To create a character, follow the guide below and submit a character using our submission form. If you have any questions about your character, feel free to come along to our character creation session (7:30pm, 15th January, at the Cowley Retreat), or email the gm team at gm@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com, or ask in our discord server1).
It is possible to create a character and join the game once it's started - we ask that you try and get your character to us at least a week before the session you intend to start at, so that we can review it at the GM meeting.
Your character's name and pronouns. You may also want to include a nickname if that's relevant. Names can be more or less whatever you want - feel free to use the names of your own beloved childhood toys, or make up a name. As regards gender, toys are entirely sexless, but you can have whatever gender identity and pronouns you wish.
What kind of toy are you? Are you a teddybear? Some other stuffed animal? An action figure? Perhaps a remote control car? Be whatever you like, but please stay within the following guidelines:
A short background of your character. Who are you as a person? How did you come to be Jordan's toy? Were you a present, were you second hand? What's your relationship with Jordan? What is your character afraid of?
This is also a good place to put any character goals you have (both IC and OC) if you have them, so we know what you or your character is hoping to achieve over the game. This of course may change completely during the course of the game, or you might not have any specific goals at game start, so no pressure to have to include anything specific.
A short (1-3 paragraphs) description of your character, which will be publicly displayed on the wiki, setting out what Jordan's other toys would reasonably know about them. This should include some indication of what kind of toy you are, how long Jordan has owned you, and perhaps where you came from (and in particular, if you were previously owned by Kelly, Jordan's sister).
At game start, Traits come in two types - Advantages, and Disadvantages. Every character can have two Advantages for free. You can also take a third Advantage, but if you do, you must choose to either:
Note that if you choose the second option, the third Advantage must represent something physical that can be separated from you, rather than an innate property.
Note that these categories of Advantages are deliberately very broad and open, with a lot of overlap. Many different categories might have the same overall result - for example, if you wanted to be able to heal other toys, that might be represented by Skill: Doctor, or Power: Life Magic, or Accessory: Healing Gun, or even Tool: Needle and Thread2). The categories themselves have no actual mechanical effect, and are only intended to serve as guidance to narrative flavour. If you can't decide what category something fits into, don't worry about it - just write what you'd like to be able to do, using the examples below as a jumping off point, and we'll work with you to come up with something that makes sense.
Note that toys run on imagination - when choosing Advantages and Disadvantages, don't feel constrained to only what your actual toy can do in the real world. Instead, think of what a child playing with you would imagine you can do. It doesn't matter if you're “not a flying toy”, wings can still let you soar. A ray gun is a perfectly valid weapon. A domino mask can make you unrecognisable.
You have something that helps you fight. It might be a sword, a gun, or your own claws and teeth. When the monsters attack, you have a way to fight back.
You have something that allows you to make things, to craft. Maybe it's a forge that can build weapons, or a potions kit that can transform flowers and leaves into wondrous elixirs. Maybe you have a needle and thread, and can sew up new clothes out of fabric, and repair soft toys. Tell us what your tool can make, and what raw materials it requires to do so.
You come with a second figure - perhaps you are a forest ranger action figure with a pet wolf, or you're a princess doll with a butler to pour the tea at your tea parties. Your companion can be anywhere from animal to human in intelligence, and will generally be disposed to do what you say, but will be an NPC under the control of the GM team.
A mundane skill you're expert in. Maybe you're Heart Surgeon Sally and are trained in medicine, or Mountaineer Adventure Man and you're an expert climber. Or perhaps it has nothing to do with your theming as a toy, and you're a fish that just got really into mechanical tinkering.
Something you can do beyond the norm. This can be any “more than human” ability, regardless of the cause - maybe you can fly because you're a stuffed bird and birds fly, or maybe you can fly because you're a superhero. Do you glow in the dark, and can channel your light to banish shadow monsters?
You're the leader of a small troop of near-identical toys - think Army Men, for example. By yourself, you're definitely smaller and weaker than the average toy, but quantity has a quality all of its own, and you can bring the numbers to bear when you need to.
You have a toy vehicle of some sort, useful for getting around quickly. It could be a car, a stealth jet, or whatever else is appropriate to your character.
You have a Playset - a building, a base of operations. Maybe it's a toy castle, maybe it's a doll house, maybe it's a pizza restaurant. Your Playset makes up part of the Town, and is a little part of it that you get to define and own.
You have a thing! Some piece of equipment that does something useful. Maybe you have X-ray goggles, or a magic key that can open any door. Perhaps a magnifying glass that can unerringly find clues. Accessories can do many things, what does yours do? Note that you can have accessories that have no mechanical impact (e.g. clothes), and you don't need to take an Advantage for that.
If you wish to begin play with three Advantages, you will either need to take a Disadvantage, or choose for that advantage to start play somewhere other than Jordan's room (so you don't have immediate access to it). Disadvantages are properties that make your character's life harder. We are not providing an exhaustive list of available Disadvantages, you are free to make up your own. They should be roughly as impactful as the examples below, and again, we are happy to work with you to decide the details.
You have three stats, each ranked from 1 to 5. You have a total of 8 points to split among them as you like.
Love - How beloved you are as Jordan's toy. This governs how much effect your actions have on Jordan's morale - in both directions. The more beloved you are, the more effectively you can calm Jordan's fears, but the loss of a truly beloved toy will have severe consequences for their state of mind.
Bravery - How prepared you are to stand against the monsters. A low bravery character is likely to break and run if things get scary, whereas a high bravery character will do their duty no matter what.
Durability - How well-made are you? Can you take all the rough treatment a child can provide and keep going, or are you fragile and delicate? The dangers of fighting monsters are real, and low durability characters are more likely to get damaged - or even Lost.
Select a number between -2 and +2 for each of the playstyle options, with 0 being “whatever the GMs decide”.