Advice/Help How long should OC's

[Claymore-Chan]

Questions..

 

[The J]

How long should they what?

 

[Sunbather]

At least five.

 

[The J]

At least five.

Metric or 'Murica units?

 

[Claymore-Chan]

AHHH Sorry, I ment How long should there information be?

 

[The J]

AHHH Sorry, I meant How long should their information be?

Haha no worries, easy mistake to make.

For every sheet, I try to put in at least two decent-sized paragraphs for the backstory and the same for the personality, though my backstories are usually longer. Otherwise, I feel like it's too hard to get a read on the character, and the GM won't totally know what they're in for when you join.
There's also the fact that writing those out like that really does help me to think through what a character is like. I can be much more sure that they're not just blank. They need to have some nuance and some uniqueness to them, and the minimum two paragraphs help me to ensure that.
The rest of the CS is usually just single lines -name, gender, sexuality, nicknames. Appearance can be just a picture, just a paragraph of description, or a mix of both if the picture doesn't quite show everything you need.
Weapons/Vehicles tend to be a little longer. Usually, I just specify what they do, what they look like, and anything else that seems entirely pertinent.

 

[Claymore-Chan]

Thanks!

 

[MISTER UN. 0W3N]

Honestly, it depends on what the GM wants in terms of length for character information. You may find ones that just wants a general listing or someone that wants 3-4 paragraphs per section. It's just good to have a general idea of what you wanna play and how they'd act/change in the thread for the most part.

 

[Hachi Machi]

I usually expect a word, phrase, or sentence for everything else besides history and personality description. For history, typically 3~5 important events that define your character is good enough for me. For personality, listing 3~5 traits, and providing examples for how your character acts with these traits is also good enough for me personally.

That's just my opinion.

 

[The J]

I usually expect a word, phrase, or sentence for everything else besides history and personality description. For history, typically 3~5 important events that define your character is good enough for me. For personality, listing 3~5 traits, and providing examples for how your character acts with these traits is also good enough for me personally.

That's just my opinion.

You've just reminded me of an important addendum to what I said earlier:

The two paragraphs I recommend for history and personality only apply if you're not fluffing it at all. A little fluff's fine and difficult to avoid, but it's best to keep in mind.

 

[rae2nerdy]

As Ali said in terms of established Roleplays it varies on the information the GM deems pertinent to that roleplay. If your talking about creating a roleplay and CS tied to that just ask yourself what information you need about the character for the story you want to tell. Do you need an appearance, a backstory, a set of likes or dislikes , etc?

Also ask yourself what informaction will let you know your players have read and understood your lore.

 

[The J]

As Ali said in terms of established Roleplays it varies on the information the GM deems pertinent to that roleplay. If your talking about creating a roleplay and CS tied to that just ask yourself what information you need about the character for the story you want to tell. Do you need an appearance, a backstory, a set of likes or dislikes , etc?

Also ask yourself what informaction will let you know your players have read and understood your lore.

I think it's also important for the GM to make sure that the characters have been well thought-out enough, and they know what they're getting into by letting them join.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think it's also important for the GM to make sure that the characters have been well thought-out enough, and they know what they're getting into by letting them join.

Well that is variable. Not all stories require well thought out characters. For that matter not all roleplays are going to have really that much lore that people need to keep track of. It's why I said the GM should ask themselves what is the relevant information they need for their particular roleplay and what information would allow them to keep track of who understands said story.

So if a well-thought out character is important to the story you are telling than you build the information of your CS around that. If a understanding of the lore is important you build your CS around that. And so on and so forth. Basically build your CS around whatever information is important to the story you want to tell AND will allow you to ensure your players understand what your trying to do.

If you're just free forming it on the fly than chances are you CS will be vary minimal and might only really require basic information like a name, a gender, and maybe a brief personality overview. If your roleplay is more structured the information might include lore specific sections like a biography or a power section. It just depends on your story.

 

[rae2nerdy]

For instance I do a lot of 1x1s so my CS are usually very minimal as I can just ask the player outright if they understand the lore or what they're posts are like. So the CS doesn't have to double as a kind of screening process. Therefore all I really need is just the minimal information required for whatever story we're telling ( usually like name, age, gender, brief character summary, and optionally special abilities if those are relevant )

Now when I did group roleplays my CS were obviously much more detailed because I couldn't pre-screen everyone onexone who wanted to join my roleplays. In those I would usually have the basics ( name, age, gender, picture/description, etc. ) a small personality section ( i would ask for two or three positive and two or three negative traits, but i would let the players decide how to write those out. you could list them, make a paragraph, whatever you wanted ). Then my big sections where biography and powers. The biography had to be a minimum of two or three paragraphs and cover any major life moments. The power had to include each power the character had and a description. So you couldn't just say your character manipulated fire you had to tell me how they manipulated fire. If it was fireballs, spontaneously bursting into flame, etc. Now the reason biography and powers were the big sections were because they were the ways I made sure the players had read and understood the rules/lore.

