Template Guide

This template provides information about each section of the template and is meant to be a guide for you when creating a character on the website. Each section has generalized information followed by situational and region specific notes. You are not expected to read every word of this document. Only what you need. Don't be upset if staff tells you to check something here you didn't read though.

Do note that we use this guide to assist us with reviewing characters. It is periodically updated with new information.

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CHARACTER



Name:

• In general, anything goes.
• Color-based names are encouraged, but not required.
  • Monty Oum's Naming Rules. Following these rules is encouraged, especially for younger characters as this trend has only grown in popularity over the years.
  • Ozpin spoke of the origin of names based on color.
    Quote from: Ozpin speech, S2E8

    We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day.
• If your character has a nickname, include it here so others know what to call your character.
• Aliases and Titles: Carefully consider giving your character an alias or title. If they have one, you need to explain who calls you that, and why they call you that. Or perhaps it is a self-imposed title. If your character is called “The Black Knight” for no reason other than to be cool, dark and/or edgy, you don’t get to have that title on your profile.

Age:

Your character’s current age. We use alternate names for the months of the year, and have a customized timeline.

• January - Niege, French for Snow
• February - Amare, Italian for Love
• March - Klever, Russian for Clover
• April - Arashi, Japanese for Storm
• May - Huā, Chinese for Flower
• June - Saule, Lithuanian for Sun
• July - Hitahita, Maori for Impetuous
• August - Tulikuuma, Finnish for Scalding
• September - Machlud, Welsh of Sunset
• October - Zinnober, German for cinnabar
• November -Saaral, Mongolian for Grey
• December - Frost, English for Frost

Overview of World History timeline.[Note: Timeline is WIP, these historical dates may change, but the current year should not.]
2 AC - End of the Greyed War(War on color, etc)
40-43 AC - Faunus Civil War
80 AC -  Age of Color, Present Day, Day 1 Year 1, etc


Academy Students: The typical age to enter Beacon Academy or an equivalent school is 17-18. A character may be older, but if they are younger, then your story must be very well constructed to back it up and will likely require special permission.


Gender and Species:

The two most common genders are Male and Female. Others exist, but less commonly than the most common genders. Because they’re the most common.

Characters may be either Humans or Faunus. Humans are more common than Faunus. Though it is less prominent in some parts of the world, Faunus have a certain level of prejudice and racism directed toward them. Keep this in mind and take it into account as you create and play your character. Many humans are uncomfortable around Faunus, and the reverse may be true as well. Faunus typically find it harder to accomplish their goals/tasks when many humans are around, due to this mistrust and prejudice.

When creating a Faunus, include the animal species they are based on. There are no prohibited creature base types for Faunus, but there are restrictions on what traits you can take from them. See the appearance section below.



Symbol:

Many characters in RWBY have a symbol that represents their character in some way. They are not required but can add a unique flavor to the character. You may describe the symbol, or include an image. Symbols may also have names! Obscenely large pictures should be resized.



Occupation:

What does your character currently do?

Combat Academy Students: Make sure you include which academy they attend, and what year student they are. At Beacon Academy and equivalents, students are assigned to a team of four students. You may choose who your teammates are, or you may post in the Hat Draw thread and have your character randomly assigned to a team with other characters. Whichever you choose, you can also sign your team up to have an initiation event run for them.

Combat Academy Teachers: As with students, make sure to mention where they teach. Teachers/Professors are much like any full hunter character with one notable difference. In order to stop anyone and everyone from having a teacher at every academy, permission from the staff is required before making them or posting them. Simply send a message to one of the current staff members, not Vox, and ask if you can have a teacher. They should bring it to the rest of the staff and have an answer fairly quickly or within a few days depending on who's on.



White Fang/Villains: Villains or generally evil characters may choose to hide their identity. A character's history may be fabricated, or have information left out in order to keep your villainous deeds concealed and to provide a sense of mystery and paranoia to the world. Should you choose to do this, you must send a private message to Dr. Gustave with the true profile.

