Character creation guide

[Ashdown Crier]

Want to come play? Cool. Anyone can play a civilian character: no profile required. You don't get art for it, but it's a good way to earn points. Create as many civilians as you can stand. Write your little heart out.

You want a dreamer? Then you're in the right place.

Read on, adventurer. Learn you a thing.

Remember, when your quest is ready for review and approval, change your header to CHARACTER NAME // HIGH CONCEPT // REVIEW. Before then I don't really care what your title is.  

[Ashdown Crier]

character name
HIGH CONCEPT

A high concept title is your character distilled down to five words or less. This section is where you lay out your character's core pieces. Tell us what your character is about--what they do, who they are--and how they differ from others of their character type. How is your character going to be played? What sorts of stories will you tell? How do they fit into the world of Ashdown? This section is for broad strokes and should be no more than 3-5 sentences. You can go into more detail later!

TROUBLE

Your character's trouble is their main personal plot going into the story. "Deal with their new powers" is not really a good trouble because everyone shares it, and your character is a person before they get their powers! They can be internal, stemming from inner turmoil or aspects of their identity, or external, stemming from an outside cause. It could be personal demons, family reputation, obstacles in the path of their personal goals… but essentially be things than can be worked with, struggled with, and dealt with through their game progression. Also think about how these troubles could stem from or connect with your high concept!

While your trouble exists to complicate your character's story and give you fodder for plot conflict moving forward, it shouldn't take over everything your character does. There is definitely space for characters like Uchiha Sasuke, but that's not a character that will be easily knit into the storyline. Consider how you're going to interact with other players, characters and the unique unexpected nature of Ashdown as you write your Trouble and it will pay off as soon as you get into the game.

We ask you to include this so that we can easily create story threads linking your characters into the game's plot. Ashdown has quest prompts offering story hooks, rewards, or powers that would otherwise be unavailable.

POWER

What is your character's innate power? This is something small that carries through into your character's waking/real life and is developed upon becoming a Dreamer. The universe does this for them more than they do it for them self. Consider it a passive ability rather than an applied skill. So instead of 'Speaks to animals' consider, 'animals seem attracted to them', or instead of 'Creates light sources' try 'rooms always seem to have just enough light to see'. Less power application and more mysterious circumstance. Remember that these powers can be expanded upon and leveled up as time goes by if you so choose.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Is there anything else you think we should know? This is where you put history and personality details that don't fit in the expansion of your high concept, relationships (for good or ill) your character has with others, etc. This is also where information like their age, the location of their main stomping grounds, appearance, hobbies, personality quirks, etc goes. Just because this is an "other" section doesn't mean it won't have stuff in it! Consider it the free-form section.

[align=center][size=18][b]character name[/b][/size]
[size=14]HIGH CONCEPT[/size][/align]A high concept title is your character distilled down to five words or less. This section is where you lay out your character's core pieces. Tell us what your character is about--what they do, who they are--and how they differ from others of their character type. How is your character going to be played? What sorts of stories will you tell? How do they fit into the world of Ashdown? This section is for broad strokes and should be no more than 3-5 sentences. You can go into more detail later!

[align=center][size=14]TROUBLE[/size][/align]Your character's trouble is their main personal plot going into the story. "Deal with their new powers" is not really a good trouble because everyone shares it, and your character is a person before they get their powers! They can be internal, stemming from inner turmoil or aspects of their identity, or external, stemming from an outside cause. It could be personal demons, family reputation, obstacles in the path of their personal goals… but essentially be things than can be worked with, struggled with, and dealt with through their game progression. Also think about how these troubles could stem from or connect with your high concept!

While your trouble exists to complicate your character's story and give you fodder for plot conflict moving forward, it shouldn't take over everything your character does. There is definitely space for characters like Uchiha Sasuke, but that's not a character that will be easily knit into the storyline. Consider how you're going to interact with other players, characters and the unique unexpected nature of Ashdown as you write your Trouble and it will pay off as soon as you get into the game.

