Thread: The Character Creation Topic

Silk, Steel, and Sorcery Lessons on creating a combatant's profile. Combat. Some roleplays don't feature it at all. Some only as a minor part. And there are those that are heavily into combat. However, if you are thinking of creating a group based roleplay character you need to consider filling in a Combat section. Because with so many itching for a fight, so many Demons of Instant Doom powers, Vampires, Fallen Gods, Crazed Gunman, and SamuraiNinja out there, chances are you'll get into a fight sooner or later. Especially with larger groups as there will always be some hotheadtroublemaker. And if you do... well, its always nice to an idea of what your character can do. In most profiles, a character's combat capabilities comes down to two major sections. Equipment Now, this is a good section to have even if you plan on never, ever get involved in a fight. While it is most often used to describe someone's myriad collection of armor and weapons, I've also seen it used to describe the collection of items a character has obtained over time. For example Tweak, who used it to list such things as Spray Paints, smokes, and blackmail photographs When you start describing your equipment, especially when getting into weapons and combat gear, there is a fine line you should try to talk between two extremes... One, the Bare Bones Style. These people generally have a bullet list style equipment section. An example of one might be. -Katana -Suit of Armor -Longbow -Arrows Three guesses on what I'm going to say about it? Well, it's very... bland. It works. At least so far in that someone can tell at a glance what a character is packing. Always nice. But its lacking details. There is no history there, there is no personality. See what happens when I add a few more details to it. -Katana. Named Hisoroku, part of an ancestral matching set passed down through the family. -Suit of Great Armor, colored Green and Black, battle scarred and showing great age. -Composite longbow, taller than the one who wields it. -Quiver of arrows, wooden, made with sharp, tooled steel heads, and fletched with black and yellow stripped feathers. Now, not only do you know what the character is packing, but the equipment has History. It implies a certain relationship to the character, as well as paints an immediate picture of what sort of character uses it. It is still not Perfect, but adding just a sentence to each line has greatly improved the section as you can see. Now, for the other extreme to avoid. This is usually more of a problem with Experienced Roleplayers than Newbie Roleplayers. The Iron Clad Technocrat. These profiles often stem from a single problem. They aren't where they belong. An example of this type could be the AMP example of the guy that brings his Gundam into a medival fantasy roleplay because it was approved in the This is not a medival fantasy RPG thread. But as I've said before. Forum Roleplaying is a... strange... place. Where people from different genres, tech levels, and worlds have come together. So there will of course be times where your swordsman is facing down against someone with mecha, automatic firearms, Ballistics Armor. And times that your Mecha Pilot will come across a mage who can blow stuff up with a wave of their hand. Generally it's easy to spot the Technocrats that will make trouble in a roleplay. Often these are the people that seemed to have done their research online, and have CPed Technical Schematics into their profiles. While the detail and the research is normally appreciated by me, this is often used as Hidden Histories are used to unleash powers that the rest of your roleplay can't match. Everything from the Sci Fi Lasers move at the speed of light, you can't possibly dodge, nor could I miss, to people with enough reflective, ablative, ballistics armor they declare that unless someone hits them in the exact same spot with 5 large caliber bullets they won't ever get through. Now, I'm by no means saying, Don't use Technology or not to go into detail with your characters. I know quite a few characters that might otherwise fall into the Iron Clad Technocrat type, if not for having great roleplayers that know the need for balance. When delving into equipment, generalities are king, especially over details. If you use details, well, you'll often find yourself straight jacketed by them later on, or even worse, causing OOC fights. Saying your armor could say, stop 5 blows to the same section, rather than going into detailed ballistics information, tends to be a better way to go, and is less likely to cause problems later on. Finally on Equipment... Generalities With Details. As I said, you need to be able to walk that line between Bare Bones and Technocrat. Some of this means trusting your fellow players to know what you're talking about. Or if they don't know, that they'll at least do a quick google or wikipedia search. So if you have a weapon type, that is in no way 'special'. For example a normal Katana, then you don't need to go into details about how many folds were involved in its crafting, or how it could Cut through a Tank. Instead use this space to perhaps mention things like appearance, markings on the blade, any random little details like where you got it from, pet names for it... To quote Full Metal