• White Fang members share similar ranks with the army, ranging from Private to Marshal. Characters may only be created in the enlisted ranks unless they possess Huntsmen grade training, in which case they may be ranked up through the Warrant Officer ranks. Higher ranks require special permission from Dr. Gustave.

Example of other occupations:
Mercenary
Bounty Hunter
Assassin
Huntsman
Freelancer





Appearance:

Character appearance is probably read more than any other section by others. Make sure you detail it well enough so everyone can get a good picture of what your character looks like. Remember that while you have a picture of your character in your head, others can only create that picture with what you write in this profile. If you want people to see your character the way you see it, make sure you describe it well!

Faunus: A Faunus is a human with a few biological alterations. They are not anthropomorphized animals. Do not cross the line on this chart, except to have the features listed below.

Many faunus have near heightened senses such as hearing or night vision. In addition to these traits, you may choose up to TWO alterations from this list.

• Ears
• Tail
• Eyes
• Horns
• Wings
• Skin
• Claws
• Tongue
• Teeth/Fangs

A note on Wings and Skin: With wings you can glide just fine, but you cannot fly. For skin, do not cross the furry line. Light patches of fur or scales is fine, but make sure you're watching where your character is at.

Height and Weight: These two things are very commonly used, and are often given exact amounts. So here are a few tips on picking them. First, search the internet for something like, “Height to weight ratio” and you will get a plethora of sources to help determine the proper weight for a character at the height you want. Also, remember that muscles weigh MORE than fat does. If your character has well developed muscles and very little fat, they won’t be particularly lightweight for their height.

• Not everyone is tall. And you don’t have to be tall to be cool. If you pick an obscenely tall height, you need to have it be relevant to the character. They can't just be tall for talls sake, and the tallness needs to be included in your profile beyond this section. Additionally, don't be short for shortness' sake either. Make sure, if they're unusually short, that it's a part of their actual character and not just a trait. Normal sized people are cool too. Note that the worldwide average adult human height is 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) for males and 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) for females.

Face Claims: If you use an image for your character, you MUST describe your character still. An image is not a replacement for a proper description.



History:

The History section is often the lengthiest and most difficult section to write. Strong knowledge of the world of Remnant can help tie a character into things. We have a [LINK?]worldbuilding section that contains information on both canon locations such as Vale and Vacuo, and Fanon content unique to this site.  You can use the information here to build a backstory and tie your character into the world. This is important because if your character is from some “village” nobody has ever heard of, and has done a bunch of things nobody has ever heard of… then nobody is going to be able to relate to your character. You won’t be tied to the world. You’ll just… exist. Here is a list of current locations. Worldbuilds that have yet to be approved exist in name only. That is, you can have a character from there, and they can say they're from there, but there can't be any plots or story relevance for the place.

Remember that details make your character more interesting, and paint a clearer picture of your character. However, there are many things that would have happened in your character's life that are minor and have little to no impact on their character. Filling the History section with many things that don't really explain your character makes the section long and often boring. Keep the details meaningful. Nobody cares what your character ate for breakfast yesterday, but if they eat the exact same thing for breakfast everyday because their parents demanded it would bring them good health, that could be important as it could shape their personality or mannerisms.

Relative Realism: Remnant is filled with monsters that, for unknown reasons, seek to destroy all life. They are cruel and evil and heartless creatures. Many characters and heroes have fought them over the ages, but that's likely because they received training and/or experience. Children are not naturally able to fight without these things. We don't believe that an eight-year-old could slay -insertbeastiehere-, and neither should you. Be realistic with your design, relative to the world of Remnant.

Occupation: Your character has one, probably. Make sure that your history flows into that profession. If your character is a student at Beacon, they need to have followed proper procedure to get to that point, for example. If they're a baker at a shop in Vale, did they obtain Baker training from the Institute of Baking? I hope so!

• Combat Academy Students: All schools have two primary ways of being enrolled.
  • Attend a combat school such as Signal Academy for 4 years and then transfer to the Advanced Academy(i.e. Beacon Academy) with sufficient academic and combat scores.
  • Take the Enrollment Exam, which typically has three parts: Academic Test, Sparring Test, Live Combat Test.

