Special Character Concept Application

==What is a Special Character?==
* A Special Character has a Moral or Ethical code that can be defined
* A Special Character is willing to kill in more situations than just life-or-death
* A Special Character is not truly good in the Captain America/Superman heroic sense
* A Special Character has a conscience
* A Special Character causes tension with heroic characters (drives drama)
* A Special Character is always a Feature Character
* A Special Character in certain perspectives could be (or formerly was) considered a villain
* A Special Character often but not always has self-serving motivations
* A Special Character is usually distrusted by many heroic characters
* A Special Character is usually feared by weaker heroic characters
* A Special Character designation is not a punishment nor a black mark on the character, more a flag to the staff and players that the character is willing and capable of non-heroic actions
In conclusion, a Special Character is a PC that’s somewhere between hero and villain: not the shiny Boy Scout that Captain America or Superman is, but something harsher, grittier.
Can you be a HERO and a SPECIAL CHARACTER? Yes, because ultimately, the Special Characters are heroes, just ones willing to do dark things to ultimately do good.
==Application Rules:==
* You must agree, more than even with a regular heroic character, that you understand that IC Actions mean IC Consequences. ICly and OOCly other PCs will be likely watching a Special Character with distrust and expectation of them 'going bad'.
==Special Character Concept Application==
Special Characters require a special concept application. It can be in bullet-pointed format, or paragraph format, or even first-person from the character's point of view, but at some point all of the following questions need to be answered:
* What is the character's conscience? What stops the character from being truly evil?
* What is the character's Honor Code? What is their ethics and morality?
* How is this character to be considered heroic (even if they are not by other PCs)?
* What motivates this character? How does that make them different than a villain?
* What are this character’s limits? What won’t they do? Bonus if you can explain how and when they've been pushed beyond their limits.
* Who is this character to you and why do you see them as a hero?
* When would they do a full heel-turn or a full face-turn? What would motivate them to do so?
* How do they fit into theme and contribute to RP and dynamics of the game?
If you're apping a previously CGed character please add the following to your concept app.
* Looking at the character’s background on their wiki page, what were the defining moments of their life? 
* From the point the background stops to the current point in the game, what do you envision this character has been doing? Point form is fine.
==We Can Be Heroes==
What about transitioning a Special Character to a purely heroic character? This can be done, however:
* It will take time. The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes did not become a Steve Rogers when he put on the Captain America suit. It’s not a magic cure-all. A decision by the PC to full face-turn is not a guarantee of a loss of Special Character status. There will need to be consistent roleplay over a set period of time (three months) before the Special Character tag is dropped; that way it is shown ICly that they character has truly turned over a new leaf; as well as giving the other PCs a chance to interact with the softer, gentler Special.
* It will take character development. Something in the game itself, a plot or something, needs to have spurred the decision to change. Logs demonstrating character development would need to be posted on the wiki so that staff has something to go on to prove the character had a legitimate face-turn.
* It will take updates. When a character feels that they have met the requirements to drop the Special Character tag from their +finger and wiki, they can put in a +request to do so. (Hopefully they've mentioned to staff during the process they are working on transitioning.) Staff will then look over the logs on the wiki, discuss any interaction they've had with the character, and make a final decision. If that is so; then a character update MUST be done by the player, bringing their BG up to date, updating their personality if needed, and making sure to update any relevant additions or removals from their /sheet, including some sort of flaw (player discretion but must be staff-approved) indicating their former reputation. Once the update is completed and approved, then staff will remove the Special Character status.
Category:Policy
Category:Concept Applications