Jacket This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine. Personalize it. Throw in details that will separate your katana from the others out there. And finally, I cannot stress this enough... if you have 'modifications', either magical or technological, discuss them ALL. Go into detail about this as well. For example, don't say... -Magical Katana Say something like -Katana. Enchanted, it glows when in the presence of the supernatural with a blue ghostly light. This light will cause discomfort in supernatural beings, equatable with being in a room too hot for them, but no serious pain. Abilities and Skills The other half of your Combat section, and arguably, the more important part. After all, what use is all those shiny gadgets, and all powerful magical artifacts if you don't know how to use them properly? When you find yourself creating a fresh character, ask yourself questions like How experienced is my character?. This can go a long way to determining what skills you have. For example, that character you make that's been a star ship mechanic for 10 years will probably know the ins and outs of every ship type he's seen. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean he knows how to fly it. And there is little in such a background to suggest he knows how to do anything in combat more than duck and cover. Maybe he can swing a mean hydrospanner at someone, but you aren't gong to have a Jet Li master of martial doom. Again it goes back to history. Your character that's been a warrior disciple and apprentice for the last half of his life? Sure, he can have some nifty martial arts, weapons training, maybe even some minor medical training, mostly the treatment of cuts, lacerations, etc. Did your character practice a trade? I mean, most likely if you were a cobbler's apprentice for so many years, it's not going to come up in a roleplay. However, it is better to have stated this skill, in case such a thing comes up, rather than appearing to BS it out of thin air. Even if it is in your history. So if you had professional training, whatever the field, cooking, shoemaking, the priesthood, soldiering, or anything else, make sure to mention it. You don't have to go into detail about how quickly you could repair a broken sole, but mentioning that you know this skill, and approximately how experienced you are with it can go a long way. But the meat and potatoes of this is going to be Combat Related Skills. These skills tend to fall into two Categories. The Martial Arts. And the Supernatural. I include all physical combat arts in The Martial Arts. Because, well, technically they are. Greco Roman wrestling, fencing, marksmanship are just as much Martial Arts as watching Shaolin Monks flying around kicking and punching. Like Equipment I suggest that Generalities with Details. I mean, you don't need to explain to me if you have Greco-Roman wrestling about how you execute a proper hip throw takedown, or inside cradle. Describe them in your roleplay posts. So you're an expert marksman, right? Well, with what weapons? Thrown weapons? Knives, axes, darts? Firearms? Revolvers, pistols, bolt action rifles? Bows? Crossbows? Eye lasers? The same goes with Martial Arts. Don't expect someone to know exactly what Jeet Kune Do is, or the Russian Commando style of Sambo. When you state your martial arts mastery, at whatever level, include a basic idea of what the art includes. Strikes with hands and feet? Locks, holds, throws? Deception and feints or quick attacks and combination? Keep age in mind when you create your Martial Abilities. While some arts, such as Rifle Marksmanship, can be picked up quickly. Hell, if you practiced for hours a day for a year you'd probably be a damned crackshot Others, such as Jeet Kune Do, or Akido, take years, nay, decades to master. Claiming that your 16 year old character is a Martial Arts In the 'traditional' sense Master is just... crazy. Make your character a student, a recruit with some talent but not enough practice or training, and not only does your character make more Sense, it will also feel more like a Real Person and less like you tried to make Badass Incarnate. Note that like many things, the above statement has exceptions for characters that have vast reservoirs of Roleplayed History. As in almost any system, story, or source known, characters on Adventures always seem to progress in powers more rapidly than people who sit down and study everyday. Practical Applications, blah, blah, blah. Basically means if you've actually played your character as a warrior of some type, through various adventures and battles, you can get away with claiming Grand Master status, or at least Veteran Status. Magic Obscurae Magic. This tend to be the other half of skill sets. While I call it Magic here, I do not mean merely Magic as in the Arcane Arts of Wizards and Witches. Magic, in Profile Terms, can include the Arcane, Mutant Powers, Psionics, and even Technowizardry. Technowizardry in this case meaning characters that are scientificmechanical genuises and can create things beyond the standard for your setting, or are experts at Scrounging Together ways and means. Standard techies don't apply for this, I mean the real Geniuses. Those ones that with a monkey wrench and hour, and a roll of duct tape could repair just about any