How to Design a (Balanced) Character

[b]Full Name:[/b] Starside [b]Race:[/b] Awoken [b]Class:[/b] Hunter [b]Nickname:[/b] The Pale Tiger [b]Play Style:[/b] .Pistols .Sniper .Heavy Machine Gun .Swords, loads of swords, mainly daggers and Starside's prized long katana [b]Backstory:[/b] Starside he was called. As miracles were the light of the Traveler, this new baby boy was the light to his mother and a miracle to his farther and all Awoken in what was and is an unforgiving world and a tough world. This is why they called their son Starside, and no matter how dark things became a part of him would always be shining as bright as his features; pale skin, bleach blonde hair and a soft kind face that could always make the world seem like a better place. The world of darkness was not a good world though. And sadly for Starside, his family was not as privileged as some. Being a child not of the city was a tough life for anyone but especially for Awoken. After the collapse of civilization and the coming of the 'lightskins' or Awoken, outside the city there has always been prejudice, when you weren't fighting off hive vermin or fallen scavs you would be fighting humans or hiding from caravans of exo independence extremists. Eventually over the years tensions came down and the three races of earth came together but outside the city it was not gone. Starside's mother was never found after the raid of elder vandals of the house of serpents and the sacking of the shrine of the seven collums. He was raised by the tribe leader his farther but Starside didnt want to hide, he wanted to explore and bring peace to the world and the world's that belonged to every earthling. He was punished multiple times for venturing into different camps and exploring the cities of the dead and despite his popularity due to his compassion, he was banished by his own farther for helping a human prisoner escape whom he soon fell in love with. The human, Cajele Vabrun brough herself and Starside to the City where Starside fought for equality and freedom and against some of the more extremist cults but never wanted to raise a fist to do so. This was untill his family clan tried to sneak into the city to assassinate one of the senior Warlocks of the City but failed and died. After that things when a little steep for our hero and things didn't work out with Cajele and there wasn't much for Starside in the city anymore. In an attempt to explore and help his people he joined up in the guardian program in the hopes that he might not be able to find his way at home but maybe in the stars and the secrets of the Traveler he can find, his destiny. [b]Appearance:[/b] Pale gray-blue skin. Blonde fashionable young short hair and a dreaded round beard. 5'11" and broad body but thin legs and arms making him fast and agile. Facial features include blue eyes, strong eyebrows and a prominent brow, feminine lips, small ears and sharp but big eyes full of expression. Starside usually wears a pair of gold hoop earings and his markings resemble that of a tigers face. As far as armour goes he suits bulky and spikey left arm plating, the crowl of his clan, a white tiger resembling helmet and fairly light and exotic armour elsewhere in black with bits of dark red. Definitely not afraid of fur either.

thanks for this! it is really helpful

Name: bus drive Class: hunter He's a maniac Exo who is being hunted by the fallen for destroying their pilot satellite When the Exo robots are about to be shut down, the amazing busdrive murders all the fallen in the factory with the humans john the Titan and billy the Mage Together they go on adventures where he is the bard singing ballads Of course he dances (down on the dpad is what I think it is) and he sniper and has a PDw secondary because I am almost certain that exists

