attributes: Has multiple peircings- eyebrow, ear, and bottom lip. At least one of these is fake as he's too much of a wimp to have it done for real.
---Other Details:
Weapons: None
Biography: Born not so long ago in the suburb of London known as Chessington, Jason is the youngest of two boys born to Shula and Alistair Arch. Unfortunatley he's entered a 'rebellious' phase that had lasted for at least four years now. He and a friend, Stuart 'Stu' Reynolds have formed a punk rock band named (somewhat appropriatley) Dross, one of the few music groups than can cause nausea if you're over-exposed to them. They have a drummer (Dylan) and a bassist (J.M) and are currently hoping to make it big in the music industry. Let's hope for all our sakes that they don't.

Jazzer himself aspires to nothing more than to be fithly stinking rich and move out of Chessington to sunnier climes. However he hasn't been out of the area apart from the occasional family holiday to Swanage.

 

SEPHY'S CONTEST ENTRY

This isn't actually for an RP, but a comic I'm hoping to create (read going to say I'll do and there's maybe a 0.0001% chance I'd actually start it)

 

Name: Zack "Barrel" Lembit
Gender: Male
Age: 56
Species: Ortolan
Homeworld: Nar Shaddaa
Affiliation: Whatever restaurant he happens to be in

Height: 5?7?
Weight: We'll start with 'heavy' and go from there
Skin Colour: Blue skin
Eye Colour: Orange eyes
Clothing: Very, very baggy (by most standards- yet for Zack it almost seems to be skintight)

Personality: Loyal, friendly, compassionate, loves food
Likes: Eating, restaurants, spending time with his family, eating, strategy, learning, cooking
Dislikes: Rations, solitude, dieting, skinny people, particularly humans, dieting

Weapons: Vibrodagger
Force Sensitivity: None
Personal Ship: None. Commanded the Corellian Gunship Damascus for a very brief period.

Biography:
Born to a hard working family of Ortolan entrepreneurs on the Hutt-controlled world of Nar Shaddaa, Zack grew up in his father?s restaurants, spending much of his time working hard at sampling the food in the kitchens. When he was older, he finished with such tiring labour and moved on to preparing the meals instead, and his cooking skills soon became the envy of his entire family. Unfortunately, Zack?s father had taken loans from a local and suspiciously thin crime boss in order to set up the businesses, and when he was unable to pay the debt back, a group of thugs vandalised one of the restaurants beyond repair. Eventually the money was repaid, but Zack?s father had abandoned his own dreams of a business that would one day cover not only the sector, but the entire galaxy. He continued with his work on Nar Shaddaa, but urged his son to find a different job elsewhere, a job of significance, and importance, so that he could bring success back to his family.

Zack was an obedient child, and left as soon as he was old enough, building on an average skill at flying swoops by participating in low key race events on backwater planets across the Outer Rim. The idea of joining the New Republic as a starfighter pilot struck him one day as he was watching a holo-documentary about famous space accidents, and he signed up as soon as he was able, joining a B-Wing squadron. He was a popular pilot, and used the callsign "Barrel". He claimed this was a reference to a particularly slick barrel maneuver he performed during basic training, though others maintain the true meaning is obvious once you attach the prefix of 'lard'. The fighter had to be specially modified to accommodate the unusual dimensions of the Ortolan, but he still felt uncomfortable with flying at all, and despite a decent record as a Flight Officer, transferred not long afterwards. Capital ships, he had decided, were more his thing.

He was soon offered the command of the gunship Damascus, and accepted. His first mission was to assist with the defense of Kashyyyk from a group of pirate raiders who had been harassing the planet. By the time he arrived, though, the situation had been resolved, and he was left doing very little. Bored and frustrated by the choice and quality of food available to him, he resigned his commission to take some time out.

Eventually he returned to Nar Shaddaa and followed in his father's footsteps, starting his own chain of restaurants, including the successful Pizza Hutt, KFC (Klatoonian Fried Cloudberries) and Bantha King franchises. It was around this time he had his tastebuds insured for one million credits, and now employs a staff of twenty to ensure they are kept in mint condition (or rather not in mint condition, for, like much of the civilised galaxy, mint is a taste that he truly cannot stand...)

 

On Trimaj's CS - whoa. I like a good, well thought out character as much as wnyone else. In fact, I really liked your character sheet.