machine, etc. Thus, you can really come up with Three Types of Skills. Professional Skills, things like crafting, knowledge sets, etc, The Martial Skills, and everything else. Magic generally comes in two types. One is the Spell List. Where people will bullet point, and describe every single type of effect they can do. These lists are often quite handy as it includes all the pertinent information. Times, distances, ranges, areas of effect, effects. People with spell lists can, and sometime do just Quote their ability at the end of a post rather than having to type it up every time they use it. As you can imagine, over time, with a long played, persistent character, that can save you a lot of time typing up the same descriptions over and over, and give you more time actually roleplaying. The Other is the General List. Now those paying attention would notice that for this section I've endorsed General, with details quite often. The General list however has a lot of drawbacks with supernatural powers. For one, it leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and things that you think are included in your stated powers, someone else might not agree. For example, I saw a demon, a Fire Elemental, that claimed because he has mastery of fire, he had mastery of Cold as well, as Cold, magical or mundane, is merely the absence of heat, and thus he could by drawing the 'fire' element out of an area create an area with the cold of deep space, near absolute zero. Now if I was the GM in that situation, and someone claimed a loose description of Fire Mastery gave them such a power I most likely would have ruled no. And again, you could, if one party was especially stubborn And the GM should always be stubborn in such a case, with a massive OOC arguement bringing role play to a halt. Author's Hint Good Roleplaying should ALWAYS move the roleplay along, not bring it to a crashing halt or cause Out Of Character fights. Again the General With Details can save you from such a situation, if you do not have the patience to come up with a complete AbilitySpell list detailing your powers in full. So you have Fire Magic? What does this include? Exploding projectiles? Creating and tossing around Lava Flows? Summoning flames onto your body? Shooting Eye Lasers? Give me a general idea what you can do, and what you can't do. Be reasonable with your powers, just as you would with Martial Arts. For example, your 15 year old telepath who's powers appeared at Puberty probably doesn't even understand how far their powers go, much less has any finesse or real skill with it. Where as your Archmage who has been a practicing Battle mage for 40 years, and spent another 20 years in his Arcane Laboratories should have a fairly in depth, powerful grasp of his abilities, as well as the experience to hone his skills and know the optimal, and optional uses, of all his spells. For example, a novice might forget that Magical Light can cancel magical darkness, an Archmage should know such a basic of magic, that opposite effects cancel one another out in almost every setting and system Notes on Supernatural Powers. Forum Roleplaying Standard for the use of Supernatural Powers is what I refer to as Will Casting, or Spontaneous Casting. For example, if your typical mage wanted to throw a ball of fire A standard and favorite attack, he just wills it into existence. The moment he wants it, it happens. This especially happens with Barrier magics. Defensive spells, for obvious reasons. If you had to do a DD style casting with gestures, words, and material objects you'd never get your barrier up in time to stop that knife flying at you, bullets, etc What you may want to consider, to improve your character and make them further stand out, is Methods. As I said, Will Casting, as above, is by far the standard. If you found a random allotment of 10 mages, it's almost guaranteed that 9 of them will be Will Casters like that. Battle Mages, Artificers, Summoners, Clerics, White Mages, Elemental Mages, Demons, Angels, Elves, doesn't matter what you pick, that's almost guaranteed to be their method. Consider, if you can, using a different method. For example, recently I saw a character who used music to control his magic His magic being Wind Control, and by playing different tunes, and different instruments, he could produce different wind effects. As I read his bio, that immediately set him out to me. Consider suggesting to people that Limitations Increases your Powers or Stamina. This is something I harked on back in my days at the Council of Magi on one site. That Will Casting should be a very draining process. The More Tools you use though, the easier it is to cast, the less energy it takes, the more you can cast. For example, if I use a staff, draw an arcane symbol, and have to release a drop of my own blood to power a spell, it should take less of my 'personal' energy, as I'm using more outside tools to power the spell. As well, the longer I take to cast a spell or create an effect, the stronger it should be And less energy it takes to create an effect of that power as I'm slowly building it rather than 'rushing' it and creating wasted energy with my haste. While you don't have to use such a system or set of ideas, it makes your typical Supernatural character Whatever it is, Alchemy, Magic, Mutant Powers