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[b]The Fables of Kazhooulte[/b] All we currently know about Kazhooulte, is that he was born on Earth, partially raised on Mars, and lived on Venus for a short time. His grandparents experienced the golden-age and his parents told him of the tales that were passed down to them as a child.. The family lived in the traveler's outer part of the city near the wall. His father was a scientist who worked for the Academy of Venus, and one day vanished while he was a child. He lost his mother during a breach of the city, when the traveler enemies infiltrated the walls. Kazhooulte's uncle, who was a Warlock guardian officer happened to be close by during the event and tried to save him and his mother. The mother was trapped under debris and the invaders were closing in.. she shouted to her brother, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, JUST GET HIM TO SAFETY!". Kazhooulte cried and struggled in his uncles grasp trying to save his mother.. but as they fled the scene, he saw his mother killed before his eyes by the invaders. The outer part of the city walls were in ruins and was no longer safe.. his uncle took him to Mars where the enemy would least expect them.. they lived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hot desert dunes. His uncle taught him how to survive and the laws of the jungle. Now in his late teens.. One day, they came across another group of humans.. a group of refugees.. this group had a mission to go to Venus. They said important information may be located at the academy ruins. His uncle and him also hoped they might find his father there, so they indulged to go along. On the mission they were ambushed by an patrol army of Vex. The group abandons the mission, seeing as they were outnumbered. Only a few managed to escape and his uncle was captured and taken.. he doesn't know if he is still alive. Kazhooulte's irrational reaction to how the group left his uncle for dead while they fled in fear, he blames the group and takes leave as a sole outcast.. even if it meant leaving behind the few people that he cared about back at the refugee camp.. he could not be burdened with the emotion of losing someone again.. and he can no longer trust his faith in the hands of another. Stranded and alone.. he learns how to survive on Venus and vows to take revenge for what the invaders have done to his family.. to humanity. Now in his early twenties.. still stranded on Venus, Kazhooulte has been observing and following the Vex's actions closely. He doesn't know what they are up to, but their forces have grown greater and now he notices them collaborating with the fallen. One day he manages to escape the dangerous jungles and finds a ship in a hidden bunker.. upon the discovery, he contemplates if he should stay on Venus in search of his uncle.. but remembers what he told him, "The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.", He knew he could survive on his own, but it is not survival that is needed to defeat his enemies, but strength.. and so he makes his way back to Earth. Once he arrived on Earth, he sought out to becoming a Guardian. Weeks of vigorous training was required to prove himself fit. Titan officers were in charge of most physical training. These powerful Titans showed him there were greater forces he could not withstand, so he learned how to dodge. The warlock officers were in charge of most intellectual training. His commanding warlock officer educated him on the understandings of the traveler and how to use the light. He praises the Lord of Light, for power the traveler blesses them with and the God of Death, for guardians are always falling on the battlefield.. they are his only true gods. Kazhooulte's next task at hand was to join a faction, but he is still unsure. He leans toward Dead Orbit, since it appears to represent his gods and the travelers idle status.. it is also a popular choice among guardians alike him in the city. Kazhooulte has few "friends" so he mostly travels alone, but is admired by many. Sometimes he is quite, reflecting on his past, present and future. He is slowly learning to open up about personal things. He faintly remember the days of seeing his mother's smile. On missions, he give commands with confidence and execute his actions swiftly. All he has now are the memories of all the tales his parents told him, sniper rifles, a revolver, hunting knives, survival tactics and a vow to keep. (Was supposed to be a brief summary of my character.. guess I got a little carried away with the dialogue bit. I’m still contemplating if I should make an elaborated full in-depth version with dialogue.)

Name: Wraith Totem Race: Awoken Class: Warlock Appearance: light grey skin, white long hair, black eyes, age: 28, small pink scar on the side of his cheek caused by a bullet from a Fallen Backstory: His family lived in a small caravan village outside old Russia that housed about 150 people. A group of rogue Fallen called the Klingha- Rhos raided the village and the only survivors were Wraith and a small girl called Anoka. Wraith became a guardian to protect her Traits: Has a short temper and tends to lash out at his fire team occasionally, he's arrogant yet quick thinking and will do anything to keep Anoka safe. Weapon Trinity: Primary: Precision rifle Secondary: Revolver Heavy: Lmg

Eucliwood Hellscythe: "Eu". Ranked. Exo/Hunter. Guardian. Eu was a member of a hunter group of 6 : The Black Reapers. They were well known among the People for they completed tasks that ranged from enemy leader take outs to taking out enemy faction members. But Eu`s lonewolf status as a hunter began when the team took on a specific mission: To enter and eradicate the hive elsewhere on the moon. Eu was the only one left alive. This shook Eu beyond his own capabilities of maintaining a stable mind. This drove Eu into his own solitude and sought to be a lone hunter, still fulfilling missions on his own as if he was still with the team. No matter how tough it may be, he will take on the mission tactfully. Eu still suffers from the trauma of his dead comrades, for he loved them, and their souls haunt him for he could not save them. His most utter fear is the hive, the enemy that eradicated his entire squad. Soon, Eu will face reality and overcome his depression state of lonesomeness and despair and He will take revenge on the hive and all other race who threaten the human race! Strengths: Sniping, mid-range weapons, mobility, teamwork weaknesses: The Hive, Memories of his comrades deaths, watching own comrades die

