Character Description (Bio)

[Forum Administrator]

Greetings one and all,

I come before you today to share with you some of my knowledge about these wonderful entities we refer to as Characters and Persona.

I'd like to give you all a little insight on how a certain aspect might best be approached upon Character creation, and that's the "Character Biography" part.

Now, unfortunately alot of fine people make the mistake in believing that the 'Character Bio' field on the last page of Character Creation is where you put all background information about your Character. This is not true. This aspect might, to some, be seen as BioWare's fault calling said field "Character Biography" instead of "Character Description".

Let's, for future reference, refer to this part as the "Character Description" field, to avoid any possible misunderstandings.

The entries you write in there only serves one purpose; to describe your Character's visual appearance, so that other people who chooses to "Examine" your Character, will have a much broader viewpoint when imagining how your Character looks like. On top of that, it also grants you further possibilities in portraying your own Character to almost perfection.

Know that we in no way wish to enforce this rule upon anyone, but keep in mind the depth it'll bring your Character. Especially when viewed by others.

The "Character Description" field has got nothing to do with your Character's background or previous experiences. Merely when those who "Examine" your Character will have a better feel of how your Character looks like, it certainly doesn't tell the examining Character in what city you were born, or the name of your Father.

That said, I'd like to share an excerpt of how I personally approach said subject.

First of all, I plan my character in my head. What class do I feel motivated to play? What race should she be of? In what city was she born?

All so many questions, and I'm sure you already have these parts figured out before you hit the "Create New Character" button... (yeah, right!) ;D

Anyways, here's a really good and subtle way of writing a Character Description efficiently.

---

Character Description

Name: Xavier De Marco
Age: Approximately 48
Race: Human

[Physical Build]
Xavier De Marco is a middleaged man, obviously in his late fourties. Incredibly agile for a man of his age, he moves with grace and steadfastness rarely seen amongst humans. He appears muscular, not brutish, with a strong and lean build. He’s 6.2 feet tall and weighs around 170-180 pounds.

[Facial Description]
Although his entire demeanor could be described as rather attractive and forthcoming, he carries a very distinguishing scar going all the way from his right eyebrow down acress the cheek, and ends at his neck, just below his large sideburns. His silverywhite hair shimmers gently in the sun, as his clear, dark blue eyes warmly greets any glance with a most welcoming smile.

[Distinguishing features]
Nothing really, except for the massive scar on the right side of his face. His eyes undeniably tell of his age, but his youthful spirit and physique certainly does well to hide it.

[Obvious mannerisms]
He walks with immense calmness and an emitting feeling of having complete control of the immediate situation, wherever he sets foot. Aged and wise, he’s confident in himself, and his attitude, although far from arrogant, certainly shines through him.

[Typical Garb]
Is mostly seen in neutral colors. He prefers grey hues along with black, silver and red. He always wears fine robes, mostly for the comfort and freedom of action they grant.


Yours sincerely,
DM Bassa

[kenny26]

i always take great care when typing my char description.
and it's just great to see chars respond to it, and i know that someone cares to hit the examine button to see with whom they're conversing.
i always examine a char i haven't seen before, mainly to check for any visual descriptions.

[Kaitlinh Willowbark]

Can you change the description in-game or do you need to recreate your character to do that?

I left mine blank and wish to fill it in now.

[DM Justicar - Creator of FRC]

hairball said:

Can you change the description in-game or do you need to recreate your character to do that?

I left mine blank and wish to fill it in now.

Unfortunately, no.

Unless we go LETO, which, we really, really don't want to do.

Players one and all, please take care and responsibilty when creating your characters.

I wish sometimes this could be more like a PNP format, but there are some real limitations/exploits/etc. that can occure upon remake, and this is why we shun performing this option. DM performed remakes are very time consuming for DM's, but you are welcome to remake your own character at any time and ask for a deletion. Just remember to name the character slightly differently than the original, or it makes them both unusable.

My advice, though:

Let your character tell the story... many people will meta-game off your bio, anyway.

[kenny26]

which is why it's important that you give only a physical description if anything...

[soulfien]

The bio is something that shouldn't have been placed in the game- right there with bluff and persuasion

Basically, this is all I place in my bio-

You see a female elf.

[Forum Administrator]

Soulfien said:

Basically, this is all I place in my bio-

You see a female elf.

Unfortunately.


Cheers,
DM Bassa

[MithrilBlade]

I have seen a server with active LETO system and it worked IMO greatly.

