Biography Guide
Created by Captain María Zavala on Mon Jun 17th, 2024 @ 12:01am
The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of what goes into creating and developing a good character biography. Anyone who is planning on joining the USS Carina (or is already a member) should read through as there are several things you’ll need to take note of.
Before You Begin
Use your imagination. Picture the character in your mind. Then delve into their psyche to determine their background and what made your character who they are. Make your character believable and also unique to you.
Use other resources. A good place to reference is Memory Alpha. It contains a lot of information on various canon species and also canon characters (if you’re struggling for inspiration). More helpful links are listed at the end of this guide.
Getting Started
The first step when creating a character from scratch (for many folks) is figuring out what position you want your character to be in and what race you want them to be. From there, you can create other things (e.g. physical description, talents, history) that will both reflect that and drive your character’s growth from there. Remember, even the seed of an idea well-planted can blossom forth into an entire tree’s worth of twists, turns, and possibilities.
Species
For those who are new to collaborative writing, it’s best to choose a human character and your own gender. Familiarity is key to successful role-playing. There are times when even the most experienced role-players will have difficulty playing an alien race or a character who is very unlike themselves in some way.
If you want to tackle an alien race, make sure they are part of the Federation. There are some cases where singular individuals of a race or foreign government may be accepted into Starfleet, but these must have a backstory that has been thought out very carefully and in detail. It usually involves either gaining Federation citizenship or receiving a sponsorship from a serving command-level officer.
If you are unsure about your character’s race, discuss it with the commanding officer.
Choosing your character’s race can be especially tricky when using mixed races as some races are physically incompatible with each other. Your race choice may limit certain other aspects of your character’s biography (e.g. place of birth).
Physical Attributes
Physical attributes are descriptors that help you and your fellow players imagine your character’s physical appearance. Start with the basics – age, height, weight, hair and eye color. Don’t forget to include how the character wears their hair (e.g. length, style, etc.).
Make sure to describe their general physical build (e.g. muscular, wiry, etc.). Include any attributes such as tattoos, big feet, or scars that might help identify your character. This gives you and your fellow players something a little more unique to work with.
Some players have portraits created for their character. You can also use existing images from sources found around the internet.
Personality Traits
While the biography forms for the Carina do not include separate boxes for a character’s personality traits, we do encourage you to be thinking about them in your planning and your writing. They can be a huge help to you and your fellow players as you imagine your character’s behavior as well as their approach to life. What are your character’s strengths? What are your character’s weaknesses? What are their hopes and dreams? As you write, think about events in your character’s life that may have been instrumental in helping to form these parts of their personality.
Always be sure to give a good balance to your character as “super-characters” are difficult to play with and only serve to frustrate other players. If the commanding officer feels your character is too “super”, they may ask you to balance it out more.
Elements of your character’s personality can be included in the overview and character history part of the biography if you feel it will be helpful to you (and your fellow writers) to see it written out there.
Character History
Different players approach this section of the biography differently. Some prefer to lay out a detailed history complete with specific encounters and experiences that have shaped their character prior to even setting foot aboard the Carina. Others have only a few thoughts about what the broader brush-strokes of their character’s life was, and plan to let their writing with the team help fill in the gaps. It doesn’t matter to us which method you prefer, so long as you are willing to work with us in helping us better understand your character.
Keep in mind that your choice of species and background can really affect how much space you have to “play around with” when it comes to your character’s history. Humans are pretty standard, but the Vulcans live for almost twice as long and Trills have symbionts that have been passing from one host to the next for centuries (meaning that while the host may appear young, the ‘person’ includes a being that is much, much older).
Moreso than any other part of the character biography, this section will be the area where you and the commanding officer will find the most helpful information as to how your character got to where they are today. Major family events, schooling and training, experiences in the field are all going to help shape who your character is (and how they will be received).
In addition to the general overview and background, there is a separate box on our forms specifically for your character’s service record. This is just a simple chronological run down of your character’s promotions and assignments. Again, it does not have to be super detailed, but it does need to make sense for someone of your character’s age and background (as well as their rank and position aboard the Carina in the ‘present’).
Keeping Your Bio Updated
Aboard the Carina, we aren’t checking to make sure you’re adding things to your character’s bio on a regular basis, but we do encourage you to try to keep them updated (at least with major events and revelations that come up). Doing so will not only help you to keep track of things you’ve added or expanded about your character, it will also help the rest of us see (at a glance) how your character has grown and developed in their time with us.
So, when things happen to your character (or you come up with a really cool thing you want added to their backstory), be sure to note it and update it here on the site. And don’t forget to keep a backup at home (just in case!).
Follow-Up
Questions, comments, and concerns are always welcomed and should be directed to a member of the sim command staff via private message or mail.
