I'm running the July Role Contest, and to do something different, I'll be running a character challenge!

How it Works

Submit the below application to amaranthe@carrionfields.com by May 1st, with the subject line "Character Challenge".

- Sometime in early June, you will receive your character challenge assignment via e-mail. This assignment will give you a basic character concept and character goals, but it will be up to you to fill in the details.

- Roll up your character at your convenience, and write a complete role that is constructed around the details given in your character challenge. You must use the name I assign you (or on the off-chance the character name is not allowed, some similar variation of the name) so I can easily identify your participation in the challenge.

- In July, I will run the role contest, which will be exclusive to character challenge characters.

- Imms or others concerned with their identity influencing the outcome are welcome to submit an application with a pseudonym/generic e-mail. (Though I promise to be objective regardless.)

Winners will be selected based on a combination of how well their stories were written as a role given their challenge, and how well the role has been roleplayed. Most participants should have enough time to include some role updates with how their storyline has progressed.

Character challenges may include flaws, role quirks, long-term goals, or role essentials that are interconnected with other participants in the challenge.

Application:

- For this challenge, you will be assigned a specific character. Please list any options you find unplayable in terms of your enjoyment of CF. (Examples: Refuse to play empowerment classes. Can't stand invokers because of their mechanic. Prefers to avoid cabal membership. Cabal conflict extremely important. Etc.)

- Are there any hard roleplaying restrictions you'd like to set? (Zero interest in a romance storyline, hate roleplaying a particular gender, uncomfortable roleplaying evil, etc.)

- On a scale of 1 to 10, how large a role do you wish to PK to play in your character? (10 = notorious killer, 1 = total pacifist )

- On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your current RP ability?

- Are you willing to play with a serious flaw? If so, which one(s)?

- What are your typical play days & times? (This may be considered if your character challenge ends up linked with another participant's challenge. A nemesis, sibling, etc.)

- Is there anything else you'd like me to consider before I construct your character challenge? Specific class, race, or cabal requests will be considered, but not guaranteed. But do tell me if there are any dealbreakers; contest aside, this challenge will be the most fun if everyone who applies commits to participating, at least for a couple months. If I assign you a necromancer and then you delete at level 5 because you can't stand playing necromancers, it's a waste of your time and mine, and potentially diminishes the enjoyment of other players who may have character challenges that I linked to your character. I want to give you a challenge, but also something you will enjoy.

I kept stepping up my rp, kept writing new role additions, started to have a lot of fun with my char. Was wondering why no one read my role and these people are running around with coolnesss.... Inadvertanly I think I am having way more fun since I built a solid character for the first time since Jingurzal. And pussgut Jr. (Last sentence done for kovtistic linsence.

In theory, I would love to read every newbie role and snoop and reward those who were roleplaying their roles well. Unfortunately, it's just an unrealistic investment of time to do that. A lot of anonymous low level characters delete before level 20, and SO many people write roles to farm imm XP that don't particularly roleplay their role and it can get tedious, fast, from the imm side.

This challenge has been something of an experiment, but the idea is it is a self-selecting group and at the onset, I gave them roles that had a purpose not just to themselves but to other characters (either specific other characters, or generally.) Definitely the RP investment of these players is far higher than average, based on random snooping and observation.

Something's happening, happening to me, my friends say I'm acting peculiarly

I didn't know if I was going to play till now. Work & Stuff. But I see myself playing for another couple of months, I was wondering if its too late to get involved.

I have interacted with few people already under your contest. Please let me know and I can shoot you an email.

Soon the first character assignments will be e-mailed. Please do not share these assignments with anyone else that is playing CF presently or in the near future, even if they are not challenge participants - it will potentially ruin a lot of fun. If someone tries to talk about it, please stick your fingers in your ears and sing.

The earliest releases will be sent early for a few reasons:

* To give you the opportunity to ask questions about your assignment.

* To give you the opportunity to opt-out if you absolutely must, or if you think you will absolutely flub your assignment, so I can assign your character to someone else. I've tried very hard to match your assignment with your abilities and desires. Keep in mind this is a roleplaying *challenge* and may be something different than what you expected, but if you *know* you're just not going to do it, let know now so I can make alternate arrangements. (I reserve the right to eliminate you from the character challenge if you choose to opt-out of the assigned character.)

