RPS Characters
From RPSWiki
An RPS Character is a representation of a fictional entity played by a user in a role play environment. Every avatar playing within an RPS environment will have a 'character'. A portion of this character will be represented with the RPS HUD, which can also be referred to as a 'character sheet' (or statistical representation of a character, indicating strengths, weaknesses, skills, and abilities with numbers and interactive capabilities).
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Scope of Character
An RPS Character is not so much tied to your Second Life avatar as it is tied to the RPS Environment in which your avatar is playing. If you create a character in an environment, your avatar will always 'be' that character whenever you enter the environment, but when you leave the environment, you leave that character behind until you return. If you enter a new RPS Environment, you can create another character that will be local to that environment. In that sense, you are able to have a multitude of different 'characters' amid a variety of environments on a single avatar.
You do not need to worry about 'loading' one character in one environment and another in a different environment, RPS recognizes independent environments and loads each automatically by virtue of entering the environment and wearing your RPS HUD. If you do not have a character in an environment, or the region you enter is not part of an RPS Environment, your HUD will load up in -GLOBAL- Mode, indicating that you are represented as a generic character with limited capability.
Character Types
When you enter a new RPS Environment, you will be presented with at least one, and usually several, options in character creation. These options allow you to create one of several types of character based off what RPS calls a Character Template. Character Templates may be anything from a selection of races to a selection of professions to a selection of social classes - or anything else the environment administrators have setup.
It is important to understand that the character types available, and the advantages and weaknesses each have, are completely customized and unique to each RPS Environment. If you join a medieval fantasy area and choose to be an Elf, that character may end up with a completely different set of basic abilities and disadvantages than choosing an Elf in a different medieval fantasy area. In fact, the very concept of Elf between the two environment owners might be totally different! Remember that each environment is a totally unique game environment unto its own - built by its environment owners and administrators - and that the only guaranteed similarity is the actual 'character sheet system' (RPS) used among them. The capability of RPS to allow for such creative variety among its many environments is one of the primary strengths of the system.
Creating a New Character
When you enter a new RPS Environment, one of your first tasks will be to create a new character. Before you create a new character, you will want to get a general idea of what the environment is like. What is the technology level? What character types are available? Who are the major groups/factions in the area? And finally ... how would you like to fit your own character into the role play setting presented by the environment?
Once you've determined how to fit your character into the environment, you will need to choose one of the available Character Templates by touching the relevant template selection board. You will be asked to confirm your choice, and then your RPS HUD will transition itself into character creation mode. If you are not wearing your RPS HUD when you choose your character type, simply wear your RPS HUD at this point and it will automatically transition itself into character creation mode.
In character creation mode, you will be asked ten questions. These questions are meant to gather a general concept of how you envision your character, and will adjust your initial stats accordingly. When the questions are complete, you will be congratulated for reaching level 1 and your RPS HUD will transition from creation mode to role play mode. At this point you may enter the main role play area and begin your role play experience or, if you wish, you may spend Myth on Skills to further customize and build your character.
If you already have a character in an environment and desire to create a new/different character, you will need to first delete your old character, and then go through the character creation process for your new character.
Managing a Character
Once you've completed the character creation process, you are never again required to do anything at all with your character sheet (RPS HUD). However, most players will want to, over time, spend earned Myth to gain Skills, adjust their Stats, and/or manage their character description, abilities, weaknesses, and maybe even their profile picture.
While spending Myth on Skills is an action that can be completed in world using the natural capabilities of the RPS HUD, you must login to the Main RPS Website in order to update your character's official description, abilities, weaknesses, and profile picture. The details of how to do so are relayed on the Player Website Options page of this Wiki. It is important to note that anytime you update the abilities or weaknesses of your character, its status automatically reverts to 'Pending' - as in pending approval from administrators. This status does not prevent you from playing your character, but is rather a visual indication to other players that some of your 'non-meter' (role played only) abilities and/or weaknesses may not be approved. Every environment handles these situations differently and it is recommended that you speak with your environment administrators if you wish to detail non-meter type abilities and/or weaknesses for your character.
Deleting a Character
If you wish to delete your character in any RPS Environment, simply visit that environment, touch the 'Settings' button on your RPS HUD, and select the 'NewChar' option. This option will delete your current character and completely remove its record from any and all RPS databases. In other words - there is no going back. Once you delete your character, we will have no ability to retrieve it - the action is absolutely, 100% permanent.
The reason the button is labeled 'NewChar' is because it is the first stage in creating a new character should you already have an active character in an environment and wish to change. If you then wish to continue by creating a new character, you would start the character creation process in that environment as if you were a brand new arrival (and because your old character record has been completely expunged from the system, you basically are).
Number of Characters Permitted
RPS permits the creation of an unlimited number of characters - with one restriction. Each avatar is permitted only one active character per environment. In that sense, if there were fifteen RPS Environments, your limit in number of characters for a single avatar would also be fifteen (as at that point you would have a character in each and every available environment).
RPS does not support and does not plan to support the concept of multiple simultaneous characters within a single environment on a single avatar. We heavily encourage those who wish to play multiple simultaneous characters to use multiple Second Life avatars when doing so. Our reasons are many and varied, but all boil down to the fact that it is often extremely confusing to others with whom you interact and detrimental to the role play environment in general if you are attempting to play the role of many characters simultaneously while using only one avatar to represent all of them.
