Character Policies and Guidelines

Okay, I'm remaking the thread that explains the approval policy and making an IMPORTANT addition to it. But, first, the explanation to the approval policy as originally provided by Lioness.

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So you want to join The Escapists' Haven? Well, you’re gonna need a character. The Escapists' Haven is an RPG just like any other, only focused on fighting. There’s not a set story, although some fighters evolve certain bonds with other characters as time goes on. We don’t use the die system, instead the fights are based on your writing skills. A battle isn’t won by your character dealing heavy damage to your opponent without taking any yourself, the true victory lies in describing an interesting story that both you and the readers can enjoy.

You create a fictional creature that you then control in battle. Don’t rush it! You need to sit down, think it through and put effort in your character. Let’s take a look at the things needed for your character to be approved.


Name: Alright, this one is easy. Or is it? The name of your character can be important. You want it to be unique, no Gandalf, Link or Frodo here, and it should be easy to remember. Be honest, how fun is it if no one ever can get the name right?

Age: Enter your character's current age here.

Race: Choose a race that you want your character to be. Always make sure you understand the basics behind the race. If you’re new to role-playing I recommend that you pick an easy race for your character, for example Human.

Sex: Select your character's gender. Male or Female. It's that easy.

Hair: Hair color/-style is to be entered here.

Eyes: Eye color here.

Weight: Write your character's weight. Be sure to include an indication of the unit of measurement used.

Height: Same for weight…just…height instead.

Weapon: What weapon does your character wield? Does it have any special attributes to it? If your character doesn’t use a weapon, leave this one blank.
Armor: Same as weapon.

Strengths: What’s your character good at? Where lays its strongest defenses? Your character is not to be invincible, but having a few strong traits is of course allowed. Just don’t make it too strong.

Weakness: All characters have a weakness, or they are not approved. Make it a reasonable one. “Scared to death by green mice with silly hats” is not a valid weakness. How big is the chance of such creatures visiting the battle field?

Skills/Magic: List your character's known spells or skills here, along with how strong it is in the various magics. If your character doesn’t know any spells leave this section blank

Appearance: Here you write the details and explanations of your characters looks. The one who reads the Appearance should be able to picture your character by reading what you write. Be sure to describe your character’s features, clothing and any other items they might be carrying.

Personality: Like you and me, characters have their own personality and every character is different from another. Personality description should describe how your character reacts in battle, what they like and dislike, their beliefs, how they react in everyday life and whatnot.

Biography: The background of your character, where he grew up and things like that. Even if your character doesn't know their own background (characters like that pop up from time to time), you should still know your character's past, and write it down. Also tell us why your character is oblivious to his/her history.

You can, however, feel free to add different areas to your character's profile. Be creative!

The Biography and Personality are some of the most important parts in creating your character. These guidelines are simply to give you ideas, not questions you have to answer.:

• Where was he/she born?
• Did he/she grow up with parents? If no, why not?
• Did the character have any brothers or sisters? Any friends? Where are they now? Does he/she still talk to them?
• How was his/her childhood? Abusive? Peaceful? Ordinary?
• Does he have any pets? Familiars?
• What are his/her beliefs? Does he/she worship a god? Is he/she willing to do anything to protect or guard their beliefs?
• Why is your character traveling from home?
• Does he/she have the ability to kill others?
• Is your character easy going?
• What are his/her dislikes?
• Anything special he/she’s fond of?
• How would he/she treat others? Rudely? Friendly?
• Any goals? Dreams?
• Has he/she considered the possibility of death?

ALSO: The purpose of a biography is to succinctly tell us how your character got to where he was. If we wanted a fiction, we'd look for you in the fiction section. In other words, boil it down to some main points to make a small passage of about 5-8 paragraphs. Not too much more or less than that, please.

I hope this has helped you a little, and I'll see you in the Battle Arena.

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Now, for the approval policy itself, as originally provided by Kishin.

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Character Acceptance Policy

After several instances where incomplete bio’s have been turned in and accepted, I have found a need to create and enforce a serious crack-down on characters. From now on, only highly detailed and descriptive bios will be accepted.

- All characters must be original
- If your character is denied, don’t complain, or it will never be. Fix it; add more detail.
- Character bios need to be detailed, otherwise how can you battle if we don’t know anything about your character.
- This is role playing. Try to remember that.
- All of the following must be filled out.
- Make your own thread titling it with the name of your character. NO spamming!

