HOME PAGE | THEME | CHARACTERS & NPCs | RP LOGS | NEWSFILES | HOW TOs | LINKS | CREDITS | LOG IN

APPLICATION

X-Men: End Times Application

Characters at X-Men: End Times have to be applied for - this goes for both Canon Characters and Original Characters. To do this, you have to fill in an pre-application form and e-mail it to xet-apps@yahoogroups.com. Once that is approved, you set up your character object online, which constitutes the rest of the application. All the data you might need should be in the news files. If you can't find what you need, you can always @mail or page a staff member and we'll try to help you as much as we can.

For those who wish a sample of what we're looking for in an app, they can find one here for both an Original Character and for a Canon Character. 
You may also wish to see rules for Fodder Charactersif you want a much easier, quicker app (OCs only).

Send all completed apps to 'XET-apps@yahoogroups.com'.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outline

The application form is divided into several sections, which should be filled out in as much detail as possible. These sections are: Please note this is an early version of the application form. While valid, we'll clean it up in the immediate future.

SECTION ONE - PRE-APPLICATION INFORMATION

* 1. Name
* 2. Age
* 3. Email
* 4. RP Experience
* 5. Name
* 6. Character Concept
* 7. Plans


SECTION TWO - ONLINE CHARACTER INFORMATION

* 8. Description
* 9. Psyche
* 10. Physical
* 11. Talents
* 12. Powers
* 13. Magic
* 14. Tech
* 15. Resources
* 16. Background


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 1: Pre-App Information

This section is what you send via e-mail, to XET-apps@yahoogroups.com. It gives the staff a chance to look over your concept and initial thoughts and weed out the obviously unplayable concepts. It should receive a response in about a day.
You, the player, are an integral part of the MUX, since without you, we wouldn't have a MUX to play on. There's no need to worry about your name, age, or e-mail address becoming public knowledge. It's MUX policy that all such information be kept private and confidential.

1. Your name

Please tell us your first and last name. We need this so that we can identify you by more than just your character name or your email address.

2. Age

X-Men: End Times has an NC-17 rating. No, XET is not an adults only Mux. However, we do recognize that XET has a dark theme. Thus the game is aimed at a mature audience. (Mature meaning that the player can handle the various situations they encounter in the game in a mature manner and that they player can distinguish between IC (In character) and OOC (Out of Character) situations). Please be advised that adult language and situations may occur both ICly and OOCly, though we will try to keep such to a respectable level.

3. Email Address

We need your e-mail address to reply to your application. You must have a valid e-mail address, as we have no other means by which to contact you.

4. RP experience on and off the web

This is just to give us an idea of how well you know how to role-play. It's not essential to have any RP experience at all, since we all have to start somewhere, but just give us a clue whether you've played any type of RPG or on any other MU*s.

5. Character's Name

This is the shortest question of the pre-app. Please tell us the name of your character if they have one. Rogue doesn't have a normal name. Also tell us the codename of your character, if they have one. It took Jean Grey years to think up a different codename to Marvel Girl, and then it was just Phoenix again. You should also indicate here whether the character is an OC (Original Character, of your own creation), or a CC (Canon Character - one from the comics)

6. Character Concept

Give us a paragraph or two of your character concept. If it is an OC, some sort of description involving their general powerset, personality type, and anything relevant about their history. For example: "Phil is a mutant with the ability to detect the presence of a made-up example in any piece of text. He's an evil history student with plans to take over the world." Of course, it should be a little more sensible than that. If your character is a Canon, you should also include any major changes you are making from canon, and, if the character has been played before, important changes you are making to the character's direction, including any significant events you are deciding to have happened since they last went into play. For example: "I am restarting Piotr, but I have decided that in the last year he has become disillusioned with the X-Men and has joined the Brotherhood. Also, he is suffering problems with his memories due to some traumatic experiences in Rutland."