Personality:

Along with how or why your character acts a certain way, the Personality section must also include a few lines about your character’s mental and emotional strengths and weaknesses. This section comes after the History section because a character’s history very often will shape their personality. If major events happened in your character’s past, how does that affect their personality today?

If your dark and gruesome sadist had a tragic past, this is a perfect area to tell us how this makes them unflinching at the sight of gore, but the mental scarring causes erratic behavior. Someone's cocky, overbearing personality might be worth a mention as a plus for them to usually be convincing outwardly of their various deeds, but only as a façade for their insecurities within. A traumatic experience eating coleslaw might mean your character hates the sight of mayonnaise. That time your character saw a famous hunter and got to shake her hand could've marked the day you decided to become a Hunter or Huntress... but led to perfectionism or stalking tendencies, with the goal of becoming your idol.

Semblances: A semblance sometimes ties into personality. For example, Yang’s semblance causes her eye color to change from purple to red when she is visibly frustrated or angry. Ruby likes to dash around at high speed when excited over anything.

Faunus: Faunus often share some personality traits with their base animal. For example, Blake has a particular liking of fish.



Aura and Semblance:

Note: This is a complicated topic. Please make sure you detail what your character is capable of doing as clearly as possible.

Aura is a life force that runs through all living creatures. Humans and Faunus are able to gain control of their Aura, which helps them survive in the world. In general, Aura can be activated by anyone with only little training or practice. In its basic form, it may appear as a thin barrier around the user when they concentrate or activate their semblance. Its color varies based on the user.

Passive Benefits: Most characters that have had their Aura unlocked can benefit from the following effects:

• Shielding: Aura forms a protective barrier around the user and their equipment, protecting them from harm.
• Regeneration: Aura can increase the regeneration rate of the body. Small cuts can heal in only a few moments, but larger wounds still require more time to heal.

Aura Training: With proper training, characters can gain access to additional skills. These skills require specialized training in the use of Aura. They are not something that all huntsmen or students can do. Use of these skills are typically taught in Huntsmen Academies.

• Detection: A 'sixth sense', the ability to detect nearby Grimm or Aura. This ability is always vague, and cannot grant specific details such as number of targets, or exact location.
• Strength: Aura can increase the force of your physical attacks, allowing you to perform great feats of strength like cutting Grimm in half repeatedly.
• Blast: A wave of force can be emitted at a short range, damaging and knocking back targets.(Example: Lie Ren vs. King Taijitu, V1E6)
• Shield:The user can form a shield of aura in front of them to block attacks. This is not an impenetrable shield but it is tough to break, offset by its short lifespan.(Example: Lie Ren vs. King Taijitu, V1E6)

Semblance: Semblance is a projection of one's Aura. It is a single ability that often reflects one aspect of a character. An obvious example of this would be someone who enjoys playing with fire could have the ability to manipulate flames. The ability can also be inherited through family.

• Semblances are powered by Aura. However, it does not directly drain one's Aura reserves. Using your semblance is similar to using muscles to perform physical labor. It tires you out. Use it often, or in some very powerful way will cause fatigue.  (Example: Weiss casting many glyphs at once to help Ruby scale a massive cliff and decapitate a giant bird. V1E8)
• Semblance abilities vary very widely, but follow some general guidelines. Through the use of a Semblance, Aura can:
  
  
  • be given a physical form. Example: Creating shadow copies of yourself to take hits for you like Blake.
  • be expelled as a varying form of energy. Examples: Throwing a fireblast, or moving very quickly like with Ruby’s Speed Semblance.
  • be manipulated as an entity. Example: Controlling short duration clones that explode on contact like Sun Wukong.
  • alter the physical properties of other entities and objects. Examples: Moving an object with telekinesis or repairing them like Glynda. Pyrrha moving objects with magnetism.
  • change its own physical properties. Examples: Creating a fire aura around the user, or causing unarmed strikes to deal fire damage.

• BannedRestricted Semblance Abilities: These are general concepts that are not allowed for characterslikely to be approved.
  
