Neko Koneko
July 30th, 2009, 09:15 pm
[Guide] Creating your character
Before you can take part in Harmonic Dissonance you need to create a character and have your character profile approved by the moderators. To do this, make a new thread in the Character Profiles sub-forum entitled "[Your Forum Name]'s Character". Then copy and paste the following template into your post:
Name: ?
Colour: ?
Level: One.
Experience: 0 EXP.
Gold: 0 GP.
Race: ?
Class: ?
Gender: ?
Age: ?
Alignment: ?
Element: ?
Items: None.
Appearance: ?
Biography: ?
Merits: ?
Flaws: ?
Equipment: ?
Physical Abilities: ?
Magical/Alchemical/Technological Abilities: ?
Name: Your character's name. Of course your character has a name. Each character must have at least a first and a last name.
Colour: Each character has their own colour. This makes it easy to work out who is talking in group situations. As soon as your character has been approved check out the list of available colours in the Character Colours thread and pick one of them.
Level: Your character begins at level one. As you gain experience points in the world of Rael your level will increase. Every time you receive a level up you will have the option of adding a new ability to your profile or improving one your existing abilities.
Experience: Your character starts out with no experience points. Refer to the Character Statistics thread when you are updating this section of your profile.
Gold: Your character starts out with no gold pieces. Again, refer to the Character Statistics thread when you are updating this section of your profile.
Race: By now your character's basic details have been sorted out so it's time for you to choose a race. Read the Races Guide carefully. The race descriptions are very general and you have the freedom to interpret them in any way you like. For example, most Aerinthians are kind, cheerful folk but your character can be a selfish, sarcastic, gloomy Aerinthian if that is what you want them to be. Your portrayal of any given race is only limited by your imagination so try to be as creative as you can.
Class: Your character's class determines what tasks they are skilled at and what tasks they are unskilled at. Think of it as their job. Refer to the Classes Guide for more information. If you like, you can choose the Adventurer class and postpone this important decision until you reach level three. This will give you time to get used to the world of Rael; however until you choose a class your character won't be particularly skilled at anything.
Gender: You can choose to be either male or female. Your character doesn't have to be the same gender you are in real life. If your character is a Robot it will not have a gender.
Age: The limits on your character's age are determined by their race. Check out the Races Guide for information about age limits. If your character belongs to a mixed race then their upper age limit is the same as the upper age limit of the longer-lived of the two races. You can put Unknown here if you are unsure of your age.
Alignment: Your alignment is an indication of the way your character acts - With good intentions, with bad intentions, generously, selfishly, impartially, etc. Bear in mind that your actions may cause your alignment to shift from time to time. For example, if you are supposed to be an evil character but you spend all your time cuddling kittens and helping out innocent villagers your alignment will change. If you want to keep things simple you can choose to be either Good, Neutral or Evil. However if you want to give your character more depth you may pick any of the alignments listed below:
Good[-|-----------]Evil ---------- Saintly
Good[---|---------]Evil ---------- Good
Good[------|------]Evil ---------- Neutral
Good[---------|---]Evil ---------- Evil
Good[-----------|-]Evil ---------- Depraved
Element: Every character has an elemental affinity. You are blessed by this element at the moment of your birth and it will continue to guide and protect you throughout your life. The possible elemental choices are Water, Earth, Wind or Fire. You may also choose the arcane elements of Light or Darkness. Darkanians always have affinity with darkness, and Aerinthians always have affinity with light. Characters of other races can be any of the six elements.
This is the system of elemental strengths and weaknesses:
Water is strong against Fire but weak against Earth.
Earth is strong against Water but weak against Wind.
Wind is strong against Earth but weak against Fire.
Fire is strong against Wind but weak against Water.
Light attacks are strong against Darkness but Light creatures are vulnerable to Dark attacks.
Dark attacks are strong against Light but Dark creatures are vulnerable to Light attacks.
These are the qualities prized by the six elemental Gods:
Grazus, the God of Water: Intellect and Decisiveness.
Basaar, the God of Earth: Hope and Peace.
Hainiel, the Goddess of Wind: Freedom and Fortune.
Zoshnel, the Goddess of Fire: Pride and Valour.
Ruhma, the God of Light: Loyalty and Justice.
Infernia, the Goddess of Darkness: Power and Ambition.
Items: Your character will not start out with any items. They will gain items by completing missions.