7. Plans


In your own words tell us plans for the character, what it is you'd like to see happen in the character's online life, what you'd like to see them get involved with, how you envision them developing. We should warn up front that even if we do not comment on anything in this section in our reply, this should not be considered automatic consent for anything in the plans. We just want to get an idea of where you might be taking the character.

Plans can cover a variety of issues or events. You can outline whether or not you want your character to join a team and what team you'd like to play on. Or perhaps you wish your character to form his own team. You might want your character to develop from a young, untrained mutant into one of the most powerful mutants on the Mux. Perhaps there is some mystery or question in your character's background that you want to resolve through RP.

It's fine to say that you want to see where Role-Play will take the character if you are unsure about what you want to do with your character, but at least say that. We'd like to know that you have some thoughts on what you want out of your RP experience here on X-Men: End Times. Please let us know what you would like to see or do with your time here and how your character will fit into the XET gameworld.

Section Two: Online Information

This section is most important part of the app, as it will comprise the bulk of what other players see online (although not all of it will be visible to players). It's also a means we'll use to judge how well you'll play the character or fit in with the game.

8. Physical description of character

You need to provide a written description of what your character looks like. Note that a MUX is a text-based environment. Your character's desc plays an important role in helping others envision what character and getting them to interact with you. Descs are entered online with the @desc command. The +wear code (+help +wear online) can be very helpful if you want to switch between several descs

Here a few examples of good descriptions. They are different in style, but both fine examples of what a @desc could or should be like.
Grant

This is a man in his late twenties in a battered dark blue suit, the sort that might be worn by a down on-his-luck stockbroker, or a con artist on his day off. A conservative grey shirt with a carefully knotted tie lies beneath the dark blue coat, though the pants are more casual, and the battered, well-used black sneakers look even more comfortable. He's wearing a vest, but for some reason it's not buttoned across his thin frame, giving him a somewhat tatterdemalion air when he moves. His black hair is combed straight back and shaved at the sides, and his blue eyes are only visible if he takes off those little octagonal mirrored sunglasses.

Wanda

At 5'5", Wanda isn't very imposing. Yet it isnt her looks that make her a regal woman. Its more in the manner that she carries herself and in her personality. Her skin is a rich, golden tone. The sort some attain from careful time in a tanning salon. Features are well defined on the slightly angular face. Eyes of blue settle neath dark brown eyebrows. Her nose is a bit more angular than smooth, yet it fits in well with her other features. Full, pouty lips of pale red settle above a chin that curves into high cheekbones. Wanda's form is pleasant to the eyes; curvy and lithe. Hips are perhaps not rounded enough to give to the properly curved ideals, but they are there enough to match with ample bust. Muscles in arms, legs and stomach are apparent; yet not overly so. Enough that it is obvious that she works out. Her hair is a dark auburn, so that the red is often times more of a highlight than a solid color in her hair. The style of her haircut is simple; falling in barely-there waves to her shoulder, bangs cut at about eyebrow level.

9. Psyche

The Psyche trait deals with the personality and mindset of your character. It covers with everything from personality to intelligence, to sanity, to likes and dislikes. This section best tells us what your character is like. Remember, there are certain aspects to psyches that are extremely common or so general as to be useless. Intelligent falls into the former, and 'He's a relatively nice guy unless you tick him off and then he gets angry' falls into the latter.

Anything important that deals with your character's mind or mental state is outlined here. You can write this in one of two ways.. one is a single overview of the character's personality in paragraph form, and another is writing it as individual trait headings, breaking the description up into bite-sized sections.

Here are some examples of possible Psyche traits:

Humane: Despite the fact that she is a known terrorist, Tempo is remarkably compassionate and humane. She does not believe in or condone excessive violence particularly against weaker targets. While she does recognise the need for force and armed resistance, she does not espouse murder, torture or violence.

Self-conscious: Meggan is very self-conscious, leading her to feel very insecure about herself. As well, she is very emotional, prone to get carried away with her feelings. This causes her to change shape based on her self-image and emotional state. If she feels attracted to someone, she will alter her appearance to match that person's. If angry, she becomes savage and feral. If she feels ugly and unattractive, she will morph into that kind of form. These changes occur unconsciously and automatically.

