Aisling
Staff member
Applications
As you may have noticed if you are very familiar with forum roleplay groups, Canary is an application-based group (despite the rest of the RP Studio being an open forum). Posting prior to full approval will be moderated for the sanctity of the group, if this becomes an issue, more security will be added..
How to submit
To submit a character to the group, you MUST post a character sheet in a new thread in the forum "Submit Application & Character Sheets" in the canary subforum. This method allows you to use your character profile elsewhere without needing to re-edit if you are importing existing characters or want to use the same character build in multiple groups or 1x1s. in the RP Studio.It will auto-assign “pending character” to the thread. When the application is approved, the character will be given forum privileges to post in the group, and the application will be re-tagged as “approved character” usually with a reply to inform you.
If the application is being held back from approvals, check discord or the site messages for your character account for any information sent your way on how to get your character to an approvable status. The character will remain pending untill it meets the requirements to be active for however long it takes.
Requirements for Character approvals
Your character must contain the following for approval:
- Species choice written within time-era parameters is required; be it a simple sentence clearly stating it or written throughout the profile.
- Time era parameters mean that if they are written to begin in Canary that they follow Canary writeups from the guidebook, and visa versa with Blight.
- Pure-bred species with mandatory characteristics do not need to be listed in profiles – it is always nice if you do! Because it is easier for readers reading on your character to not reference the guidebook; but it is not required.
- If the species has optional physical characteristics or a scale of choices, they must be present in the profile whether they are pure or hybrid.
- A well-written description is required due to the nature of the group. It does not need to be long, it just needs to clearly describe in detail all the points of how they physically look to anyone who would walk past them on the street that could be achieved with all 5 senses – and 6 sense if they have a particular first impression vibe. This is mandatory even with art or FC due to the fantasy aspects and unique traits of species in this group.
- A well-written personality section is required. This is pivotal to the group as this is how your character will be expected to be and act from the start as a foundation to build on. Works-in-progress or characters needing play testing tend to make bad choices due to personality instability, so be sure that this is solid when submitting. If you are building your character in account details of the site profiles, there are “prompts” under the editor box to help you flesh out the details. What we are looking for is that they are a well-rounded character that shows a particular way in how they think, feel, socialize, what they like/dislike, hobbies, how they build relationships/friendships, how or why they break relationships or form enemies, how they act private versus in public, core values and the general concepts of what motivates them to do as they do and be who they are. If the character is written flat, seeming to be focused on only one thing in their life, it may be requested for you to flesh them out more before approval. You are welcome to break up all those elements into their own sections, a few sections or all lumped together.
- A well-written backstory. This is where it is most important to show how you are integrating this character into the universe. You chose have read their species cultural writeups, locations around the map, and about the setting the timeline chosen. If your character deviates from the established ‘normal’, you will be expected to give the backstory as to how that happened. Otherwise, we are not looking for the full life story, you do not need to put every vivid detail that you want discovered in play… you just need to give vague main events as to how they got to where they are today and it show that they are a part of this universe.
Please do not/ or, ask for permission first in the case of…
- If you are using ‘major world events’ in your backstory, please adhere to what is already established or seek out permission early in character building so that in the case the event does not work for this universe that you are not overly disappointed and have troubles building.
- Please note that character species are strict. We are not allowing any homebrew or other lore in at this time. Do not get caught up on common names, the species here have familiarities but are NOT the same as other brands of lore, so please do not bring in your envisioned version.
- Custom flora and fauna are possible to be used, but under group-wide circumstances on a permission base only. That is, if you want to submit flora and fauna, they will be reviewed and either approved or declined to be added to the world for everyone to use; they will not be for your character only and thus it is recommended to not submit your homebrew if you are not comfortable with this. Flora and fauna will only be approved if they fit the universe, and will be received on a case-to-case basis. Generally, anything with highly magical properties may end up getting declined, but those more subtle and realistic are more likely to get accepted.
Reading the Guidebook
Yes, you need to read it. Yes, we know there is a lot there. Yes, we know when people do not read or skim it because they are more likely to create characters that will require a lot of work before approvals, or get hit with lore moderation in game. This is common across all community roleplay groups, and the reality is, if you want to join the group and be a part of this growing world, then you need to read the guidebook. Period. It is not a lot to ask, the whole point of roleplaying involves reading and writing, and you show what kind of member you will be based on the effort you put in.
That being said, you do not need to memorize the guidebook. It is always there for reference; you can open it and reference it on another tab while writing posts and building characters as you go. It is like a dictionary; we look up what is needed when we need it.