I was going to write out a character sheet for some of the main characters in my fanfiction 'Days without sun.' but after I attempted it I thought it sort of ruined the characters when I broke them down into statistics and lists, I guess its because my writing style is a lot to do with piecing information together and keeping the audience guessing at characters motives and emotions. so Instead I've decided to talk about how I come up with and Write characters that I think are at least semi-realistic. Firstly I come up with a rough template for the story as a whole, in the case of 'Days without sun.' I based the crew themselves on Arthurian myth. so that gave me the rough template for lots of them. The second thing I try to do is avoid cliche, and if it ends up being cliche (like a silent assassin or wize cracking smuggler.) I try to at least explain it logically, why they act like this, what hardships forged them. lots of this stuff never comes into the story itself I'ts just so I know how and why the characters will act in any given circumstance. The next thing I do, which is the most important, Is that I cast actors or musicians or sports personalities in the roles of the characters so I can get realistic speech patterns into conversation. I find this helps me find a characters voice, at least to start with at least. after a while the characters develop their own mannerisms and speech patters. for instance there's an old Warlock character in my story who's speech pattern was taken from the musician Tom Waits because I love the way the guy speaks and it just sounded both rough and enlightened enough to be the voice of the Warlock character. I also don't give my characters obvious goals, some don't even have goals, some characters don't know why they are doing what they are doing they are just trying to figure themselves out. I'm mostly interested in the interactions between people who don't know each other well, or that the audience don't know well. those make for the most intriguing scenes. I'm also a fan of scenes where characters are alone. Because I write in a way almost entirely without internal monologue this makes for a really interesting scene because its mostly silent and extremely boring, most people don't talk to themselves all the time so it keeps the whole audience guessing. It also makes the minute details seem important, small things can be very telling about characters, if your character keeps clicking the hammer back and forth on his gun when he's alone it probably means he's either nervous or itching for a fight. things like that can be read a lot into . for instance the character in 'Days without sun.' called Hudd often picks things up and runs them through his hands before placing them back where he found them. its part of his characters urge to be close to the physical world, to experience it viscerally but its a very small signal, it only becomes obvious once he has done it a few times and it rubs off on some other characters too. I'm mostly interest in subtle storytelling and characterisation I guess. I like the paintbrush over the chisel.

I need your imput. This isn't destiny related but this is one of 5 main charecters in a book i plan to write. Name: No record of Nikenames: Legend, Silent Sniper Gender: Male Species: Human Age: 31 Birth: May 7th Height 6' 2" Weight: 183 Cocaisn Weapon of Choice: Sniper Back Ground: The legend, well is a legend. His entire life is told as a military fairytale. He grew up with abusive parents who barely taught him anything. At age 7 his parents got in a car wreak but he lived. His one and only Uncle gained custody of him. His Uncle was a hunter, marine, and a realigous man. He taught him how to shoot rifles, survival skills, and brought him to Christ. At age 18 he trained to be a marine and became a Sniper, he was the best of the best of the best. Aced all exams and never missed a target even without a scope. All his skills came in handy during the CHinese III war with the US. Near the end of the war they had him fake his death and now in the time we need him most, we don't know where he is. I could really use your help and judgment here. I want these charecters to be nearly perfect! Excuse my misspelled words and grammar.

[u]Name: [/u]Shrike [u]Race:[/u] Exo [u]Class:[/u] Warlock [u]Weapons:[/u] Space magic and anything else he can get his hands on. [u]Backstory:[/u] He woke up on the top floor of a skyscraper on Mars with no memory at all. He is blind, his eyes destroyed long ago. But he sees using the power of the Traveller in visions and through knowledge given to him again, by the traveler. Upon stepping off of the skyscraper he fell straight onto one guardian of a fireteam. The other guardians, though skeptical, took him into their ranks. Since then he has fought for humanity, under the guidance of the traveler. [u]Traits:[/u] Cold and calculating. But caring of his friends. He follows what he hears in his head to the dot. So his actions may seem random at times. But apart from a select few. He is manipulative. He does not care about people if it helps get the job done. [u]Skills:[/u] Pinpoint accuracy. He is blind but the traveler guides his hand so he cannot miss.

