How Do I Create a Character?

The most important element of a role-playing game is the character creation. The whole idea of role-playing is to take the part of another person -- a "character" that you will create. First, you should decide what type of person you want to be. You can take your inspiration from a fictional hero or heroine -- or create your new "self" from the ground up. Either way, start with some idea of the sort of person you want to play. Then bring that character to life!

When creating your character, be aware that you are NOT your character and your character is NOT you. Remember this is a game and it is designed to be fun.

Just like on a television series or in a movie, and even in real life, we all are "characters." We each have our own unique ways of thinking, feeling, talking, responding, likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, talents and capabilities, and history and training. One of the things which makes simming fun is responding to the situation as your character would and trying to stay in character during the sim. Our characters are the "color" and uniqueness we each bring to our play.

Your character is yours ... it's a chance for you to play whoever or whatever you want. Imagination is your best asset in this venture. The more you know about your character, the more fun you'll have with it. If at all possible, create a screen name that is strictly your character and set your profile up as a mini-character sheet. This is not mandatory; it just enhances the sim.

The system of creating a character is designed to give a balanced individual, whose strengths and weaknesses more or less cancel each other out. A totally realistic system would be one in which a character's strength, for example, was determined randomly, with no relationship to anything else. And so on for each attribute and every other facet of his personality. But such random choices aren't really satisfactory for your personal player character, so this following system will assist you in creating a realistic character for this sim environment.

Consequently, all characters are considered HUMAN. There will be no superhuman or alien characters that might unnecessarily have an unfair advantage over the other players, or "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men." Characters may occasionally have special skills, attributes, or defenses, but these may not be arbitrarily chosen by the players, for example ESP, infared vision, telepathy, etc. You must consult with your host before adding one of these characteristics to your character.

One of the things we try and bring to the sim is the "flavor" of the television series; the characters may investigate the Paranormal, yet they themselves are Human and bound by the same rules of society that we are in real life. Unusual abilities, with a few exceptions, or a "Kill 'Em All and Let God Sort It Out" mentality would hardly be part of the Bureau norm, and indeed, such a player would face criminal charges.

Although we base our sim loosely on the TV Show X-files, we ask that players do NOT come into the game to play either Fox Mulder or Dana Scully, or any other character in the series such as Mr. X, Walter Skinner, or Alex Krycek. The characters are already established on the television series, and as such are too confining for the Sim. (Not to mention copyrighted by FOX.)

Using an established character as a "jumping point" is fine, but please change the characters' name, and take some time to think and make the character your own. As an example, the character "Kennedy Ryan" is heavily based on Elizabeth Masterontonio as she appeared in "Class Action". She's got a quick mind with a clear cut way of expressing herself but unlike the character in "Class Action" she is driven by demons that are dead rather than those who are living . Another example would be Jakes Stillwater who is a "clean-cut" Kurt Russell with a "Big Trouble in Little China" sense of humor, but a skeptic that would put Scully from the X-files to shame. These are all STARTING POINTS. Pick a favorite character from a TV series, book, or movie, change a few things, and voila! A Brand New DOJ-OPI SIM Character.