Dear Prospective Member,

Welcome to Sanctum Academy! We are honored that you have taken an interest into our site, and we look forward to having you here. Your contributions to the academy and story will make our site that much better. However, before you can apply your character, it is mandatory that you follow and perform the following steps. These steps are for your benefit and should take only 10 minutes of your time. Following this tutorial will help you save time during the application process, as well as our time, and give you a better understanding of the mysterious story surrounding Sanctum Academy. Cheerio!

~ The Sanctum Academy Staff


1) Read the following documents:
• Board Rules and Regulations
• Story
• Exorcists and the Rites
• School Rules and Regulations
• Demonology



2) Use the following application layout for your student character:
• Student Application

Use the following application layout for your school instructor character:
[FOR MODS AND ADMINS ONLY]
• Faculty Application


3) In accordance with the layout requirements, fill in your character profile. Be as specific as possible. Also, take note of the following guidelines for developing your character:

• Keep it realistic and fair. Even though the story has fantasy elements, there is a boundary between what is "realistic" and what is "improbable."

For example: Your character is the perfect representation of beauty. He or she has no blemishes and has a perfect figure and complexion.

This is unrealistic and unfair. No one can be that aesthetically perfect. This is not to say you have to have an ugly character. It means don't go overboard and act like your character is perfect in any way. This includes skills, talents, etc.

• Keep it within the time period and story. The time period is not dissimilar to that of the early Victorian era (1800-1850). If you are not familiar with that era, research it. Also, please keep in account the story behind the board. There are demons, and there are exorcists who try to stop them. There may be more leeway for other fantastical elements, but try to keep it as close as possible to the story. We will not be afraid to tell you to redo your personal history for your character if it is not in accordance.

• Keep it human. As stated before, no one is perfect. Everyone has their quirks and drawbacks to them. The best roleplayers are those who know how to incorporate human weakness into their characters. This gives a sense of a more believable and intriguing character. Also, literally, do keep your characters human. No hybrids or other nonhuman types.

There may be some exceptions to your character. However, these exceptions are related to the story and are done with the purpose of enhancing the story and roleplay of the board. These exceptions can only be made with an administrator prior to the development of your character.

• Look at other approved character profiles and storyline topics. They had gone through the process, and the fact that they are approved means that they fulfill the expectations of the board. Some may have done the very thing you are trying to do with yours, and it ended up that that was not appropriate and needed to be changed. Look out for these. Also, looking at other storyline topics is a great way to get a better feel for the board and see what to expect.

• You may give your character an innate or learned skill in only one rites class. This means that your character can actually perform rites before coming to the academy, but this is only limited to one class (i.e. purifying, anointing, etc.). This is only an option, as your character may arrive with no knowledge of the rites.

When you do choose one rites class, be sure to detail in the history how the character came about to learning or discovering its use. Note that there is no specific section for you to describe your characters innate or learned skills. This is because a rites class is rather general, and we do not want to limit you to only a few particular rites. The maximum skill aptitude of that particular rites class is novice intermediate. You cannot say that your character knows how to perform everything in that particular rites class and do so with great powerful. You may say that your character can perform some or one of its functions, and can do so with a moderate degree of skill. As a side note, experienced exorcists, such as the instructors, can outdo a student's first ranking rites class with the same one as their sixth ranking or above, and even lower in some instances. Remember, your character is a novice and is going to school to learn. More advanced techniques may be learned throughout your character's duration in Sanctum Academy.

[FOR MEMBERS WITH A POST COUNT AT 100 OR GREATER]
For your character, you may have innate or learned skills for up to three different rites classes. The maximum skill aptitude of your first ranking is intermediate (a step up from novice intermediate). The rest can only go up to novice intermediate.


4) Rank your character's aptitude for each individual rites class under the Aptitude Hierarchy of Rites. This hierarchy decides what comes easily for your character to perform, and what does not. The ones on the top will be your character's strongest rites, while the ones on the bottom are the weakest, or even absent. Your first one should be your character's innate or learned rites class. The rest are unlearned, but will be learned as your character progresses in their studies at Sanctum Academy. Note that your higher ranking rites will always be stronger than your lower ranking rites. So please take careful note to how you rank them, because you cannot change them after your character is approved.


You're done with this tutorial now! You may now proceed to developing your character profile. Have fun!