Claustrophobia: Ororo suffers from a fear of enclosed spaces. This is a deep-seated fear caused from the trauma of Storm being buried alive as a child. When trapped in this manner, Ororo loses all rational thought, her only concern and aim being to free her self. In such a state, she will lose control of her powers, doing anything to get free. This fear overrides all other thoughts and/or concerns.

Because many people use the +traits command to get a snapshot view of characters, if you are only writing a single psyche overview trait, you should also insert dummy trait headings with no text, giving a quick listing of important aspects to your psyche. See the help for the +psy command for how to create a trait heading without any extra text. Whether you are doing an overview or trait-based format for psyche, you will be using the +psy command to read them on others, and the help for that command includes how to set the traits on your character online.

Remember that Psyche, as with all +traits, includes both merits and flaws.

10. Physical trait

The physical trait deals with above or below average, or unusual physical abilities, skills and characteristics of a character. This includes but is not limited to such things as strength, speed, stamina, agility, and endurance. It also includes such things as body type and physiology. Unlike powers, all characters, regardless whether they are mutants or not, may possess physical traits, but not all need to. Items listed in this section, however, are those whose levels are above average. If a physical trait is not mentioned here, then it is assumed that the character has average human skill/ability in this area. If your powers are physically based (super strength, for example), you can choose whether to put them here or in powers, but if your character is an obvious mutant, you should have a trait here to that effect. '+help +phys' should help you in setting up Physical traits online.
Below are some examples of possible Physical traits:


Agility: Spiderwoman is extremely agile, easily able to achieve the same acrobatic stunts as a trained, Olympic gymnast. Superhumanly agile individuals like our friendly neighbourhood spider guy and the X-men's fuzzy elf could dazzle her with their fancy footwork, but she can easily out maneuver most opponents. She's no Cap or Black Panther but she's got moves.


Prehensile Tail: Nightcrawler possesses a barbed tail that is fully prehensile, meaning that it posses the strength and dexterity of an arm. Kurt's tail is fully moveable and he can use it like an additional limb, including such feats as grappling opponents or wrapping it around objects.

Bionics: Forge's right hand and lower leg have been replaced by bionic prosthetics, which exactly mimic the normal function of these limbs. His hand is completely normal in appearance while his leg is obvious artificial.

11. Talents

The Talent trait is a listing of all important learned skills that a character has acquired through their education and/or life experiences. In other words, things a character learns at school or through experience. Traits also deal with those natural abilities that a character possesses either through in-born predisposition or racial ability. Some people are naturally born with musical ability. Basically, Talents cover a character aptitude in many possible areas of experience or disciplines. These should cover mostly skills that would be unusual in the wider population, like any hand to hand combat skills or hacking (both of which may be denied by staff depending on circumstances). If your character is a history student, it's assumed they'll have some knowledge of history and you wouldn't necessarily need to state that.. but if they're an expert in Proto-European culture (or an absolute whiz in history to the exclusion of all else), that might be something to list, or if they speak a foreign language. If you're something unusual like a cop or in the military, you should probably describe the major skills gained. Like Psyche and Physical traits, these should be input online, and reading '+help +skills' will instruct you on the method. Each talent should have details as to nature and level of ability. Talents can also be negative, but only if they're a significant detriment - if your character cannot follow a map without getting lost, you might want to put it here.

12. Powers

All superhuman characters whether canon or original, mutant or altered-human, may have some sort of power. Only human characters that lack superpowers will be able to skip this section. All other players will have to fill out the section in detail. Please give a description of each power that your character possesses. You will need to describe the exact nature of this power, its uses, its area of effect (ex. Distances, number of targets and intensity). You do not have to attempt to pseudo-scientifically explain how a power works. It's much more important to know what the power does, what limits it has (range, duration, etc), what level of control the character has over it, what flaws prevent it from being overused, and, if it can affect other characters, what those affects might be (especially how much damage it could do).