It is true that it causes some extra work for the DM/person who will handle them, but once you get used to it, it's rather easy to handle them.

As for the chance for abusing (give too much skill points to something, get feats you shouldn't get etc) you could simply say that only thing that can be edited is character's appearance and/or description.
I see no problem in this, except the extra work, but then again I think there are people who could do this gladly.
Appearance should never be issue, if someone wants to grow a beard let him, the faces are NEVER 100% of what the heads let them look like so if you switch a head you can easily roleplay it.

Personally I took totally wrong head for my character (thanks the fact that I didn't know how to pick the other one) and also my description doesn't fill all the requirements that were placed here. I made him because I had got used to the idea I can later fix the problem if it's neccesary.

[Quadhund/Greenhouse]

I believe the DMs have said before that LETO will never be used. You will most likely need to either remake your character or live with a poor choice.

[shivatatarygrayen]

Hey, I was planning of writing a character story for the DMs if they are interested. How should I post this, or should I send it to someone?

[kenny26]

frc.proboards37.com/index.cgi?board=adventurer

this is the adventurer's registry. many players post expanded describtions and/or background stories about their characters there.

i suggest you use that setion for anything you're going to write to elaborate on your character.

[Panros]

I don't like character bios that let others observing seem like they are psychics. How is my character going to know that another character wears robes because he likes the feel of the wind rushing freely between his legs?

[Booze Hound]

You just gotta put something like Bassa described (oh how we miss the evil genius)

for ayone wanting the perfect character bio, just read Vinds anytime lol

it is nice to have something like
Moon Elf
Dark black hair/eyes

and quick description of his physical manerisms. Like:
He stands quite erect, almost stiff looking, as if someone that has spent time in the military

His eyes tend to dart all around even when talking to you, he seems to not want to miss out on anything

or my favorite:
Smells like a dog that has been out in the rain too long.

;D ;D ;D ;D

[soulfien]

Well, from Bassa's description, you can't put age either. Saying the PC is 18 and then 2 years down the road real time your level 32, you're hardly 18!

[RevelationMD]

admin said:

Now, unfortunately alot of fine people make the mistake in believing that the 'Character Bio' field on the last page of Character Creation is where you put all background information about your Character.

I gotta say, I disagree. I see the character bio section as the place to put your characters bio... I realise that some people put their bios on these boards, which is great of course (I'll do that too when I find a few spare moments) but not everyone reads everyones bio. I tend to split my bio into two paragraphs, the first being visual/sensory appearance etc the second being a ''taster'' of my characters bio.

Anyone reading it in game will just have to Roleplay it (after all we are all roleplayers anyway), and frankly if we cant trust our fellow players to roleplay not knowing the background details then we shouldn't even be posting them on these forums - which I think would be a sad state of affairs.

But hey, I'm new here... so what do I know?

[Driderman]

Well, some people WILL meta-game over what they read, consciously or not... The great Paladin debate comes to mind. If I write a few lines about worshipping Malar and cutting the heads of squirrels in my bio, I'm pretty sure some paladins or people akin to it would somehow, consciously or not, try to have quarrel with me seeing as they already know I'm a viable target for their righteous disapprovement. Or at least, they might avoid me or generally be illdisposed towards my character.
I'm not saying everyone does this, but it is my firm belief that everyone metagames on some level, willingly or not. We simply can't avoid it, as we can not unlearn what we have learned (except maybe with smoking copious amounts of illegal substances and several firm blows to the head. But that would be going bit too far for the sake of realism in roleplaying games ;D)
Personally, I have never read a single bio on these forums, although I have been tempted to it on several occasions, but I simply don't want that information delivered to me ooc'ly and I would suggest keeping character bios to a physical description and maybe an general first impression. I don't see the need to bother with long-winded character backgrounds starting with your first childhood memories. That information will be much more interesting if it is delivered by your character, in person during the game, instead of just something being accesible to everyone with the press of a button

[Quadhund/Greenhouse]

revelationmd said:

admin said:

Now, unfortunately alot of fine people make the mistake in believing that the 'Character Bio' field on the last page of Character Creation is where you put all background information about your Character.

I gotta say, I disagree. I see the character bio section as the place to put your characters bio... I realise that some people put their bios on these boards, which is great of course (I'll do that too when I find a few spare moments) but not everyone reads everyones bio. I tend to split my bio into two paragraphs, the first being visual/sensory appearance etc the second being a ''taster'' of my characters bio.

