Questions you may have about writing a bio.

[zan Aspera]

Q> Why do we ask people to write up dosiers for thier character?  

A>    Because it helps make a good story.  If your character has a consistant and understandable personality, your Directors and fellow Actors can have a better idea of what their reactions wil be and thus better be able to fit your character into a storyline in a way that makes sense for the storyline and for your character.

Q> How detailed do you expect my character to be?

A>  At first, simply providing an appropriate name (Screen names and Second Life names are seldom appropriate), an animal species, a Star Trek species, and a few words to describe your character's personality.
   
   As you play more or take more time to think about your character, you should discover additional depths of their personality and want to develop that further You may want to use a template to help inspire you and give ideas of what your character may need.  We have a  Bio Discussion Thread, that covers possible Bio Templates as well as the good and bad of individual templates as well as templates in general.

[Doomsponge]

Q: Can I play more than one character?

A: In a forum-based setting, it's far easier to play multiple characters, since the problem in SL or other media is that you can only be in one avatar in one place at one time. We ask, though, that each person only plays one 'senior officer' position.

Q: What happens if I find my character's personality ends up differing from their bio?

A: I'm sure we've all had it happen, where you write up a character ,start playing them and they develop a life of their own contrary to the personality notes you've written. If a character's personality ends up considerably differing from what was intended, simply go in and change the bio. Of course, it pays to do that once the character's personality asserts itself, and remember Rule Seven (Don't take the piss)

Q: I want to play a character that can [ability]!

A: Speak to a director- that's Aspera or myself or one of the others What Am In Charge. We prefer characters to have abilities that are sensible and well thought out, and try to keep them consistent with our (rather nebulous) laws of biology. Remember, also, that roleplaying skill does come into our responses, and fits of hstrionics will result in greatly, greatly reduced chances of your character being able to be unusual in any way, shape or form.

Q: There isn't a race that I think fits my character.

A: Make one up then! Again, the most important rule is Be Sensible. A well crafted, intriguing but not overly important (from a state of galactic affairs, you'll get more kudos for a small resource-rich world that joined the Federation in 2312 and has a history of border skirmishes with the Klingons than a world which defeated a major interstellar power all on its own without any help, then somehow joined the Federation just because) world will get a god chance of being accepted. Remember though that worlds are considered communal property here; if you create and use one, then we request that you allow others to.

Q: Can I use elements from other sci-fi TV shows or books or such?

A: Almost certainly no. Although Britain has, as of the 2001 census, 368,000 Jedi, none of them are actually Jedi, now, are they? We politely request that people avoid being races, religions, technological elements or other such items from other continuities for universe cohesiveness purposes. With the exception, of course, of Lary Niven's Kzinti (although as an enemy of the Federation on the other side of the quadrant to Deliverance's posting, you probably won't get far writing one up)

Q: Is it possible for me to play an ex-borg?

A: In Deliverance's timeline, the Borg collective was dissolved in 2381 (due to the events of the Destiny novel trilogy). Any drones at the time were absolrbed into the Caeliar gestalt, which then (conveniently!) buggered off into a higher plane of existence (probably to mess about with V'ger). In our group timeline, only two ex-drones (as in, a drone longer than five minutes) exist in the Federation (and if you can't name them both, naughty!). To be honest, the group's founders felt that the Borg had become a little stale and over-used in Star Trek RPGs, so we've had a general 'No Borg' policy in effect. Since the semicanon timeline agreees with it...

Q: Can my Character have served on the Enterprise/Voyager/DS9 during their series?

A: Although we'd like to see characters over 30, we tend to avoid referring too heavily to canon Trek elements beyond the universal rudiments- timeline, technology, the events occuring in the series etc. Rather than have your character serve under Picard like half of Starfleet (it would seem), have them serve three years on a beta quadrant mission on the Potemkin, or a staationing at Starbase 11, or a semi-classified wartime mission or such. Flesh out the universe.Space is big, there's a lot that can happen in it off-screen.

Q: I'd like to play a human.

A: You're in the wrong RPG, sorry.