Creating a Character (Start Here)

[Jet Jockey]

Creating a Character


Creating a new character takes several steps.  Depending on who your Game Master is, periods as long as a month can pass before there is someone to fight.   Player participation is expected during the exciting and not so exciting parts.  Don't grow too attached to your characters.  Through the course of a game, characters could die.

Be patient for the pace of a message board can seem slow at times.  Some games update weekly and others daily.  Also be patient in the process of creating a character.   Being an expert on Macross and role-playing is not a requirement to play, but we will require that you have a minimal level of knowledge of both.  Our initial appraisal of you is by your ability to create a character.  Take your time.  Be prepared to do a rewrite if requested.


THE STEPS

FOR NEW PLAYERS

• Step #1: Inqury/Proposal
  Start a new topic.  Provide the following information: name, e-mail, desired unit to join, and a brief character proposal.  The Game Master of the desired unit will be the person assisting you with your character.  There are universal character creating guidelines but each Game Master has their own ways.  Keep in mind that the GM of your desired game might not be interested.  You are welcome to try another.  Making the perfect proposal isn't required.  Provided that there are no major issues the GM will tell you to go to step #2.
• Step #2.
  Once the GM thinks your proposal will work, you can start filling out the complete character sheet.   You either use the Mekton or Palladium version.  During this step you will keep expanding or fine tunning the character sheet if needed.
• Step #3.
  After the GM is satisfied they will mark it as approved.   Once your character is approved you will be told when and where to start playing.

FOR CURRENT PLAYERS:

• Step #1.
  Talk to your current GM.  Tell them that you your interested in taking on another character.  They will tell you yes or no.  If they tell you no, it is because you may be struggling with the character(s) that you already have.  We don't want you to become overloaded and burn-out.  Your current GM should be the best judge of you as player.  You are not required to have their permission but the New GM might be interested in it.
• Step #2.
  Contact the GM of the unit that you wish to join. They will tell you if they have room and help you to make the character.

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This document is mostly the work if Jet Jockey, it is based off of another document which Jet Jockey heavily revised.   Some of the other behind that original document were, Jester, CELEBMACIL, Jet Jocky, Lanji, Crimson Reaver, and Sketchley (Apeman007). [/list][/list]

[Jet Jockey]

Playing Character Creation Tips
This and the following post contains guidelines and tips for creating a character.

Orphans are frowned upon.  It is a popular choice but it is unrealstic to have the majority of Playing Characters as orphans.

Try to create a normal person.  The adventures that your character may partake in will be extraordinary but the characters are mortal.  Don't try to impress anyone by writing a short novel about how your character is a legend that has already lived tlhrough a series of epic adventures and has a past that they can't escape from.  We want to see your best writing but aren't that interested in seeing the most fantastic character that you can create.  You will impress us more if you can make the life of an ordinary person interesting than you can with an epic about an extraordinary person.

Avoid the extraordinary.  If you want your character to be born to influential parents, fine, but you don't have to be the son of general, leader of country, or the CEO of a major corporation.  There are only so many of those very influence parents to go around.  Your character could still be related to someone of influence, but it doesn't have to be at the highest social and/or status level possible.  You can imagine how odd it would be if there are a couple dozen characters whose parents have more influence then the current Commander of the player characters' fleet.   Don't try to be friends or related to any of the actual Macross characters, invent the latest VF, or find the Protocultures.  We roleplay in an established universe which we want to disturb as little as possible.

Avoid cliches  If you're new to this game, how will you recognize them?  If your great idea for a first character is about a young, reckless, hotshot pilot, who carries a katana and rides a motorcycle, then welcome to the club.  When you come up with a great new idea, think back if it reminds you of any other popular fictional character.  If it does then a thousand other people have already used that idea.  Try to repackage an 'old' idea in a new one.  You can try using one aspect of that fictional character instead of all of them.  The best advice to avoid a cliche is to be wary of your first ideas, and not to recycle characters that you've used in other roleplaying games.  Sure, there will be Hikaru or Isamu types, but imagine a squadron filled with only Isamu Dysons!

Content and substance are preferred over style.  Avoid writing a long, poetic story using every adjective you can think of.  In a chat room based RPG, being overly descriptive in everything you type can be impressive, but it is of little use at this stage.  We just want to see that you can make a fully developed character that makes sense.  We want details, but we want it to be useful information.  The people to impress with your overly descriptive posts are your GMs when you start playing.

Don't be afraid to be someone other than yourself.   If pizza is your favorite food, make it your character's least favorite.  Make each character of yours a different person.  Make a character that would be interesting for you to play, not someone that you wished you could be.  Nobody is perfect.  If your character is perfect to begin with, then what is the point in playing them?  Make a character with a few flaws that they have to overcome, and give them goals to reach for.