Anyone reading it in game will just have to Roleplay it (after all we are all roleplayers anyway), and frankly if we cant trust our fellow players to roleplay not knowing the background details then we shouldn't even be posting them on these forums - which I think would be a sad state of affairs.

But hey, I'm new here... so what do I know?

I will say that bios are great to have. I personally enjoyed elaborating on Hroth's bio in the forums. Putting it in your player description, as opposed to on the forums, allows people while IC to see it. I have had, in the past, had players metagame off this information. The difference to placing it on the forums is that when a player visits the forums, they are exposed to all the rules and regulations and will be better informed as to how to act in a roleplaying world. Players that log into the game may never have roleplayed before, may not even know what metagaming is, and see absolutely nothing wrong with viewing your character's bio and using it as IC info. There is nothing wrong with putting the bio in your character's description, it just takes the temptation away from players that WOULD metagame it. As such, it is at your own discretion that you take this chance . And you won't be punished for it.

[ShadowCatJen]

It is unfortunate that too many tend to metagame when they read bios or stories regardless of where they're put. I tend to refrain from putting certain bits of information just for that reason. Call me about as paranoid as my character.

For me I prefer to use the final field for my character's descriptions. I always just go by the premise of what other people would see when they look at my character. Hair color, body type, the way they carry themselves (klutzy, graceful, ect).

/rant

I don't like putting things that say how other characters should think of mine -OR- putting a charisma rating. It irks me to no end when I see something like:

"You can't help but like this person the instant you see her. You let down your guard around her. ((CHA: 18))"

A player has no right to tell others how their character should react to theirs. Nor is showing what Charisma your character has any way of proving how PCs should react to you.

/end rant

Anyway, I'm not too fond of examining a PC and finding that they've placed every single history detail about him/her and nothing about the way they look. I tend to scroll by very quickly or just close the window when I see that. I'd rather not read about how your character came about hating drow so much and just find that out via RP. I would like to know if they are short or tall, covered with scars and tattoos, or clean cut and well dressed.

[heimdall]

My thoughts exactly - of course you're free to do what you wish, but I'll never read a character history on examine. I close the window as quick as I can...I would rather RP to know your character, not read his/her/it's life story at a single glance.

So...don't complain about being metagamed if you are giving away your life story, alignment and the rest of the store in your description field...because by doing this you are asking for it, and it will happen whether intentionally or otherwise. It's sad but true that some folks have a hard time seperating OOC information from IC information.

What I put into this field is a general description of approximate height, a general physical build, hair and eye color and thats really about all I'll ever put here as...that's all you'd really get from a glance at a character.

Just about anything else can change over a characters lifespan...but once it's entered into this field you're stuck with it.

[RevelationMD]

heimdall said:

What I put into this field is a general description of approximate height, a general physical build, hair and eye color and thats really about all I'll ever put here as...that's all you'd really get from a glance at a character.

Just about anything else can change over a characters lifespan...but once it's entered into this field you're stuck with it.

Well, actually the opposite is true - physical appearance can change over a characters lifespan but they are stuck with their history. Not that I am suggesting leaving out physical appearance in the bio field of course...

Like I say, I tend to just put a 'taster'... worst case scenario is someone questions or pushes elements of the bio which could lead to interesting roleplaying. But anyway, for me some bio (however brief) is better than no bio by a very long stretch and I certainly wouldn't criticise another players bio because I felt it gave too much/too little away (not suggesting anyone is of course)...

[marklar]

revelationmd said:

heimdall said:

What I put into this field is a general description of approximate height, a general physical build, hair and eye color and thats really about all I'll ever put here as...that's all you'd really get from a glance at a character.

Just about anything else can change over a characters lifespan...but once it's entered into this field you're stuck with it.

Well, actually the opposite is true - physical appearance can change over a characters lifespan but they are stuck with their history. Not that I am suggesting leaving out physical appearance in the bio field of course...

ones physical apperance takes much longer to change then someones attitude and many other things. a change in physical apperance, depending on ones age and the race you are, will change in many years, some cases decades.

i agree with heimy and catmage, a life history doesn't belong in a description. maybe if one have clear tatoos showing they are a thayan you might mention that but other then that i don't like seeing them.

i like to examine everyone i see that way if they have a horrible scar on their face or something i can RP about i will know it. the description can be used to start some good RP often times.