Whether you want to know how to create a character or just what each part of that beast of an app is asking you, you've come to the right place. This thread will walk you through each and every part of the template, explain exactly what we want to know from you and even give you some character creation tips along the way.
A General NotePotter's Army accepts beginner writers, and we accept almost all applications unless they seriously break our rules. When we look at a character application, we are not interested in style beyond your ability to write a coherent sentence.
Please, feel free to try different writing styles in the RP itself, but keep poetic writing styles out of your applications.
Character Image There's room right at the top of the template for you to put a picture of your character, if you want to.
Keep it within the dimensions of a signature image. Do NOT use moving gifs. Gifs make my computer shut down and then you have to wait for another admin to come sort you.
Character's Legal NameYour character's legal name is one of the following
(a) the name they were given at birth
(b) the name they took upon marriage
(c) a name they changed their name to via deed poll
If your character has another name they are known by, but it doesn't fall under any of those conditions, it is not their legal name and shouldn't be mentioned in this part (there's another part for that).
PRO TIP: Your character's name needn't suit them or be significant. It was chosen by their parents. The most significant names will be those belonging to purebloods, who often have naming traditions (eg, the House of Black naming after celestial bodies and the Greengrasses naming after flowers).
AgeHow old is your character? If your character is at Hogwarts just add ten years to the year they'll be in at school. Eg, a third year would be thirteen.
TIP FOR CREATING A STUDENT To avoid ending up in the cycle of creating and dropping student characters, create your student younger. A younger student has time to establish themself within the school body and to build a reputation. Characters who are created older have less time to establish themselves and thus are often dropped when they don't work out the way their players envisioned.
TIP FOR CREATING AN ADULT Remember that witches and wizards are far longer lived than regular people. Dumbledore was working well into his hundreds. Consequently, they probably consider people to be "young" for longer as well. All of the wizarding world doesn't have to be between 18 and 25!
Hogwarts HouseWhat House your character is/was in, or, if they didn't go to Hogwarts, what Magical School they went to. We have a
list of schools you can choose from.
Blood TypeWhether your character is pureblood, halfblood or muggleborn. The vast majority of the wizarding world is halfblood. The only purebloods we allow are canons, however there are plenty of characters on the site claiming to have pure blood regardless (ie, they're lying).
SpeciesYour character can be human, werewolf, vampire or part veela. If your character is not human, you need to explain why that's the case in their history.
Face ClaimWho will be representing your character in their avatar?
AppearanceThis part of the application must be written objectively, and must avoid godmodding. You
may not include sweeping statements such as "the most beautiful" even if your character is part veela. You may include statements from the character's point of view, so long as it's clear that's what they are. For example "Sally thinks she's the most beautiful girl in Hufflepuff" is okay, whereas "Sally is the most beautiful girl in Hufflepuff" is not.
What we want to know here is how your character looks on a daily basis. Do they have features significantly different from the playby you've chosen? Do they have distinguishing marks? What makes them stand out compared to others? Do they have any special mannerisms? Do they wear accessories or jewellery people would notice? Do they move gracefully or do they trudge along? I'm sure you can think of more.
You may also want to include how much effort your character puts into looking the way they do. Remember, this is the wizarding world. Do they use beautifying potions every day? Hair straightening charms? Do their dorm mates complain because of how much time they spend in the bathroom in the mornings?
PersonalityThis part should also be written objectively and avoid godmodding. Everyone does not dislike your character and nor does everyone like them (to be honest, the vast majority of characters probably don't know them well enough to have an opinion).
This part of the application is for telling us about how what the character's personality is normally like. How could we expect them to act if we met them walking down the street in Diagon Alley? We don't need to know that they might curse us if they got angry if they are someone who doesn't have a quick temper.
Remember, this entire section must be in your own words. You may not post any quiz results, and your character may not have a mental illness. We
will notice.
HistoryEarly YearsWhat happened to your character before they went to Hogwarts. In this section we are interested in the character you are creating. We do not need to know the following:
- How their parents met
- How they were conceived
- How their grandparents met
- Their entire family genealogy
For the vast majority of characters, this section is going to be the shortest, least interesting part of their application. And that's okay. It is okay for your character to have a boring childhood.
Hogwarts YearsWhat were the most interesting things that happened to them at Hogwarts? What affected them most? We don't need a year by year account, a general overview of the most significant events is fine. Read
this thread to find out about the significant events that might have affected your character.
After HogwartsWhat have been the most significant events in their life as an adult? Or just leave this part blank if they're still a student.
Out of CharacterWhat should we call youYour out of character alias. What you want us to call you around the site, when we're not referring to your characters.
RP ExperienceAbout how long have you been RPing? This doesn't have to be entirely accurate, we basically want to know if you're a beginner or not. If you're not fluent in English, you might want to mention that here, or PM an admin.
How you found usHow did you find this site? If it was from another site, which one? If it was through google, what was your search (if you can remember)? This helps us get more members.
Main CharacterWhich character's account are you logged into most often? This is the one we'll PM if we really need to talk to you.
by Selwyn Thorfinn Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:38 am
