Chapter 0 - Character Creation

Hey, thanks for having me!

I've been thinking a bit about character stuff. I think I'll stick with the concept I proposed in the recruitment thread. I also saw Light has been invited (Hey, Light!) and looking at her suggestions in the thread, I could imagine a fun dynamic with the first idea. Maybe if your character is struggling with parental expectations and feels like they're disappointing their parents, it could be fun for one of your parents to be my character's anchor, just to kind of rub it in. We'd have to figure out the details of course, and only if that's the general concept you're going with. Just a thought I had.

Aug 28, 2023 12:17 pm

LightOfMidnight did you have any thoughts on the Swedish loop vs the US loop? Bowlofspinach was leaning towards the Swedish loop and Dr_B didn't have a preference in the recruitment thread.

Aug 28, 2023 12:19 pm

Here is the character generation info for reference. And always, please don't hesitate to ask questions!

1. Choose your Type.
2. Decide your age, from 10 to 15 years.
3. Distribute a number of points equal to your age in the four attributes, 1 to 5 points in each.
4. Determine your number of Luck Points, equal to 15 minus your age.
5. Distribute 10 points in skills. You may take up to level 3 in the three key skills of your Type. For other skills, a starting skill level of 1 is the maximum.
6. Pick an Iconic Item.
7. Pick a Problem.
8. Pick a Drive.
9. Pick a Pride.
10. Define your Relationships to the other Kids and to the NPCs.
11. Select an Anchor.
12. Name your Kid.
13. Write a short description.
14. Choose your favorite song.

DO THIS TOGETHER:
15. Define the group’s Hideout.
16. Answer the Gamemaster’s questions.

Aug 28, 2023 1:33 pm

Thanks for the invite!
Will get to work on the character and share ideas here.

Aug 28, 2023 5:39 pm

@bowlofspinach,@LightOfMidnight are you both playing female characters? If so I might too, and we could have an all-girls gang?

Also, would it make sense to set on approximately the same age, so they can be in the same school and class?

@SpiritualSock511 aside from the pending US/Sweden decision, the time is 1980s, right?

Last edited August 28, 2023 5:41 pm

bowlofspinach

Aug 28, 2023 5:51 pm

I'm definitely planning on a girl. For age, I was thinking ~13, but I'm flexible there, though I don't feel like going too young.

Aug 28, 2023 6:06 pm

@Dr_B That’s right. The 1980s that never was, so there’s some flexibility when it comes to technology and events.

LightOfMidnight

Aug 28, 2023 6:36 pm

Definitely a girl. Was thinking 14ish, but happy to raise/lower that to match the others.

Aug 28, 2023 7:20 pm

Thanks all, I'll make mine a girl of 13 , so they can be peers and we can have an all-girls setup, which should be very fun.

Aug 28, 2023 10:21 pm

OK this is what I got so far:

[ +- ] Tanya

(surname and other details to be defined once we know if it is a US setting or a Swedish one)

Aug 28, 2023 10:48 pm

Where did you get the portrait for your character? Did you use AI?

Aug 28, 2023 11:02 pm

I searched google images. I think it is AI-generated, but not with my prompt...

Aug 29, 2023 2:15 pm

Group Question

Would you prefer the adventure text to take place in a single thread or in individual threads?

One of the unique aspects of play-by-post is that individual scenes can be played out simultaneously. Would you prefer everything to take place in a single thread, where you can see everything that is going on even if your character is not present? Or would you prefer to play out scenes individually? I would probably create separate threads for different locations, and make it clear when a character leaves or enters an area. I can see advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

Please let me know which approach you prefer, and why.

Aug 29, 2023 4:26 pm

for me, the simpler/easier to follow, the better.

I would suggest keeping everything in the same thread, with clear headers for changes of locations within the same thread ('meanwhile, at the library...' - style headers). That for me helps the chronology of the story to evolve clearly, and gives the ability to the GM to pause one strand to go back to another, with the players getting a clear sense of what is happening when (some sort of timing control).
What is useful, though, is to split the playing thread into shorter chapters at relevant narrative points. This makes it easier to retrieve bits of informations in a thread, compared to searching a long massive chapter.

Multiple contemporary threads can get 'off sync' with each other, in my experience, potentially generating confusion on what happened before or after.

My two pennies! thoughts?

bowlofspinach

Aug 29, 2023 5:42 pm

I agree with B on this. That's my preference as well.

Aug 29, 2023 5:55 pm

That works for me. Thanks for the input.

@Dr_B What is your recommendation for splitting the playing thread into shorter chapters? Would that be a clear header in a post that is easy to visually pick out?

Aug 29, 2023 5:59 pm

Chapter 0 - Character Creation

you simply close (lock) the old chapter thread, and start a new chapter thread, like this:

in this example, there was always a single playing thread active, so the chronology was kept easily synced. Locking the previous chapters also ensures that players will not post there by mistake, seems to work well.

Last edited August 29, 2023 6:04 pm

LightOfMidnight

Aug 29, 2023 7:59 pm

Agree with the others.

Working on character. Were we thinking we are all friends, or just in same class/group project? If former sounds like it might be a little bit of 'odd ones gathering together.'