appear more unique, gives them a distinct, individualistic flair What separates one guy chucking fireballs from another? Perhaps the guy that uses a fearsome Ram's Head Staff while he does it?. These little details on your supernatural powers can help make a bland character something great. While you don't have to use any system, I will say that you should always indicate how you cast your spells. While Will Casting is generally assumed, it never, ever hurts to explain just how you activate your Powers of Ultimate Doom. How to be a Team Player NPCs, Team Equipment, and Groupies. Team Player, you might ask, what does that have to do with creating a character profile? More than you might think. Chances are, unless you're trying hard to solo RP, or be the Lone Wolf Badass, you're going to end up with a group of people on your side. In fact, you might even start your character off as part of some team Or re-write an old character's profile as part of a team. Or you might create a character that should have group resources. For example, soldiers and mercenaries as part of an established unit. Or Organization figures, such as the various Mafia types, Vigilantes, Pirates, or what have you. ... I was tempted there for a moment to say that more problems are caused by Team Member Profiles by any other.... but that's not true per se. There aren't as many team member profiles. But I will wager that Team Member Profiles cause more trouble per capita than traditional characters. ... Team Members, whatever they are, Justice Leagues, Mafias, Mercenary Companies, or Companies with their own Mercenaries, lead to the same problems. Resources. Now, when making a fresh character, I can hope you've taken some of my advice to heart, and kept that character reasonable on a Power Scale. That commoner with no real connections isn't going to have high powered assault rifles. That 16 year old just discovering her powers isn't going to be some Arch Mage most powerful Supernatural Being ever. See Notes later on about Races Characters that are part of a team are... different. Whether it's that Mafia down the street, or the Rag Tag, Unlikely Group of Well Meaning Heroes, they have something other starting characters usually don't. Resources. For example. Compare an old west gunfighter, with a soldier from his time. The Gunfighter might have a Colt Peacemaker, maybe a scatter gun or Rifle. He might have a belt, and some 20 rounds available. And if he's lucky, he might have a horse. But he didn't start off with these things. He probably had to steal, or work for years to earn up enough money to buy the meager gear he needed to be a gunslinger. He probably doesn't have all that much practice with his shooting iron of choice, only because bullets are expensive. And the only way he'll be earning enough to buy those bullets are through dangerous tasks, robbery, gunfights, etc. Either alone, or with people he can form a tenuous, immediate alliance with. And if they're robbers, they're not the type to be trusted, thus reducing his willingness to do such dangerous group jobs Where as the soldier, is just provided his weapon. He doesn't need to buy it. He is just given everything he needs. He even gets in more practice than the gunslinger for hire, and doesn't have to stick his neck out for every dollar he earns. Even when he does something dangerous, he's part of an army unit, and has other people watching his back. Everyone will, and can work together in perfect harmony. He has drilled with these people for months after all. Not only that, they have the very best gear, fresh off the assembly line, all the ammunition and supplies they could need, and even if they get in trouble, well, they have the cavalry to save them, and the old sawbones to patch them up. Look there at the difference between the Gunslinger The standard stand alone character and the Soldier The standard Team Member character. Resources. Power. The availability of equipment, access to healing. Not only that, one NEEDS to adventure, per se, to pay for their needs, and keep their equipment stocked, the other needs to adventure only because their commanding officer says so. When you create a character that is part of a team, the balance issues aren't that bad. It's when you start talking about Organizations that suddenly you can find Average Joe getting turned into Super Joe. Not because the player is talented necessarily, or the character is especially good, but merely because he has nigh unlimited resources to draw upon. One of the first mistakes I see with the Team Member characters, is Equipment. And it really isn't a mistake. If you're a member of the military, or an organization with vast resources, then yeah, you should get good equipment. With a few notable exceptions most militaries, organizations, super hero teams, etc, don't purposefully give their members less than the very best they have to offer. And, usually, most organizations don't hang their members out to dry when trouble hits. This is the other great problem that Teams run into. The problem with The Cavalry. More of a roleplaying note, but GMs should always check into players that might have such a thing on their profile. I've seen it, chances are, if you've hung around roleplaying involving military characters, characters involved with large organizations