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Or HOW TO CREATE ADDITIONAL PLAYER CHARACTERS
in ALT.STARFLEET.RPG:
I) What is a *second* character?
'Second character' is the term used in alt.starfleet.rpg for any additional
player characters (not non-player characters) beyond the first one you
took through ALB training.
II) What are the differences among 'primary
character,' 'second character,' and 'non-player character?' What sorts
of NPCs exist and how are they treated?
Well, these differences fall into two categories: administrative and
role playing ramifications. In general:
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Your primary player character is the one you took
through ALB. Sometimes people retire their primary characters. In
that case, their highest ranking characters are their primary characters.
This is only important because you only have to go through ALB once.
All other characters do *not* go through training at Armstrong Lunar
Base. That training is for the benefit of the player (to make sure
you know how to play the game) and really doesn't affect the character.
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Second characters are additional player characters
created after you have made it through ALB and have been playing on
a ship. They have all the rights, opportunities for advancement, etc.
as yourprimary player character.
At present, most (ninety-five percent) of our player characters are
commissioned officers in Star Fleet. A very few civilians, some cadets,
a few warrant officers, and the occasional high-ranking non-commissioned
officer have this designation. However, that requires the consent
of either the Chief of Star Fleet Operations (CSFO) or your fleet
commander.
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Non-player characters fall into two categories:
generic and protected. The differences are as follows:
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Generic Non-player characters are NPCs. They belong
communually to the ship, station, or starbase where they are played.
They may be used or abused by all writers unless the CO dictates
otherwise.
-
Protected/registered/special NPCs are non-player
characters created in a certain environment (usually a ship or starbase)
as part of a long term thread. They belong to the person who created
them and are not to be abused. Most often, they are junior officers,
warrant officers, or high ranking non-commissioned officers.
At one point these characters were referred to as
'secondary' characters. However, since that is easily confused with
'second' character, the nomenclature changed.
The salient point remains that if you really like a NPC, please register
him with your unit commanding officer so that no one is permitted to
abuse him without your consent. This saves everyone a lot of trouble
down the line.
III) May I make my favorite NPC a second character?
As long as you abide by the rule that permits only one player character
per person per ship (deep space stations and starbases are different)
then you are welcome to develop a full bio for your favorite NPC and
have him assigned to another rp unit. In fact, some of the better player
characters in ASR came into existence this way.
IV) How many "secondary characters"
can I play?
In practice, we have found that trying to play more
than three characters is very time consuming. We strongly encourage
that you make sure that you can focus enough time and energy to your
existing characters before considering creating more. We also highly
recommend a limit of three characters per player.
V) I've heard the term, 'admin
character.' What is that?
"Admin" is short for "administrative" or "administration", and refers
in ASR to all the business of the group that goes on beyond the individual
RP Units (Starships, etc.). Admin characters are characters used to
flesh out these administrative functions for the benefit of Unit RP.
All flag officers (Admirals) are admin characters, save the occasional
*breveted* commodore.. The executive assistants to the various Admirals
and the Staff departmental officers are also admin characters though
they are of lesser rank. If you hear character names or story lines
attached to CINCSF, CSFO, or a CINCFLEET, those are admin characters
in action. If you have need to create an administrative character, you
will be so informed. Rules do apply to them but are not within the scope
of this FAQ.
VI) What are free thread characters?
Those are characters created for free threads. Direct all questions
about them to the CINCSF and CSFO. Currently, the free threads are not
active in ASR, but any interest should be directed to the Flag Council,
as they can always be reformed should sufficient interest exist.
VII) How do I create a *second* character?
Second characters fall into two categories:
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Solicited second characters: This means that a commanding
officer, or a higher ranking admin player, comes to you and asks you
to create a second character for his ship, fleet, or unit. That CO
or admin player is responsible for making sure that your commanding
officer(s) are notified of the creation of the character.
Solicited second characters are common to fill command slots on ships
or to provide a permanent department head position on an established
RP Unit. They are almost always created at a given rank (or rank range)
desired by the commanding officer in question.
Moreover, the commanding officer who solicits the character is the
one who approves the content of the character's bio. Either he or
his fleet commander may require revisions if they believe the character
is unsuited to the position for which he was solicited.
They *may* be promoted and moved on to additional billets. However,
most stay on the RP Unit for which they were solicitied.
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Unsolicited second characters: This means that you
want to create another character for ASR but don't have a billet in
mind yet. The rules are the following:
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Your commanding officer(s) must approve the creation
of the second character, and must agree that you are contributing
to your current billet. The CSFO (or CINCSF) may override this requirement
if he/she rules that non-contribution in a current billet is not
the fault of the player.
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You must create a character whose rank does not
exceed your highest ranking current PC by more than two grades.
This does *not* apply to solicited second characters per above.
For example, if your highest ranking PC is an ensign,
you may not create a character ranking higher than full lieutenant.
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You must submit a bio to the Chief of Star Fleet
Operations and report to the CSFO's office on SB ALPHA. You will
then be assigned to a fleet and eventually a ship or space station.
VIII) Can the Chief of Star
Fleet Operations refuse to assign my character or make me change my
bio?
YES. Just as the personnel officer at ALB can make you change the bio
of your primary player character, the Chief of Star Fleet Operations
can compel you to make changes in the bio of your additionalcharacters
before assignment. In rare cases, the CSFO can refuse a character outright.
Why? This is to make sure that we don't have disruptive characters assigned
to ships. Disruptive includes things like active connections to the
mafia/underworld and/or rival intelligence communities, extraordinary
offensive psionic capability, "hard" immortality (Q like beings), felony
criminal records, training as an assassin, etc. These are precisely
the same things that would cause MUSH/MOO wizards to refuse to approve
you and are generally not conducive to good role play.
The CSFO also looks closely special "red flags." These include enlisted
service experience (mustang or fleet appointments), special operations
training, marine/naval commensurate commissions, awards/medals/decorations
unexpected at current ranks, unexplained leaves of absence, obscure
racial origins, shapechanging/shapeshifting ability, soft immortality,
extensive psychological problems, and other such exceptional characteristics.
The character probably *will* be approved and assigned but you are encouraged
to -balance- characters and use such backgrounds *only* if you are responsible
with them. Things that confer 'status/advantages' over others are subject
to a certain scrutiny. We expect you to remember that you are playing
and writing with other people.
Nevertheless, some of these "red flags," if used *responsibly* do make
for very interesting characters. We are not trying to limit creativity,
but we have a responsibility to make things fair and fun for *all* players.
Demonstrated good judgement and maturity go a long way.
If you believe the CSFO has unfairly or inappropriately refused to approve
your character you may appeal the decision to the CINCSF.
IX) What if the position I want is not open?
You will be informed if the position you want to play is not available.
You may either wait until such a position is available or take a different
position with the character. All reasonable efforts will be made to
accomodate you.
X) How can I contact the CSFO or CINCSF?
That's easy-
click here.
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