Part 2 - Creating Your Character

From EF Infobase

Creating Your Character

""That instinct to leap without looking, to take a chance when logic and reason insist that all is lost---that was [George Kirk's] nature. Yeah, we're admirable. Respectable. But in my opinion we've become overly disciplined. The service is fossilizing. Lemme tell you something, those cadets you took on? Ivy Leaguers...Oxford omelets, Sarbonne sisters. They'll make competant officers. Run their departments with efficiency and class. But command material? Jim, if you're half the man your father was...Starfleet could use a guy like you.""

— Christopher Pike upon first meeting Jim Kirk in Riverside, from Star Trek: the novelization by Alan Dean Foster.

The People of the 2250's: Generation eXpedition

In Part One; Welcome to 2250, we briefly alluded to the state of the universe in this era. Now as we explain the process of building a character for EF, we'll start by going into a bit more detail about what kind of people inhabit this universe. Since all people to a certain extent are a product of their times, and since no man is an island, knowing the traits of a generation can tell you a lot about the traits of that person.

By the 2250s, Starfleet had begun to stagnate. Career officers that played it safe, cold warriors with no imagination, and bureaucrats with little instinct were dominating the fleet. But many, like Captain Christopher Pike, were beginning to recognize that a new age called for a different kind of space explorer. As Gene Roddenberry had written in the TMP novelization of the 23rd century enlightened human: "I am prepared to accept the possibility that these so-called new humans represent a more highly evolved breed, capable of finding rewards in group consciousness that we more primitive individuals will never know. For the present, however, this new breed of human makes a poor space traveler, and Starfleet must depend on us 'primitives' for deep space exploration...'" The Battle of Vulcan and the success of the "primitives" like Kirk over Nero (When all others had failed) was a shock to the system for many and hammered home the need for recruits outside the mainstream of normal society.

Starfleet is just beginning to become kind of haven for rebels and misfits once again. Wild, cocky, individualistic, free spirited, they have a need to either break the rules or make up new ones for themselves. Another possible motivation for your character could be the growing cold war paranoia with the Klingons. Your character may be motivated by a sense of patriotism to protect the free world from the encroaching Klingon menace. So this might be a big motivation if you are in the command/helm/security track and are of the "space cowboy" variety of fleet recruit. If on the other hand you are in science or medicine, you may be driven by the new turbulence of ideas making their way through the Federation in this time of experimentation and optimism. Engineers and operations recruits may be a mixture of both.

Getting Into Character

Okay, now that that little lecture's out of the way, the question still remains where you start creating a character. Often a new simmer will begin by simply doing a knock-off of their favorite character on one of the tv shows. This isn't exactly the worst thing you can do, even if it's kind of fanboyish. However, it's important to note that a character should be an original creation. If you apply for a sim thinking you'll play Spock or Christopher Pike then you're mistaken. Almost certainly your application will be rejected as existing characters (If they're used at all) are used as NPCs (Or non-player characters.)

Another easy way in some try is to just make a character that's exactly like them or who they'd like to be (sometimes even with a similar name) but who happens to live in the Star Trek universe. Again, not a horrible idea, but the problem is that people are rarely as interesting to others as they are to themselves. You might find this interesting escapism, but others might see it as navel gazing and dull.

So there are some other starting points you might want to consider.

A famous writer once said that when they have an idea for a story, or a setting, they figure out a main character by asking themselves “Who hurts?” And writing fiction for a simm is not much different. Likewise, you could ask “Who is conflicted?” or “Who is complicated?”. The most valuable question of all though is going to be “Who will give me the most opportunities to tell interesting stories?”.

Usually this part of the process isn't much of a problem. But if you find yourself at a loss, one quick-and-dirty way to start formulating your character would be to use a Myers-Briggs personality type. Trying to find the character's personality first will probably give you enough ideas about his or her history and profession that you might be able to go on from there. Even if you don't feel you need it to get a handle on your character, using archetypes makes it easier for other players in dealing with your character. Although there is a fine and hazy line between archetype and stereotype.