like the police, CIA, or even Shady Corporations. The guy gets cornered in an otherwise fair fight. Is losing, then he just patches in a call to his teamgroup. Next thing you know, the Marines are there in his next post, busting down door and putting a cap in every ass there, or the Orbital Satellite of DOOM, or the Cannons from Beyond the Horizon, whatever, come, and instantly clear away the bad guys. Not only is it not cool to be on the end of that, it's almost criminal. Again, anyone with experience playing with those types of people are probably aware of just how annoying that Call for Help can be. So, tips for the Team Player. If you're going to be part of a Small Team I once called them Groupies, and I stick by it, say, 3-6 players maybe, with no big Organization behind them, just some rag tag everyday Adventurers, you'll probably be fine. There shouldn't be any problems with your profile. However if you want your character to be used to fighting with those characters, or to have complimentary tactics, you should mention it in your combat section. It can't hurt your profile, but it could possibly help you, and reinforce that you are part of a team, and your character is used to working as a team. If you are part of a small organization, and I'm talking I dunno, a collection of 10-20, whether players all, or mixed in with NPCs, you have a little more work cut out for you. One, it's a small organization. So unless you're like the damned Patriots from MGS The shadow organization that rules the world, you won't have limitless resources. You probably won't even have limited resources of cutting edge stuff. 10-20 Goons is probably the least that even a minor evil figure has going for him. So it's not going to be enough for you to claim having a Secret Volcano Base, Orbiting Satellites of DOOM, Experimental Weapon Systems, etc. It would probably mean that, if you are expecting trouble you can bring along a Henchman or Two. And that you probably have a small base somewhere. But probably not the typical FFA or MO Invincible Base type. Probably more like an office building or tavern you've appropriated You probably won't have heavy metal, meaning Mecha, Tanks, APCs, at least, not in any real numbers unless the setting says otherwise. And, if you get in trouble, you're probably more likely to have The Cavalry come save you. Because, in a small organization, each man matters. You probably are less likely to leave people behind Yes, even if they are NPCs. And if a GM says you HAVE to go save someone else, rather than being the Savee all the time, you should accept it as the tithe for being part of the team. If you have such a small organization, you should in your profile list all of your organization's assets. Or at least the assets that will matter in combat situations. This shouldn't be hard. Include personnel in this. You don't need to list Suzy the Secretary Unless she's also an assassin, but listing those 5 Storm Troopers you have with M1 Garands and Pineapple grenades is a must. And if you can, with such a small organization, give you NPCs names. Identities. You don't need to make a full character for them, but if you have a little section with their names, general description, perhaps a note or two about them... It'll make your forces seem more like an organization of real people, rather than Faceless Automatons. Now, Large Organizations. If you have a Team, or Group you're in, most likely, it's something like this. Groups that have enough personnel, and probably enough recruits waiting, you can't possibly go and count them all. They probably have several different baseslocations. Everything from downtown office space, to their own FFA or MO Invincible Base threads. They apparently have more money than God, based on how much they can spend on security and defense. They have the cutting edge equipment, anything they can beg, borrow, buy, steal, or get some egghead to make for them. Large Organizations tend to be... problematic. Or at least the ones that cause the most trouble. People in Large Organizations believe they have nearly inexhaustible resources to call on. And technically, they're not that far off. If you're talking about a group like the National Guard, you're talking about Armies. All fully equipped, ready to wage war. Of course they have more than enough resources available to see you through whatever little adventure you're on. But, I said Technically. Not They are correct. Technically. Now... it is a serious deal if you claim to be someone so important in an organization that you can call upon it's full resources. The head of a Mafia family. The president of Alpha through Epsilon Industries, the 6-star General Pershing of your military, what have you. Those people those are the ones that should be able to call forth the unlimited resources. And their right hand commander types. Also... you most likely shouldn't be making characters like that. After all, can you name me even a handful of Generals that have actually seen the frontlines since WW I? How many CEOs go on adventures in the slums? How many Mob Leaders actually get their hands dirty personally Few I'd imagine, as they want to keep their records clean so they don't get shipped off to prison? That's what underlings are for. They do the work, you just get to sit back, plan, gloat