5 replies to this topic

[KChan]

Hello, Member! So, you've logged into the site for the first time since submitting your character, or for the first time ever, and you're wondering where to go from here. Perhaps you're wondering why we asked you not to register with a character name even though you see character names posting on the forums, or you want to know how we have different "accounts" for each character but the board doesn't allow for multiple registrations? Worry no more, because the MBI Character System Guide is here to help!

• Getting Started
  
• Adding and Modifying Characters
  
• About the Character Overview
  
• Notable Quotes

[KChan]

Getting Started

So, looking at the navigation at the top of the page, you'll notice a new tab: one labeled "Characters." Clicking this will bring you to a universal list:



This list contains all the characters on the site - at least, the ones who have been added via the Character interface. It includes convenient info like their character groups, their players, and can be sorted pretty much any way you want. If you want to take a look at our character demographics, or just to get an idea for who plays which characters, look here! It's a great place to just explore.

[KChan]

Adding and Modifying Characters

So, you've had a look around the site and are ready to either add the characters you had before the conversion, or create some new ones. First of all, before you do anything, you want to make sure you're using your out-of-character account. If you don't have one, you'll need to make one, because that's the only kind of account you'll ever need here anymore!

Once you're logged in to the correct account, it's time to proceed. You're going to want to start by opening your user dropdown menu, which you can find by clicking on your username on the bar at the very top of the page. From there, click the option that says characters:



From here, you will find your character list screen. Of course, if you've never done this before, it will be empty, but that'll soon change! Whether you've added characters or not, though, you will always see these text entry fields:



Enter the appropriate information for your character, as shown, then click the "add" button (not pictured, but I'm pretty sure you can find that easily enough). For this example, I've plugged in information for my character, Camille Deveaux.



And there she is! From here, I can click "Modify"...



... And fill in additional information, such as age, origin, and relationship status. Since this particular screencap was taken, Allomantic status was added as a field as well. Unfortunately, only admins can edit the Character Group field (Mistborn, Skaa, Dead, etc), but you can post in this topic to ask the admins to change yours for you. For your convenience, here’s a quick breakdown of the profile fields:

• Position: Not everyone will need this field. It's mostly for House Lords, Heirs, Crewleaders, etc. If your character has an important position that other characters should recognize, that's what this is for. If you're not sure, just leave it blank.
  
  
• Age: This one is pretty self-explanatory.
  
  
• Relationship Status: If your character is married, engaged, courting, in a relationship, etc., make sure to also enter with whom.
  
  
• Allomantic Status: There are six options for a character's Allomantic status:
  
  • Known – If your character is publicly known as an Allomancer, he or she is known.
    
  • Open – If your character is not widely known as an Allomancer, but is not particularly concerned with hiding their Allomancy (if at all), he or she is open. Can also be used for characters who are known in another city or Dominance but have not become well-known in Luthadel yet.
    
  • Rumored – If it is suspected your character is an Allomancer, but not known for sure, he or she is rumored.
    
  • Hidden – This Allomancer's status is hidden from the general public. Select individuals (such as immediate family or a trusted friend) are an exception. For example, Lucille Deveaux knows Aaron Elariel is an Allomancer, but the general public of Luthadel doesn't, so he is still considered hidden.
    
  • Unsnapped – This character has not Snapped yet.
    
  • N/A – If your character is not an Allomancer, leave the Allomantic Status field blank. It will hide itself completely.
• Origin: Where is your character from?

And there you have it! Just repeat this process until you've added all of the characters you want. But be careful: they show up alphabetized in the list, but in the post dropdown, your characters will appear in the order you added them. So make sure you're okay with the order you add them in!

[KChan]

About the Character Overview

When interacting with a character, or group of characters, for the first time, it’s easy to find ourselves a little lost. What does this character look like? How do they carry themselves? Where do they stand in society, and do they have anything notable about their reputation? And why do we have to read through a 5,000 word character application to learn these things?

The good news is, you don’t. The Character Overview field shows on your character’s profile, and is meant to give a quick reference - one or two paragraphs long at most - to other players as they interact with your character in the wild. Keep in mind that this is intended as a sort of field guide; if other people want the really in-depth information, they can read the appropriate app.

You can edit your character's blurb by modifying their profile, but first, here are a few pointers about what you should and shouldn't do:

You can include:

• Physical attributes that might not come across in graphics alone, such as height or bearing.
  
• A brief snippet of your character's overall personality as they would present themselves in public.
  
• A brief description of your character's reputation.
  
• Potential rumors or gossip that might exist about the character.
  
• Anything else you think players ought to know when encountering your character for the first time.
  
• A link to your character's app.

You should not include:

• Your character's life story. Do NOT, under any circumstances, copy and paste the content of their entire app into this field. If you do, we will remove it with no warning.

Keep in mind that, you don't have to include everything I listed above. That list is designed to give you ideas about what you can write about, but ultimately, it's your character, so have fun introducing them to the world!

If you want an example of a completed character overview, you can check out the one I wrote for Nevan Venture by clicking here.

[KChan]

Posting With Your Characters

So! You've added all of your characters, have all of their info set up, and you're ready to get back to - or get started - roleplaying. Well, it's easier than ever! Just log into your main - aka Out-of-Character - account, navigate to the thread you want to reply to, and go to either the Quick Reply box or the main post screen. As you reply to the topic, you'll notice a dropdown menu that will let you select which character to post as. Simply click on the one you want, write your post, click to post it, and watch as the Character Mod works its magic!

[KChan]

Notable Quotes

Once you’ve been playing a specific character for a while, and with enough people, you’re bound to have a few gems you want to share - either things your character has been a part of, or ways people talk about them behind their back as more of society gets to know them. For that purpose, in addition to the Character Overview field, you can also fill in Notable Quotes!

There are three types of quotes you can put in this field:

• Things other people have said about your character, and/or:
  
  
• Particularly memorable things that your character has said, and/or:
  
  
• Particularly memorable references to boardwide jokes or running gags that were said either about or by your character.

This field is NOT for:

• Something random you wrote outside of RP just to have text in this area, OR:
  
  
• Random quotes that have no real relevance to your character as a person, even if he/she said them, OR:
  
  
• Trying to forcibly start a meme or in-joke that doesn't exist.

This field is designed to highlight content about your character from within the RP itself. Perhaps other characters have been talking about your character, giving us valuable information about what other people think about him/her. Or perhaps your character has said things in various scenes that are so quintessentially them that sharing it with the rest of us would give us valuable insight about them. Or maybe a scene was just so priceless that you couldn't help but share it, such as Davinna demanding an Inquisition into Damien's shampoo, or Daerra and Riordan's infamous Pity Parade.

These are the sort of things you might want to share in this field. This doesn't mean you should go forcing interactions in order to get these quotes, though. Let it happen naturally, and the result will be a lot better. And of course, a meme isn't a meme if it doesn't happen on its own. It's not funny if you try to force it, so let your characters do their thing and see what happens.

As an example, I've already filled out my character Damien's Notable Quotes section. Note that this is probably about as long as a quotes section should be; I even truncated the second scene to keep the whole thing from becoming any longer than it already is. Don't be afraid to do that if you need to. And don't forget links to the source threads so we can read them for ourselves!

And there you have it. Enjoy! And if you have any ideas for further profile fields, feel free to post them in the Suggestion Box.


That's it for this guide. Feel free to ask the admins if you have any questions or run into any problems, and happy roleplaying!