But the massive Bio detracts from the point of RPing - to create a story and characters to go with it. It seems to me, at least, that a Bio that large is more for a story, or a fan fic all on it's own. Half the fun of RPing is expanding on your character, adding details of the past, and large bios don't let us do that.

Did we know anything of Han Solo's past during the OT? No, we knew he was Lando's old friend, that Chewie owed him a life debt, and and that he had trouble with Jabba. Brief, basic, vague facts about the character. And this was all expanded upon during the Han Solo trilogy.

 

check my above comment on that, and really i could have gone into a lot more detail on it, and as you said, turned it into a actual novel or something.

i wouldn't actually post something like that in game, that would be to let the GM know some of the history of the character, as well as the the other aspects. what i did in the game i'm in is i posted the bare minimum, not even revealing the multiple minds of the character, and am revealing that in the game. in someways it can defeat the purpose, but in others it also gives you some guidelines for how the character grew to where they are.

if you actually look at the length of what some people do for a person that's in their mid thirties the amount is comparable. having 700 years of history to fill out, even briefly, can take a while. and for a GM to actually accept multiple minds in that fashion i would have thought they would want to know how they actually arrived at that state. anyhoo, all that to say that was actually fairly brief for what it is, and what it could have been.

and normally, i don't actually go that indepth, mainly because i don't use characters that are 700 years old.

 

Oh, I totally understand.

I'm just saying that you could save a lot of time (which you do, as you said) by exploring that in-game.

I like bare, minimalist Bios. The CS I posted above is, perhaps, the longest Bio I've ever done. I say, the less you worry about now, the easier and more enjoyable the game will be.

 

tis a matter of taste i suppose. i like to know where the character is coming from, and have established things about them already. i generally know at least a little about how i want the character to be, and so i can be more detailed about it and still leave room for exploration within the framework i setup. part of it might be that i am also a fanfic writer, which does kind of color that a little. and yes, the character is in fact a novel i'm going to be writing, and hopefully getting published, so i did want to get more down i suppose because of that than i normally would. RPing him is to get more of a feel for him than i could have just by writing him.

i do indeed go for more detail rather than less in most of my sheets though.

again, it just depends on how you like to do it. i don't really think there is a right or wrong when it comes to that.

 

I?m all for the in-depth description and development of a character. It?s always important to know and make other players know your character(s). But, I don?t think and I?m against a Bio should be a five page testament. I think a sheet should have the necessary information, plus in-depth look into the character?s personality and life. I?ll admit filling out a character sheet is actually very fun for me, but I do most of my characters? development as the game goes along, kind of how a real person would go knowing himself through some experience.

But as you said, Trimaj, it's really up to taste when it come down to it.

 

My problem with large bios is that I seem to forget all the details about the character while actually gaming, and as such I end up not staying true to the character. I like short bios mainly because I can then focus on smaller and more specific aspects of the character, and then expand on the ones I like IC, or if none of them feel right it is still easy to switch the focus. With a big bio you are kind of locked into all these details about who the character is and what his past is about, even before you make the first IC post your being restricted.

But each person feels comfortable with a different style, so its all good no matter how you do a bio.

 

I think there's a fine line to walk. If you go too short, then no one is really sure what to get when they go to interact with another character. If you go too long, then you run the risk of draining all surprises and variability from a character.

I think it's better to err on the side of providing less information in a CS and allowing your character to show those traits, rather than just telling others about them.

 

you do have a point DI, Despised and Dahlia. As I looked back over the sheet again I realized i didn't really even say that much about the character in a lot of ways. it does set guidelines, and believe it or not they are fairly broad guidelines in this instance. I like having those guidelines, but i think you're likely right about that being too much. that sheet was mainly for personal use, as well as letting the GM know how and why some things have happened to the character. what i posted in the thread was very little, actually just one name, what the chracacter is, appearance and that's really about it because i did want to be able to develop the character in the game, and if there was something i didn't like in that *points up* sheet, then i could change it without much of a problem.

i actually have very little difficulty remembering that sheet, and have managed to keep it straight in my mind. would i do a sheet like that again? most likely not as it does take a long time to fill out. i did enjoy it in this instance though.

 

So, how much longer is the competition going to be open?