We ask you to include this so that we can easily create story threads linking your characters into the game's plot. Ashdown has quest prompts offering story hooks, rewards, or powers that would otherwise be unavailable.

[align=center][size=14]POWER[/size][/align]What is your character's innate power? This is something small that carries through into your character's waking/real life and is developed upon becoming a Dreamer. The universe does this for them more than they do it for them self. Consider it a passive ability rather than an applied skill. So instead of 'Speaks to animals' consider, 'animals seem attracted to them', or instead of 'Creates light sources' try 'rooms always seem to have just enough light to see'. Less power application and more mysterious circumstance. Remember that these powers can be expanded upon and leveled up as time goes by if you so choose.

[align=center][size=14]ANYTHING ELSE?[/size][/align]Is there anything else you think we should know? This is where you put history and personality details that don't fit in the expansion of your high concept, relationships (for good or ill) your character has with others, etc. This is also where information like their age, the location of their main stomping grounds, appearance, hobbies, personality quirks, etc goes. Just because this is an "other" section doesn't mean it won't have stuff in it! Consider it the free-form section.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

High concept is like this. You've got thirty seconds to sell your character: why are they interesting? What makes them different? What does the person reading your character's profile need to know about them to plot with them? Talk about that here. There's no minimum length. You can write a single line. But you cannot go over one paragraph.

I guess you can do a line break for emphasis.

BUT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SUMMARY. A Personals ad. Wanted: single F, under 33. Must enjoy the sun. Must enjoy the sea. Not their life story. 'K? K. View a list of high concept examples pulled from the Dresden Files tabletop game here. (If you get the 500 server error, refresh once. It doesn't like the Gaia redirect.)

examples.

the man without fear.
It's not that Michael doesn't feel fear. It's that he's long learned to work past it. Born to a mild family of factory workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, no one expected him to amount to much. By taking risks, he became a nationally recognized brain surgeon, a pioneer in the field. Now, in his dotage, he's a professor at Rider-Waite and a dynamic force for change in the field of human medicine.

spooky mystic.
No one knows where Sunny Shore came from, but they're pretty sure that's a fake name. Asking around, you get different accounts: She's bad news. What a nice young girl, carried my groceries home! I heard if you give her a pack of marlboro's and a promise, she'll tell your future. I hear her hair's insured for 10000 dollars. Whoever she is, she's not talking, but you can find her at the public beach on Nellson Street after dark.

a born sucker.
If it's not luck, it's gotta be fate. Robert is pretty damn sure, anyway. There's no other explanation as to why that Nigerian prince stole half his IRA, or why his latest get-rich-quick scheme didn't work. Robert has a lot of friends who are all in Bad Straits, and he's right there to help them out... which is probably why he works as a bag boy at the local supermarket when he's done teaching Language Arts and Literacy at Ashdown Central.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

Yeah, we're gonna make you come into this with a plot. Why? 'Cause then you've always got something to fall back on. (Also because we think it's useful!)

SO, things to think about for your Trouble:

-How does this affect my character? How do they think of themselves because of this? What's their perspective on their problem?

-How does this affect others around my character? This shouldn't be "and everyone thinks they're awesome for it!" unless your trouble is "I'm a rampaging a*****e but I want to change" or, like, "Once I saved a kid from a fire and now everyone expects me to be The Hero but I just wanna go home and work on the farm". Your Trouble is a problem, not a solution, and it's not going to be something easily solved.

This should be the longest part of your profile because it is honestly the most useful part. At least a paragraph, please!

examples.

forever alooooone.
Buddy just can't get a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Or an anything-friend. Which doesn't make sense, because he's a nice guy, isn't he? He always listens to their problems and does nice things for them! He buys them dinner! And chocolate! It's not his fault they all turn out to be awful bitches.

