Character Creation Guide

[Valodya Bassarov]

Here is a formula of how to create an interesting character

This is my favorite formula here.

Politics+fantasy+famous historical person reference= good character


Here is how it has been applied:

anarchist+fairy+Emma Goldman/Peter Kropotkin=Sasha Kropotkin

communist+demon clone+Mao Zedong= Lady Violet

socialist+angel+Eugene Debs= Elijah Debs

peacemaker+cryogenics=Aung San Suu Kyi

communist+cryogenics=Zhuge Liang

anarchist+mystic+Simone Weil (french philosopher/anarchist)=Simona Weil

etc.

This I think has been one of the most sucessful character generation formulas

[Valodya Bassarov]

Here is a list of famous people to apply to above formula
With very very brief explainations

Socialists:

Karl Marx- wrote communist manifesto/das kapital

Fredrick Engels- wrote the origin of marriage, private property and the state. collaborated with Marx

V. Lenin- leader of the Russian revoluion, first head of Soviet worker's state

Leon Trotsky- worked with Lenin, kicked out of the party, killed by Stalin, was against Stalinism

Helen Keller- blind and deaf woman who became a member of the socialist party in I think 1909, then spoke out against WWI and other injustices

John Cannon- founded the American Socialist Workers Party (in 1929 I think)

Aleksandra Kolontai- Russian diplomat and famous Russian feminist/bolshevik

Nadyezhda Krupskaya-Lenin's wife, Education Minister

Albert Einstein- critical of stalinism, but became a member of the communist party in 1937, wrote an artical called "Why Socialism"

Gus Hall- American Communist from Minnesota (about an hour from where I live) ran against Ronald Reagan for president in 1984

George Orwell- wrote 1984 and animal farm

Howard Zinn- writer, professor, activist, democratic socialist (also supports the green party)

I will add to this list later

[Valodya Bassarov]

Anarchists:

Noam Chomsky- American anarchist and critic of our foreign policies, MIT professor

Mikhail Bakunin- the Marx of anarchy

Emma Goldman- anarchist and feminist

Leo Tolstoy- Russian writer and Christian pacifist anarchist

Benjamin Tucker- American Individualist anarchist

Jacques Ellul- French Christian anarcho syndicalist, wrote anarchy and christianity in 1988

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon- famous french anarchist, called himself a mutualist- or believed in free communes of workers

Errico Malatesta- violent italian anarchist, friend of Bakunin's,

William Godwin- married Mary Wollstonecraft (early feminist) and english anarchist of earlier half of 1800s, believed humans were perfectable.

I will add more later....

[Anutsaka]

((Just delete this if you don't want us posting in here Bassarov.))

Another way of approaching this, if you don't want a completely political character, but not too farfetched such as a random killer, here are some facts to keep in mind.

1) Try to stay away from the dark, hidden, past where your character acts like Cloud Strife (from FF7). This method is hackneyed (lots of cliches) and should be thrown away.
Ex. No one knows my past but I'm out for revenge. Ixnay on this at all costs.

2) Pick an affiliation that best fits your own character to some extent.
Ex. Anutsaka = He's Hindu, I'm Hindu. Because of that, it's easier to have the same values and political standpoints (to a certain extent.)

3) Have a solid history. This keeps your character from steering too far from what you had originally planned. Sometimes its a good thing, but characters end up getting way too muddled up, dabbling into too many organizations and not staying in one place to build their character properly.

More to come... if Bassarov will allow.

[Helene]

And please, dont beef your powers up. Saythings like this cannot be reversed, its cheap. Very cheap...
((Delete this if you dont agree, Bassarov))

[H-008]

Top ten character cliches, or things that are just downright annoying.

1) Dark, mysterious pasts
2) Anarchists that just like to destroy stuff
3) Characters from things that already exist, such as anime shows or comic books.
4) Supposedly supersmart characters that don't know the first thing about what they claim to, such as people that claim to be doctors, but can't tell a tourniquet from a scalpel. You don't actually have to be whatever you are playing, but go look some stuff up or something.
6) Uber powerful characters that have no personality, or spend all of their time raping, pillaging and such for no reason. It doesn't contribute to the plot at all.
7) Royalty from other planets. Why the heck would you want to come here!?!

((If you disagree admin, I'll delete it.))

[Lady Violet]

I agree with all of the points that have been made.

A variety of characters are needed for the rpg, and in real life, not all of them will be political

However, the politics of the world does affect everyone in one way or another.