  • Mental Manipulation: This includes effects that alter or directly affect another’s mind. Mind Reading, Mind Control, causing fear, etc. Effects based on the senses(such as creating illusions) are allowed.
  • Semblance Copying.
  • Aura Drain and Anti-Aura.
  • Manipulating another's Aura against their will
  • Time Travel. Slowing, Speeding, or briefly stopping time may be more acceptable under some circumstances.
  • Hammerspace
  • Creation Powers. You cannot create a hammer made out of a physical matter. This one is still completely banned. You can create a hammer made out of Aura, which would dissipate when you let go of it or ran out of Aura.
    • Aura Constructs do not have consciousness, and cannot make decisions on their own. They will follow instructions given to them by their creator, however.
  • Obviously Overpowered Abilities. Invulnerability is an example.
  • This is not an exclusive list. There may be other things not on this list that are not allowedlikely to be allowed.

Vox Edit: I've wanted to do this for a long time.

Semblance Catalyst Focus: Some Semblances can be infused with Dust. A good example of this is in “No Brakes”(S2E11), when Blake used Dust to create various elemental clones. In order to do this, your semblance must be Augmentable(It has to make sense that your semblance can gain various properties), and you need a Semblance Catalyst Focus or SCF. Blake in the above example used Catalyst Foci given to her by Weiss.
     The most common type of Focus is a cartridge. They can be shot from a weapon much like a bullet, however, instead of a projectile being fired, the user's semblance is instead augmented with the Dust. These type of Foci only last once before they must be recharged/reloaded, just like a bullet. Some other concepts besides cartridges: Buttons on a shirt, a necklace, bracelet, key chain. They all work once(Unless they have multiple parts. A necklace with 5 pearls on it may have 5 uses). Once a Focus is expended, it may be recharged.

• Caster: A caster is someone who is skilled enough in the use of Dust to augment their, or their allies, Semblance directly and without a Focus. A canon example of this is Weiss. She augments her Semblance, Glyphs, with various types of Dust to create a wide variety of effects. Ruby, Blake, and Yang are NOT casters. Add another example?

Dust: Dust is an energy source used to power just about any piece of technology in Remnant. It is also used extensively in combat, ranging from augmented bullets to augmented semblances to dusted based weapons such as flamethrowers or swords that release blades of wind. There are four types of Dust that may be combined in varying ways to create a massive array of effects, such as, but not limited to, fire, lightning, ice, wind, repulsion, and propulsion. It is commonly found in two forms: powder and crystal. Crystalline Dust is unrefined but much safer to handle in crystal form. It is also less potent. Powder Dust is far more dangerous to handle without proper care but equally more powerful. It generally must be carried in special containers or weapons designed to carry it. Failure to do so may result in explosions.

Dust is an energy source. It is not a battery, and cannot be recharged. However, energy cells that are powered by Dust can be refilled, assuming you have more Dust.

Creating & Mixing Dust: Training, delicate handling, and specialized tools are required to create specific types of Dust. Because of this, the vast majority of Dust users purchase their own Dust ammunition or canisters. This is a skill taught to 3rd-year students at most Advanced schools such as Beacon Academy.

Glamour: Dust can be cosmetically applied to clothing and equipment. This effect gives a wide range of purely decorative effects, from sparkles to shininess to what have you. These effects can also provide minor, non-combat based benefits. Adding Ice Dust Acrylics to your clothes can help keep you cool in the hot deserts of Vacuo, for example.

Infusion: Infusion is the archaic and highly dangerous system of utilizing Dust in combat. One can infuse Dust with their clothing, or even directly to their skin in order to gain the benefits of it. This is a wildly dangerous and painful practice that, while not outlawed, is very rarely practiced. The advent of technology has allowed for safer applications of Dust in combat while maintaining the same firepower, or in many cases increasing it. As such, the benefits of infusion do not outweigh the disadvantages. Infused dust is known to spontaneously combust if hit without aura shielding, inflicting significant damage or death to the person wearing it. Infusion also does not grant abilities/attacks that technology cannot already create.

If your character infuses Dust, you need to very clearly explain why they do it, why they don't use technology(which is safer and more powerful) and how they are still alive.


