Tips for creating a PC

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

(This is not my sole ideas. It was based upon something originally written by someone else. However, I have spoffed it to fit in Armeggedon's world. It helps flesh out your characters. I would suggest posting it in a prominent place in general help, with the RP tips.)

This document was designed to help people round out their characters. Not everyone can think of everything when designing a PC, and these ideas and concept well help you provide a finish to your character's background and personality that will amaze most other PCs.

I. Character Views

What is your character's view on:

Laws:
Should they be upheld to the letter? Should they be followed only to help stabilize society? Should they be followed only when it makes sense? Should they be followed only when it suits you?

Religion:
What is your view on the dieties, such as Whira, Drov, and Krath? What about the sorcerer-kings? Are they truly gods, or only powerful men? DO you respect them and/or fear them?

Theft:
Is it completely wrong? Is it okay to steal from those that have so much that they don't know what to do with it when you're in need? Is stealing from the rich to give to the poor okay? Is it okay to steal as long as you leave something else behind, like taking a well-crafted longsword from someone's saddlebags and leaving a half-full skin of water behind?

People:
Do you like people or do you not? What is your views on each of the other races? What stereotypes do you hold?

Helpfulness:
Are you always willing to help those in need, only those that are your friends, or only yourself? Are you a nice person that will do whatever you can to help others so long as it does not prove dangerous for yourself?

Drinking:
If you had some time on your hands would you go get drunk at the local tavern? To what degree? What does your character commonly drink? How often would he consume ales, wines, and hard liquors?

Sex:
Would you try to make out with the bawdy-serving wench while getting drunk at a local tavern? Do you feel guilty afterwards? Or does your character have no problem with casual sex?

Love:
Could your character fall in love? Is there any room in your life for someone else? Or is there already someone in your life (maybe even a long lost love or some other thing)?

Family:
Do you like them? Does your uncle have a bit too much of a preoccupation with your mother, his kank, etc.? Who are they?

Life:
Cynical and bitter with a dune of sand up your ass? Bright and idealistic with queer-like chipperness? Or are you a realist?

Goals:
In other words, what drives you? Fame? Fortune? Fun? Or do you want nothing more than a peaceful life, but you've been forced down a different path?

Honor:
How do you treat those that do not seem to have it? Would you die to keep your honor stainless? Do you respect the codes of chivalry?

Magic:
Is it evil? What do you think magic is and what is does it mean to you? Who should wield it? Is it common to you?

Death:
How do you want to live out and end your life? Nice and peaceful, telling your stories to your grandchildren (like the time a friend of yours was sodomized by a half-giant named Tiny)? Do you want to be fantastically wealthy, would you rather your name be in the annuals of history, or just settled down with a little bit of sandy land, a little lady, and the pitter patter of little feet running around? Do you fear the end?

Loyalty:
How loyal are you? Do you require loyalty from others? Does it influence your decisions? Can it ever be lost from you?

II. What if?

Answer these hypothetical questions about your PC. It will give you insight into how they truely act and think.

If you witness an act of something terrible, such as a murder, would you make it a personal mission to make sure that those that responsible were brought to justice? If not what level of action would you take?
A friend of yours has been wrongly accused of murder, and is scheduled hung in three days. You know that if you try to defend him you will probably be hung with him. What do you do? What if the person is a stranger, not a friend?
A friend is being sodomized by the half-giant named Tiny. What do you do?
A) Point and laugh, but remain a safe distance away.
B) Try to help your friend by attacking Tiny.
C) Run away for fear that you'll be next.
D) Make sure your friend has something about this on his epitaph.
E) Join in.
(Keep in mind that this question is a reflection of your personality, not necessarily what you would do.)
A rich and powerful man, perhaps a noble, has offered you a large some of money to carry out some business for him. Once you find out that the business goes against your morals (even if you have almost no morals), do you do this job? Even if refusing meant that you just made a powerful enemy or maybe even immediate death?


III. Preferences

Some comments and ideas to help you round out your character.

List any notable personality traits.
What are your short-term goals?
Do you like other people; in other words, are you an antisocial or social person?
How do you see yourself? Are you shy and timid? Bold? Confident? Always the center of attention or are you the one alone in the corner at parties? Do you think other people see you like this as well?
Do you have any prejudices (ex. Magickers are supremely evil, a dislike of bald dwarven women, etc.)?
Do you have habits or some such thing that a person that knows you could identify you by?
What are your hopes and fears?
What is it that drives you?
What would you like to be doing in 5 or 10 years?
What is your most vivid memory?
Why did you choose your particular profession/occupation?
List any fears you may have. (heights, kanks, blades, spiders, your mother, etc.)
List any secondary or minor objectives that you would pursue if the opportunity presented itself.
What is more important: protecting yourself, your friends, innocent victims, or the damsel in distress that has a rich father?
What is your favorite time of the day?


