Advanced And Elite Characters

What is an Advanced Character?

Advanced characters are characters that are in some (or occasionally multiple ways) a bit better than a standard starting character. They might be highly skilled, or may have exceptional resources or rare knowledge (such as Forbidden Lore or high-level Alchemy). They could be famous and/or heavily honored by their lieges. If you look at things in terms of a tabletop Role-Playing Game where you have a 20-level standard, then if a standard character starts at level 1-3 or so, then an Advanced Character is starting somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-10.

However, the one thing that Advanced characters do not start with, is high-level political power. If you're looking for that, see the information on Elite Characters below. It should be noted that Advanced Characters may come out of chargen "more powerful" than Standard Characters, but there is nothing that Advanced Characters get that Standard Characters cannot achieve through XP expenditures or IC Roleplay.

What concepts require Advanced Character Status?

Advanced Character concepts fall into one or more of the categories below:

The Exceptionally Skilled: Want to play one of the greatest blacksmiths in the Edge? Or perhaps a Courtesan whose name is spoken of in awe across all the Edge? Probably going to need an Advanced Character application for it.

Viscounts and Viscountesses: These nobles may not have national level political power, but their political power is great enough that they generally warrant Advanced character status.

The Rich and Famous: Advanced Characters may freely make use of the "renowned" and "wealthy" quirks (though should of course make certain they're accounted for in their background and make sense for their character…a wealthy character in an impoverished house isn't likely, for example).

Bearers of Secret Knowledge: Characters with knowledge of the Supernatural aspects of the world (Forbidden Lore) are Advanced Characters. This is most often expressed by being a member of the "secret" side of the Order of the Vigil. This also tends to include Inquisitors of the One Faith.

The Odd and Unusual: Certain other concepts and character benefits might push a character to Advanced status. These include being the bearer of a Sidhe-Steel weapon or other supernatural artifact. However, Sidhe Steel weapon bearers MUST be either the head of their house, the heir to their house, or a member of the Order of the Vigil, unless the weapon is earned in-play via other means.

What are the Benefits of playing an Advanced Character?

Character Generation Benefits: Advanced Characters have greater latitude when it comes to age and skill level guidelines, and access to many restricted quirks. They also receive more points and higher limits in initial chargen. See Character Generation, Character types for some specifics.

Role-Play Benefits: As an Advanced Character, your character will automatically have a background that gives them lots of "hooks" to find RP and craft plots around. It should be much easier for you to get embroiled in plots (or even have plots focused on your character specifically), and you should have some ready-made links to other PCs to help foster roleplay. If Creation's Edge is a novel, then your character is, at least to start, one of the "major supporting characters." Not that all characters aren't important or can't affect the overall plot of the game, but it's simply easier for an Advanced Character to do so straight out of the gate.

What are the drawbacks of playing an Advanced Character?

More Difficult Backgrounds: Elite Characters are held to a higher standard when it comes to their backgrounds in Chargen. They must write a Strong Background (the criteria for which can be found on the Character Generation page. While you don't need to write us a novel, your background does need to do an excellent job of explaining how your character came to be who they are, justifying their skill levels and quirks, and building plenty of hooks for other players to latch onto, or that staff can use to craft plots in order to foster RP. In short, your background will be much more heavily scrutinized and nit-picked by the staff before you get approved.

Property of Creation's Edge: Once an Advanced Character has been approved and hits the grid, it becomes part of the ongoing story of Creation's Edge. In other words, if you become inactive for a month or you decide to leave the game without resolving the character's story, the character you made becomes an NPC and the staff will utilize them as they see fit. In most cases, other players will then be allowed to apply to take over that role. Just to be clear, we do not claim ownership of your original characters in a legal or intellectual property sense, we're simply saying that these characters don't cease to exist in our IC world even though someone stops playing them, and therefore may continue to show up/be re-applied for at Staff's discretion.

Becoming an Advanced Character in play.

Over time, it's entirely likely that most characters will eventually become Advanced Characters (which is why there is no limit on how many Advanced Characters one my play). The most common way to achieve Advanced Character status is to achieve 16 attribute points through the expenditure of XP. However it can also be achieved by reaching pretty much any of the criteria listed above for Advanced Character concepts.

