Description
From Chronicles
A description is one of the important tools to RP. It can be a strong influence on how your character is viewed as appearance does, for many, effect how they react to a person. As such, it should reflect what you wish your character to exude, with some consideration given to your stats.
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Basics
Here we have some basic elements to consider.
Stats
There are a few stats in particular that can have an impact on your description and should be considered carefully when you make one. The first and foremost is Physical Beauty(PB). The second set arethe core physical stats, Physical Strength(PS), Physical Prowess(PP) and Physical Endurance(PE).
One thing that needs to be considered when it comes to how these stats effect your description is where they fit in the scale of exceptional to average to below average. In general, around 10 is average for a human in any stat. One or two points in either direction is a bit above or below average.
16+ is exceptional. This is where you tend to find the minority of extremely smart, strong, quick strong, etc.. people. The theoretical normal human maximum for any stat is 30. Of course, people with that much of a stat are uniquely rare.
On the other side of the scale, 7 and less is where obvious deficiency starts to show(and where Rifts Ultimate Edition starts to assign penalties(and at times advantages) for low stats.
Thus if your PB is between 12 and 8, you're in the human average of mild attractiveness to mild lack of attractiveness. 15-13 is where prettiness becomes more obvious. Those with 16 or higher are very attractive in a general sense. Those who are 7 and less are, in some way, ugly or unappealing.
The Caveat of Physical Beauty
Now, just because your PB is high doesn't mean that everyone should fall in love with you. I'm sure plenty of people see plenty of attractive individuals without falling in love or even falling in lust. Thus the same can be applied to characters here.
So too, physical beauty is subjective. A woman or man can be attractive to another in the majority of ways, but if their hair is a color that someone doesn't like, that would be a factor. So too, there are quite a few non-humans in the Rifts world. One can, generally, assume that PB is describing beauty from the view humans as a baseline. Thus, while an Orc might only have 2d6 for their PB, making it such that they're likely to be less attractive on average than humans, this is in regard to the human aesthetic. An orc looking at another orc(assuming they haven't been raised with the views of a human) would have a differing view.
Elements of a Description
There are two primary elements to a description. There is the appearance of the body and there is the appearance of the possessions. If a descriptive element doesn't fall into one of these two categories, it is likely to be superfluous to description, describing something that has no impact on the appearance of the character.
The Body
This is where you consider the details of the character's physical shape. For those that like to make meaty descriptions, the nonhumans have it easier as everyone knows what a human looks like, but you can be far more creative with a Dog Boy or a Yeno as not everyone knows what those are(not everyone has all the books). Describing the ways in which they are different from humans can provide a lot of material, especially if you like to mix it up.
But there are a few essentials that make things easier on everyone. First off, you must note the height of your character. Most tend to note it absolutely. Yes, perhaps you can't note someone's exact height easily, but when it comes to height comparisons for some details, a few inches either way can mean something.
Eye color and hair color are essentials as well as hair styling. Even a basic name for it can effect how others perceive you. Long, flowing hair evokes different images than a bob cut, blonde can give one a different view than a red head. Details like one's complexion, stance and the like are good to have, along with their usual expression or obvious outward demeanor, when not overridden by the emotion of the day in RP.
The Gear
Here is where you consider clothing, armor, weapons and accessories. One thing that can be noted about Kingsdale is that there are some who wear armor all the time and those who don't. Neither is the right answer and in general staff will never take advantage of your unarmored state to kill you. So when you decide what your character is wearing, don't let OOC self-preservation sway you. If your character is naturally the sort to walk about armored all the time, then do so.
This is another place where you can go simple and small or you can toss in details to differentiate your character from others. There's nothing wrong with sporting a complex outfit, just like there's nothing wrong with a simple one. It’s a matter of taste.
Description Don'ts
Now, when it comes to everything in life, there are dos and don'ts. Of course, when it comes to something as subjective as a description, don'ts are more guidelines than anything else. But there are some things that really don't belong in descriptions and when I give a don't, I'll explain why. Though in truth it usually equates to something that has little bearing on physical description and amounts to clutter.
Historical Details – When someone is looked at, you can't tell where they were born, where they were raised, who their parents were, etc.. At least, not in explicit ways. Thus adding such details into the desc are a distraction.
However, there are things that can be added to a desc to suggest these things. A school jacket, a talisman or symbol of a place that one has been or was born in, some other marker that may be known by many or a few to mark the person's travels are valid ways to suggest these past links in a colorful way.
Actions – In general, actions belong in RP rather than in descriptions. I say in general, as there are some rare exceptions. But in general, unless an action is a constant thing for the person, its better to put it into RP rather than a static description.
Also see another view, Adad's tips to writing descriptions.