IV. A Quiz

Answer true or false to the following questions.

The god-kings are deities.
Magic is evil.  
You believe in the gods and you send up little prayers every now and then.
Honor exists among thieves.
Lying is wrong.
Stealing is wrong.
Law and order is good.
One should do whatever one wants rather than doing only what society's laws and morals dictate.
Tyranny is good.
The more regulations, the better.
All things evil must be fought at all costs.
Chivalry is dead.
Government and Law are instruments that repress individual expression and the creative spirit.


V. Like/Dislike

Does you PC like or dislike the following things:

Being Vengeful
Being Heroic
Science
Philosophy
Mysteries
Riddles
To use Magic (for magickers)
To see Magic
Forests
Mountains
Deserts
Rain
Climbing
Competition
Archery
Swordplay
Jousting
Carnavals
Fairs  
To Lead
Sports
Alcohol
To Follow
Light
Darkness
Evil
Good
Beggars
Nobles
Sunrise/Sunset
Sleeping
Riding
Walking
Running
Groups


VI. Final Touches

Some final touches to polish that character off:

What is your full name?
Have you ever had any aliases? (How long in use? Why?)
How old are you?
Where were you born?
Describe your parents, including current status.
What was/is your families social status (Poor? Well-to-do? Wealthy?)
Do you have any relatives and how close are you?
Where are these relatives now?  
What jobs, positions, or titles have you held? (When? Where?)
Did you ever serve in the military?
Do you have a criminal record? (Why? Are you still wanted?)
Where do you live now?
Where did you spend most of your life?
Have you ever traveled much?
Are you or have you ever been married or romantically involved? (With who? Where are they now? What is the status of your relationship?)
If you can, describe a significant event in your life.
How do you describe your lifestyle or the lifestyle that you want to lead?
What are your hobbies?
List a couple of your favorite foods/drink.
List a couple of your favorite pieces of equipment/toys (sharp pointy things and miscellaneous objects).
List any notable physical traits.

(There, is that a little better guys? *grin* Anyway...the gist.)

Venomz - of the gist...."I like that word."

[deviant storm]

Not bad, but I'd leave out the religious bits on Arm. There isn't really organized religions as we see them on Zalanthas.

Yeah, I know Tek and Muk are worshipped to some extent by those living in their cities. But people rarely attend devotions or that sort of thing. It's more 'ok, I better do what they say or some templar might punish me'.
At least, that's how it is in Allanak.

I'd just rather see that part left out rather than confusing newbies (more than they already are) who come in and think there are gods and churches/temples.

Otherwise, it's not a bad document.

[Lazloth]

Should probably give credit when you rip something like that off.
http://www.getwelljace.com/drythusler/modules.php?name=Concepts

[halfbreed]

Hmmm, what's Dryth Ulser about?  Looks interesting.

at least he stated in the first line it wasnt his.

[Lazloth]

at least he stated in the first line it wasnt his.

Doesn't make it less of a violation of copyright.

Dryth Usler[/url]"]All logos,image, and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2002 by Dryth Usler

[krelin]

Actually, in this case, I believe it would only constitute a violation of copyright if he were portraying the work as his own AND trying to sell it in some fashion, since the work itself is already available publically.

[Lazloth]

While I don't know to what extent Dryth Usler & co. is involved with PCGen or CharTrack [if any!], his questionnaire may be in some part the guts of an automatic chargen utility.  Preface: IANAL, but as 7Venom did a direct copy/paste of material deemed copyrighted, he would need to secure author's permission in repost.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I really wasn't trying to violate copyright....I will reedit it...sorry.

And the premises for the entire posting is that it contains a number of very pertinent questions that help flesh out your characters.

Now that I reread the original site, it does say copyright. SO Imma just spoff the doc.

(Drylth & Co. contains the copyright for the original document. There's the copyright notice that I should have posted in the first place.)

Venomz - the thief of great documents.

[Heimdall]

I really wasn't trying to violate copyright....I will reedit it...sorry.

