Character Creation Guide

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Expanding Horizons

Characters

Character Creation Guide

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• Character Sheet Template
• Influence System
• Character Creation FAQ
• Design Guide

[Circ]

Expanding Horizons

Characters

Character Sheet Template

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Once you've written up your character profile, submit it as a new thread in the Character Submissions subforum. Your character's name should be the thread title. Once there, it will await moderator approval. The moderator will notify you when your character is approved or whether you need to make modifications. Once the character is approved the thread will be locked.

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Required fields are highlighted in yellow.
Recommended fields are highlighted in blue.
Optional fields are not highlighted.

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Character Name

Name:
Title:

Influence: # (term); The extent to which your character influences their environment. Refer to the Influence System below.

Group(s): Any approved groups your character is a member of.

Description: Tell us about your character's appearance or personality. This may may include any or all of the fields below.

Height:
Weight:
Age:
Race/Species:
Appearance:
Personality:

Abilities, Talents, Traits, Powers: Include this section if your character has any unique or significant abilities, talents, traits, or powers. If not, omit it.

• ^{( influence # )} Ability 1 Name -- ability 1 description. Abilities are optional, but if you have any, include the influence #, name, and description.

Items: Include this section if your character has any unique or significant items. If not, omit it.

• ^{( influence # )} Item 1 Name -- item 1 description. Items are optional, but if you have any, include influence #, name, and description.

Background: Tell us about your character's past, goals, or anything else you feel we should know about them.

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Expanding Horizons

Characters

Influence System

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Influence is a broad term that isn't merely an indicator of power level but tries to encompass the ability of a character to direct the plot, perhaps via some combination of honed talents, accumulated wealth, access to equipment, magical acumen, or political pull. It attempts to be cognizant of the fact that a mere mortal in command of a powerful army can alter the destiny of whole worlds. Not everything will fit neatly into it, so don't worry about your character submission being perfect. It is meant to be an aid and a fuzzy indicator rather than a precise rule.

At the moment, we are limiting player influence to 5 (global). However, through roleplay, you'll be able to submit your character (with links to threads where you feel they have matured) for review and potentially have them amped up to the next sphere of influence. Note that this is entirely at the discretion of the staff handling the review and may take into account factors beyond your personal talent and ability.

Include this on your profile for:

• Your overall character
• Each item, ability, or other feature to which directly impacts the character's influence.

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Low

• 1 (self) – a person; not particularly special; no magic; mundane.

• 2 (local) – exceptionally talented in a particular area, such as gymnastics, sniping, persuasion, hacking, slight-of-hand, extra-sensory projection, sensing magic or minor cantrips, unusual luck. Power comes at a great cost, often draining large quantities of the practitioner's lifeforce.
  
  
  Ex Sp: detect magic, stabilize, ghost noises, prestidigitation.
  Ex Eq: assault rifle, flame thrower, sword and board.

• 3 (regional) – physically or cognitively augmented; able to cast weak spells, although not reliably; skills pushed beyond the limits of mere talent and practice; noteworthy in their field. Power is a dangerous thing to strive for, usually acquire by sacrificing personal autonomy or one's fate to the will of another. The weak who strive too far in their quest for might inevitably perish.
  
  
  Ex Sp: phantom image, cure poison, cure light wounds, glitterdust, obscuring mist, levitation, telepathy.
  Ex Eq: missile launcher, attack drone, exoskeleton, x-ray vision.

Medium

• 4 (national) – prominent in their field as someone whose talents defy reason, this is where magic begins to manifest as something beyond mere illusion into something potentially dangerous, mental tasks are almost of a psychic nature, and the expense of technology elevates it beyond the reach of all but a few. Power is a dangerous and uncertain thing, and the more the wielder acquires the less reliable and more a burden it becomes.
  
  
  Ex Sp: fireball, resuscitate, invisibility.
  Ex Eq: light saber, interplanetary shuttle, brain upload/backup.

• 5 (global) – untouchable by the proletariat, yet still unworthy of worship; few challenge beings of this magnitude. They may have weapons or spells that can level towns and their intrigues shape governments to their will. Power is costly, but those who wield it choose the medium of exchange -- the clever ones to their benefit, those less so to their demise.
  
  
  Ex Sp: telekinesis of large objects, energy blasts, temporary resurrection, supersonic speed.
  Ex Eq: multiple city-destroying ICBMs; combat vessels such as spacecraft, borers, or mobile fortresses; cloning bays.

High

• 6 (planetary) – this being may as well be a god to those lesser than it, such is its might and knowledge, but its influence is limited by time and space to a handful of worlds.
  
  
  Ex Sp: true resurrection, meteor shower, tsunami, tornado, matter/energy absorption/manipulation.
  Ex Eq: multiple planet-destroying IPBM (interplanetary ballistic missile), terraforming spaceship, colonization ship, fast-as-light travel.

• 7 (celestial)
  
  
  Ex Eq: faster-than-light travel.

• 8 (cosmic)

Ultimate

• 9 (universal)
• 10 (multiversal)

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Expanding Horizons

Characters

Character Creation FAQ

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Q : Who are the mods I should contact regarding my character sheet?
A : @Circ

Q : How do I submit a character?
A : You create a new thread in the Character Submissions subforum. Set the title to your character's name.

Q : Is there a format I need to use?
A : Refer to the Character Sheet Template and Influence System.

Q : When can I start playing?
A : When your character is approved and your character thread is locked.

Q : Can I make changes to my character after it is approved?
A : If you wish to modify your character sheet, contact a member of the staff so they can unlock the thread. Once you're done making your changes, let staff know and it will go back through the approval process.

Q : What is Influence in Expanding Horizons?
A : Refer to the Influence System.

Q : Do I have to submit a new character sheet for each character I make in Expanding Horizons?
A : Yes.

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Expanding Horizons

Characters

Design Guide

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With literally infinite possibilities for characters, only limited by imaginations, there might sometimes be confusion in terms of how to craft a character that will be deemed acceptable within the present constraints of the environment. With that in mind, here are some examples of very general character archetypes.

• Jack: dabbles in a little bit of everything, but is a master of none. He has a slew of abilities, some magical, some technological, some the development of mind and body. However, because of the lack of focus, he failed to reach his full potential in any given one. As such, his overall Influence might be a 4, but individually abilities and equipment don't rise higher than a 3.

• Jane: focuses on her strengths, sometimes even to the detriment of things the average person takes for granted. Her familiarity and practice with telekinesis means she can levitate her body, assemble Ikea furniture without lifting a finger, and guide planes into mountains. However, her near-constant training in this area has left her body weak and she knows very little about technology or other forms of magic. Her Influence is also level 4, and almost all her telekinetic abilities are 4, but nothing else rises above a 2.

The whole point is to create a balanced character. If a character is a master of everything, while its constituent parts never rise above a 4 the synergy of the whole will potentially exceed the limit. That point of excessive synergy is where those submitting characters and those reviewing them will have disagreements, but so long as people remain within the spirit of the rules everyone should find an happy balance.