* Certain characters have backgrounds that are so closely-linked to other characters, that you may want to coordinate IC information with associated players prior to beginning play. During this early release period, you can communicate any 'prologue information' about your character to his/her associates, using me as your go-between to remain anonymous.

- Characters may be rolled the week of May 27th and brought up to level 2 to assure names are secured and that characters requiring imm-set modifications can have those modifications set prior to active play. Characters are not to leave the Academy or engage in any roleplay prior to June 1st.

- Some assignments will still not be e-mailed for another week or two. These are assignments that either have no need for early release, or are linked to current or soon-to-be introduced quest events that require the resolution of in-game outcomes before those assignments can be released.

If you receive an assignment, please respond ASAP even if you have no questions or comments, just to verify that you received your assignment and that you are committed to playing it.

I'm going to just go ahead and state here in order to link characters together with shared backgrounds, I had to essentially write the roles for you. Some roles are dramatically more fun and interesting than others. Some roles are clearly supporting actors. The most interesting roles went to those who rated themselves quality roleplayers, and sometimes (unfairly, perhaps) the more vanilla roles ended up going to those who were so flexible that I put them into niches that others refused to play.

Please don't get discouraged if you received a role that isn't as inspired as you hoped for. In general, those that have more vanilla roles are given more liberty in choosing their build details, and are linked in some way to a more colorful character, even if that link is not immediately apparent in your character sheet. For the July contest, I will be judging how players *developed* their role from the starting point; it's not going to be an exercise of me patting myself on the back for my own character concepts. Development and goal progress, not backstory, is the name of the game for July. Those that were flexible, open-minded, and started off with supporting-actor roles, and then took them to new places, will be judged more favorably than a player who has a star role but never takes it anywhere past its starting point.

If you do not receive your assignment by May 29th, please contact me.

With my ragey temp I just couldn't send the e-mail. I think it's still in my draft box :P

Still, really great thing here you're doing.

Tomorrow is May 29th, and there's no way I'll have all of the assignments out by then! Certain quests need to be resolved, among the process of detailing a character sheet for reference.

Most participants have an assignment on deck, with a few latecomers who may get something if I have time left over.

There are 27 candidates mapped on my spreadsheet. 13 have received their assignments already, and the other 14 have assignments that just need to be detailed and sent.

2 late comers are in holding that I still am trying to find a niche for, possibly to receive something a bit after June 1st.

There are a few that I have sent but have yet to receive verification for. Remember, each assignment came with a request to verify your willingness to play your assignment. If you're using an alias e-mail, please check it!

it's hard not to be impatient while also in the dark on something so cool and fun

really though. you're awesome. coolest thing in a long long time

I only have about 6 left to release. Two are still waiting on the resolution of an existing questline, plus a couple more on my understudy/waiting list that I'm still hoping to get to.

I'm assuming you can see my real handle. I just wanted to be sure that you got my verification in a timely manner and I'm just one of the late assignments.

Yes, I can.

For reasons that will become clear later, yours has to be the *last* one that goes out - which means, it's possible it may even be a little late. Sorry!

Thanks

I'm concerned because you're posting this today, but I sent you your assignment shortly before midnight last night. Check your mail! :)

nt

I received the character and responded to you, but when I responded to you with some questions, it was returned that the email was undeliverable and that my account was on your black list. Now the account was your iohazard.com so I'm not sure if you received my response to your email or not. If you can let me know, I'd appreciate it since I did have a few questions to ask.

Brian

Applications will be accepted no later than 11:59 pm system time on April 30th (tomorrow!)

I just sent out a BCC e-mail to all applicants to the Character Challenge. If you applied but do not receive this e-mail, resubmit your application, and if you don't hear from me by tomorrow evening verifying, shoot me an in-game note.

... to submit applications!

We are up to twenty-one Character Challenge applicants, plus three existing characters who have agreed to participate in origin stories. Two origin stories are already in their early stages via in-game quests, with more to come. Current players - keep your eyes and ears open!