Probably one of the easiest pitfalls is what's called "power simming" or to some extent "god simming". It's where your character is the best there is, the smartest guy in the room, the last man standing or the coolest under pressure. Even the most seasoned players in their weaker moments may fall into this trap. (And sadly, I'm as guilty as any.) One way to avoid this would be for every ability you give your character, you give him an even greater weakness. Case in point: If your character is some uber-badass war hero who knows twelve different kinds of Klingon and Andorian martial arts (bad idea, but just for the sake of argument...), perhaps he's also traumatized by his time in combat. If your character is an engineering genius who invented transtator circuits or whatever, maybe she's terrible with people or maybe she's got a screw or two loose. These may sound like clichés, and they are to some degree, (considering the above mentioned fine line) but in a cooperative story-telling environment, even clichéd flawed characters are far preferable to dashing supermen. Why? Because remember, this character has to be more than just someone who's fun for you to write about, he/she has to also be someone who's fun for others to read about and interact with, and writing for just yourself is wasting everyone else's time. Besides, it gets old quick and you'll find that flawed and complicated characters will hold your attention longer and will be much more rewarding. In the excellent Blueman's Bio Guide at futilitysend.org, he writes "[A]sk if you want to be the character. If the answer is an emphatic 'NO!' you're probably on the right path. If it's a shrug of the shoulders, then again, no harm. If you really, really would like to be the character, then something's wrong."

Creating Your BIO

Once you know the kind of character you want to play, you're ready to move on to the BIO. This is your character's history and profile that will form the basis for how you write the character and how others will act towards him. Before getting started, it might be a good idea to check out the “dramatis personae” link in the menu above, and take a look around at the BIOs here at the infobase to get an idea of how it's done. It also will help to make sure that you're not unintentionally ripping anybody off. A simm can only have so many hot-headed helm officers, introvertive genius science officers, young security officers raised by Klingons, or crew members who all attended the same elite university yet don't seem to know each other. You also might want to take a look at the chronology section to see what events in the "Nu-Trek" era (2258 or earlier) might have contributed to making your character who he or she is. Once you're ready to fill out a BIO, here's a brief run down of all the areas of a typical BIO you'll need to fill in:

Name: Knock offs of celebrity names are usually not a smooth move.

Age/Date of Birth: Remember to make your character's age correspond to their rank. More likely than not if you're just starting out, then your character won't be too long out of the Academy. (For officers, that is. Enlisted and NCO's will have greater freedom with their age, since they could have enlisted at any age.) And keep in mind, once you're simming, you're going to have to act your age. If you're in your early twenties, guess what? You're not going to have it all figured out. You're going to be green, inexperienced and maybe make a mistake or two.

Place of Birth: Obviously, be familiar with whatever country or region you have your character hailing from. Make sure you know the culture and speech patterns. If you have to resort to caricatures, then you'd be best trying to find some place else. Also, since the vast majority of players have their characters either come from earth or born to Starfleet officers on a ship, if you want a quick way for your character to stand out from the pack, there's an easy place to start.

Species: Very important. There's a lot besides human to choose from, even though few players ever venture outside homo sapiens. If you've decided on a non-human, then it's best to look at species from the Original Series rather than any of the 24th century series, just for tonal consistency. But that's a guideline, not a rule. Although to be honest, your application will probably be rejected outright if you make your character a species that hasn't been encountered by the Federation by 2250. And if it's from a species that's not a Federation member or hostile to the Federation, you better have a good reason and a damn good back story. So once again, the infobase is your friend.

Position: Most simmers will know what position they want before they know anything else, so probably won't be difficult. However, if you haven't decided what kind of position you want yet, part 3.2 of this player guide will focus on how to play the different positions on a starship. So you might want to check it out.