At the end of the day, you are never going to get quizzed on the guidebook. It is there to help you, what you choose to do with it is up to you, but if you choose to not use it at all, then you are going to have a harder time getting started. Let this just be a tip to save you all that frustration now.
Below are some quick touches on the guidebook for character creation
The reality is the guidebook provides a cultural foundation for every species and location for average characters living an average life. Stories never follow the average character who is born, lives and dies and average life. Stories follow characters who go against the flow of the river, who stand out, who are bold, who make a difference day to day, or make choices that go into the history books.
So, if you want to say…. Make a Satyr character who leaves their tribe, goes to a major city, joins an arcane academy and becomes a sorcerer soldier for an empire – all you have to do is explain their path to where they are today in the backstory.
OR
If you want to say…. Make a gentle Ork who that sells home grown flowers from a booth with an adopted elven child on the market district– again, all you have to do is explain why or how they became gentle, acquired the child, and got to where they were and what they do today.
The point is, you don’t need to follow the lore-cultural background precisely, or even be born in/live in their species' region. You just have to acknowledge what is pre-established and described how your character became different doing what they do. After all, we have a very diverse world full of different variables that effect people, this is true to TAC as well no matter what time era you play in.
So, if you want to say…. Make a Satyr character who leaves their tribe, goes to a major city, joins an arcane academy and becomes a sorcerer soldier for an empire – all you have to do is explain their path to where they are today in the backstory.
OR
If you want to say…. Make a gentle Ork who that sells home grown flowers from a booth with an adopted elven child on the market district– again, all you have to do is explain why or how they became gentle, acquired the child, and got to where they were and what they do today.
The point is, you don’t need to follow the lore-cultural background precisely, or even be born in/live in their species' region. You just have to acknowledge what is pre-established and described how your character became different doing what they do. After all, we have a very diverse world full of different variables that effect people, this is true to TAC as well no matter what time era you play in.
There are no restrictions on face claims, registered a face claim or use of art in place of an FC. The only parameters we have is that the art or Facelcaim you use should be either be in public domain, your own drawn art, or commissioned from artists specifically for you. If we get word that you are using art that does not belong to you without permission, we will be forced to moderate plagiarism; likewise, using a faceclaim not in the public domain is technically illegal, and we would prefer to avoid any potential of lawsuits even if the possibility of it is low.
Public domain art pertains to major franchises such as D&D, shows, movies, comics, licensable stock or otherwise artwork that has been posted by the artist as free for public use.
Faceclaims must be signed to an agency or be considered a public figure who has legally authorized the use of their photos to the public. This means that the person you are using is under a licensed contract with an agency such as models, singers, actors, actresses, whereas a public figure would be someone like an politician. Legally you cannot use people not signed to an agency, even if they are “Instagram influencers” or used on Pinterest as many of these are personal photos take of or by friends and not through any agency; as it is the same as taking a picture of your neighbor and using it without their permission. There are tons of sites to double check this, please do your best to respect the legal rights of others as you would expect for yourself.
I don’t have any particular issues with face claims with backgrounds in real life that may have said something politically incorrect, gone to jail, part of some fresh scandal, ect. Here they are just a face to give an appearance to a character that has nothing to do with who they are in real life.
We will decline porn stars, only fans, or otherwise erotic FCs specifically for legalities on ensuring our site is not marked for adult entertainment.
We will also not accept face claims that are, or look, under the age of 18 unless they are being used for an underage NPC character in a non-sexual manner ONLY.
In the case of FC genders, it becomes a very sensitive conversation. To avoid any issues and respect the social acceptance, we ask that Transgender faces be used for only transgender characters, or the gender to which they identify with. Due to a lower pool of such faceclaims, we of course will respect the choice of a player using a cis-gender FC to represent their character. Though I am not a fan of holding a double standard, this is just what is going to be most comfortable for all potential players moving forward.
In the case two or more people are using the same Face claim, we will treat is as we do in real life seeing two people looking alike. We will not treat them as identical, but rather looking so similar they could be referred to as doppelgangers or even be mistaken for each other. Chances are, in their description might be written things such as tattoos, hairstyles, scars, eye color changes ect and it is doubtful they will share the same personality. In a lot of cases, such characters might not even meet! Or, maybe it opens up a whole new avenue of roleplay not possible before.
Because it is exhausting to do, and in my experience, it can be rather discouraging when groups grow larger and new players come in only to find out that a player who posts once every 3 months has their FC they want to use but by rules is prevented from using it. In other cases, other players want to use art, what then do they register? There seriousness held to face claims across groups is almost obsessive and stressful. I believe that in a group of adults, this can be more self-managed, and in taking away the ‘uniqueness’ of a face claim puts more emphasis on the character build itself in other aspects, and even expands the use of descriptions to identify other characteristics about their look that an image of an actor simply cannot portray.