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NOW...for the IMPORTANT addition, provided by myself and the rest of the members of the Escapists' Haven Council. We have been noticing several people putting up characters for approval one right after the other. This is much too fast for any of you to be creating new characters. Once you create a new character and have it approved, you need to wait awhile before creating another new character. Otherwise, you end up with 50 undeveloped characters that you'll never be able to use. With that said, here are some new guidelines for creating characters:

• After having a character approved, you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of a Council member that you actually use your previous character before putting another up for approval. Actually using your character means having him or her participate in battles and whatnot before you can submit a new character for approval.
• Having your character undergo training in the Dome can count towards demonstrating your use of your character. If your teacher determines that you have put enough effort into developing your existing character, then you may proceed with the creation of another character.
• If at all possible, try to put forth more effort into developing your characters. Since this is role-playing, your characters should be a part of you. They should grow and develop with you as you mature as a writer. If you create ten thousand characters, there's no way you'll be able to spend as much time as you should with them individually.

So if we have a story in mind, we post all the characters in here? Or only the most important ones?
And do we need a pic of the character?

Originally Posted by LinkdOOd110

So if we have a story in mind, we post all the characters in here? Or only the most important ones?
And do we need a pic of the character?

No, you make a thread for your character using the above guidelines. Whenever your character is approved, you post the info in the Character List thread.

And no, you do not need a picture for your character. You can describe them with words instead.

I'm sure this is stated in the rules above, but it seems to be a growing problem as of late and it's kind of annoying.

Only BA council members may approve characters. If you do not have a banner under your username that says "BA Council" and it has cuccos on it, you are not to post in someone else's character thread. (And no, you can't put the banner as your avatar and get away with it. It has to be placed there by the mods.) So please, refrain from doing this. If you feel you must tell the person something about their character, PM them.

Thank you and good night.

~LinkMS~

just to make sure where do you put your charater profile when your done?

You post it in the character approval forum.

How long does it usually take to get a character approval? I have yet to get mine approved, and I've filled out everything you've asked me to. I also did it almost a week ago, and there are characters newer than mine that have been checked out...

Mods don't immediately approve it, and it can take days. Just be patient, and don't worry if they overlook it. The key thing is not to double post in your character thread, asking whether or not a mod can look at it.

You can also PM an approver if you think your character is being overlooked. Don't be afraid to do that, either, because we can't be mad so long as you don't PM an hour after posting a character.

I have one thing to say: I am deeply grieved by the loss of the evolution system, I think that it is better, because the writer must write well to get a good character, where as now we can just make a very strong character without having to write well at all.

Not really. The basic rules of the system still apply- if you think you have developed your character enough and have engaged them in a few battles and role-plays, you can upgrade them. The council has given us the privelege to do it ourselves and trust us not to make uber-powerful characters every minute.

Alright, I see it's time to post the official list of BA councilors, all of which with approving power...

Official ZUBAC List of Approved Approvers

LEA
Aerixeth
Shrub
Safer
Bloodsword
Winged Fire Ninja
Tiroth
Shade
Wielder of the Sword
Power Shot
Zanza
Andúrhil
Star Boy
Awbri
Selah

(Current as of 7/25/06)

Forgive me for being so vague, but if this turns out to be cool with the mods I'm going to want to keep it somewhat quiet.

Suppose a player apps a character a certain way, but through a development intended to come as a surprise to others, something in the app is changed at a later point? It would have no effect on the character's power or abilities-- its relevance would lie solely in the, er, character of that character. The profile would be updated with the new information as soon as it was revealed.

Would this be all right to do? I ask this in advance because the apps are right out in the open here; it'd ruin the twist. ;D

Originally Posted by Xel

Forgive me for being so vague, but if this turns out to be cool with the mods I'm going to want to keep it somewhat quiet.

Suppose a player apps a character a certain way, but through a development intended to come as a surprise to others, something in the app is changed at a later point? It would have no effect on the character's power or abilities-- its relevance would lie solely in the, er, character of that character. The profile would be updated with the new information as soon as it was revealed.

Would this be all right to do? I ask this in advance because the apps are right out in the open here; it'd ruin the twist. ;D

Depends on how much of a change it is. If it's like a new character completely, but with the same abilities, you might want to at least PM on of us councilors. But if it's a minor or moderate change, go ahead. If you aren't sure, PM it. We keep secrets, trust me.

Originally Posted by Winged Fire Ninja

Depends on how much of a change it is. If it's like a new character completely, but with the same abilities, you might want to at least PM on of us councilors. But if it's a minor or moderate change, go ahead. If you aren't sure, PM it. We keep secrets, trust me.

It'll be the same character. There will only be one particular change made, but really all it'll do is alter how the character is perceived. So... I'll trust my judgment of your judgment and say it'll be okay. X3 Spanks~~

Hmm, I'm new here, and have a tad question. Must we use that specific template? There are many variations, and I myself have a template that is out much different. You see, shouldn't your characters weakness be found out by your opponent? With it clearly put out, in any type of battle, you can lose due to the fact your opponent would simply need to look at your template? Eh, I may know absolutly nothing about this site, but this is a simple evaluation. I am no one to criticize rules, since I am a n00b here, but this is simply a question.