Remember that you should balance your powers with suitable flaws. The greater the power, the more we'll be looking for flaws. '+help +powers' will tell you how to set up your powers online. The Powers set online represent the maximum you can use without talking to staff about an upgrade. You can, however, use less than you app... if you want to have your character start off with no control but rapidly learn some, but don't want to bother with apping each step, then app them at the level of control you want, and work up to it. Do NOT simply decide to app with no control and then have your character exhibit control in scenes. Staff also reserves the right to, at some point after you have been approved, to decide that some aspect of your powers are unbalancing and discuss a change, even if that change effectively means your character loses power or control. Their words are final, and in striving for a quick turnaround, problems might not be seen until they present themselves in RP.

13. Magic

While most characters will not have access to magical spells or items, some very few may. This area of traits application allows the player to detail the spells and talismans that their characters may possess. As with the Power section, Magic traits need to be very detailed. Please list each individual spell, noting its effect and exact nature. Keep in mind that the use of True Magick has a slow, eroding effect upon the sanity of those who employ it, and is very restricted on XET. If you are having any type of magic at all, you must have cleared it in your pre-app, and should have discussed it extensively with staff beforehand. If all of this applies to you, '+help +magic' will tell you how to set your traits up.

14. Tech

Please itemize and describe the various bits of high-technology that your character has access to. While we can assume that many characters can access common, everyday bits of modern technology, you should note anything special or unusual - in general, if you couldn't imagine buying it today at any store, or it's something that exists but you couldn't imagine your character having it as part of their resources or job, and yet he has it anyway, list it. Otherwise, don't bother (but you still shouldn't have tech outside your means - if you're a poor street kid, don't be using a top of the line laptop, unless it was stolen). '+help +techs' will tell you how to set up your technology traits.


15. Resources


The Resources trait covers a variety of areas. At the simplest level, it is a measure of characters wealth and monetary assets (how much money a character has). However, this trait is more than just finances. It also represents a character's friends and allies, those through whom he may gain information or equipment. Resources also deal with a character's reputation and social influence. How much sway does a character have with those around him? Does is the character connected to powerful people or an organization which can get him things? Is the character rich beyond measure or as poor as dirt? Below are some possible Resources Traits. Like all traits, one can have Resource flaws as well as merits, and you should break the resources into general traits like 'Money', 'Contacts', 'Allies', 'Influence', and the like (although preferably with more descriptive titles, like 'Rich' or 'Poor' rather than 'Money'). You may want to furthur divide you traits and have a separate one for each important group you are allied with. '+help +res' instructs you on how to setup Resource traits online. should be itemized with each entry having some detail as to the source or nature of the resource.


16. Character's Background

This should be one of the most detailed part of your application (but that's not always the case with all characters). We don't just want a history of fights that your character has gotten into. Instead it should record the turning points of your character's background, and explain what happened to them to make him or her into the character they are today... was he shunned for having freakish powers, so they feel scared of hurting others? Did she have a spoiled childhood, and sent to the best schools, only to become a powermonger, and join the HellFire Club? Did the kids pick on him/her at school, and turn your char into a loner? Try and connect some of the personality traits to something that happened to your character.

If you are writing for a Canon Character, you can use some of their original backgrounds. However, this is a different timeline, and you may find that you have to (or just want to) change their background to better suit the theme XET or the plans you have.

Some Canon Characters have some background already set by either staff or other players. If you are apping for one of them, clearly indicate any important changes you're making to the initial character concept, and how, if at all, you are dealing with any potentially sticking points. '+help +bg' will let you know about how to input your background for inspection. Most characters do not start out with their powers at their full capability. Almost every character will have to learn how to use their powers, so you may want to give us an idea of how much your character knows about his or her powers and how much they need to learn. Conversely, if you are playing a very experienced character, you will need to justify this through your background. Describe to us how and why they are at this level of mastery over their powers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------