Rules for Character Creation

Introduction

Welcome! This page is a general reference for rules regarding the creation of player characters.

You have a wide array of options available when creating an original character for Thorns. Your character can be of almost any age or economic background; they can be one of five races (galdori, human, passive, wick, or raen) and have almost any talents you wish them to have. You can have pets, mounts, houses, even a boat or airship. You can wear any clothes you want, have any items you want, and go into any career available.

However, your character will be reviewed by mods; we will decide if your character is overpowered or liable to disrupt the logical flow of the world. You also need to follow some rules regarding content and believability. Your character sheet will be subject to a short editing process where moderators give you feedback on your sheet and request any edits necessary. This process is very normal, so please don't be offended if you aren't approved right away!

This page lists the basic rules for character creation, and reading this page will help you avoid edits.

Basic Character Creation

Creating Your Character

You must pick one of the six options: galdori, human, wick, passive, raen or ????. Please visit the individual race pages to read up on the racial information. You may not create another race, play as an animal, or use a race from another game or world, such as a demon.

You may not use any copyrighted names for your character. This includes any names used in existing literature, movies, books, or other RPGs. Please be original! You do not need to include a middle name, but you may if you wish. The Naming Conventions page will help you here.

Creating Multiple Characters

After creating your first character, you must wait a month to submit another character. You can create up to five ; however, you should not create a character if you do not plan to play that character, or just to reserve a name.

Your characters should not interact with each other, and you may not create characters who exist solely to move the plot forward for your main character. At the very least, your new character should not be part of the same plotline as any other one of your characters. Your characters may know each other distantly (for example, you can have them be related) but should not interact. If it becomes necessary for them to interact, please do so in a Solo Thread.

The Character Retirement Program

You may retire your character to be used as an NPC. This is considered a last resort, and is only to be done when necessary.

If you can no longer play your character for any reason (time away from the game, loss of interest, time constraints, etc), but that character is still involved in active plots, you may want to consider this. It might be in the best interests of the other players involved in your plot. If your character is essential to the plot, and you leave without warning, the mods may be forced to commandeer your character as an NPC after a reasonable amount of time, but we always prefer it if you talk it over with us beforehand.

You may, at some point in the future, want to pick up your character again; if this occurs, talk to the mods and get a summary of what has happened to your character while you've been away (or while you have not been playing him). You will need to take into account any developments that have happened. Keep in mind that characters who have been turned into NPCs may die or be seriously wounded, or put out of commission for other reasons.

It may be somewhat of a wrench to part with a character. Rest assured that when asked to play a character, the mods will be careful to play him or her as close to character as possible. However, through the course of the story your character might be developed further; all moderator decisions made with your character as an NPC will be considered canon and are irreversible.

Character Attributes

Skills

In general, you should avoid overpowering your character. If you have too many skills in which your character is a master, you will be asked to narrow down your character's field of expertise. For example, it is not feasible for someone to be a master in all magical schools and an expert melee duelist. It's a good idea to try to balance out skills with flaws.

Religion

Religion is a big "if" in the world of Vita. The gods are not a certainty, and neither is the Otherworld. Your character may not be related to or born of the gods, nor may he have godlike powers, or the ability to speak to the gods. He may of course claim to speak to the gods, or have a hallucination that it is happening, but it cannot actually happen.

Spells

If you are a new player, you are allowed to begin the game assuming your character knows all of the Elementary spells (galdori or wick). This is just to make sure there are no spell abuses made by beginning players. If you want to make a character that knows Intermediate or Advanced spells, you need to speak to a moderator about it; until you're cleared for landing, please don't use those spells in the game. Another way to learn upper-level spells is to learn them In Character.

The title of "Magister" is given to a character that has published several spells. This type of character is extremely powerful, so it will be limited to Seniors and long-time players.

You do NOT need to list your character's spell level in your character sheet.

Armed Forces

If your character is part of the Anaxi Armed Forces (AAF), a branch of the army, or The Seventen, you do not need moderator permission to make them a new recruit OR retired, but you will need permission if they are higher than the level of ensign. Ask a moderator for specific history about the armed forces. (More information will be added to the army page very soon.)

Age and Family

If your character is young

You are allowed to play a child character. However, maintaining constant parental NPCs is a lot of work for moderators, so try to include your parents in your child's storyline as little as possible. The minimum age is 10 years old for all races.

If your child is an orphan, they can live on the streets. You could also make them an apprentice to an older character. Just be aware that the mods can't create special NPCs that will always be around when you need them - your child will need to be self-sufficient like any other character.

Be aware that underage characters (under age 18) will not be allowed to participate in sexual situations.

If your character is old

You're allowed to make your character as old as you like, within reason.

The average human life expectancy is around 50, given access to wick healing and modern medicine, but most humans are never able to retire. Galdori live longer - around 80 or 90 years. They often retire young. Wicks do not "retire" per se - even the very elderly in wick communities still serve a purpose, and often draw in an income by reading palms or telling fortunes. Wicks have a slightly higher life expectancy than humans.

If your character has a family

You are allowed to have a family for your character. However, you should try to get along in the game without the use of your family; they can be used to provide a setting every so often, but the mods will not make them regular NPCs. The best use of a family in roleplay is through literature threads where you can play your character's family members; mentioning your character's family in roleplay threads is also a good way to integrate them without actually requiring moderators to play them.