[NEWBIE] Tips for my character story

[Ragnar Lofgren]

I know I have the mentors to Private message however I also wanted to open up a thread to hear multiple views from the community as to what is norm, what is considered "bad role-play" and what would be considered different or unique.

I am new to Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy having only purchased it in the Steam sales and swinging my sabre aimlessly around on an open server. I've learnt simple things like strafing and such however if I am to be completely honest and straight forward, I am a complete noob to this game.

I have a vast array of role-play experience, primarily from San Andreas Multi-player. For those of you that don't know, it is a mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas whereby you can install game scripts to a game server, such as role-play based ones and have a character, live and work to earn respect, money or jail-time! Now, back to that Galaxy, far, far away!

I intend to create a character from either Tantooine or Jakku which I assume is unlikely to be original? My character will be at the peak of the "initiate" age range, being aged 12 and standing at a height of 4ft 2" he will be a Speeder bike mechanic, working at a small shop on either of the planets. This does tie in with my passion and occupation in real life, I figured I should role-play a back story that I am strong and passionate about... And biking is that! I thought perhaps my ability was discovered with my talent to decipher a mechanical problem on a speeder bike from simply touching or looking at the bike and perhaps a voluntary Jedi Knight/ Master can find me on one of these remote planets. It feels all very Anakin Skywalkerie however that is not my intention! I simply have a passion for motorcycles and wanted to tie that into a Star Wars character.

If anybody has any recommendations or suggestions please comment bellow, I am keen to hear what others think.

[Keth Flynn]

That whole background sounds very good in itself, really! There's no problem if it's Skywalkerie, place of birth wise and stuff... If your character's personality is, though... That isn't recommended at all, originality and personality are the best!
Plus there's enough anakins as it is in the past and present, counting my char at his Alzoc days...
Just don't, I wouldn't advise the touching and recognising the problem part either, that would mean your character show a somewhat ability in the Force, something the rules go against until your char is initiated. I would go about it this way instead: showing good prowess in mechanics for his age really.

You don't need to be good at the game to roleplay in here either, hell, game mechanics are changed because of RPmod and it is part of the fun! It just shouldn't be favorised to the point where you forget the roleplay.

[Ragnar Lofgren]

That whole background sounds very good in itself, really!

That's a relief! Thanks.

There's no problem if it's Skywalkerie, place of birth wise and stuff... If your character's personality is, though... That isn't recommended at all, originality and personality are the best!
Plus there's enough anakins as it is in the past and present, counting my char at his Alzoc days... Just don't.

I never take inspiration nor base my character around another from a movie or TV program, for the most part I aim to create my characters behaviours and attitude based on myself as a person in real life. Some call this bad role-play however it enables me to role-play my feelings and behaviours in much more detail seeing as, it's almost me I'm describing!

I wouldn't advise the touching and recognising the problem part either, that would mean your character show a somewhat ability in the Force, something the rules go against until your char is initiated. I would go about it this way instead: showing good prowess in mechanics for his age really.

Ah okay, thank you for your suggestion. I will do that. A good prowess in mechanics for aged 12 with no history or use of the force thus far.

Thank you for all of your suggestions, I'll take this on-board.

[Syrena Exan]

Note: If you come from Jakku, it's worth noting that we aren't using the new movie's lore. We've always been based in what's now called 'Legends' lore, and it would conflict with everything we've established to drop the pre-Disney lore. So while Jakku might be an existing world in our Galaxy, the new cannon's events won't have happened there. You could probably vaguely say a war happened there long ago, but no more details than that.

[Keth Flynn]

I never take inspiration nor base my character around another from a movie or TV program, for the most part I aim to create my characters behaviours and attitude based on myself as a person in real life. Some call this bad role-play however it enables me to role-play my feelings and behaviours in much more detail seeing as, it's almost me I'm describing!

Okay, I'm game!
Don't hesitate if you have any questions, I'm sure we're all happy to help.

