Character Generation

Beginning a New FærieMUD Character

A new player is presented with the background story about a plague which began in Germany called "Das Gift," which means poison or plague in German. The plague has since spread throughout the world. Victims find themselves hallucinating at first, gradually becoming lost in their fantasies. They begin to believe they all share the same fantasy world where there are others who are aware of yet never visit the world they call "Plague World." The new player learns those who succumb to The Gift can become lost in this fantasy world simply by accepting their belief in the world at which point they manifest in the fantasy realm at the exact point where they last inhabited it (although time may have passed during their absence). Thus, in the world of FaerieMUD it is a common and accepted occurence for people to suddenly manifest out of nowhere. Just as common (after someone announces they don't believe in the world and people around them) they can sometimes wink out of existence. The faerieMUD residents refer to this phenomenon as "denial." The new player's character is then generated out of random elements with a limited number of experience points to sway the odds.

After a new player begins hallucinating that he is surrounded by a gauzy mist, the voice of his doctor will try to talk him back into the real world. The doctor will try to ask questions about his life to bring him back to reality. The questions will include questions about his childhood and will begin the process of determining ethos. After a while, the new player will notice that the doctor is wearing a robe like those worn by medieval monks. Some of the questions will begin to sound strange. When he asks about race, the monk-doctor will ignore any reference to "human" or "white" or "black," saying "most lost children say something like that at first."

The monk will now explain the characteristics of the various races of FaerieMUD, suggesting that sometimes children who have disbelieved their parents can't "remember" their race. Perhaps it would be better to ask what race they want to be, rather than what race they "remember" being. During the choosing process they will be aware that their bodies are made up of a gauzy white material much like their environment. So they will probably not be too surprised after they've chosen a race when the next question is, "What is your gender?" Additional questions finish out the ethos determination.

Based on Race and Gender, the member of the Order of the Lost Children will provide a list of lost children and the Auspicious Events of their Births, basic Genetic Dispositions, Geographic Location, Family's social class, Legitimacy or Birth-Order, Language and Social Contract of the family.

A returning player may generate a character by either choosing to play the son or daughter of a previous character (in which case the new character will inherit the possessions, genetic makeup, and family heritage of the son or daughter), or by generating one from random elements, which can be influenced by experience points carried over from a previous life (less a fixed number to discourage the suicide express).

Process

Determine Basic Heritage -- Things that are too basic for computer generation; they must be determined by the player (unless they are pre-determined by inheritance):

• Race
• Gender
• Ethos

Family Heritage (may be determined by inheritance)

• Auspicious Events of birth (Astrological Sign/s, soured milk, comets, birthmarks, etc)</li>
• Genetic Disposition (inherited attribute trends)
  • physique: (affects strength, grace, coordination, and magical resistance)
  • creativity: (affects artistic aptitude, grace, magical ability, and magical resistance)
  • intellect: (affects intelligence, coordination, magical ability, and magical resistance)
• Geographic Origin
• Family Social Class
• Legitimacy or Birth-order
• Family's Wealth
• Handedness
• Language

Character Traits

• unary
  • strength (physique)
  • artistic aptitude (creativity)
  • intelligence (intellect)
• binary
  • grace (physique & creativity)
  • constitution (physique & intellect)
  • physical beauty (creativity & physique)
  • empathy (creativity & intellect)
  • manual dexterity (intellect & physique)
  • perceptiveness (intellect & creativity)
• trinary
  • magical resistance (intellect, physique & creativity)
  • magical ability (creativity, intellect & physique)
  • fatigue (physique, creativity & intellect)

Education

• General courses of study

Vital Statistics

• Height
• Weight
• Size
• Appearance
• Mannerisms/Quirks

Character Possessions

Birthright

See Also

• Characters
• Character Traits
• Character Statistics
• ThePattern

— Ged The Greys Hain - 16 May 2000