Character Creation Guide

Aberrant SMP strives to be a server that will allow your imagine to run wild in terms of character creation. However, we do have some restrictions in order to make sure that everyone can develop their character, and no one has an unnatural advantage over another.

All characters, of course, must fit into the server lore. It’s pretty simple- hop ahead to that specific section for more details!

Characters cannot be all-seeing, all-powerful, or Omni-anything. What this means is your character cannot be used to meta-game, or have knowledge that they otherwise couldn’t, and wouldn’t know. For that reason as well, please refrain from breaking the 4th wall.

Otherwise, go nuts! Use this guide to help create and improve your characters as you develop them on the server, and ways to improve their depth and design.

## Traits, Flaws, and Skills

All characters have a combination of both strengths and weaknesses. A character without any flaws is a Mary/Gary Sue and is not a well written character.

A character should be balanced in these aspects. If they’re smart, maybe they tend to overthink or stress themselves out. If they are incredibly strong physically, perhaps they’re incredibly unobservant.

Along with this, your character should have some personality to these traits! Not all of them need to be good or bad- sometimes a few neutral ones to add flavor can give your OC more depth. How about a character who laughs when they’re nervous, or loves gardening but is allergic to bees. A person who adores baking, but can’t follow instructions or steps for the life of them?

In conclusion, characters need to be well balanced in what they are good, and bad at. This allows for growth and development over time and influences how they may interact with other OCs.

Sources for more reading:

Creating a Balanced Character

350 Character Traits

150+ Character Quirks

Character Skills

## Power Scaling

Power Scaling, as a whole, is very subjective. Different elements, such as physical strength, mental ability, and external sources such as tools or magic all play apart of power scaling your character. However, it more or less all comes down to transitive relations and how that character does against other characters.

As an example. Character A can defeat Character C. Character B can defeat Character A. Therefore, Character B is stronger than both Character A and Character C.
Another use of transitive relations would be feats, such as endurance, intelligence, magic, etc.

Because of all of the variables of Power Scaling, it is safe to say there is no way to exactly give a certain number or level to a character. Outside of abilities, there is still other factors like luck, the situation, and other people getting involved. However, it is still a good way to keep a character’s strengths in mind.

When you allow a character to develop over time, and interact with others, it can help to stabilize exactly where they stand against other OCs. This also allows for a character to improve and become more powerful in different aspects, develop skills, and more. Introducing a character and simply jumping in with them being “strong” is almost never going to be as meaningful or impactful as a character who has been built up over time.

A character who is a Mary Sue/Gary Sue is also going to be a weaker character in the sense of the character itself rather than ability-wise. It isn’t fun to try and have a meaningful interaction with another OC when they are constantly winning, are better than you in all aspects and leave no room for either character to develop.

Sources for more reading:

Powerscaling Wiki Article

## Character Development

So, you have a character- what now?

Not all characters require you to set a goal for the endgame, many you can just roll with the punches and tell their story as you go! However, meaningful development will build your character up significantly.

One of the biggest things that need to be mentioned, is that **you don't have to be the main character!** Sometimes, the best characters are the ones that linger in the background, support other's arcs and development, and grow over time! Main characters aren't just the most heroic, or largest figurehead on the server. It's subjective person to person.

If you are developing a plot and storyline, keep in mind that slower is sometimes better. Give your OC time to make relationships, interact with others, and be background characters even for other people's arcs. Build up to something big- like a pivotal turn in their story such as a betrayal- so it's more thought out and impactful. A character that is having some "major" event every other day will dilute the power and potential impact of that story until it's just a typical situation.

Sources for more reading:

10 Critical Steps of Character Development

How to Write a Character Arc

Character Arcs

Character Arcs- Torment Your Hero in 8 Steps

5 Steps to Writing Character Arcs

## Gods, Deities, and Otherworldly Figures

Your character cannot be a god/goddess or other supernatural deity. You are more than welcome to write about them, integrate them into your lore and form religions using them! However, you cannot explicitly roleplay with a character of that nature.