And the premises for the entire posting is that it contains a number of very pertinent questions that help flesh out your characters.

Now that I reread the original site, it does say copyright. SO Imma just spoff the doc.

(Drylth & Co. contains the copyright for the original document. There's the copyright notice that I should have posted in the first place.)

Venomz - the thief of great documents.

Perhaps, I could settle the issue??  After all, contacting the site owner would have settled it fast no??

First of Dryth Usler is a campaign world that I have developed over the last several months.

Second,  I don't mind that he used the document.  The credit push though is commendable.  I would have only asked him to link the site he ripped it from.  Of couse, I've been watching it because I have the site designed in such a way I can tell when rips occur.

Third, not everything is owned by me (obviously).  That particual document was developed by several DMs who were sick of shitty players.  It is not part of ANY gaming utility as of now.

Fourth, I help develop from a 3 party view OpenRPG, PCGen, ETools, etc etc so that should answer the "extent" of which I am involved.

Fifth, copyright does not mean you have to sell it to violate it.  Copyright covers any unauthorized use of the document.  However, I'd be rather anal to enforce that on a document I post on the website.  I'd rather it get used, and if someone offers money for it send it to me!! ((Broke just like everyone else in teh world =P ))

Finally,  I hope it helped.  That's what it's there for.  A nice plug would have been nice in the origin.  After all, I have a ton of content already for DMs and Players alike.  I am getting ready to do another massive update.  The work never ends.  Whoever spoofed the doc, in the future just ask.  You'd be surprised how many webmasters are willing to share document information for a shameless one time plug.  It's not like we sell it in stores......

Heimdall
DrythUsler

[Anonymous]

BTW

May email is webmaster@getwelljace.com if anyone needs it.....I forgot to add it to the last post.

[krelin]

And you've applied a character for Arm I assume?  

[Lazloth]

Howdy.  Thanks for popping into our world; maybe some of the positive feedback from our community might seduce you into giving Zalanthas a look.  Being the copyright champion that I am, I hotlinked your url to posthumously accredit your work where 7Venomz did not.

One question I have, however, is how you profess to be an internet überdeity.

I've been watching it because I have the site designed in such a way I can tell when rips occur.

You're claiming that you in some fashion have the ability to detect when someone executes a select/copy on your html?  
[sarcasm]Man, that is really keen.[/sarcasm]
If, instead, your access_log points out that your traffic was redirected from zalanthas.org, then you should realize that there is in fact no rip occuring as your work is directly linked.

[Barzalene]

Actually, I thought Heimdall was pretty nice about it.

[Anonymous]

Howdy.  Thanks for popping into our world; maybe some of the positive feedback from our community might seduce you into giving Zalanthas a look.  Being the copyright champion that I am, I hotlinked your url to posthumously accredit your work where 7Venomz did not.

One question I have, however, is how you profess to be an internet überdeity.

I've been watching it because I have the site designed in such a way I can tell when rips occur.

You're claiming that you in some fashion have the ability to detect when someone executes a select/copy on your html?  
[sarcasm]Man, that is really keen.[/sarcasm]
If, instead, your access_log points out that your traffic was redirected from zalanthas.org, then you should realize that there is in fact no rip occuring as your work is directly linked.

Not quite though uberdeity sounds good.  Every inbound site that comes in is logged.  Every outbound link is logged.  With a good look at page hits, timelength, etc etc.. (I think you get the point) I know who to watch.  It doesn't take long to pop onto someone elses site to check for your work.

Second, packet spikes mostly (90%) are attributed to picture ripping.

With the two I have a good idea who is a theif and who is just visiting.  Of course IP monitoring helps as well.

[Heimdall]

Actually, I thought Heimdall was pretty nice about it.

Thanks.  There really is no point to getting pissy and being an asshole on the internet.  It's not like I would fly to england to yell at some 7 year old who will grow up to get his own in the end anyway.

I tend to frown upon people who do nothing but yell at others for their lack of knowledge.  Everyone makes mistakes.

Now money is a different issue......

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Ok, I emailed my man Hiemdall amd personally apologized. He was -very- nice about it, very. But past that point, lets drop the whole copyright thing. I messed up, he didn't care enough to flame me or to sue me, but instead only corrected me on it, and that is all. I have learned my lesson.

The point was that we should make something like this for the purposes of creating a character -here-. I'll email Heimdall again and see if it is alright for us to use his quiz as a base for an Armageddon quiz.

That is the point.

Venomz - glad to not be in jail.