Character Creation
Character Creation in Threshold consists of the following components, each of which is detailed below:
- OC information: Inform the GMs (and eventually your fellow players) about your name and pronouns. In addition you will need to supply an email address and if you are under 18 you will need to alert the GMs for safeguarding reasons (this information will not be shared, as per our Privacy Policy).
- IC name(s) and pronouns: Select a name for your character. Please also tell us your character's pronouns.
- Character Questionnaire: Answer some important questions about your character such as how they died, and how they've adapted to 'life' in the Threshold. Note that players who takes the Amnesiac quirk will be asked to answer a separate set of questions.
- Quirks: You may choose up to 5 quirks so long as their total score comes to -1, 0 or 1. You may choose any number of playstyle quirks. See the Quirks page for information about the quirks you can take.
- Private Bio: A short biography of your character visible only to you and the GMs.
- Public Bio: A short biography that will be published on the Characters page on this wiki, visible to all players.
- OC Notes to GMs: A message to the GMs, primarily to inform them how they can make the game more comfortable or accessible for you.
If you have any questions for the GMs concerning character creation, or are simply looking for inspiration for what sort of character to play, we will be running a joint character creation session with the GMs of Ventures, both online and in-person. See the When and Where page for more details.
Name and Pronouns
Many familiar concepts behave strangely in the Threshold, and time is no exception. There is no conceivable rhyme nor reason dictating when someone arrives here, and it is certainly not determined by when or where they died in their past life. As such, the Threshold is a true melting pot, both culturally and temporally - cowboys brush shoulders with samurai, who live one door over from space-age travellers. As such, names from any time period or culture - including strange combinations only present in the far flung future - are welcome.
In addition, please tell us your character's IC pronouns, so that we and other players know how to refer to them. These will be visible beside your character's name on the wiki.
Character Questionnaire
The Character Questionnaire is a set of questions that helps make sure players have decided on, and GMs know, some important details about the submitted character. The five questions are:
- How and when did your character die? Perhaps it was freak accident. Perhaps it was pre-meditated. Did they pass away due to natural causes, or did something nefarious occur? Whatever it was, make sure you have a good idea of how it happened.
- How does your character's death manifest physically in the Threshold? Inhabitants of the Threshold, no matter how they died, all possess a “death mark” signalling the means by which they met their demise. Those who were beheaded may have scars upon their neck; those who were fatally shot may have a small dot below their heart representing the entry wound; those who were burnt alive may be accompanied by puffs of black smoke, and the wrists of those who died of terminal illness may permanently show the indentation of a hospital wristband. For many people this “death mark” is only a small and subtle reminder - although you may choose to make yours more pronounced.
- What is your character's unfinished business? No one dies without regrets, and those who claim to have done so are lying. There's always a letter unsent, a secret unspoken, a loved one unkissed, or a rival still standing. If your character had their time again, what would they do with it?
- What does your character's 'life' in the Threshold look life? Describe their day-to-day routine. Do they have a job? Do they frequent social hubs, or Snake Dens? Are they actively working towards their ascension, and if so, how? Things move fast in the Threshold - does you character keep up with the pace?
- What, in your character's eyes, does it mean to be a good person? This is the most open-ended and abstract of the questions we want you to answer. We wish to know your character's moral standards, whether or not they think they've met them.
Character Questionnaire (Amnesia)
Some players may select the Amnesiac quirk, meaning that their character arrived in the Threshold with no memory of their corporeal life. Since many of the questions above would be inappropriate for such characters, players taking this quirk will be asked to consider a different set of questions. They are:
- Are there any themes you would like your character to engage with? By extension, are there any you would like us to avoid? Even though, by choosing this quirk, you are effectively giving the GMs freedom to determine the nature of your character's life, there may be themes you particularly want us to include or exclude. Please list them.
- Any preference for time period? This can be as vague or as specific as you wish, such as the Stone Age, 15th century Mesoamerica, or the early 1970s. We will do our best to accommodate for this.
- Describe your character’s appearance. What is their “death mark”? Although characters with the Amnesiac quirk do not typically remember their precise means of death, they might be able to glean a clue from their death mark. What is it, and does your character have some idea what it might represent?
- Although you have amnesia, the moments of your existence that were the most emotionally volatile are the ones the most likely to return to you. As such, you may remember your death, or one moment from your life. What is your single memory? This can be any moment that you think would have had the most emotional impact on your character's life, such as their wedding day, the time they first killed a man, or that fateful moment when the emperor sentenced them to be executed.
- How does your character feel, waking up without their memories. What is their initial reaction? For many characters, this will be frightening time, for others it may give them an inexplicable sense of freedom. How might your character's inability to remember their life impact their attitude towards ascending?
Submitting Your Character
The preferred method of submission is via the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/D2baycfrEoHTzv1z8
If however, for whatever reason, you would prefer not to use this, we will also accept character submissions by email to: gm@threshold.oxfordrpg.com
Please also fill out our joint-ballot form: https://forms.gle/CJFt96FFfGqCEPU77
The deadline for character submissions is 23:59 on Thursday 17th October.