Those who have applied should keep an eye on their e-mail through May, as I may be seeking verification about your participation before assigning roles.

This seems like a really really cool idea.

I expect very cool things. You should totally participate.

So far, we have 18 very diverse participants who have applied.

A spreadsheet and plot diagram are materializing. :)

I wish I wasn't in a "delete at the drop of a hat" phase. :)
Frickin' relapse*. I've been thinking on it and I know what
makes me delete a character with less than 300 hours. If life
is 'too' easy OR constant beat downs (like being multi-killed
just by different people all day every day)

That being said you might want to determine the 2 month play
time by hours instead of 'months' Bob might keep a character
for 2 months but only log in for 2 hours a week, where Joe
logs in for 8 hours a day. (and Bajula 'can' run a character
out of con in 2 months. hehe)

*I was glancing over the shoulder of a guy I got hokked on
playing and was like "Dude you should flee" (It was pk so it
was already too late) and was itching to take over even though
I couldn't do anything for him.

It's not really a specific requirement, other than - if you participate, plan on some kind of investment out of consideration for others. The character challenges will be released with initial relationships in most cases, so participants should at least plan on investing enough to roleplay out those opening storylines.

Example: Character A's entire starting role revolves around starting a life of adventure to find a kidnapped sister. Character B's entire starting role is that she IS the kidnapped sister. I may set it up so that what Character A and B find out from each other is integral to the way the characters both develop from there (with maybe aspects of Character C and D disclosed, adding to the mix!)


I totally expect that some characters will just resolve these storylines and resume development through the normal play in a relatively short amount of time, while others may choose to drag it out. But, I do encourage all participants to plan on at least investing in their assignments long enough to get to *some* kind of resolution with their assigned storylines. Try to at least commit so that you don't rage delete before you've had a chance to play out whatever elements of your role challenge play off someone else's goals.

When I was in college, I used to LARP (live action roleplaying). I remember once playing a game, where my character's primary goal was to unravel a secret by questioning other characters in the game. The other character my secret revolved around got into a fight with her real-life boyfriend that night, and mentally checked out of the game. So, she just told me my secret from the get-go in a huff, and sat down the rest of the night to wallow. She had essentially rage deleted, leaving my character's storyline dead-ended. Don't be that player. If you're participating, at least plan on playing along for long enough that your deletion comes after story resolution, and not just a rage delete because you died to some mobs three times in a row or flub a few PK attempts. In some cases, some of the relationships you may not even know about initially! You have to give at a little time, at least.

If you have an existing character that would like to participate, feel free to send me an e-mail as well. Typically, this character would play a role as a parent (adoptive or biological), or mentor integral to a challenge character role - something that would have happened "off screen" during the new character's childhood and/or adolescence.

Don't do both, though. This is for players who, like me, typically play just 1 mortal at a time, and don't anticipate making a new character in time for the challenge. If you have an existing character you anticipate sticking with through July at least, and would like to have your character woven into another's storyline, just e-mail me your current character's name and what kind of relationship(s) you are willing to have with a new character that will appear in June.

What if you are an active char and would like to participate, but maybe are unsure if you will actually live that long due to con loss or age death or something?

Could we still participate, even if our char may not live til June?

To me this looks like a very interesting and unique idea, so I would like to give it a go, but not sure if I should delete my current to try something new, or go about it as my current is all.

Thanks for running this though, looks pretty fun.

As I am looking at the applicants so far and constructing relationships and roles, I am thinking I will likely touch base with players closer to challenge release to make SURE they are invested. Some of these concepts are so closely linked that if a player doesn't participate in the challenge, it dramatically reduces the point of related character concepts. So if you want to express interest, I can touch base with you again towards the end of May.

Also, you could have an existing character as a legacy (leaving a child, grandchild, or heir behind if you die, for example.) Such cases would just be a background detail in someone else's challenge, though, and not an integral plot device.

How many hours should a candidate play roughly per week?

Just indicate your typical play times in the application. My intention is to customize the relationships based on such considerations. If an existing character's playtime is low, s/he may simply be a back story element, while an existing character with high play time might be integrated in a manner that includes more active involvement.