The reality is, players will look through the character list and see what’s already in use and make a decision to use another face on their own. And leaving the door open to double on the same face just allows people who might be discouraged to join with their character if they can only see their character with one faceclaim. Use it as an opportunity to have fun, we don’t actually own the faces of these people, so let’s have a relaxed atmosphere where we can all be creative adults without being micromanaged.
What is Public Domain?
Public domain art pertains to major franchises such as D&D, shows, movies, comics, licensable stock or otherwise artwork that has been posted by the artist as free for public use.
Faceclaims must be signed to an agency or be considered a public figure who has legally authorized the use of their photos to the public. This means that the person you are using is under a licensed contract with an agency such as models, singers, actors, actresses, whereas a public figure would be someone like an politician. Legally you cannot use people not signed to an agency, even if they are “Instagram influencers” or used on Pinterest as many of these are personal photos take of or by friends and not through any agency; as it is the same as taking a picture of your neighbor and using it without their permission. There are tons of sites to double check this, please do your best to respect the legal rights of others as you would expect for yourself.
Faceclaim Backgrounds
I don’t have any particular issues with face claims with backgrounds in real life that may have said something politically incorrect, gone to jail, part of some fresh scandal, ect. Here they are just a face to give an appearance to a character that has nothing to do with who they are in real life.
We will decline porn stars, only fans, or otherwise erotic FCs specifically for legalities on ensuring our site is not marked for adult entertainment.
We will also not accept face claims that are, or look, under the age of 18 unless they are being used for an underage NPC character in a non-sexual manner ONLY.
In the case of FC genders, it becomes a very sensitive conversation. To avoid any issues and respect the social acceptance, we ask that Transgender faces be used for only transgender characters, or the gender to which they identify with. Due to a lower pool of such faceclaims, we of course will respect the choice of a player using a cis-gender FC to represent their character. Though I am not a fan of holding a double standard, this is just what is going to be most comfortable for all potential players moving forward.
What happens when the same FC is used?
In the case two or more people are using the same Face claim, we will treat is as we do in real life seeing two people looking alike. We will not treat them as identical, but rather looking so similar they could be referred to as doppelgangers or even be mistaken for each other. Chances are, in their description might be written things such as tattoos, hairstyles, scars, eye color changes ect and it is doubtful they will share the same personality. In a lot of cases, such characters might not even meet! Or, maybe it opens up a whole new avenue of roleplay not possible before.
Why do we not register faceclaims here?
Because it is exhausting to do, and in my experience, it can be rather discouraging when groups grow larger and new players come in only to find out that a player who posts once every 3 months has their FC they want to use but by rules is prevented from using it. In other cases, other players want to use art, what then do they register? There seriousness held to face claims across groups is almost obsessive and stressful. I believe that in a group of adults, this can be more self-managed, and in taking away the ‘uniqueness’ of a face claim puts more emphasis on the character build itself in other aspects, and even expands the use of descriptions to identify other characteristics about their look that an image of an actor simply cannot portray.
The reality is, players will look through the character list and see what’s already in use and make a decision to use another face on their own. And leaving the door open to double on the same face just allows people who might be discouraged to join with their character if they can only see their character with one faceclaim. Use it as an opportunity to have fun, we don’t actually own the faces of these people, so let’s have a relaxed atmosphere where we can all be creative adults without being micromanaged.
This universe does not have open-world magic. The magic system is designed to for you to choose wisely on one particular element of power. You will not get to rechoose later. This is specifically to force characters to NEED each other and reduce accounts of bad roleplay (as outlined in the RP studio terms and services).
In Canary, you can state your desires but ultimately it will be up to the GM to choose what is most suitable for your character if they are selected to wield magic at all. This is not the only way to obtain magic in Canary as there are drugs and options to obtain things outside of the GM through other canon characters.
In either case, the goal of this world is not to focus on magic, and how badass your character is using it, but to focus on them as people themselves and the hard decisions they have to make in their world based around experiences, relations, politics and circumstances.
In Canary, you can state your desires but ultimately it will be up to the GM to choose what is most suitable for your character if they are selected to wield magic at all. This is not the only way to obtain magic in Canary as there are drugs and options to obtain things outside of the GM through other canon characters.
In either case, the goal of this world is not to focus on magic, and how badass your character is using it, but to focus on them as people themselves and the hard decisions they have to make in their world based around experiences, relations, politics and circumstances.