Name: Ankhai Koros Age: 32 years Race: Awoken Gender: Male Class: Vanguard Hunter Known As: Wolfrunner Quote: "Target eliminated." Personality: Silent and unstrusting. However, if Ankhai's trust can be gained he is loyal to death. Weapons: Railbow, Fallen Sword, Knife Centuries ago, prejudiced humans drove the first Awoken from the City. The Awoken were meant to be a gift from the Traveler, an evolution of humans to lead civilization past the Collapse. But, regardless, they were exiled, sent out from the humans' city to survive in the wilds of Old Russia. Against all odds, these first, banished Awoken survived. They built their own small fortress, on a plateau, hundreds of miles away from the City, and defended it valiantly against all who would destroy them. This cycle of defense and rebuilding continued for hundreds of years. Ankhai was born amongst this fortress. For years, he was trained to defend its walls. He learned how to drop a Fallen at 600 yards with a high powered sniper rifle. His final test to be accepted as a man in his society was to kill a Fallen Captain with its own sword. He carries that sword with him to this day. When the final Fallen assault came, it lasted for days. The brave defenders killed hundreds to find that hundreds more would take their place. When the walls fell, it became a massacre. Ankhai watched in hiding as people he had known for years were torn apart by the vicious beasts. He felt shame for not helping those he loved but he knew if he came out of hiding he would be annihilated. When the dawn finally came and the Fallen went back to their caves, content with victory, Ankhai came out of his hiding place and tried to pay the last respects for those Awoken still mostly in pieces. Then, without looking back, he began to quietly walk off, into the wild. For the years since then, Ankhai has survived on his own, hiding during the day and moving at night. When he ran out of ammunition for his rifle he built the railbow: an advancement upon the archaic bow and arrow that utilizes railgun technology to accelerate arrows to their targets. Then the Traveler called out, a beacon for all Awoken: the City was ready for them to return. And so, Ankhai, last of the exiled, began the long walk back to the home he never knew. When he arrived at the gates of the City, he was unsure. What if the humans were to reject him as they had rejected his ancestors so long ago? He decided to sneak in and talk to the only one the Traveler had told him he could trust: The Mask. Ankhai now does intelligence work for the City as a Vanguard, and is currently doing reconnaissance on Venus. He remains a feeling of survivor's guilt for what happened at the fortress so long ago and maintains great prejudice against the humans who cast out his ancestors. He can see it in their eyes. They think he's strange. They think he's different. He thinks they're not worth his time. He will not kill unless necessary, unless the enemy is a Fallen. For the destruction of his home he has sworn to wipe their scourge off of the galaxy. Ankhai keeps the railbow as a silent and efficient way to deal with enemies and uses his Fallen sword for close combat. My name is Ankhai Koros. And I will become legend.

Bump*

Oh man, you made a guy who's toootaallly [i] crazy. [/i] Originalideadonotsteal

Thanks for the tips, very, very appreciated.

All I need is my SnapBack and tea and I will outswag you all to death

I really like the enthusiasm the role-playing community has, but isn't it a little too early to start writing backstories? We know so little of Destiny's plot, universe, factions...