Combat Behavior: Along with explanations of your character’s prowess and ability in dispatching others, you must include weaknesses that may lead to their downfall.

Your tall, towering behemoth of a brawler has no problem bashing in a few skulls... but getting in range might be slow for the lumbering oaf they might be. Speed might be your forte, but are you sure you aren't sacrificing protection in order to stay a step ahead of an opponent? While we all strive to be the greatest Hunter, Huntress, or impervious survivor that ever lived on the face of Remnant, everyone has in some form a weakness that is a detriment to them. Detail those here.




WEAPON



Name: The name of your weapon. If you plan to have multiple weaponry, you can copy this section as needed to detail each weapon and its forms.



Primary Form: Describe the appearance of your weapon and what it is capable of doing. Thanks to people wanting to wave around broken science in a dick measuring contest, high tech weapons are now based on a trust system. That is, if we trust you enough to make it, you can have it. In addition, if a weapon is deemed to be OP, or overpowered, it is denied. It doesn't matter if it exists in real life or not.



Secondary Form: If your weapon can change forms, describe how it does, and what its new form looks like and can do.



Tertiary Form: A weapon can multiple forms, but it has to make sense. A weapon that has three forms pushes the physical limits for a transforming weapon. As such, this is the maximum unless you can argue having an additional form.


Dust Functions: If your character’s weapon utilizes Dust in some way, explain how here. Are the rounds you fire Dust rounds? How do they work? Do you have multiple types? Or, does your weapon function like Weiss’ Myrtenaster?

When explaining how your character’s various Dust’s work, remember that the effects of the Dust is what is important, not the type of dust or element used. Dust can be combined in many, many ways to create a very broad range of effects. If you wish to apply a color to the type of dust, that’s perfectly fine, but it’s a visual note. All yellow dust is not the same, for example.



History: This section should include information regarding how this weapon came to be. Was it forged by the character? Where? When? Why was it designed the way it is? Why is it named the way it is?

NOTE: Seeing as we've moved boards and everyone needs to have characters re-approved, you are allowed to submit entries for characters not yet approved or submitted, as long as they will be ready by the 18th.

SIGN UPS WILL END SEPTEMBER 25TH

Blip-bloop! "Welcome one and all once more to the Vytal Festival, this year located in urban Vale!" The message on the scroll reads. "This is the fortieth biannual Vytal Tourney and with it, each of the Kingdom's councils have agreed to revamp the rules so newcomers and veterans alike, pay attention. Instead of a single bracket included all years and all match-ups, we've spread out the action between a maximum of twelve brackets, though we suspect some may gain much more attention by the cameras than others. The brackets are as follows: One for each year in 4v4, one for each year in 2v2, and one for each year of 1v1. You may participate in all three of these bracket types, for example you and your team can participate in 4v4, you and your teammate can participate in 2v2 as well as the other members of your team, and you may participate in 1v1 as can the rest of your team. After the champion of each bracket is decided, a bonus round where all four years converge will commence. This means that there will be 1st years V 2nd years and 3rd years V 4th years, with the winners moving up to the bonus finals. This means you have not one, not two, not three, but six chances at championship if you participate in all of the bracket types as well as the bonus rounds. Along with the revamp of the rules, this year we are proud to announce another new bracket type, 'The Huntsman's Bracket', exclusive to graduated hunters and huntresses that decide to stick around in the city long enough to participate in matches. We will also be increasing the amount of Field Effects that can be chosen at the start of matches, including new fields like mist, or fields rich in specific kinds of Dust.

We hope to see you all there this year and remember to keep your weapons cleaned, Dust stocked, and aura charged!" Signing off...

Alright folks, this is it. This is what the god awful first initiation and less awful but still bad Vytal Tourney Practice event were training us for. A well and true tournament arc. There are some rules I need to clarify on from the above statement so let's get right one that.

Most important rule: You may have the same character in each of the bracket types but you cannot have more than one character in the same bracket type. That is, I could not have both Malina and Zabar in the 1v1 bracket. This is still in effect even if they are different years. The only time this rule is overridden is in 4v4 if you have two characters on the same team.