when everything goes right, and blame your underlings for not following your glorious vision when you fail. Personally, I don't even know why you'd want to create that sort of character. The best you could hope for was playing some type of Lex Luthor villian. There wouldn't be much for a hero to do... You know, evil mastermind coming up with plans. Can't do squat when the heroes knock on his door though. Otherwise, all you're talking about is a glorified planner and paper pusher. And no, Batman doesn't count as being part of a large organization. All his adventures he does alone. Or with but a single partner. He doesn't use Wayne Enterprises for anything other than getting Bat Parts. So if you're playing in a large organization, the most likely, or at least, your GM should demand, you are playing as some lowly Peon. Oh, maybe you've worked your way up to middle management. But you're not the Big Guy. Hell, you're still probably Expendable even if you did get to that middle management post. There are hundreds more like you. You're not special. You can be replaced. And if you couldn't be replace, meaning you lead the Group, or you're some egghead who is into secret experiment tech no one else knows, they'd probably never put you anywhere near fundanger So sure, you have access to some kick ass equipment. Best that money can buy, to be sure. So enjoy that kick ass rifle, those fast jets, and armored cars. But also be aware that you're probably expendable in the company's vision. They're not going to send a full Division to save your ass every time you get in trouble. Nor are they going to keep the cavalry 'on call' just One Post away from you at any time. If you are deemed worthy of reinforcement, probably because you're protecting something important, or you're part of a lovey dovey organization that never leaves men behind, you'll probably only get minimal reinforcements. They'll probably take several posts to actually get to your location. They'll probably be outfitted like you are. Unless you're in a scenario where the Oribital Laser of Doom is prepped and on call, or the Artillery is set up, waiting for your word, they aren't going to nuke a place from way the hell over there. Think logically. You're Private Newguy, is the military going to bother sending in their big guns to save you? No, they'd probably do what they did in Saving Private Ryan. Send in a small team to find you, and pull you out. And they wouldn't be getting there instantly either. Also keep in mind most organizations equip their personnel for the task at hand. Just because your group has limitless resources, doesn't mean you'll get your hands on everything you want. If all you're doing is going to walk the walls of the base, so to speak, they'll probably give you a radio, a rifle, your body armor, and send you on. You don't need a mecha to be a lookout. You don't need a Nuke Gun to sound the alarm. They probably won't even give you a NPC. And if so, it'd probably just be one other to help you keep watch, with the same equipment you have. So, be reasonable. That's the gist of this. Just because you're part of the Don Lima Mafia, or something, doesn't mean you have access to thousands of mooks, every conceivable item you can think of and want, and instant speed back up whenever you get into trouble. And if you're the type of person would could call down army regiments with just a word... what the hell are you doing adventuring and getting into trouble? So as part of large organization you should, A, state what your rank in such an organization is. If you're higher than a Battlefield Commander type rank, you should really reconsider. B, just how much Backup could you expect in the standard Radio for help scenario? Meaning you haven't planned on getting into a fight. You don't have a Division of Troops setting up camp next you. Just I got caught in a riot on my way to the bar sort of situation. C, What is the Standard equipment for your Backup? When you call those NPCs down to save your bacon, just what are they bringing to the fight? What are the goals of your organization, and their SOP Standard Operating Procedure. How do they go about their business?? State them. Don't let it be a surprise. Even if they have a hidden agenda, state what that is. Notes on NPCs Off topic, but it bears mentioning. NPCs are generally treated in two different ways. Almost always depending on which side the person addressing them is on. The first way is the Scenery. They're there. They set the scene. But can they actually do anything to a Player's Character? No. You've seen it in action movies all the time. Something like the 40 soldiers with automatic weapons charges the lone hero who only has their body, or a sword, and they don't even get a scratch on the guy, but he manages to kill them all. Oh, sure, Scenery Characters can damage other Scenery, and NPCs. But they always, always, get slaughtered up against the Stars. The other side is the Gamebreakers. This is The Cavalry I've been talking about. They come in, they have their weapons ready, they're rarin' for a fight. And they alone manage to either force the enemy to fleesurrender, or just go firing squad on the Player Characters and pretty much instantly kill them because there is too much firepower to dodgedefeat. As you can guess, mostly it is the