I apologize before-hand, to anyone who is planning on calling their guardian NightStalker. This is a character I've thought about for around 2 months. I have a bit of trouble converting my ideas to text so it might not be the best. Sorry 'bout that. Name: She goes by the name NightStalker, given to her by those who have seen her in action. No one really knows her name. Race: Awoken Gender: Female Class: Hunter Weapons: Hand Cannon; Duke Mk. 44 or Thorn, or Pulse Rifle; PSI Umbra II, Sniper Rifle; Trespasser Overview: NightStalker, if you may, is a silent and feared character. Many know her, but yet not. You can have an entire encounter with her and not recognize this figure shrouded in mystery. Physical Description: Not much is known, but it is guessed she is around 5’7” or 5’8” looks like to be 19 or in her early twenties. According to witnesses, Those who have survived at least, this awoken has more white than gray skin, and pure white hair, long and spiked, swept to the left. They say she’s quite the looker. The most interesting description by a single man, who may or may not be missing a leg, are her eyes, a shift from white/gray to black. Strange for an Awoken. Aesthetics: Favoring either black or white, her armor is mostly made up of cloth. You can notice small changes depending on what outfit she is wearing (which comparatively is basically the same outfit with different colors). Secondary colors consists of gray mostly, a deep crimson (It is considered that this is to be the blood of fallen enemies, alien or not), green, orange, or white it's self. Other than the cloth, She wears a few plates, One located on her right shoulder, A thin, half breastplate held closely to the chest, on the same side as the shoulder plate, complementing it. Wearing a sleek helmet similar to a similar figure in a pre-war movie named Rinzler, she also wears thin steel vambraces. She’s too quick to get shot, she adds some armor, some necessary precautions, but not enough to slow her down. Lifestyle: A quiet existential thinker, spending most of her time in the Black Garden, this hunter cares about people and will never hurt them, she only has one exception, if someone uses her or someone else’s image in arrogant or greedy gain. NightStalker will diligently save an unlucky guardian's life but walk away swiftly in fear that they might hurt her. Personality: She’s not much of a talker, in fact If you see her, you’re lucky. If you talk to her, you’re about as likely to win the lottery. You might think she’s being anti-social, but she’s afraid. And I’ll get to that later. Never showing her face and sticking to the shadows, She earned her name NightStalker. Many hear of her violent tendencies. Too much in fact. She’s seen too many people who seem too greedy, frequent tavern goers, cheating people of their money and perverting people’s public images. Many of them tarnishing guardian’s names, calling them murderers and assassins. Many would call her a sociopath, but she’s quite the opposite. Pain. Immeasurable amounts of pain have shaped this Awoken’s early life. She’s slowly changing, but hatred had built itself a stronghold. In battle her ferocity will reflect the suffering she had endured. She will forget if you used to be a good friend. If you hurt her or the people she’s known, you better pray for survival. Talents: Like any hunter, she can wield a sniper rifle. Living alone has given her extreme cunningness. Sticky situations have lead to her using her mind more than her body. She can wield blades of any sort, and quickly learn how to use a foreign gun. Speed is her ally, you better have a good eye if you want to catch her. Weaknesses: Her shifting eye color, are not only a rare beauty, but also a genetic defect, impairing her vision. She has gotten used to having random scenes where she can’t see through one eye, or looking through a sniper’s scope and the lens being extremely blurry. But still, she can only make 6/10 shots. That’s why she uses a pulse rifle or hand cannon primarily. She has trouble navigating in complex areas like a maze or forest during the day time. Although she knows backstreets and shortcuts in the Last City and Old Russia like the back of her hand. Rain, if in a specific circumstance, can cause her entire team to die. Large social interactions are a big no-no. Likes: The Northern Lights, The Black Garden, Pre-War era artifacts, silence, philosophy. Dislikes: Arrogance, Greed, Lies, Innocents being harmed. Notable Relationships: An admirer of Aloki, Dragon and Raven squad, She’s always dreamed of one day meeting one of the members of the 117th regiment or helping them out in some way. Motivations and Goals: Short Term: Survive Long Term: Gain the favor of the 117 regiment Ancient History: Our Awoken friend had a terrible early life as mentioned before. Her father was murdered a few weeks after she was born in the slums outside of the reach of the Last City’s police force. Something about her mother being too pretty. Her mother ended up getting in a relationship with one of her father’s attackers, she didn't realize it until he started abusing her and her daughter. Growing up, NightStalker’s mother was all that she had as a role model. During her child years she suffered many wounds, cuts and bruises. Constant, but not enough to leave major scars. As a teenager, she started rebelling, tampering with the occasional patrol bots that stumbled along near the borders, and partying. She suffered major depression, and gave in to drinking at one of the nearby pubs. Her mother was killed in a freak gang bombing. After that life was a blur. She saw recruitment advertisements for the 117th regiment where she came to read stories about Dragon and Raven squad. Inspired by the stories of guardians fighting for the survival of the earth, she picked up one of her father’s old sniper rifles, snuck out and took a pulse rifle from a bot she was working on, and left for adventure. Her life was never the same. Recent Developments: She just recently found herself observing a large firefight, strangely enough, containing a group of the 117th. they were in the midst of a large scale battle of fallen. hundreds pouring out of buildings and ships flying in from the horizon. You could tell, they were waiting for some poor souls to fall into their traps. They were extremely thin. Of course they were in a sticky situation. They could handle it, but with casualties. In our friendly Awoken’s mind, that couldn't be allowed to happen. How does NightStalker react when… She finds a powerful weapon: If it’s not more powerful than her current weapon, pocket it and sell it. If it is better, use it. She finds money: Takes it, and uses it for a good purpose, whatever that may be. She finds something to eat: If in any of the cities, no. In any place that isn't or hasn't been inhabited, maybe, if she knows what it is. She finds a trap: Sits and waits for something to trigger it. She finds something suspicious: Investigate She finds a corpse: Leaves it be Thanks Zest Subject for the outline, and constructive criticism is extremely appreciated

Name:Teamkiller Age:unknown Gender:male Race:awoken What drives me: the blast of feeling of accomplishment when I snipe a guardian who was just dropped off on mars. Bio: parents were guardians murdered them. Stole their ship, crashes on mars , devoted life to killing guardians. As the guardian of mars. Now sits quietly over a sand dune hill with sniper ready to shoot any gaurdian in sight Known as: king troll