So those are what I mean by building your CS around the stories you want to tell and the information that you think will help you keep track of who is paying attention.

 

[Umbrie]

you really don't need a full backstory and you really don't need an established personality. i used to actually beleive a backstory was actually necessary when i was younger, turns out backstory isn't as important as giving hooks for the GM. the backstory is just a way to conceal hooks. all you truly need is a series of Goals to motivate your character and some level of consistency in the way you portray them, not that your character can't develop over time and evolve into something else.

you can point out character backstory as an excuse to bring up the goals. but all you need is a series of goals to motivate your character, some important NPC connections, and some hooks for the GM to pull your character into the story. i personally hate playing lone wolf characters because the lone wolf is generally difficult to connect to the party for long. i generally think a character needs a long term goal that coincides with those of the other main players.

as long as your character can function in a group, has a motivation and hooks that allow them to work with the other players and have some important NPC connections, they should be fine. personality and backstory just complicate things and dodges the bullet. they are a crutch, if you have a good familiarity with the character you are playing as, due to being extremely familiar with the archetype,

you don't need backstory and personality as long as you are familiar enough with the character to communicate who they are in play. and long paragraphs of backstory and personality with fancy BBCode are simply a case of the players trying to make their entry look pretty for the purpose of having an advantage in being selected because they can make their sheet pretty. just because you can write a 30 page cleanly BBCoded Character sheet with perfect pretty formatting doesn't mean you know how to roleplay well. just means you know how to cleanly format excessive amounts of information to gain an upper hand in being selected by making your excessive information look pretty. i hate purple prose.

 

[rae2nerdy]

you really don't need a full backstory and you really don't need an established personality. i used to actually beleive a backstory was actually necessary when i was younger, turns out backstory isn't as important as giving hooks for the GM. the backstory is just a way to conceal hooks. all you truly need is a series of Goals to motivate your character and some level of consistency in the way you portray them, not that your character can't develop over time and evolve into something else.

you can point out character backstory as an excuse to bring up the goals. but all you need is a series of goals to motivate your character, some important NPC connections, and some hooks for the GM to pull your character into the story. i personally hate playing lone wolf characters because the lone wolf is generally difficult to connect to the party for long. i generally think a character needs a long term goal that coincides with those of the other main players.

as long as your character can function in a group, has a motivation and hooks that allow them to work with the other players and have some important NPC connections, they should be fine. personality and backstory just complicate things and dodges the bullet. they are a crutch, if you have a good familiarity with the character you are playing as, due to being extremely familiar with the archetype,

you don't need backstory and personality as long as you are familiar enough with the character to communicate who they are in play. and long paragraphs of backstory and personality with fancy BBCode are simply a case of the players trying to make their entry look pretty for the purpose of having an advantage in being selected because they can make their sheet pretty. just because you can write a 30 page cleanly BBCoded Character sheet with perfect pretty formatting doesn't mean you know how to roleplay well. just means you know how to cleanly format excessive amounts of information to gain an upper hand in being selected by making your excessive information look pretty. i hate purple prose.

Ah but I think you missing the main reason people have CS in a forum based roleplay. It is used primarily as a tool to screen potential roleplayers and make sure they understand and will be a good fit for the roleplay. So by asking for biography for instance it's a subtle way for the GM to make sure that a potential player understands the rules and settings of the roleplay.

We'll use an example from an old group of mine. It was an Alternate Universe Batman story where in instead of bruce wayne becoming batman his butler does instead. And it sort of expands from there. I had set it up that the alternate bat family would be the central focus of the story with villains being NPCs or minor playable characters added after the main family was filled.

I had someone send in a CS where in their biography section they talked about the TV show Gotham and based their characters whole life story around that universe. Now this is something I could catch early and then discuss with the player so they understood what kind of universe the roleplay was taking place.

If i had just asked people to do some kind of elevator pitch where they set out where they wanted their character to start and finish I would not necessarily have caught that distinction. Because someone saying - I want to create this character, I'm going to have them start out as a minor mook with the local mafia, get caught by one of the good guys, and change their ways. Well all that fits in my universe fine. But if they think the universe is the same as the TV show they are still going to be able to have that arc just the places and the people they'll be working with are totally different.

 

[Umbrie]

Ah but I think you missing the main reason people have CS in a forum based roleplay. It is used primarily as a tool to screen potential roleplayers and make sure they understand and will be a good fit for the roleplay. So by asking for biography for instance it's a subtle way for the GM to make sure that a potential player understands the rules and settings of the roleplay.

We'll use an example from an old group of mine. It was an Alternate Universe Batman story where in instead of bruce wayne becoming batman his butler does instead. And it sort of expands from there. I had set it up that the alternate bat family would be the central focus of the story with villains being NPCs or minor playable characters added after the main family was filled.

I had someone send in a CS where in their biography section they talked about the TV show Gotham and based their characters whole life story around that universe. Now this is something I could catch early and then discuss with the player so they understood what kind of universe the roleplay was taking place.