person playing the NPCs that treats them as Gamebreakers, and the people against the NPCs that treat them as Scenery. Scenery which happens to be 40 gallons of pressurized blood bags ready to be cut open. Not always will the rift between sides be that big. But often enough. So what do you do? Well, you can always go down to the lowest common denominator. Find out how willing your opponent is to accept NPC actions against his character. If he only accepts the Scenery type, go ahead and do that. If he's hardcore and feels like a real fight, have them be gamebreaker types. Communiction is key here. Preferably talk it over BEFORE your reinforcements show up, not after. It'll make things run smoother, and will prevent you from stopping the roleplay to figure out just how effective those guys are. The other solution would be to find the middle ground. Your guys aren't going to be Navy SEALs or Marine Recon, and take down the whole damned thread by themselves. Nor are they just going to sit there with a grin on their face as they're cut up, shot, burned, and basically killed. They'll fight. But they aren't likely to kill the PCs. Make them rookies, cadets, good soldiers, but not up to the Hero quality of Player Characters. They might get in a few good shots, injure characters, maybe kill one or two that are especially vulnerablestupid. Let them miss, and have aim that is off. Let them die if it comes to that. They were made to be defeated. Or to let the enemy run away. Or give you the time and cover to run away. They were never meant to secure victory. Or to do all the dirty work for you. If you can follow that middle ground concerning your NPCs, you'll most likely avoid real OOC arguments, have a lot of fun, and even manage to have some Epic Scenes where the heroes triumph after being outnumbered, and nearly overwhelmed. This can make for some very satisfying Roleplaying. Races Wolves and Angels and Demons, Oh My! Race. Usually it's one line on a profile. If its even mentioned. Race Human Race Werewolf Race Half Angel, Half Demon, Half human I've seen this one in particular more than I care to remember. I could never get a real answer on how you could have three halves... However, Race is one of the things that will most effect your relations with other characters. Race is the first thing that most others should notice about your character. It's easier to see those big demonic wings after all, than to spot that pendant on your neck that marks you as some Demonic Royalty, for instance. Not only that, Race can have a huge effect on your history and abilities. After all, if you're an Adult of a long lived race Say, elves that live for 1000 years on average that means you're probably 100-200 years old, at least. You probably grew up with several different generations For example, having a living Great x 8 Grandparents. Also something to keep in mind And I seldom see, is that longer, or shorter, lived races probably have different cultures relating to age and status. What I mean is this... back in the Ancient Period of Human History Think classical Greece, men lived to be about 40 if they were luck. A person was considered an adult at 14, and usually had their first kid at 15. Compare to the present, where people typically live to be 84 or more. Now, you're not considered a full adult until you're 21 A Greek probably would be having their 3rd or 4th kid at this point, and the average age of newborn parents now is supposed to be between 28-32. So if a race would live for 20,000 years The age I often see on demons, that means you probably weren't considered an Adult until you were some 2000 years old. You probably won't be having children until 4000. And you'd be considered an old, wrinkled, senior citizen at 15,000. Also consider the cultural effects that such a long lived race would suffer. In the above situation you could be talking about 5 generations living together. Hell, maybe 10 if you had people who were scandalously young, all side by side, kicking at screaming at once. Human culture is still slow to change socially because we have Good Old Boys and the like still kicking around in their 80s, out of their era and comfort zone. But as new generations are born, and the old die off, leaving no one to be 'insulted' by social change, we can advance fairly quickly. At least, more quickly than I imagine some 20,000 year old, plus, race could, with 5-10 generations all living side by side, their leaders and patriarchs being nearly 20 millenia removed from the time they were born in. So, by this logic, shorter lived races should advance more quickly Part of the logic that creates Humans as the dominate culture in most fantasy settings, and not only that, they start their Adult life much sooner. Though they have less of a connection to their past. Whereas longer lived races should have Old World sensibilities, passed on by elders that have lived for far too long, both good and bad. And as their society is slower to change, they most likely won't advance as much in the sciences as shorter lived, more ambitious races. Yes, I said shorter lived races are more ambitious. Why? They have the Death Clock to keep them motivated. Think how many times in your own life you're said Well, I can do it tomorrow and procrastinate. Now imagine how much a race that will live for