Except he's also just a passive-aggressive jerk. He puts the people he wants a relationship with on a pedestal and doesn't let them down, ever. Until they make him, at which point he ragequits everything and denigrates them as liars and users. The root of this is that Buddy thinks of himself as the victim, and doesn't assign any agency to himself. He can't put himself out there and believes that someday if he's just "nice enough" someone good should come to him. But like hell is he gonna put himself out there to get it.


can't say no to a cry for help.
Lillian is a good girl, a kind girl, an empathetic girl, and that really gets her down. Driven by a pathological desire to be helpful to everyone, there is nothing and no one she won't drop to lend a helping hand to a cause she sees as more urgent. Unfortunately, driven by a short attention span and a bleeding heart, she doesn't see the trust breaking behind her when she abandons longer-term commitments. The more she helps, the more it wears her out: this girl is quickly approaching burnout, with too many obligations to list and a heart too big to turn any of them down.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

Now it's powers time. Obviously these grow and change as your character does. It's not gonna be one-and-done like prom night sex. (Don't tell me you had satisfying prom night sex... you liar.)

Anyway, all you need to know is the boundaries of powers for the first two stages, because afterwards you can add whatever powers you like. There are some restricted "power spheres" which can only be obtained on your third stage or above, but they're listed here and if there's a problem we will tell you.

Dreamers have a very small, generally unnoticeable power. A Dreamer might always be able to find her car keys, or never have phone trouble, or always be able to find just enough change for the pizza delivery tip. These are tiny things that make their lives easier, not harder. They don't affect others-- you're not going to be compelling truth or getting someone to give you a dollar --but they do have an effect on the world around the character. A good reference point is something like Sims lifetime rewards. You're not gonna be able to dine and dash, but you might always just know where that butterfly you need to finish out your collection is. Cool!

examples.

gordian knot? is that some kind of squash?
Marcus can untie any knot, anywhere, provided he can get his hands on it. Those little puzzle-balls you can get for ten bucks at the grocery store are no match for him!

never carded
Joaquin doesn't get carded. Like, ever. Maybe it happened once when he was sixteen, but never since. This makes getting into bars so much easier.

Risers have a stronger power which affects only them. These are the hecka strong lifetime rewards. These are the people who never have to pee, or never gain weight from eating nothing but brownies, or the people who heal really fast or bench-press a small truck. These are also the people who can see things or find things or perform superhuman feats of agility. The rule is, your Dreamer power affects the world around you in a small way. Your Riser power affects you.

examples

the sight.
Aleksy can see who's been in Other Ashdown. This power cannot be turned off, and he can only do this with someone he sees physically. Photographs or webcams cannot tell him if someone's been in Other Ashdown. Other innate powers can occlude someone from his sight, but no real world disguise can hide it.

pathfinder.
Finn always knows where he's been, and can find a way where-ever he wants to go. Even if that means offroading. While he can't pass through, say, a manned barricade, or a staff-only door, he can get from point A to point B pretty easily.

Beyond the Riser stage, powers can go pretty much anywhere and do anything, within reason. You're not going to be ending the world or killing someone with a thought, because that would suck and be lame, but this is when you can start talking to the dead or setting fires with your brain or talking to all the animals of the world.

The question is... what price do you pay for such power?  

[Ashdown Crier]

Anything else. The freeform section. Profiles Gone Wild 2: Electric Boogaloo. Basically talk about whatever you want here. Want to talk about your character's Sadde Feelings? Do it here. Got some hot fashion tips or references for an artist? That goes here, too. Want to share a poem or a cool gif? WHAT A COINCIDENCE, this is where it should live.

In this section, you can request certain things with your profile. These things are:
-Mod-assigned powers. This is a grab bag where your character's Dreamer power is assigned by the first mod to get to the profile. Good for if you've got everything BUT the powers. (You can get a mod to assign you a Riser power in the growth thread!)
-Artist preferences. Some artists only do QFs and premades. Others want to do customs. But if there's someone you want specifically, tell us here, because we like to give characters to the deserving.
-Have you played this character before elsewhere and want us to take a look? Link that stuff here. Showing a good RP sample does prejudice us towards your profile, yo.
-If this character is already acquired before jumping in, let us know here.