[Ragnar Lofgren]

Note: If you come from Jakku, it's worth noting that we aren't using the new movie's lore. We've always been based in what's now called 'Legends' lore, and it would conflict with everything we've established to drop the pre-Disney lore. So while Jakku might be an existing world in our Galaxy, the new cannon's events won't have happened there. You could probably vaguely say a war happened there long ago, but no more details than that.

Tatooine it is then! I'm happy with that anyway, I have a stronger knowledge of the planet.

Okay, I'm game!
Don't hesitate if you have any questions, I'm sure we're all happy to help.

Well, funny you should mention... I do have one or two questions!

• What is the lore of JEDI, is it set 200 years after the events of the Galactic Civil War?
  
  So far as I know, after the Galactic Civil War the criminal gangs on Tatooine have strived more so for legitimacy most of them opening Mining organisations?
  
  Is the story of the Skywalkers known on Tatooine? I planned to have no knowledge of the history except myth and legend over-heard from pilots passing through the local star ports.
  
  How would I get myself noticed as a hopeful... How would I get to the JEDI temple. What are your suggestions?
  
  So far, I was going to name my character Ragnar Lofgren which is VERY Nordic! Is there any suggestions on names or somewhere I could scroll through a list or generator?

[Keth Flynn]

What is the lore of JEDI, is it set 200 years after the events of the Galactic Civil War?

So far as I know, after the Galactic Civil War the criminal gangs on Tatooine have strived more so for legitimacy most of them opening Mining organisations?

Is the story of the Skywalkers known on Tatooine? I planned to have no knowledge of the history except myth and legend over-heard from pilots passing through the local star ports.

How would I get myself noticed as a hopeful... How would I get to the JEDI temple. What are your suggestions?[/list]

I would suggest you to go there if you want to see where we are in history, the lore involves the EU which is many many years after the Civil War and the Battle of Yavin (ABY= After Battle of Yavin, and now we're in the 346.07 year. One month IRL equals one year here, so 346 years after the battle of yavin) so yeah, Luke's dead, and originals but not of Abram's.

It is known but since it has been so many years... Not anymore, as you would guess.

You get noticed through your role-play, and those I answered in your help topic!

[Ragnar Lofgren]

I would suggest you to go there if you want to see where we are in history, the lore involves the EU which is many many years after the Civil War and the Battle of Yavin (ABY= After Battle of Yavin, and now we're in the 346.07 year. One month IRL equals one year here, so 346 years after the battle of yavin) so yeah, Luke's dead, and originals but not of Abram's.

It is known but since it has been so many years... Not anymore, as you would guess.

Ah, so there is a timeline thread! Excellent, I was looking for one.

**Applies reading lenses**

You get noticed through your role-play, and those I answered in your help topic!

I meant more so in-character, how would my character end up in the JEDI Temple? How could I describe my character getting there?

[Keth Flynn]

You could say that a Knight brought you to the temple by noticing you on Tatooine. It's perfect since the Order actually is looking for force-sensitives considering what is going on anyway.

[Ragnar Lofgren]

You could say that a Knight brought you to the temple by noticing you on Tatooine. It's perfect since the Order actually is looking for force-sensitives considering what is going on anyway.

Cool, I'll write that into my story. Would be nice to get a Jedi Knight to volunteer to be a mention in my story. I'll look around!

[Motoko]

I never take inspiration nor base my character around another from a movie or TV program, for the most part I aim to create my characters behaviours and attitude based on myself as a person in real life. Some call this bad role-play however it enables me to role-play my feelings and behaviours in much more detail seeing as, it's almost me I'm describing!

I'm not going to mince words on this, and this is my own personal view.

This is a trap.

The inherent problem of this, is that you are you because of the sum of your experiences and upbringing. The circumstances that make who you are right now can never be fully replicated in Star Wars, much less on this server. Period.

Another huge problem is that your character will be spending some of the most formative years of their lives in the Praxeum. Starting with anything but the most nascent aspects of your character's personality, dictated entirely by the relationship with their parents, can very easily lead to a personality that is completely incongruous with the RP you've actually done on the server.

