VI. Creating a Character

[Toots the Wizard]

Creating a Character

///step one: the basics/// Dear children, there are a few things one must consider when bringing a person into this world. Finances, timing, the fidelity of your partner, inherited diseases... It's a good thing Floating Mysticism has simplified people creation for us! Let's start by deciding on a name befitting of your character, something that tells us about them! Now, a custom title that tells something about them. This can be something like a "class" (warrior/mage/etc.) or occupation. Then, an appropriate age and gender! This is the very bones of your character, feel free to play around! You can also choose an organization, which are plot-families detailed in the thread called 'Organizations.' Feel free to make your own! Keep in mind that you'll need to formally sign your character up in the organizations sign-up board, after they have been accepted ///step two: race & appearance/// Now, we get to the meat of your character... The VISUAL MEAT! Ahahahahaha! Anyways, now you get to choose your character's race and how that race makes them look, as well as how they dress and such and so forth and so on. We're putting some scarves and bowties on those bones now!  It's important to remember that not much is off-limits here at FM. Any race you can imagine can be created, within reason. Don't make anything too monstrous or hugenormous, as that wouldn't make for a fun stroll through town... For other people! If you want to play one of our canon races, refer to the thread called 'Races of Mysticverse/Otherverse' found here. If you do decide to create your own, remember to fill out the section labeled for you in the character application. We might even add your race to our member-created section, so make it spiffy! Also, feel free to played 'mixed' characters, just make sure to define whatever races are in their bloodline. ///step three: heart, magic, castes, & abilities/// Heart Now, you'll need to choose your character's Heart! Heart is a purely figurative term used to describe a character's morality. Everyone in the Mysticverse has a Heart, which decides what forces they fight for and can change through their actions. Here are the Hearts: Platinum Heart (Lawful Good) Those with a Platinum Heart are beholden to a specific set of rules, set forth by a governing body. Platinum Hearts have a strong sense of duty and understand that sacrifices are necessary to uphold law. They will always fall in line with the law, despite that they may struggle to do so when the law contradicts them on a personal level. Gold Heart (Neutral Good) Those with a Gold Heart fight primarily for the good of others, including those they love. They have a conscience, understand consequences, and are more likely to act altruistically in any situation. Though they often fall in line with the law or the rules, they do not hesitate to act against them if they believe it is best. Diamond Heart (Chaotic Good) Those with a Diamond Heart fight for what they believe to be the greater good. They are often seen as rebellious, believing in personal freedoms and choosing one's own path, and are known to bring about conflict in the name of progress or change. Emerald Heart (Lawful Neutral) Those with an Emerald Heart are similar to Platinum Hearts, except that the established set of rules they adhere to is entirely their own. Some use an honor system, others a simple personal code of conduct. Though the decisions made under this set of rules may be perceived as 'good' or evil' to others, the Emerald Heart experiences a sense of righteousness unaffected by society or public opinion. Sapphire Heart (True Neutral) Those with a Sapphire Heart make decisions without considering the actual morality of their actions. They do not see the world as black and white, but rather mostly gray, and do not allow themselves to be persecuted by the way the rest of the world sees things. Alternatively, Sapphire Hearts may accept that their actions have positive or negative connotation, but do not care; they focus on survival such as in the case of a farmer feeding his family or a mercenary content to play on either side of a war. Sapphire Hearts are opportunistic, but usually establish roots with a faction, and are less likely to break bonds for gain. Ruby Heart (Chaotic Neutral) Those with a Ruby Heart tend to be spontaneous and opportunistic in making decisions. Ruby Hearts have personal goals in mind, and will allow themselves to side with what is traditionally considered 'good' or 'evil' in order to fulfill these goals. However, they are willing to throw aside these goals if something more promising comes along, forsaking allies and aligning with enemies to do so. The life focus of a Ruby Heart involves ensuring their own freedom to do what they will, bound by neither established rules nor the notion of 'good' or 'evil.' Ruby Hearts rarely become accustomed to playing on either side, and are more willing to switch on a dime out of boredom. Quartz Heart (Lawful Evil) Those with a Quartz Heart understand the benefits of exploiting law, and tend to bend the rules to their will rather than adhere to them. Quartz Hearts may appear to be Platinum Hearts on the surface, but the intentions of a Quartz Heart are rarely to uphold the law. Rather, Quartz Hearts are more likely to follow the formalities of a law, obeying orders and remaining outwardly honorable, but covertly or subtly abuse the law in their favor. Examples include advisors looking to steal the positions of the kings they serve or tyrannical dictators. Pyrite Heart (Neutral Evil) Those with a Pyrite Heart have little sense of conviction and often make allies for the sole purpose of using them and then turning against them later. As opposed to Ruby Hearts, who manipulate others based on convenience, Pyrite Hearts manipulate others based on principle; the less work, the easier the job. Pyrite Hearts, like other Neutral alignments, fight for themselves, and are perhaps even more dangerous because of the lacking any rules that might inhibit calculated scheming. Coal Heart (Chaotic Evil) Those with a Coal Heart have no sense of conviction and are most likely to commit random acts of selfishness and cruelty than those that are planned. They do not hide their dark intentions, and usually even flaunt them. There is no order to the destruction they bring about and though there may be a slight personal gain involved, Coal Hearts rarely have a plan in the wings guiding their actions. The acts of Coal Heart are focused more on causing rampant entropy and disorganized violence. Magic Refer to the thread on magic, found here, if you haven't already. Castes All people in the Mysticverse are separated by Caste, which defines the magic potential of an individual. Each caste has a level of respect and esteem associated with it, as well as a number of abilities/limitation of what kind of abilities. Mundane: Mundane are the least respected caste, with little magic potential. Potentaili: Potentiali are the most abundant caste, with average magic potential. Potentiali can have one innate ability. High-Born: High-Born are the most respected caste, with high magic potential. High-Born can have two innate abilities (of differing dimensions). Abilities The use of magic in the Mysticverse is referred to as Mysticism, which allows a person to harness magic energies through Mystical Abilities. Users of Mystical Abilities do wondrous things like produce fire from their fingertips, summon demonic entities from elsewhere, shapeshift into a specific creature, or nearly anything else. There is currently one kind of Mystical Ability: Innate Abilities: These are abilities the character is born with. Mundane do not have innate abilities. For Potentiali, this might require awakening by a source or area of high magic density. High-Born display their abilities without the need of an awakening. There are also Practical Skills, those that are learned and taught conventionally and without the use of magic. Things like bodybuilding, gardening, and walking dogs, as well as archery, swordsmanship, and generally causing pain with one's barehands.  ///step four: personality & history/// Everyone comes from someone's womb! Unless you are a womb! Then you probably just poofed into existence, right?!  No, actually that's false. Even wombs have a backstory. The most interesting characters are not defined by a single personality trait that makes up the entirety of their being, but by a great many traits that culminate to produce a rounded, justified individual. Justified, because the character's past experiences often feed directly into the way they act and how they treat others. A person who has been wronged over and over again might have a negative view of life, while one that has been pampered or has not been introduced to the horrors of the world will be more positive. But it goes much deeper: perhaps seeings the evils has made the person determined to right them, or being sheltered has the led the character to not understand consequences and made them irrational. The point is, all people act a certain way for a certain reason. You need to decide how your character acts under different circumstances and HOW COME! What causes do they support, what disorders do they suffer from, who or what has had direct influence in shaping the person standing here today? The supporting characters in a person's backstory are just as important (if not more) to determining how they turn out. It's all up to you how to color your character.