I like characters with a point of view or who are motivated by some purpose. (besides cliches like revenge, finding lost parents, lost love, etc)

[Helene]

Like me! [j/k]

[H-008]

No Anarchist mercinaries or bounty hunters. Being a soldier for whoever pays and being an anarchist are contradictory.

[Ivan T. Boomstar]

Not exactly. Most anarchists are SANE and realize that under the given circumstances, there are things they have to do and follow to survive. People need food and food requires money. You'll notice it's the only thing I pay for .

The ideal of anarchy is to abolish government, to govern one's self. Anarchists are usually not radical or crazy. And it seems a popular theme that anarchists are also atheists on this board. But that's just not so. The whole ideal system of anarchy was created by the question, "who gave us the right to create a government?" A lot of anarchists are quite religious and believe that government was not the intention of our creator, though every anarchist is fueled by different circumstances. And above all, anarchists are not radical. They are the most extreme liberals, since their goal is true freedom. The Oklahoma City Bombing just gave us a bad name becuz of a corrupt few.

While an anarchist's goal is the abolishment of government, an anarchist will follow the rules of society if it is necessary for survival. Don't believe me? Then answer this: what do you think anarchists do for a living? They need jobs just like everyone else. They have their own beliefs, but they still follow the system. Not all anarchists are outright radicals like some characters. Anarchy is an ideal, not an occupation.

[Dr. Andrea Murdock]

Simona Weil anyone? Of course not all anarchists are atheists. However, it is a major tenet in anarchism that people are resposible for themselves. Therefore, exerting your will over someone else, by say... hunting them down for money, is contrary to the spirit of anarchism. The Oklahoma City Bombing was committed by a loony. Timothy McVeigh is not a good example of an anarchist. I agree with you on that point. I understand that people need to eat. However, hunting people down is not the best, nor is it the most ethical way to make money.
- Zinn

[Ivan T. Boomstar]

While many anarchists believe in peace (since their goal is true freedom) not all choose to be pacifists. Hunting someone down is not showing authority. It is returning them to nature. Anarchists are very in touch with the concepts of life and death. Most anarchists know that everyone lives to die. They want to make the most of the time they are given and they don't want big brother to tell them any differently. Bounty hunting and big game hunting aren't exactly the same you know? There's an art, a grace to it. Ivan is good at it and he doesn't mind doing it. He makes the most of the time he's given. He doesn't have others give him orders and he doesn't give others orders. He chooses the requests that suit him best. He governs himself in everyway. An anarchist working directly under someone else would be contrary to anarchist beliefs. Anarchists are more likely to choose jobs where they get to decide what they do. They get to choose which cases to take and which not to. Anarchists do not like being told what to do, which is why they wouldn't likely be a regular soldier or someone who works for an agency. Having an anarchist play a writer or having an anarchist play a bounty hunter is just as good a choice of occupation. Anything that doesn't involve the anarchist being strictly controlled by an employer.

PS: There is a difference between your opinion and fact

[Zinn]

The point I am trying to make is that you are hunting people. Therefore, you are exerting your own will upon someone else, and violating the ethics of anarchism to help yourself. Who hires bounty hunters and mercinaries in this universe? The rebels don't have any money. The FRA is gone. Capitalist Corp could, but they are under the control of Red Infinity, and it would be contary to the spirit of anarchism to work for them. And then Red Infinity... well, that goes without saying.

Anarchism is focused on controlling oneself. However, for a system like that to work, respect for others is integral. Violent anarchists are violent because they feel that the ends justify the means. That is a different sort of violence, which I do not personally agree with, but can understand. However, hunting people or killing for money is disrespectful to people and doesn't further anarchism.

Also, if I didn't believe what I am saying is fact, I wouldn't be saying it. You believe what you are saying is fact, I believe it is false, and vice versa. That's the way debates work.

[Dr. Andrea Murdock]

George Orwell's real name was Eric Blair.

[Void]

I would like to point out that even if an Anarchist who wants to destroy something is, as you put it, an "annoying cliche", I do believe that they have a certain validity in that there IS a sect of Anarchists who do believe this. I live in Seattle and the WTO Riots from a few years back come readily to mind. My father actually procured one of their tapes that they released almost immediately after WTO explaining their cause (or lack thereof as it seemed to me). The point is that there are more than one views on any given idealogy, and I think a political RPG such as this can afford to accomodate all idealogies of any given political stance. Actually I think it would open new venues, no faction is totally solid in their beliefs and infighting amongst them, such as the Ministry of Peace's freeing of the prisoners earlier, would add whole new dimensions to the game.