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Sim Manual | Character Creation | Membership Application
This was written by Stuart Clapperton, who formerly played the part of Lt. Jack Lawson, Director of Strategic Operations, and who was former Knight webmaster.
Creating a character in the Star Trek universe can be a fun process. Before you decide to create your character, look at the things that are needed for a character bio by looking at the current crew members' bios. Also looking at the Table of Organization is a good idea so you can see what positions are available. After you have decided on a position that you would like to play, contact the Recruitment Officer and speak to her about your interest in the position.
The next step is to start creating your character. For this you need to read the rules about characters allowed.
Certain rules need to be followed to make the game play be the best it can be. Most species are allowed on the Knight, although a few are not. The main rules enforced here are:
If you have an idea that you wish to incorporate in your character but don't know if you should, contact the Commanding Officer and discuss it with her.
The first major decision you need to make regarding your character is the Species that your character will be. The Species of your character will determine the rest of your character's attributes, from age to place of birth, to eductaion and so forth.
The species of your character is important. Each species in the Star Trek Universe has different visual attributes, different personality attributes, and and behavioral differences.
The most common way of determining your character's Species is to either use the species that most resembles yourself in terms of personality or to use a species that is completely different. The main features of species are as follows:
The age of your character is next. Age is usually written in Terran years. The age of your character depends on the species that your character is. Certain species live longer than other species. The maximum age for species are as follows:
If you character has just graduated Starfleet Academy (which is most likely if you are new to E-Mail simming) then your character would be relatively young. A Human would be arround 24 as would a Betazoid. Other species might be a lot older.
Usually a person is born on the homeworld or a colony of the woman giving birth, although this is not always the case. The home planets and colonies of different Species are listed below.
No matter where you decide your character is born, it's best to at least give information as to why your character's parents were there. This can be included in the "Background" of the character.
The date of your character's birth doesn't matter so much. Players usually use some date that means something for themselves such as their birthday, their partners' birthday, etc. The year is usually based on the age of your character and the current year which is 2376.
The gender of your character does not usually have any significance to the rest of the information provided. Your character should most likely be Male or Female. However, new species may not have the same sexes.
The name of your character is usually dependant on the race of your character. Humans usually have a first name, and surname while Vulcans usually have only one name starting with "S" or "T" if you are male, and "T" followed by "'" if you are female.
Your character will no doubtedly be able to speak several different languages. The most common and the one that is used in the Star Trek shows is Federation Standard which is basically English. During your time at Starfleet Academy, your character learns at least 2 other languages of your choosing. You are not restricted to just 3 languages. Look at other players' bios for different languages that your character might know.
Everyone, be they Klingon, Vulcan or Terran will have some interests and hobbies. These can be anything you like, and add to the character and depth of your character. See other players' bios for ideas for interests for your character.
Here you must decide of the physical makeup of your character, including Height, Weight, Eye color, Hair color and any other things you think are appropriate.
The education that your character receives is listed here. This should include Starfleet Academy if you attended it, and any other forms of education such as private institutions, other academies and so forth. This should be in the form: StartYear - EndYear: Location, Course/Area of Study.
EG:
2356 - 2357: Seattle Medical Institution, Nursing
2357 - 2360: Starfleet Academy, Medical/Operations
2360 - 2362: Starfleet Medical, Nursing.
This is the record of your characters' career in Starfleet, or any other service such as the Klingon Honor Guard. This should be in the form: StartYear - EndYear: Location, Rank, Position.
EG:
2362 - 2363: USS Hood, Ensign, Nurse
2363 - 2365: USS Jericho, Lt (jg), Medical Assistant
2365 - Pres: USS Galaxy, Lt, Doctor.
Decorations, Awards, and Honors that your character has received are listed here. They can be for development, research, valor in combat and so forth. This should be in the form: Year: Decoration.
EG:
2364: Federation Purple Cluster
2371: McCoy Medical Crown.
Your character needs to have a background so that the other players can interact with you character. The Background usually starts at your character's birth or perhaps when your parents met. It then progresses through your childhood and to the present. It should be kept to around 5-6 paragraphs for ease of reading. It is best not to include all the information about your character as you should leave enough to use to develop your character.
This section should contain information about your character's personality. It should be around 2 or 3 paragraphs in length so other players can get to know your character and see what makes him or her tick.
This should contain anything about your character that you haven't included in the Physical Description above.
Anything else that hasn't been mentioned that you would like to mention should go here. Look at other players' bios for ideas of what should go here.
Once you have completed your character's bio, you should send it to the Recruitment Officer for her to evaluate. You may do this in two ways. Firstly E-Mail the bio to her, and secondly use the Application Form provided. There is usually one or two areas that she may ask you to change slightly for various reasons, but eventually it will be submitted to the Webmaster for upload onto the webpage, and she will add you to the Listserver. Now you are ready to begin simming with the crew of the Knight. Please read the other information in this Sim Manual for information of writing posts, and simming on the Knight.