For example, Gabriel l'Corren starts play as a Standard Character. Through a series of IC events, he gains both great fame and considerable wealth by becoming the Circuit Champion of 1865 IA, which qualifies him for Advanced Character status.


What is an Elite Character?

Elite Characters are most often the the movers and shakers of Creation's Edge. They are high ranking and influential nobles, important members of the clergy, and people whose decisions can affect significant portions of the world. They generally automatically meet the criteria of Advanced Characters, above. In short, all Elite Characters are Advanced, but not all Advanced are Elite.

It should be noted that Elite Characters represent players that ''start'' in positions of power and often with exceptional skill. It is important to note that there is nothing Elite Characters get that non-Elite player characters can't eventually gain through roleplay, and players are encouraged to pursue those paths in play, though it may of course take a lot of work!

NOTE: Elite Character status only applies for chargen purposes. If you start as a Standard or Advanced Character and attain a position that qualifies you for Elite Character status, your character does not count against your limit for Elite Character slots.

What Concepts Require Elite Character Status?

Positions of Great Power: Heads of major houses, their spouses, and their heirs are the most common type of Elite Character. However this also applies to Archbishops or Cardinals of the One Faith, those that hold some "national level" office within their Kingdom (for instance Lord Marshal or Royal Steward), The commanders of large-sized mercenary companies (basically mercenary armies), the heads of Syndicate crime families, or other leaders of large organizations. Basically, if your character is in a position to have IC influence over a very large number of people (both PC and NPC), or they qualify for the "Privileged Position" quirk, they would be an Elite Character. For a short list of potential player-characters that qualify for Elite Status:

Ducal heirs and their spouses

Non-Ruling Members of the Immediate Royal Family (Princes and Princesses)

High Councilors of Pacitta

The Capofamiglias of the Syndicate Families

Archbishops of the One Faith

Those that hold Kingdom-level positions of political authority (Royal Steward, Lord/Knight Marshal, Lord/Vice Admiral, etc….)

National-level leaders of multinational organizations (Templar Lord Commanders, Knight Captains of the Vigil, Commanders of exceptionally large mercenary organizations)

Staff NPCs that are automatically Elite include:

Kings and Queens

Dukes and Duchesses

Cardinals of the One Faith

Leaders of Multinational Organizations (The High Priest, Lord Captain Commander of the Templars, the Master Paladin, The Knight Commander of the Order of the Vigil, etc…)

The Person That Has Everything: Please note that when making an Advanced Character, you do not have to simply "pick one category." You can combine elements of many of them when crafting your character. However, if staff determines that your combination is optimal enough, it may qualify your character for Elite Status despite not explicitly holding Kingdom-level political power. For example, prior to his betrothal and marriage, Sir Jaren Cassomir was an extremely famous and highly skilled Knight who carries a sidhe-steel blade and was a member of the Order of the Vigil. He was also directly connected to many powerful people. That combination of traits would have been enough to warrant Elite Character status despite Jaren not technically holding any of the above concepts (The Queen's Champion title was prestigious…but not necessarily politically powerful).

What are the Benefits of Playing an Elite Character?

Character Generation Benefits: The same as Advanced Characters, above.

Role-Play Benefits: As an Elite character, you are ICly one of the "important people" of the world. It should be much easier for you to get embroiled in plots (or even have plots focused on your character specifically), and you should have some ready-made links to other PCs to help foster roleplay. If Creation's Edge is a novel, then your character is, at least to start, one of the "main characters" or at the very least a "major supporting character" that has significant impact on the plot. Not that non-Elite characters aren't important or can't affect the overall plot of the game, but it's simply easier for an Elite Character to do so straight out of the gate.

What are the Drawbacks of Playing an Elite Character?

More Difficult Backgrounds: As Advanced Characters, above, Elite Characters are held to a higher standard when it comes to their backgrounds in Chargen. If anything, they will be the most heavily-scrutinized of applications when it comes to approval.