4v4: Matches are estimated to have a very low turn out but that doesn't mean we won't allow them. Even if only a single team is submitted we have a way to make it worth it, which we be explained below. That said, only OFFICIAL TEAMS may participate in this bracket type. This means the team you were assigned to by Atlas/Beacon/Haven/Shade and you MUST have all four members agree to participate in the round. How to enter will be addressed below.

2v2: This is expected to have a good turn out. Good as in "Not so many it gets hard to manage." As stated before, if you participate in either of the two bracket types, you can still participate in this bracket with the same character that is entered in either of them. If you have two characters on a team they only one can be in this round.

1v1: This is going to be super busy. It is possible that not everyone gets in, dependent on how many entrees are received. Once again, only one character allowed, regardless of year.

As stated before, even if one team/double/person enters a bracket, we have a way to make it interesting, and that way is Staff conducted NPC teams. Now don't think that if you get an NPC team then you'll pretty much have an auto win, they are still tough opponents like any other player character and have weaknesses that must be exploited. These NPC teams will MOSTLY come from Atlas/Haven/Shade since 99% of entrees will likely be Beacon based.

Staff members will play the parts of referees in this tourney,though we will still participate. We are there to both make sure matches run smoothly as well as to work a check, if someone decides to challenge a post.

The matches themselves will run off a similar system to that of the practice tourney, you both start off with 100% aura, attacks must be given a % damage value, it is up to the other person to decide whether or not they would hit and are responsible for taking the damage (unless an autohit penalty is required.). If you feel that your opponent has made an unfair attack value or dodged unfairly, you must contact a referee and we will determine whether or not it was unfair. If it was, the post must be edited to what we deem to be fair.

In matches, it is required that you post within 5 days, if you don't and do not send a notice to BOTH a referee and your opponent beforehand, you will be given an autohit penalty. That is whatever attack was in someone's post before you didn't post will automatically hit. If there was no attack in the post, one may be edited in. If you do not post in 3 days without notice following the auto hit, your character is disqualified. If you think tou won't be able to post for 8 days at any time during the tourney, do not sign up.

These rules count for everyone, normal members, minions, moderators, and admins. Do not be afraid to talk to one of the staff is anyone is breaking any rules.

Below I will show the proper way to sign up characters per brackets.

Discuss/ask/suggest things here http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,107.0.html

EXAMPLES

4v4: Team RWBY Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long

2v2: Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long

1v1:Yang Xiao Long

Huntsman's Bracket: Qrow Branwen

ACTUAL SIGN UP

2v2: Malina Nahuatl and Carmine Santiago (Hopefully)

1v1:Zabar Aga

Your character needs two others to approve your profile before its accepted. Before that, they may suggest changes or tell you of things in your profile that don't make sense or don't work. If you wish to defend or debate your profile before making the changes, its your decision. We can often be convinced to allow some things if more details about the subject are added, but not always.

Reviewing characters may only be done by someone on the list of Staff members and Assistants below.

Any Staff Member, per this list.

• NotSurprised
• ecksdeeeXD
• FunkyMonkey
• jjb2158
• Xarias Fury
• Seig
• Kingnoname1
• Vision

Once your character has two approvals, it will be moved to the appropriate Approved Characters section. You should edit your signature to include a link to the character. The steps below may help guide you through that process.

Step 1:Copy the link to your approved character from your URL bar.

Step 2:Locate the Profile button in the bar along the top of the webpage. It looks like this.

Step 3:Hover over "Modify Profile" and select "Forum Profile" from the drop-down menu. It will look like this.

Step 4:In the signature box at the bottom of this page, type in the following, substituting my character link and name for yours. Like this.

Step 5:Hit change profile. All done!

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We have a Work in Progress board where you may post profiles that you are still working on, or would like to have others help you with. All members of the forums may review characters that are WIP, however all comments in this board are unofficial. Exercise caution when reading reviews in here.

Once you think your character is ready, repost the character in the main board as a full profile for review.

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If you need to edit your character after they have been approved, go to the character editing forums.