[Jet Jockey]

Generic and National Background
Most characters born before the SW1 are likely from France, Germany, Japan, Russia, United States and United Kingdom.  These countries were the mega powers of the Earth United Goverment.  The survivors of the Space War I were at the Grand Cannons, Apollo Base and the space colony clusters; all UN sites.  Other countries would have been part as well but the dominate ones would had the largest precentage of survivors.  Characters born after the SW1 were born in a world without the countries of old but prior generation was.  Taking pride in Human culture is important to the New Unity Government and it is is possible that families passed on ethic and national pride to the first generation born after the SW1.


Not every person was born.  Some were cloned.  To find out your genetic family tree roll 1D10:
 
1 Miclone (Born)
You were born before the SW1.

2-3 Miclone (Born)
After the SW1 your parents did their civic duty to repopulate the natural way.

4-6 Miclone (Cloned)
Parents are so over rated.   Who needs them?

7-8 Miclone/Zentradi (Born)
Your parents saw past differences and you are the result.
 
9   Zentradi (Born)
You were born after the SW1.   Both of your parents were Zentradi that served in the war.
   
10  Zentradi (Cloned)
You were cloned before the SW1 and was formerly the enemy.

Places of Birth and Hometowns
Cities in the Macross Universe ranges from the mega-modern to rustic homestead communities.  Character were either born before the SW1 or afterwards.  The later in order to be of age are from one of the moderate to major cities or colonies the came about after the war.  Characters born on long range colonization fleets or more rustic newly established colonies might considered too young.   The following two links provide possible places of birth.

http://unsd.macrossroleplay.org/loo.php
and
http://unsd.macrossroleplay.org/bases.php

Otherwise roll on the tables below or select from these options below.

If you were born before or During the SW1 roll 1D10:
1      Africa.
2-3   America.
4-5   Asia.
6-7   Europe.
8      Oceania.
9-10  South Ataria Island.

If you were born after the SW1 roll 1D10:
1-3     Earth (See Earth City Table).
4        Eden
5-6     H.G. Wells City, Mars.
7-8     Moon Riverside City, Luna.
9        Space Colony Clusters, Earth's Orbit.
10      White Flora Satellite City, Jupiter.

What Earth city are you from?  Roll 1D10:
1     Bjorn City
Located in the Danube area.
 
2     Gante City
City of humans and Zentradi struggled early after the SW1.

3     Highlander City
Located a few hours by air from Macross City.  This city was a thriving pretty good just after the SW1 and attrached a lot of show business types.

4     Lonesco City
A city best known for being the city that Kamjin took Minmay hostage.

5-7  Macross City
Located in old Alaska near the Grand Cannon I site. By far the largest and strongest city in the U.N. Macross city is home to the Macross, U.N. Government and Military HQ.

8     Onogi City
A major industrial city (Reaction Engines) located not far from Macross City.   Onogi is on a coast and is possibly located east of Macross City.

9     South Coast City.
City most likely located on a Southern coast line.  In 2012 the City had become self-sufficient enough to leave direct U.N. control and be self-govern.

10    Trad City.
Trad City is located in the former United State America and has high Zentradi population.

[Jet Jockey]

(The following Information is of theories by Jet Jockey for roleplaying Macross.  Don't go around preaching this is fact)

Character Information Reguarding Clones
Cloning was used to help rebuild the population of Earth.   By the Macross 7 era, nearly every young adult character would be the (natural) child of one or both clone parents.

Don't like clones?  Too bad.
Up to 1 million miclones surived SW1, and the population has at least increased to 13 million by the Macross 7 era (based on a 1 million population in the Macross 7 fleet, times 13 New Macross Class Colonization fleets).  Assuming the 1 million miclones surviors was an equal spilt of male and female, that leaves a half a million couples who would have had 26 children each!
 
What is it like being a Clone?
A clone created for the purpose of repopulating the planet would be created quite similarly as the Zentradi.  The clone is manufactured as a young adult (just past puberty).  They would be sort of like someone with amnesia.  They know how to read and write, use silverware, etc., but have no memories of growing up.  Imagine having knowledge of how to ride a bike, but no memory about the day that you learned to ride it yourself.  The Clone would also know that they are a clone, and would accept it with no problems.  To them, they simply exist, and see themselves as an individual.  While the clone is born with enough knowledge to function, they haven't been socialized to function in a specific society.  A new Zentradi would be a new low ranking soldier.  They would learn how to act like a Zentradi by being around other, "older" Zentradi.  It would be the same for clones that the U.N. makes.  The clone would go to the equivalent of remedial high school and basic life skills boarding school.  There they would study and practice human culture.  After a few years, the clone is ready for society.   There is most likely a job waiting for them on the next colonial mission.  They go to work, get married, and start a family like everyone else.  The clone could still have some difficulties, especially in their early years, but they should do better then a Zentradi.   A Zentradi already has been socialized in military culture, and humans resocialized them to human culture.  The U.N. clone is a blank canvass, and would be easier to adjust.  A well adjusted clone is almost like a well adjusted human.  They just don't have parents or an early childhood.  The natural born children of clones would be like normal natural born child of natural born parents; they just don't have any grandparents.  What about being cloned as a child?  It is possible that clones weren't cloned as adults, but the question is, who changed the diapers for ten million babies?