See also:
Source: Adapted from the “Biography Guide” of the USS Highlander. Used with permission.
Before You Begin
Use your imagination. Picture the character in your mind. Then delve into their psyche to determine their background and what made your character who they are. Make your character believable and also unique to you.
Use other resources. A good place to reference is Memory Alpha. It contains a lot of information on various canon species and also canon characters (if you’re struggling for inspiration). More helpful links are listed at the end of this guide.
Getting Started
The first step when creating a character from scratch (for many folks) is figuring out what position you want your character to be in and what race you want them to be. From there, you can create other things (e.g. physical description, talents, history) that will both reflect that and drive your character’s growth from there. Remember, even the seed of an idea well-planted can blossom forth into an entire tree’s worth of twists, turns, and possibilities.
Species
For those who are new to collaborative writing, it’s best to choose a human character and your own gender. Familiarity is key to successful role-playing. There are times when even the most experienced role-players will have difficulty playing an alien race or a character who is very unlike themselves in some way.
If you want to tackle an alien race, make sure they are part of the Federation. There are some cases where singular individuals of a race or foreign government may be accepted into Starfleet, but these must have a backstory that has been thought out very carefully and in detail. It usually involves either gaining Federation citizenship or receiving a sponsorship from a serving command-level officer.
If you are unsure about your character’s race, discuss it with the commanding officer.
Choosing your character’s race can be especially tricky when using mixed races as some races are physically incompatible with each other. Your race choice may limit certain other aspects of your character’s biography (e.g. place of birth).
Physical Attributes
Physical attributes are descriptors that help you and your fellow players imagine your character’s physical appearance. Start with the basics – age, height, weight, hair and eye color. Don’t forget to include how the character wears their hair (e.g. length, style, etc.).
Make sure to describe their general physical build (e.g. muscular, wiry, etc.). Include any attributes such as tattoos, big feet, or scars that might help identify your character. This gives you and your fellow players something a little more unique to work with.
Some players have portraits created for their character. You can also use existing images from sources found around the internet.
Personality Traits
While the biography forms for the Carina do not include separate boxes for a character’s personality traits, we do encourage you to be thinking about them in your planning and your writing. They can be a huge help to you and your fellow players as you imagine your character’s behavior as well as their approach to life. What are your character’s strengths? What are your character’s weaknesses? What are their hopes and dreams? As you write, think about events in your character’s life that may have been instrumental in helping to form these parts of their personality.
Always be sure to give a good balance to your character as “super-characters” are difficult to play with and only serve to frustrate other players. If the commanding officer feels your character is too “super”, they may ask you to balance it out more.
Elements of your character’s personality can be included in the overview and character history part of the biography if you feel it will be helpful to you (and your fellow writers) to see it written out there.
Character History
Different players approach this section of the biography differently. Some prefer to lay out a detailed history complete with specific encounters and experiences that have shaped their character prior to even setting foot aboard the Carina. Others have only a few thoughts about what the broader brush-strokes of their character’s life was, and plan to let their writing with the team help fill in the gaps. It doesn’t matter to us which method you prefer, so long as you are willing to work with us in helping us better understand your character.
Keep in mind that your choice of species and background can really affect how much space you have to “play around with” when it comes to your character’s history. Humans are pretty standard, but the Vulcans live for almost twice as long and Trills have symbionts that have been passing from one host to the next for centuries (meaning that while the host may appear young, the ‘person’ includes a being that is much, much older).
Moreso than any other part of the character biography, this section will be the area where you and the commanding officer will find the most helpful information as to how your character got to where they are today. Major family events, schooling and training, experiences in the field are all going to help shape who your character is (and how they will be received).
In addition to the general overview and background, there is a separate box on our forms specifically for your character’s service record. This is just a simple chronological run down of your character’s promotions and assignments. Again, it does not have to be super detailed, but it does need to make sense for someone of your character’s age and background (as well as their rank and position aboard the Carina in the ‘present’).
Keeping Your Bio Updated
Aboard the Carina, we aren’t checking to make sure you’re adding things to your character’s bio on a regular basis, but we do encourage you to try to keep them updated (at least with major events and revelations that come up). Doing so will not only help you to keep track of things you’ve added or expanded about your character, it will also help the rest of us see (at a glance) how your character has grown and developed in their time with us.
So, when things happen to your character (or you come up with a really cool thing you want added to their backstory), be sure to note it and update it here on the site. And don’t forget to keep a backup at home (just in case!).
Follow-Up
Questions, comments, and concerns are always welcomed and should be directed to a member of the sim command staff via private message or mail.
See also:
- Application Guide
- Character Introduction
Source: Adapted from the “Biography Guide” of the USS Highlander. Used with permission.
Updated: 06/16/2024
Categories: Character Development