Application Rubric

Character applications will be checked for: thematic consistency, internal consistency, and sufficient depth and detail.

Thematic Consistency

• Names: Virtually any real-world name is acceptable. Most "fantasy-style" names are also acceptable. This includes names borrowed from or inspired by sources such as books, movies, etc., provided the character is not a clear and blatant copy of their source. Istrian and Kalmarian characters are required to follow the surname conventions of their nation's culture. Characters from the fringes (e.g. mountains), or from other nations, may use different conventions (but any two from the same place must use the same convention, as determined by whomever set the precedent).

• Magic: Any magical powers or effects which are not rooted in glyphs or taint are not allowed. Beliefs such as shamanism/animism are allowed outside of the mainstream cultures (e.g. in the mountains), but they have no associated powers (and a relatively small following).
  • Glyphic magic is the most flexible form; it can encompass everything from elemental manipulation to curses, and there are people out there who have been cursed by irate mages. In theory, glyphs encompass as many possibilities as any other spell-casting medium you can name. (In practice, the possibilities are limited by a mage's knowledge of glyphs and the ability to cast them successfully. Things like curses require a very accomplished mage to make them work, and so are rare.)
  • Taint is strictly limited to physical/psychological modifications, and goes no further. There are no tainted shapeshifters, for example (while there might be spell-cursed ones). Also, taint is usually inborn; it does not change over time unless a character travels south into more heavily tainted regions, which very few characters do. Thus, those tainted do not manifest at puberty or otherwise later in life, like many powered characters of other themes.
  • Taint is EITHER latent, physical, or psychological at any level below 3. It is never both physical and psychological in manifestation except for levels 3 and 4.
  • Anyone who wants a character of level 3 or 4, whether mage or tainted, must clear it with the admin before applying, and have their level changed appropriately after @requesting the character.

Internal Consistency

• Abilities: The glyphic expertise, or modifications due to taint, of a character must be consistent with that character's level, as stated in the respective wiki pages. Any other skills or abilities listed in +abil need to be consistent with the character's described background; there must be some reference when and how they were acquired.

• Sheet: Stats must be consistent with the character's heritage level and their background. Everything below refers to both stats and skills, even though only "stats" are mentioned.
  • Most characters will not have any base stats above 1 unless they are a) At least level 2 in their heritage or b) Highly trained in a profession which would affect a base stat (e.g. combat-oriented professions give raises in str or con). Anyone under level 3 is not likely to have more than one single stat at 2.
  • For characters of level 2 or less: If a base stat has a value of 2, no positive modifiers (gifts) may be added to it.
  • Very, very few characters should have any modifiers which, when added to the base value, yield a number greater than 3. Any character which does should be of level 4 heritage. Characters of less than level 3 heritage should not have more than one modifier and stat pair whose sum is 3.
  • Sheets are not required to be "balanced" as such; there is no requirement to have an equal number of gifts and flaws, or for the sum of a character's stats to be zero (or any other number). However, there should be some sort of flaw or weakness to any character, even if just average or below-average susceptibility to spells. Hunters have a greater proportion of strengths than most chars by their very nature (high physical ability and strong willpower), but should all have at least something resembling a "bloodlust" flaw.

Depth and Detail

• Length: Backgrounds must be long enough to describe how a character got to their present position and obtained their present skillset. This could be a couple of paragraphs highlighting their adult life, or it could be several pages of detail. If there are any major holes or inconsistencies, then it needs revision; length alone is not a critical factor. This is equally true for the ability and personality descriptions.

• Mages: Mage characters do not need to list every spell their character knows; the list of basic glyphs is quite large and will probably be built up on the wiki over time. Graduated mages (level 2 and higher) must give their character's focus/area of expertise, which will usually be reflected in at least one gift on their sheet. They also need to define the character's power level, either by an example from which capability can be inferred, or by describing the character's capabilities and limitations in decent detail; heritage level alone does not fully capture any single character's ability, it just offers a relative ranking.

• Tainted: Tainted characters must describe how their character differs from normal humans. They must also specify what advantages and disadvantages this confers upon the character.

• Sheet: Anything listed in the sheet must be justified by the background. This is especially true for gifts, flaws, and skill levels. Solitary stat increases (to 1) are permissible as indicators of "natural ability" (as opposed to training), but gifts are preferred in most cases, because they are more specific to the circumstances. This especially can cause the number of gifts in a sheet to be high, but that is typically more acceptable than high base stats in a low-level character.