Character Sheets

[Kylesar1]

I like general info on a CS. However, there are a few things I find completely unnecessary

1. Sexuality- I'm not a big fan of romance, as I find it stagnates the RP. Most RPs don't even feature romance, so it shouldn't even be there
   
2. Height and Weight- Just plain unnecessary. It probably symbolizes thought, but I see no use in making it a requirement. Appearance pics should tell enough
   
3. Strengths and Weaknesses- It has an influence on how other players make their characters. This is especially if you're like me and prefer to have set strengths and weaknesses on a Fantasy Magic System
   • 
     Strengths- If you list your characters strengths, other players will be more inclined to make their character more resistant to those strengths
     
   • Weaknesses- If you list your character's weaknesses, other players will be more inclined to make their characters able to take advantage of those weaknesses
     

Let me just go ahead and say that, unless you REALLY stick to it, personality weaknesses should never be a thing, because they're a real weakness in a struggle

 

[Tipster]

In my honest opinion, character sheets should be the bare bones, the important stuff should be easy to find, and honestly I prefer to keep personality to FOIP. Any "relationships" you have with another character, whether it's all the way from "love interest" to "thinks [x] is reliable" should be in your background. If characters have never met your PC, they aren't going to instantly know their personality, or your entire backstory (unless you play a well renowned or legendary character). They're going to know by how you say and do things.

 

[Jaye]

In my honest opinion, character sheets should be the bare bones, the important stuff should be easy to find, and honestly I prefer to keep personality to FOIP. Any "relationships" you have with another character, whether it's all the way from "love interest" to "thinks [x] is reliable" should be in your background. If characters have never met your PC, they aren't going to instantly know their personality, or your entire backstory (unless you play a well renowned or legendary character). They're going to know by how you say and do things.

See I see what you're saying (and lot's of people seem to say this hence why I'm addressing it) but you're kinda missing the point.


The Character Sheet isn't for the other character's. The Character Sheet is for the GM (if applicable) & for the OOC players. When writing a RP post, any good/appropriate player will almost entirely ignore what they read about the other character's personality and history until it's revealed via RP.


There's a few main reasons why it's generally important to have the personality & backstory in the CS.

1. It let's the GM know if your character actually fits in with the world, and does so believably.
   
2. It gives the GM and/or who's accepting CS's an idea of your level of RP (detailed RPers tend to write Detail-level backstories)
   
3. It let's the GM/etc know that you actually have a solid character concept.
   
4. It gives other OOC players a frame of reference to interpret your IC posts (ie. was that sentence said sarcastically or sincerely? Personality will help reveal that.)
   
5. It gives everyone some context and fodder in which to create plots from. (ie. Chara 1 is a vampire & Chara 2's backstory says that their father is missing. Player 1 can ask Player 2 if they wanted to plot out that Chara 1 is the father or drank from the father, etc).
   

It's just every time I hear "I don't want to write backstory and/or personality in the CS, it should be revealed in the RP" it makes me think that the person saying that is entirely missing the point.

 

[Tipster]

I feel I haven't explained myself properly, I'm not saying BS and Personality shouldn't be part of the character building process.


It's more I've had previous bad experiences with personality and backstory being openly on CSs.


1. I agree, but I feel shouldn't be part of the main CS, it should be a separate document.


2. As above


3. As above


4. A good RPer will involve that in their posts, either through describing their actions, facial expression, tone of voice etc. It's not just about what you say or do, but how you say or do it.


5. If people want to come up with collaborative backstory, that's fantastic. PM each other/me and come up with it.


I've just seen it too often where someone has abused something from someone else's backstory to leverage themselves into someone else's past or force the character to do something. This can sometimes lead to arguments, uncomfortable roleplay (which is ultimately cringeworthy to watch sometimes) and convoluted reasoning.


These may have been a lot of unlucky isolated experiences, but I've found most of it can be circumvented by having Per and BS in another place.


I'm not saying get rid of it altogether, but I feel a character sheet is a quick reference of what an average hoe (in setting) should know about you from looking at you and your "stats" or "skill descriptions", if applicable. Deep and intensive stuff should be separate.