millenia can do that. Eventually human life moves pretty damn quick, and they have to get things done before they die off. They know they only have that 80 year so clock to get everything they want accomplished. Life works, fame, power, wealth, family, children. They know death looms close. Your typical 1000 year elf has almost 15 times as long to accomplish the same set of goals. So most likely, they'll take 15 times as long to actually get it all accomplished. Of course, your longer lived races should have lots of advantages over humans and shorter lived races. I mean, even if they are slackers by nature. At least meaning they aren't as driven by death and time as much as those shorter lived races, not that they are actually slackers when they get to something. It's not like they're Untrainable. If it takes a human a year to become an expert marksman, than your Demon or Elf could do it in a year too, if they buckled down like the human. Still, even with a more 'lax' schedule it's not like it'll keep with the proportional life spans. It's not going to take an elf 15 years to learn how to shoot. Maybe 2. If their culture doesn't really support marksmanship. So this does mean that by rights, your Adult of a long lived race should know more, and probably have more skills, than a shorter lived race. And an Adult that focuses solely on one area, such as a Determined Martial Artist that does nothing but train, should have near perfect form in those 100 or more years since they picked up the skill until their adulthood. While the human that probably started training 6 years ago before adulthood, would be a rank novice still. Or maybe someone with a little talent and skill, but needing a lot of work still. Balance. Balance should always be a prime concern when you create a character. Look at what I just said. By all rights your Demon Adult Martial Artist should not only be stronger than even the eldest human martial artists, but he also most likely has a handful, or more, of Demonic Powers. Increased Strength. Flight. Speed. Innate Magicsupernatural powers. Balance. Just because you wrote in Demon on a profile, you're much more powerful than you would have been if you wrote Human or Goblin or even Werecow. Just because you are a Demon, or an Elf, of a Half Vampire-Half Toilet Seat, what have you, does give you a right to claim more power than a typical starting character. But, you should try to restrain yourself. Claim too many powers, too many skills thanks to being in a long lived, or otherwise powerful race, and you're likely to get slapped down. Hard. Either by GMs, or OOC arguements by players. So when you pick your race, consider how many powers that race will give you. Dark vision? Super senses? Increased physical abilities? Magical abilities or affinities? Flight? Always make sure to list any race benefits you may have. Describe them just as much as you would your swordrifle, or your own supernatural skills. And remember, as many have said before Hard work beats out natural talents. Something to keep in mind, and mill over. If your race naturally does something, for example, as some form of Telepathy, or Magic innate to your people, it is most likely not going to be a strong, or as varied as that of a psion, or mage, of the same type. The professional type will practice, train everyday... the natural born talent tends not to practice as much. And if you are practicing your racial powers as much as a mage would practice the same... then you should probably consider switching your profession and skills to be the appropriate type of supernatural type. And not some other profession. Three Halves do not make a Whole. I cannot stress this enough. It's basic arithmatic. You probably learned fractions back in second grade. You should know this by now. But still I see it. Half Half Half Characters. And to top them all off, it is usually some combination that isn't even remotely possible. The first one I ever saw was Half Angel, Half Troll, Half Red Dragon... Quite often I see things like Half Angel, Half Demon, Half Human Or Half Angel, Half Demon, Half Vampire Or Half Werewolf, Half Vampire, Half Angel You get the idea. I personally find it vastly annoying. Not to mention improbable. Think how often races, especially races that hate each other, like Angels and Demons would breed. Especially races that in some settings are considered 'undead' or Curses rather than a real race, like Werecreatures and Vampires, Angels and Demons. Then, what are the odds that these two, nearly impossible combinations, could find one another, mate, and produce offspring. Try to avoid anything more than two 'Halves', or Races in a character's background. And when you do pick races, please try to pick ones that can at least possibly get along. Or at least have enough contact to produce a small population of half breeds. For example the typical half elves, or half orcs And of course, keep creature type in mind. Trolls, towering beastly things, probably would have a problem mating with a dwarf. Dragons with humanoids, etc. And if you ever, ever plan on making a Half Breed character, please, please, I cannot stress this enough, come up with a full Story about this character's origins. Parents, where they came from, how they met and procreated... It can be a vastly useful rolplaying tool