Activity Requirements: Elite Characters are expected to be active. At least two logs per month should be posted to the wiki. These should include the character doing things that move RP forward for themselves and others. As a mover and shaker in the world… you should be moving and shaking! It doesn't need to be earth shattering or even produce tangible results in the end, but at least show that the effort is being made. For example: The head of a major noble house discussing possible marriage alliances with a member of another house would be an "active" log. The heir of a ducal house sitting down with their spouse/consort to drink tea and discuss the weather, not so much. If they were discussing plots and plans around that weather talk, that's another matter entirely.

Property of Creation's Edge: Once an Elite Character has been approved and hits the grid, it becomes part of the ongoing story of Creation's Edge. In other words, if you become inactive for a month or you decide to leave the game without resolving the character's story, the character you made becomes an NPC and the staff will utilize them as they see fit. In most cases, other players will then be allowed to apply to take over that role. Just to be clear, we do not claim ownership of your original characters in a legal or intellectual property sense, we're simply saying that these characters don't cease to exist in our IC world even though someone stops playing them, and therefore may continue to show up/be re-applied for at Staff's discretion.

Of course, if a player knows in advance they will be leaving a particular Elite Character role, then they can feel free to work with staff to arrange a proper send off, or at least give them some indication as to what final fate they might like for their character. Depending on the needs of the game the Staff may or may not agree, but it never hurts to offer up the ideas.

IC Target: In various ways, Elite Characters have the figurative bulls-eye painted on their backs, though it can be very literal at times, too. For instance, if Sir Jaren Cassomir enters the melee of a tournament, there's a very good chance that multiple people will attack him at once to try to take down the perceived biggest threat. Worse still, if he's in a for-real combat and his opponents know who he is, the same holds true. You might very well have rivals and young turks trying to knock the "champ" down a peg or build their own reputation by defeating you. If your character has wealth and power, then it can be guaranteed that there are others out there that covet it and will work against you to try to claim it. The leader of a Syndicate family has to constantly watch their back, because one never knows when their rivals (or even their own underlings) might try to stick a knife between their ribs and effect a "change in management." Rivals may work to politically undermine someone in a high-level position in the hopes of supplanting them. In short, with great power comes great complications, and it's entirely likely that you have made some rivals and enemies along your path to power. In some cases…you might not even know who they are. Just remember: It's not paranoia if everyone really is out to get you!

So How Do I Get an Elite Character?

Apped Elite Characters

First off, we are presently only allowing one "apped" Elite Character per player. This may be increased if it becomes apparent that the population of the game can support it, but we do not foresee that happening anytime soon.

Players must have played (and been reasonably active while doing so) for at least three months before they may apply for an Elite Character. If you are currently playing an "apped" Elite Character, and choose to drop that character, you must wait another month before applying for a new one.

Bearing in mind the benefits and drawbacks listed above, Elite Characters go through Chargen like normal. However it is highly advisable that you consult on your concept with staff and preferably other player/characters that your Elite Character might be linked to prior to running through chargen. There's nothing worse than putting a bunch of work into an application and then finding out that it's not themely, or runs contrary to what other players have already established.

IMPORTANT: When you finish Chargen and apply for final approval, please immediately add a comment to your +job to give Staff the heads-up that the application is for an Elite Character.

Elite Characters need to have a full and complete wiki page prior to final approval. This includes at least a couple of relationship entries, preferably to existing PCs or at least Staff NPCs.

Earned Elite Characters

Players may ICly earn Elite Character Status by earning positions of Kingdom-level importance, or by marrying into positions that would qualify them for that status (for example, marrying a Prince or Ducal Heir).

For example, Gabriel l'Corren (who has already achieved Advanced Character status due to his fame and wealth, as above), attains Elite Character status when he marries Lady Alina l'Saigner, heir to the Duchy of Lonnaire.

Characters who earn Elite Character status in IC play do not count against a players' limit for Elite Characters. Basically, if someone earns Elite status ICly, and has not yet applied for an Elite Character, they may still apply for an Elite Character as normal (provided they meet all other criteria). Likewise, if they have already applied for an Elite Character, they are not barred from earning Elite status with any of their other alts through IC events.

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