This is one the largest barriers to entry for this server because a vast majority of RP starts with characters that are already fully formed adults. That doesn't happen here and the server is specifically structured that way. Oddly enough, the younger you make your character when they first arrive, the easier it is, because the vast majority of what shapes them are events you actually engage in.

This isn't everyone's cup of tea however. A lot of times, we have very specific character concepts we really really really want to play, but they're adults. To get there, you'd have to force a lot of interaction and scripted RP events to make them end up that way. The very improvisational nature of free form RP works against this at every turn.

I can tell you when Motoko showed up on Alzoc III at the age of six (She's in her late 40s now), I had a wide variety of ideas of where she might end up. Over the course of RL years, she developed in interesting ways I couldn't have anticipated. This wasn't completely left up to fate. More than a few times, I could influence her reaction to events and people, or even spontaneously have things happen to her, and so I was able to sculpt her in a way I found interesting and fun to play. What I couldn't know when I first joined and started playing is how much, how soft, and when I'd get that clay to make her who she is today. Some of the most impactful moments she's been through were completely out of my control.

Lastly, I've seen it time and time again when RPers do this, they become too invested in their characters, because they view them as extensions of themselves. They can, and have, told me continuously that "oh no, that won't be me, I promise!" only to have them turn around and be clearly bothered when their characters fail, or have bad things happen to them. Then they become the standard accepted definition of a metagamer to avoid failure. Every time.

For me, what's worked is method acting.

[Kha Rae]

So ::JEDI::'s structures is fantastic in that you as a PC dont have alot of backstory and pregame charicter developement you have to do. As a young student you have basic info.

- Place of birth
- What was life like before coming to the jedi
- minor personality quarks like temperament.

Basicaly things that are noticable in children. This allows you to be a moldable charicter and play out what other RP's concider back story or personality building. Just remember you are RPing to become a jedi and jedi are tought to change. As far as worrying about picking un original locations. The simple remedy is that out off all the location we've seen in Star wars. We've only had glimpses of them. Tatooine for example. We've seen moistur famers, racers, scavangers, parts dealers, gangster system lords. But there is certainly more that keeps the planet running. So feel fee to pick you're favorite lication. But also feel free to use a unique spin on the family life.

Use your time as a hopefull to explore what kind of personality would best fit in the clans current structure and players in your time zone. ::Jedi:: is going to be a lot slower paced the most RP's. So in between "authored" events, be ready to find ways to create content for your self and others. Remember, not every thing has to revolve around a negative event.


For those like the OP that are new to Jedi Academy RP, it has always had a slight meta game elament to it. In that your rank is not just your charcter's rank. But it is your rank also. The exeption being a rerolled character. As you increase in rank you are alowed to take a more active roll in content creation. This is more noticable in Jedi Knights but not limited to them.

Just some more meta game advise. (Like it or not there is a meta in Jedi academy RP) The higher ranks are not obliviouse to the lower ranks and your progression is not dependent on how you interact with them. The masters and council have a criteria they fallow when dealing with promotions. And every one above the rank of knight is aways watching the RP. Even if you don't think they are. Just RP well and don't be clingy to the higher ranks. It's limiting content for everyone.
Lastly as some one said before. Don't take the RP to personal. There's always the few members who are obviously avoiding you for no reason. Or a Knight who enjoys RP enough that you feel like you literaly sat through a 3 hour mind numbing lexture on the inner workings of the digestive sytem of a jawa. Just remember he earned it...and this is his/her game too.

[Lex Xandret]

Lastly, I've seen it time and time again when RPers do this, they become too invested in their characters, because they view them as extensions of themselves. They can, and have, told me continuously that "oh no, that won't be me, I promise!" only to have them turn around and be clearly bothered when their characters fail, or have bad things happen to them. Then they become the standard accepted definition of a metagamer to avoid failure. Every time. -Motoko

This seems like something to keep in mind, thanks!