Marital Status/Family: Nearly all characters in simms are single, for whatever reason. If you want a dose or originality then why not go for someone who's married. As for your family, that's going to be one of the areas that shape your character's personality, especially his or her parents.

Appearance: This area is for the benefit of other players who might run into your character. If you haven't made one already, you'll probably have a character image made for you so for now you probably don't have to focus that much on hair color and facial features and the like. What you should focus on however, is making certain your character's appearance reflects or complements his or her personality traits. For instance, if your character is focused and duty oriented, maybe they don't have time to eat or do their hair. If your character is haunted by times passed, maybe they have a weariness or apathy about them. How do they stand? How do they carry themselves? What do people see when they look into your character's eyes? All these would be helpful to your fellow crew members. And, to reiterate the earlier warning, please refrain from going on about how fit or attractive your character is. We're sure he's a real heart-breaker, but that's not very useful information to others. One of the unfortunate vices in most RPG's is how everyone is over six and a half feet and only 130 lbs. And you think to yourself "Really? Have you actually thought through what they would look like?" So keep it real. If you have a celebrity in mind for your character image, look up their height and weight. Otherwise, look up typical height-to-weight ratios.

Interests: This often gets too little attention and it's one area that can really make your character unique and three dimensional. This is where eccentricities can shine through. Yes there are people who are only focused on their work, but that is boring. Who's his favorite author? What's his favorite music? Real people have hobbies, you know.

Background: This is the cornerstone of your BIO and your character. If you get one thing right, it should be this. So spend some time on this part. Think it through. Look at the backgrounds of other people's BIOs. You'll find that in many, it's several paragraphs long and sometimes separated into sub-sections like “early life/academy/adulthood”. What was your character's childhood like? What formed their world view? Why did they join Starfleet?

Personality Profile: This section of the BIO is a little superfluous, in that if done right, someone should know exactly what kind of personality your character has simply by reading about their background and record. Nevertheless this is a good place to spell things out for anyone who might be a little thick. And just to re-state, if you get stuck or need help, the Myers-Briggs is an excellent way to get ready-made 'personality templates' for well-rounded characters.

Service Record: Kind of your character's CV. Where they were stationed, when they were promoted, what decorations/reprimands/court martials/whatever they've received. Try to make this as consistent with canon as you can, and that means seeing what ships are in service at the time, what awards or commendations are common, etc. And as before, try not to be too self-aggrandizing.

So, that's pretty much what you need to know about creating a character for the Expedition Fleet simm group. If you feel you're ready to join up, then head on over and fill out an application.

Bio Template

If you wish to add your bio to the Infobase, then kindly copy this code and place it within a new article.

{{VSChar
|       color = 
|        name = 
|       image = 
|     caption = 
|     species = 
|   ethnicity = 
|      gender = 
|        born = 
|        eyes = 
|        hair = 
|      height = x cm (x'y")
|      weight = x kg (y lbs)
| affiliation = 
|  assignment = 
|    position = 
|        rank = 
|    insignia = 
|firstmention = 
| firstappear = 
|  lastappear = 
|      status =
|     status2 = 
|         im2 = 
|    caption2 = 
}}{{quote|Quote|Persons Involved}}
'''Name of the person''' was .......
==Personal History==

==Psychological Profile==
===Interests===

==Service Record==
*'''Year''' - Position

==Special Notes==

[[Category:A to Z|Last Name, First Name]]
[[Category:Characters|Last Name, First Name]]
[[Category:''Name of Species''|Last Name, First Name]] (Which species they are)
[[Category:''Gender''|Last Name, First Name]] (Which gender they are)
[[Category:''Ship's name'' Crew|Last Name, First Name]] (Which crew they belong to)

Or you can keep reading, and proceed on to Part Three: Simming Your Character...

Part 2 - Creating Your Character

From EF Infobase

Contents

Creating Your Character

The People of the 2250's: Generation eXpedition

Getting Into Character

Creating Your BIO

Bio Template

FURTHER READING:

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