Appearance: There are no restrictions here however you should take your character's race, class and other characteristics into consideration when you are writing up their description. Feel free to include a picture of them if you like.
Biography: Think up an interesting tale explaining your character's past. Where do they come from? What adventures have they been through? Why are they travelling around the world instead of staying at home, getting married and pursuing a successful career as an office clerk? Keep in mind that your character's bio should not be in conflict with any known history. Don't make yourself a king, a princess or any other very important person. In case of doubt, ask a moderator.
Merits: Merits are the things that are good about your character. Maybe your character is very outgoing, or maybe very intelligent. Whatever it is, it might be handy for others to know about, so put it here for reference.
Flaws: As nobody is perfect, every character is bound to have some flaws. Like with the merits, they're here for future reference. Maybe your character isn't too bright, or always very obnoxious.
Keep in mind that merits and flaws shouldn't contradict eachother. A moody character can't be cheerful at the same time!
Equipment: When you first start out you are allowed to have one piece of custom equipment. Most people choose to have a custom weapon but it can theoretically be anything. For example, Bards often have musical instruments. Your piece of equipment might be a mighty sword engraved with the seven sacred runes of power that was passed down to you by your grandfather... Or it might be a rusty spoon you found in the gutter the other day. You can buy weapons later, but they'll be expensive.
If you want your character to have a special piece of equipment that has no practical use (for example, an amulet passed down to them by their ancestors) then don't add it to this section of the profile - Incorporate it into your character's appearance.
You can only have one piece of equipment when you start out. If you have more than one piece of equipment listed in your profile your character will not be approved.
Abilities: The last category is perhaps the most important one of all. Your abilities are the skills you rely on in battle. You can use them in missions and in the main plot but the real test of any ability is its effectiveness on the battlefield. Read the Creating Abilities Guide carefully.
All characters start out with six level one abilities. These abilities are spread over the three categories of Physical Abilities, Magical/Alchemical/Technological Abilities (choose the one most suitable for your character) and Support Abilities. Most new characters choose to have two physical, two magical and two support abilities. However you can have three physical, one magical and two support abilities if you wish. Or no physical, four magical and two support abilities. Or even six physical, no magical and no support abilities. The only requirement is that you have a total of six abilities.
Before you can take part in Harmonic Dissonance you need to create a character and have your character profile approved by the moderators. To do this, make a new thread in the Character Profiles sub-forum entitled "[Your Forum Name]'s Character". Then copy and paste the following template into your post:
Name: ?
Colour: ?
Level: One.
Experience: 0 EXP.
Gold: 0 GP.
Race: ?
Class: ?
Gender: ?
Age: ?
Alignment: ?
Element: ?
Items: None.
Appearance: ?
Biography: ?
Merits: ?
Flaws: ?
Equipment: ?
Physical Abilities: ?
Magical/Alchemical/Technological Abilities: ?
Name: Your character's name. Of course your character has a name. Each character must have at least a first and a last name.
Colour: Each character has their own colour. This makes it easy to work out who is talking in group situations. As soon as your character has been approved check out the list of available colours in the Character Colours thread and pick one of them.
Level: Your character begins at level one. As you gain experience points in the world of Rael your level will increase. Every time you receive a level up you will have the option of adding a new ability to your profile or improving one your existing abilities.
Experience: Your character starts out with no experience points. Refer to the Character Statistics thread when you are updating this section of your profile.
Gold: Your character starts out with no gold pieces. Again, refer to the Character Statistics thread when you are updating this section of your profile.
Race: By now your character's basic details have been sorted out so it's time for you to choose a race. Read the Races Guide carefully. The race descriptions are very general and you have the freedom to interpret them in any way you like. For example, most Aerinthians are kind, cheerful folk but your character can be a selfish, sarcastic, gloomy Aerinthian if that is what you want them to be. Your portrayal of any given race is only limited by your imagination so try to be as creative as you can.
Class: Your character's class determines what tasks they are skilled at and what tasks they are unskilled at. Think of it as their job. Refer to the Classes Guide for more information. If you like, you can choose the Adventurer class and postpone this important decision until you reach level three. This will give you time to get used to the world of Rael; however until you choose a class your character won't be particularly skilled at anything.
Gender: You can choose to be either male or female. Your character doesn't have to be the same gender you are in real life. If your character is a Robot it will not have a gender.