If i had just asked people to do some kind of elevator pitch where they set out where they wanted their character to start and finish I would not necessarily have caught that distinction. Because someone saying - I want to create this character, I'm going to have them start out as a minor mook with the local mafia, get caught by one of the good guys, and change their ways. Well all that fits in my universe fine. But if they think the universe is the same as the TV show they are still going to be able to have that arc just the places and the people they'll be working with are totally different.

i forgot about that. i understand you need some things on a character sheet, like a character's skills and powers. like the disciplines a magic user actually uses rather than the exact spells. i understand that a character sheet is important for measuring understanding, but you don't need a massive character sheet. at least not a 10+ page one. maybe a page or two should cover all the information you need.

 

[rae2nerdy]

i forgot about that. i understand you need some things on a character sheet, like a character's skills and powers. like the disciplines a magic user actually uses rather than the exact spells. i understand that a character sheet is important for measuring understanding, but you don't need a massive character sheet. at least not a 10+ page one. maybe a page or two should cover all the information you need.

no one was saying that you have to make a massive character sheet. in fact no one here really said anything about a particularly detailed sheet. even those of us who said you should put some effort into certain sections said that you had to do it for a reason. and mostly the effort seems to rest around backstory and/or personality depending on who you ask. but yeah no one is saying - you have to write a super detailed character sheet that is ten pages long and includes everything from your characters blood type to the person they had a crush on in the third grade ( no lie had someone ask nearly those same things once and i was like.....dafuq? )

 

[Umbrie]

i typically do 8-12 lines for personality and background. and i typically include a separate section for which role,based archetype the character covers within the setting and include a separate section for a description of the character's appearance, usually at least 6 lines. i also track what power disciplines a character is good at rather than the exact powers within those disciplines, because i play a lot of spellcasters, psionicists, mystics and similar archetypes that are categorized into disciplines. or if i do play a more physical character, i will note the level of their physiology and explain which physical facet they are best at.

so if i list a character with the physiology of a 13 year old human female, i will typically list which exceptional things she is better than she should be at. for example, most of my faeries have really quick reflexes and enhanced sensory output, but i do have a few younger characters that are either extremely good at tanking physical hits, hit with extreme force or both.

 

[rae2nerdy]

i typically do 8-12 lines for personality and background. and i typically include a separate section for which role,based archetype the character covers within the setting and include a separate section for a description of the character's appearance, usually at least 6 lines. i also track what power disciplines a character is good at rather than the exact powers within those disciplines, because i play a lot of spellcasters, psionicists, mystics and similar archetypes that are categorized into disciplines. or if i do play a more physical character, i will note the level of their physiology and explain which physical facet they are best at.

so if i list a character with the physiology of a 13 year old human female, i will typically list which exceptional things she is better than she should be at. for example, most of my faeries have really quick reflexes and enhanced sensory output, but i do have a few younger characters that are either extremely good at tanking physical hits, hit with extreme force or both.

that's an interesting idea - adding in an archetype for your character. if your doing a particularly character based story i can see that being useful and it's sort of similar to having an established role that your character is filling ( which was kind of popular for a time when i did groups )

 

[Umbrie]

that's an interesting idea - adding in an archetype for your character. if your doing a particularly character based story i can see that being useful and it's sort of similar to having an established role that your character is filling ( which was kind of popular for a time when i did groups )

when you do a lot of dice roleplays, picking a core archetype becomes second nature to you. archetype is basically "What does your character bring to the table?". you can be flexible with Archetype names depending on the setting, but using D&D classes as an Archetype. you know Shamans cast elemental spells as well as healing spells and you know that Druids Shapeshift into humanoid or animal forms. both are nature themed magical characters, but what a Shaman Brings is Very Different from what a Druid Brings.

at the same time,.knowing whether a rogue is a Rake, a Pirate, or an Assassin says something about them as well.

 

[rae2nerdy]

when you do a lot of dice roleplays, picking a core archetype becomes second nature to you. archetype is basically "What does your character bring to the table?". you can be flexible with Archetype names depending on the setting, but using D&D classes as an Archetype. you know Shamans cast elemental spells as well as healing spells and you know that Druids Shapeshift into humanoid or animal forms. both are nature themed magical characters, but what a Shaman Brings is Very Different from what a Druid Brings.

At the same time,.knowing whether a rogue is a Rake, a Pirate, or an Assassin says something about them as well.

No I understood the concept as I said it was similar to having your character fill out a particular role back in my group days. Like say for instance you're doing a school roleplay you could have : The Jock, The Nerd, The Cheerleader, etc. It was usually a way to set up character interaction or romance but I can see it being used to help progress a specific story or encourage diversity among character types.

 

[Umbrie]

No I understood the concept as I said it was similar to having your character fill out a particular role back in my group days. Like say for instance you're doing a school roleplay you could have : The Jock, The Nerd, The Cheerleader, etc. It was usually a way to set up character interaction or romance but I can see it being used to help progress a specific story or encourage diversity among character types.

sorriesies. i was explaining not for you, but for the others in the thread. so as to mitigate confusion, but that is another wonderful example.