Before Applying for an Original Character, Read This First

[GrimJack]

A couple quick points concerning Original Characters


• I know we all want to have the perfect protagonist but the best characters to role-play are the ones with both strengths and flaws. Remember nobody is a gunslinger/doctor/pilot/mechanic/explosives expert :)
  
  
• In an effort to keep the Big Damn Verse's Original Characters...well original, please don't involve them in the back story of any Canon characters without the permission of both the Admins and the player of the Canon character in question (if applicable). We don't want Wash's sister, Rinse, or Jayne's twin brother, Merry.
  
  
• Please remember that if you write something into your characters history/background, it becomes canon for this site. The Admin Team will gladly work with you on character histories that may conflict with the stories already existing at the BDV.
  
  
• We reserve the right to reject applications for characters that we deem too powerful for regular play. River-type characters, Blue Hands and Operatives, for example, must be Admin Controled NPCs.
  
  
• If you have any parts of your Original Character's history that you want to keep secret from the rest of your fellow role-players, PM or E-mail the information to one of the Admins or the Moderator of your OC's forum.
  
  
• Please do not use the Serenity RPG Guide as a guideline for your character creation. We do not use it here. In fact, you'd do best to throw it out the window. You're in a whole new Universe now. The BigDamnVerse has it's own canon and rules built up over years of successful play. Rather than use titles and descriptions from the Handbook to define your character in your application, explain to us what and why your character is, and how they came to be that way.
  
  
• Note: Introduction at a later date of plot-relevent elements NOT included in your application (or in the secret history submitted to Admin team) may result in suspension of your character until elements are resolved.

Admin rant over...Now go make a Big Damn Hero ;)

[Ertia]

Just a reminder on why we need Real Actor Representations for characters. Please use actors/actress with good visual representation. No cartoons, hand-drawn sketches, eloui dollmaker etc. :)

Thanks, gang!.

REASONS:

1. Using an actual actor representation lends an element of reality to the BigDamnVerse. For that reason, prefer to have a 'real face' to the characters. hand-drawn/Animated/Avatar-maker/Eloui Dollmaker/etc, tends to lend itself to "cartoon", not reality.

2. Artist representations are static- One pose, one expression, one face. With a live actor/model representation the image work (credits videos, sigs, etc) can better reflect a living breathing character.

3. Artist representations, unless they are drawn yourself for your own characters tend to have copyright issues attached to them. We are a non-profit/for fun site. Most actors/models have public images that can be used under fair-use, or can be screen-captured from their work, and properly credited to avoid these kinds of hassles.

[Ertia]

NAMING PROTOCOL

It can be very hard to keep track of who is playing who, and what characters are where.
ALL of the threads of the BigDamnVerse are part of the same integrated over-arching storyline- Every Ship, Every Moon, Every Planet.

We ask, therefore, that before naming your character, you take a quick look around at the active characters and NOT duplicate names if you can at all help it.


There are a handful of names that are FORBIDDEN to reuse. These are the names of the base original characters that the BigDamnVerse was build on, and may not be re-used in any form, no matter how long the character has been inactive.

Gwyneth Paul (Gwen)
Round Jack Brannigan
Synthia Lyndon Heller
Marcus Deckard
Reverend Willamore
Rique
Jax Malone
Karlov
Damian Malone
Shanti (Shantassa Lan)
Marlowe
Anselm Voshner