Age: The limits on your character's age are determined by their race. Check out the Races Guide for information about age limits. If your character belongs to a mixed race then their upper age limit is the same as the upper age limit of the longer-lived of the two races. You can put Unknown here if you are unsure of your age.
Alignment: Your alignment is an indication of the way your character acts - With good intentions, with bad intentions, generously, selfishly, impartially, etc. Bear in mind that your actions may cause your alignment to shift from time to time. For example, if you are supposed to be an evil character but you spend all your time cuddling kittens and helping out innocent villagers your alignment will change. If you want to keep things simple you can choose to be either Good, Neutral or Evil. However if you want to give your character more depth you may pick any of the alignments listed below:
Good[-|-----------]Evil ---------- Saintly
Good[---|---------]Evil ---------- Good
Good[------|------]Evil ---------- Neutral
Good[---------|---]Evil ---------- Evil
Good[-----------|-]Evil ---------- Depraved
Element: Every character has an elemental affinity. You are blessed by this element at the moment of your birth and it will continue to guide and protect you throughout your life. The possible elemental choices are Water, Earth, Wind or Fire. You may also choose the arcane elements of Light or Darkness. Darkanians always have affinity with darkness, and Aerinthians always have affinity with light. Characters of other races can be any of the six elements.
This is the system of elemental strengths and weaknesses:
Water is strong against Fire but weak against Earth.
Earth is strong against Water but weak against Wind.
Wind is strong against Earth but weak against Fire.
Fire is strong against Wind but weak against Water.
Light attacks are strong against Darkness but Light creatures are vulnerable to Dark attacks.
Dark attacks are strong against Light but Dark creatures are vulnerable to Light attacks.
These are the qualities prized by the six elemental Gods:
Grazus, the God of Water: Intellect and Decisiveness.
Basaar, the God of Earth: Hope and Peace.
Hainiel, the Goddess of Wind: Freedom and Fortune.
Zoshnel, the Goddess of Fire: Pride and Valour.
Ruhma, the God of Light: Loyalty and Justice.
Infernia, the Goddess of Darkness: Power and Ambition.
Items: Your character will not start out with any items. They will gain items by completing missions.
Appearance: There are no restrictions here however you should take your character's race, class and other characteristics into consideration when you are writing up their description. Feel free to include a picture of them if you like.
Biography: Think up an interesting tale explaining your character's past. Where do they come from? What adventures have they been through? Why are they travelling around the world instead of staying at home, getting married and pursuing a successful career as an office clerk? Keep in mind that your character's bio should not be in conflict with any known history. Don't make yourself a king, a princess or any other very important person. In case of doubt, ask a moderator.
Merits: Merits are the things that are good about your character. Maybe your character is very outgoing, or maybe very intelligent. Whatever it is, it might be handy for others to know about, so put it here for reference.
Flaws: As nobody is perfect, every character is bound to have some flaws. Like with the merits, they're here for future reference. Maybe your character isn't too bright, or always very obnoxious.
Keep in mind that merits and flaws shouldn't contradict eachother. A moody character can't be cheerful at the same time!
Equipment: When you first start out you are allowed to have one piece of custom equipment. Most people choose to have a custom weapon but it can theoretically be anything. For example, Bards often have musical instruments. Your piece of equipment might be a mighty sword engraved with the seven sacred runes of power that was passed down to you by your grandfather... Or it might be a rusty spoon you found in the gutter the other day. You can buy weapons later, but they'll be expensive.
If you want your character to have a special piece of equipment that has no practical use (for example, an amulet passed down to them by their ancestors) then don't add it to this section of the profile - Incorporate it into your character's appearance.
You can only have one piece of equipment when you start out. If you have more than one piece of equipment listed in your profile your character will not be approved.
Abilities: The last category is perhaps the most important one of all. Your abilities are the skills you rely on in battle. You can use them in missions and in the main plot but the real test of any ability is its effectiveness on the battlefield. Read the Creating Abilities Guide carefully.
All characters start out with six level one abilities. These abilities are spread over the three categories of Physical Abilities, Magical/Alchemical/Technological Abilities (choose the one most suitable for your character) and Support Abilities. Most new characters choose to have two physical, two magical and two support abilities. However you can have three physical, one magical and two support abilities if you wish. Or no physical, four magical and two support abilities. Or even six physical, no magical and no support abilities. The only requirement is that you have a total of six abilities.