BIO SUBMISSION INFORMATION AND FORMAT

[Rogue]

There are a few important things to keep in mind when submitting a bio. Please read through this entire post. It will help to clear up most of the common mistakes that are made when submitting a bio, and will make the process go much more swiftly.


Submitting a X-Men Canon Character bio
Established (Marvel canon) characters have certain aspects that cannot be changed. If you're going to play a canon character, you should try to remain as true to the 616 character as possible, even though this is an AU. You can modify some things like personality (to some degree) or codename, but their powers are set, as is their general age. You can modify something like age slightly, but it would be wrong to make Jubilee 64 years old.
Make sure that if the character in question has any ties to other characters (such as being a love interest, or family member) that you check that character's bio and make sure that things match up. If someone submits a bio for Quicksilver and puts his age as 23, and the person who later submits a bio for the Scarlet Witch puts her age as 18, we have a problem. If there is something in the other person's bio that you don't want to have, send them a PM and ask (politely) if the two of you can reach an agreement as to that event or detail.
The key to this kind of bio is in making it seem like it isn't just a re-hash of the events that took place in the comics. Remember, this is a slight alternate universe, so a lot of the events that occurred in the comics haven't happened here. The bio is to let us know about your character, not your character's actions.

Submitting a Marvel Canon Character bio
Only X-Men characters are being accepted at this point in time. Other Marvel canon characters are not available. They must be a mutant. If you wish to submit a bio for a Marvel canon character that is not a mutant, send one of the moderators a pm and plead your case. You'll have to let us know how you think the character will fit in in the game, and exactly what your plans for the character are. If it turns out that it will fit, we may make an exception, but no promises.

Submitting an OC bio
Make sure to read the rules regarding OC's. We allow some, but for the most part, we want this to be canon characters. An OC bio must let us know everything about the character, especially the powers. We need to know not only the good parts of the powers, but the limitations. Your character may not have more than 3 non-physical mutations. By non-physical, we mean aesthetic mutations. Having scaly skin would be a physical mutation, unless the scales serve a purpose. Wings count as a non-physical mutation, as do claws, prehensile tails, and gills. Even though those things manifest themselves physically, they still have a purpose.

Submitting a non-mutant bio
If the non-mutant character in question is a canon character, such as Trish Tilby, Graydon Creed, or Henry Guyrich, you do not have to petition for it, just post it like you would any other canon character.
Like the non X-Men bios, a flatscan OC is something that you'll have to petition for. It is good to have some humans in the game, but for the most part we want it to be mutants. Of course, there are times when a human is a necessary part of the story. As was said above, let us know what you think the character can bring to the game, and we'll consider it.

[Rogue]

--------------------Tips on writing the bio, step by step.--------------------

Real Name
Whatever your character's real name is. If they do not know their own real name, you can either write "unknown" or you can write their name and add to the end that they do not know that.

Code Name
If your character has a codename, this is where you put it. If for whatever reason, you don't have a codename for your character yet (maybe you haven't thought of one, or maybe they just plain don't have one, like Jean Grey, Or Madonna), put "none."
If you're creating your own codename remember that it should be short and easy to say. In battle situations, there isn't time to say "little short man with adamantium claws protruding from his hands." Clearly, "Wolverine" is much more efficient.

Affiliation
Even if your character starts out unaffiliated, make a note here of where you want them to end up. If I wanted my character to eventually join the Brotherhood, I'd write "currently unaffiliated (will join Brotherhood at a later date)" or something like that. It really helps us to decide whether or not we can use the character.

General Appearance
Even though you are already prompted to tell us your character's height, weight, eye, and hair color, there is always more to a character than just that. We want to know how your character dresses, how they wear their hair. What's their posture like? Are they muscular, thin, flabby? What about their face? Do they have a beard? Do they wear makeup? Do they have any tattoos? Scars? Birthmarks? Physical mutations?

Powers
This is where a lot of people mess up. Generally, you'll be inclined to tell us all about how awesome they are, how they can do this and that, etc. Remember, though, that there is more to the powers than just the cool stuff. There are many points that need to be touched upon. I'll use Rogue as an example.

