Character Creation and Criticism Guide (WIP)

Making a Character

Before you can begin roleplaying, you need to create a character. Character creation can be tricky and there is a lot of potential room for error. This section is dedicated to explaining some of the possible pitfalls you may encounter and how best to avoid them.

Where to Begin: The first step is to think up a basic concept. Do you want a grouchy, disheveled researcher? Or perhaps you want to make a happy-go-lucky technician? These may sound basic, but that's the point. They're your base. You'll be building on top of that.

Logical Considerations: There are several things you must consider in order to make a proper, believable character. The hope here is to help you avoid some logical and factual inconsistencies in your character's background.

  • Affiliation: Your character is most likely going to be affiliated with either the Foundation or one of the Groups of Interest (GoIs) within the SCP universe. Your character's affiliation should be in the forefront of your mind while you're writing. Try asking yourself "Does it makes sense for this person to be a part of this organization?". If the answer is no, you've done something wrong.
  • Age: Your character should be an acceptable age. That varies depending on his/her affiliation and position and those nuances are discussed further on. As a general rule, however, the Foundation (as well as some GoIs) will not hire anyone below the age of 21 in any capacity. Another thing to keep in mind is that the more senior your character's position, the older they have to be. Senior research heads in their mid-20s just don't make sense chronologically.
  • Qualifications: Your character needs to have the appropriate experience and training for the position he/she/it will hold. For example, a senior level researcher at the Foundation will have a PhD and many years of work experience. A junior researcher might only have a PhD with just a few years of work experience. A low level research assistant might be able to get away with only having an undergraduate degree. Foundation security personnel and combat specialists, on the other hand, will have a fair bit of military training. As you're writing, keep asking yourself if your character could be considered an asset and whether their previous occupation(s) have prepared them for their current position.
  • Recruitment: Your character needs a believable recruitment story for the organization he/she/it is a part of. Each group requires a different type of recruitment story. The Foundation, for example, is a large, clandestine organization with an essentially unlimited operational budget. They're going to look for the best and most qualified people available and they are the ones that contact you. It's very unlikely that you would get to apply or con your way into their ranks. Consider your character's affiliations and figure out what would attract the attention of the group he/she/it will be with.
  • A note on Mary Sues: A Mary Sue is an overpowered, ridiculous, logically inconsistent, and/or over-the-top character that usually serves as an author self-insert. Such characters are often meant to make their creators feel empowered. We don't condone this sort of writing. This forum was not created to stroke your ego.
  • A note on SCP characters: SCP characters are allowed, but be warned: they are difficult to pull off. People are likely to judge it by a whole different yardstick - the entries on the main site. That really raises the bar in terms of concept and writing. Also, SCP characters will be difficult to play. They're most likely going to sit locked up in containment 99.9% of the time. They won't be able to join many threads and they're likely to get dragged away by security or shot at in the ones they do join. If you decide to create an SCP character, you'll have to put in a lot of effort to be successful and you'll end up with a character out of which you might not get much play.
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