The exception to this rule is the perceived higher power- A character who is viewed as a god/deity, but is not one. They have weaknesses and flaws, however may manipulate or tell people they are some higher-power being. Want to have your character play god, and create a religion around themselves? A character who thinks they are an immortal deity, but they are in fact not? Go ahead! We have no restrictions on those ideas, just characters with powers/abilities that would fall on a supernatural, higher-power scale.

Sources for more reading:

Worldbuilding a Religion

Creating a Fictional Religion

Creating a Fictional Culture

G is for Gods/Goddesses

Writing a Manipulative Character

How to Make Others Believe Your Character

## Mental Illness, Trauma, and Disability

Characters with mental illnesses/trauma/neurodivergencies/disabilities/ etc are perfectly fine and valid! Just make sure you are handling it in a respectful way, and please keep in mind any archetype pitfalls you may trip into. If you yourself have any of the above listed and wish to project them through your character, you are more than welcome to.

If you are not part of a group that you wish to represent through your character, do your research. There are plenty of resources at your aid preferably search for ones that are written by people who have the condition in question and wish to educate others on how to write it respectfully.

Sources for more reading:

Writing Mental Illness in Characters

Writing Mental Illness

Writing Neurodivergency in Characters

How to Write Trauma

Trauma: Nightmares, flashbacks, triggers

Respectfully Writing Trauma

9 Tips for Writing Disabilities in Characters

Writing Disabilities in Characters

## Connection to World Lore

At the end of the day, no matter how your character is written otherwise, it must circle back to Aberrant and the Aberration to some degree. Mutations, the Aberration event, and its subsequent fallout should all be key parts of your character’s backstory. We don’t ask for much else, we’re pretty lenient otherwise.

Some quick questions you can answer to build the base of your character are;

- Were they born pre or post-Aberration?

- If they were born pre-Aberration, how did they mutate once the fallout occured? Keeping in mind that it’s been just over a century since the event, how did they survive up until this point? Where were they when the Aberration event happened? How/When were they affected by it?

- If they were born post-Aberration, by what means? Did they come into existence via something along the lines of an inanimate/non-sentient being/object combining with or being inhabited by something else, various standard birthing methods, or something else entirely? How did this situation occur?

- What are your character’s motivations in this world? Do they wish to uncover the mysteries of the Aberration event? Do they care little to not about the circumstances of their origins?

Here are some examples of basic character ideas that fit into our world at varying levels of validity;

My character lived in an apartment in Fallespont, and was immediately killed during the Aberration event like every other member of the city. Due to the strange nature of the cosmic fallout, the remains of their consciousness fused with one of their houseplants, causing them to become a Floran.

* This is great ! Simple yet effective, in perfect line with the lore of the world, and leaves a lot of extra room for creativity.

My character lived in a rural town when the Aberration event happened and the population of this settlement remained unaffected in comparison to the rest of the world for quite a while. The first mutation in this population happened with the local shepherd; they began acting far more animalistic than normal, even going as far to kill and eat some of their own sheep with their bare hands. The townsfolk drove them out when they noticed the shepherd bore fangs, fur, and claws under the moonlight. This Werewolf continues to roam the woodlands where their town once stood.

* Also great! A little more backstory-heavy and a little less connected to the heart of the world lore than the previous example, though neither of those things are inherently undesirable.

A very loose example of problematic character creation can be found below;

My character knew Cambire Jefferson and Talbot Grimes, they were all best friends and worked on the aberration project together. I now live in Willowood as their top scientist and I want to rekindle my friendship with the boys and work together once again.

* This is an example of clashing story telling, by inserting your brand new character retro-actively into other people's personal storylines, you can be contradicting existing details about their characters or locations! Be sure to check with people who are involved in your lore before using their works within your stories!

Sources for more reading:

Aberrant World Lore

Chorus