Paragraph one: Strengths

Tell us what they can do. What the range of their powers are, what would be possible if they reached their full potential. Even though they will almost definitely not reach that potential in game, it is good to know exactly what that full potential is. Tell us what effect the powers have, what they allow the character to do.
Example: Rogue's primary mutation is the ability to absorb another person's abilities, memories, and psyche through skin to skin contact. For every second of contact, she retains the person's abilities for one minute. When she is absorbing someone, they generally fall unconscious. If she holds on for long enough, she can put her opponent into a coma, or even kill them. When that happens, she retains their powers permanently. Through one such event, she acquired the abilities of flight, super strength (up to 500 tons), near invulnerability, and the ability to sense something just before it happens. Because she has so many different psyches in her head, it is hard for most telepaths to probe her mind. It is possible that Rogue may be able to recall the powers and memories of people she's absorbed in the past at will, but she has yet to discover how.

Paragraph two: Weaknesses

This is one of the most important parts of the bio, especially in a game that has action in it. We need to know the downside of the character's powers, what happens if they push it to the limit. It is important to answer the question, "How can the character be beaten in a fight?" We cannot have characters that are all powerful. It is unfair to the other RP'ers. So let us know, is the character susceptible to extreme cold? Heat? Can they be taken down telepathically? Are they allergic to nuts? Even invulnerable characters have to have weaknesses.
Example: One of the downsides of Rogue's powers, however, is that she cannot control it and thus must remain covered up or isolated at all times. Also, even after the abilities that she's absorbed have passed, she is left with the psyche of the person she absorbed. Sometimes, the numerous psyches in her head decide to let her know how they feel about things, and she hears voices. Other times, a psyche may decide to fight her for control of her mind and body. On more than one occasion, she has lost the inner battle against the psyches and has become -literally- a spectator to her own life. Each time she uses her absorption power, it weakens her a little bit, as she struggles to put everything in place in her mind. Even though she is pretty much invulnerable, she can have the wind knocked out of her. Her seventh sense ability is not practiced, so it is rarely used. Though she is fairly durable, she does get tired, especially when using her powers of absorption.

Paragraph three: Outward Manifestation

Let us know if there is anything specific visually that accompanies your character using their powers, such as Cyclops' optic beams, or Jubilee's fireworks. Could your character use their powers in a crowded room without someone noticing? Does something on them change physically when they use their powers?
Example: Generally speaking, there are no outward signs of Rogue using her powers, other than the inevitable thud as the person hits the floor. If, however, she absorbs someone with a physical mutation such as Nightcrawler or Angel, she will acquire some of their physical attributes.

Personality
Let us know what your character's general attitude is. Are they nervous? Depressed? Bouncy? What kind of a person are they? Are they passive? Aggressive? Passive-aggressive? This is an important part of the bio, because it deals with interaction. It is important for other players to be able to have the kind of knowledge that their character would have of your character. If two people are on the same team, chances are they will know some of their teammate's quirks. So tell us what those quirks are. What, if anything, gets your character really angry? What makes them happy?


Character History
When writing character history, let us know where they came from, before they joined whatever team they are on. There are a number of questions that you should ask yourself while writing the history. What is the driving force behind their choices? Why are they who they are today? We want to know all about the character, from the ground up. What life was like when they were growing up, what their reactions were when their powers first manifested, what events drove them to join whatever team they are on. We want to know all the inner workings of your character. As was said above, the purpose of the bio is to let us know about your character, not your character's actions.
When creating a history, especially for an OC, try to steer clear of cliches. Not everyone is a mutant hater. More than 90% of the bios we get for OC's have the character coming from a background where their parents disowned them because they were mutants. Be creative. That's not to say that the occasional mutant hating parents story is a bad thing, but have more variety. Look at the characters that were developed by Marvel. Most of them didn't come from backgrounds of parents disowning them because they were mutants. Try to stretch a little bit, really come up with something unique. If an OC bio sounds too much like an existing character bio, we will not approve it.

Sample Post
This is probably the most important part of the bio. It lets us know what kind of a RP'er you are. You may use one NPC in your sample post, but there cannot be much dialogue. It must be primarily narration/monologue. We don't want to know about a conversation, we want to know about what your character is thinking, their motivations. Sometimes the Sample post can make or break an application, so take your time on this.

Resources used
Make sure that you cite sources. Using a source does not mean copy and pasting from said source. That is plagiarism, and is strictly forbidden. If we find that anything is copied word for word from the sites, we will ask you to rewrite it.



Bio template:
Real Name:
Code Name:
Affiliation:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Hair Color(s):
Eye Color(s):
General Appearance: (Min. 100 words)
Known Relatives:
Powers:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Outward Manifestation:
Personality: (minimum 150 words)
Detailed History: (minimum 600 words)
Sample Post: (Minimum 300 words)
Resources used:

When your bio is received, the moderators will review it and suggest any changes that need to be made.[/u]