Teynara Jeralyr
Resident Sig Lord
Alright, so you've decided you wish to join one of the most dynamic factional groups on the board. Welcome to the insanity!
This one's going to focus on how to build an effective Sith character. Many of the writers joining us will be doing so at the Acolyte level - we do get the occasional transfer dropping by, but this guide isn't for them! I'm talking to those who want to create a brand shiny new Sith, preparing to enter training and do battle with Jedi, Mandalorians and, of course, each other.
Just for reference, I am working on (as requested) a guide to the different Sith Pathways, but we'll call that Part Three. First off, just some straight-up advice for those starting out.
So, let's get started:
1) Character Name
I wasn't going to do this, but here it is: big pet peeve #1. You are NOT Darth Something The Amazing when you first start out. The board has an excellent name change feature for when you hit that point, but if you call yourself Darth Whatever when you sign up as an Acolyte, prepare to linger in purgatory, because you've already shoved off a truckload of potential development. To be granted a Darth title is an important thing: you might be given one by your Master when he apprentices you (think Vader), or it may well be something you earn as a Knight or Sith Lord (since it is often used as a title marking respect for deeds accomplished). A newbie character that's done nothing other than talk about how awesome they are is not a Darth. And probably won't be, unless they do what they started out with, which is giving it to themselves.
Trust me, I won't take you seriously. A lot of others won't, either. Have an assumed name, something to hide your real identity behind. That's fine. But if it's Darth Something-Or-Other...just no!
2) Strengths and Weaknesses
Do all your biographical basics first: species, eye and hair colour, height, weight. Force Sensitivity should definitely be 'Yes', otherwise you won't be with us very long! Where things get interesting will be the other areas of your profile. Let's start with Strengths and Weaknesses.
The temptation among many new writers is to provide yourself with lots of skills and competencies that you shouldn't have yet - seen plenty who have decided that they are a master swordsman/woman, competent with Force Lightning and Illusions, capable of doing all sorts of cool stuff that they, well, can't. Here's the thing, people: your characters are new to the Sith. Even if you write your character as having already begun training and shaved off a few IC months, you won't know half the stuff you're writing in your profile there. If your character even knows that Form I is referred to as Shii-Cho...you probably already know more than you should!
The part I would really recommend you flesh out more should be the 'Weaknesses' section. I know that sounds contrary to the way a lot of people like to write (who likes their characters to be weak?), but trust me, this will help. Part of good Sith training is exposing weaknesses and working through them, to turn them into strengths. Volatile and whimsical? No problem, we can use that. Doesn't like physical contact? Cool, we'll torture you until you scream, and learn to cope with it. Hate insects? Excellent. Ever been dipped into a vat filled with Bloodflies? Trust me, we can arrange it.
One of the big things you'll notice about all good Sith characters is that have some sort of weakness attached to them. Vader was conflicted, Palpatine was arrogant as all heck, Bane was a self-righteous zealot, and so on. All of that comes from somewhere: you grow into your weaknesses, as much as you do your strengths. Don't view them as a negative, but as a natural part of your character. We all have dark sides to ourselves (pun intended!), and a good writer will explore these.
3) Biography/Background
My first warning here is to avoid cliche as much as possible: to be quite frank, we've got far too many orphaned Sith running around, those that either did not know their parents or, worse, killed them in a fit of homicidal rage and went forth to join people just as evil as they were. It's so cliche that writing such into your biography is practically a rite of passage...
First thing I'd want to know, aside from the usual where you were born, what your family were bit is this: how did you figure out your were Force Sensitive? A lot of writers go the cliche route of murdering their family or being provoked in a moment of anger, and unleashing a power they didn't know they have - that's all well and good, but the reality of someone exposing something like Telekinesis or Lightning without any training whatsoever...they're going to be pretty small.
One of the great things about being Sith is that you're going to have to spend a lot of time playing with the Dark Side, which means some pretty creepy stuff going on. Maybe it starts out by you hearing whispers of voices inside your head, incoherent, but there. Maybe you start picking up on people's feelings without meaning to. Maybe you go the Voldemort route and start discovering that you can manipulate those feelings easily, without trying to. Plenty of weak-minded people around you, after all!
The other common approach is to go Jedi: discovered at a young age by the Order, initiated into their ranks, then something happens later to draw you to the Sith. Maybe you were captured, maybe you were injured/near-killed, maybe present at some disaster or incident that shook your faith in the Jedi, and drew you to question their teachings. Could be anything, really.
Here's the best part: you don't have to be a child to start training with the Sith. We honestly hate that: the best Sith start out as adults, with major chips on their shoulders, something to prove, frustrations and anxieties and desires that we can exploit the hell out of in order to turn you into what we want you to be: something that can advance our cause.
Second thing we want to know: how did you find us? Sure, we've got Orders and Empires and secret cabals and cults, but we don't exactly put out advertisement banners saying "Join the Sith! We have cookies (which we will eat while you watch, on day four of your future starvation diet to toughen you up)". We have our fortress worlds, but many of them may or may not be occupied by the Sith at any one time: sometimes the Jedi set up shop on Korriban and there's not a damn thing we can do other than glare at them, and prepare to take it back. Sith happens.
4) Learning the Sith Way
Strap in, because this can be a wild ride. Bad writers, the type I often complain about, they become 'Sith' right away, full of anger, hatred, anti-Jedi sentiment and a love of lightsabers and casual genocide. They're the type I kill on sight, quite honestly, because they give Sith a really bad name. Please don't be those guys.
If you want to write a Sith properly, there's a journey attached to it. First, get yourself initiated into our dark pathways: arrive among us, seek out a Sith, let them bring you into the fold and expose you to the horrors, atrocities, deprivations and pain you're going to suffer through the course of your training. Let them unleash you, expose everything that you are, and go nuts on your psyche. They have to break you down in order to build you back up again - if you're already 'there', you've missed out on a LOT of good character development.
It's a bit of a pet peeve, but it's amusing when you see people writing about the harshness of their training when...they didn't write that. They jumped from Acolyte 101 straight into 'I can take on a Jedi in the field, with my teeth!'. Ugh. If I haven't stabbed you yet, drop me a reminder, and I'll put it on my to-do list. Good Sith writing has a background to it: you want your character walking around with a limp for the rest of their days which really puts them in a constant bad mood? Show us how you got it. Learned to jump and run with the Force, having to stave off wild Tu'kata in the wastelands of Korriban? Lemme see it!
Here's the thing: it's really, really easy to skip ahead, but no good story ever starts in the middle, not unless the background is there somewhere. I can't tell you the number of Acolytes that walk up and tell us how good they are at x, y and z, and yet when asked to provide evidence, they just say "cuz I'm Sith!". We ask the transfers to show us evidence that they've been given their rank: why is it wrong to ask you to show me how you learned Lightning, or practiced your Form techniques with a Master? It generates background, creates story and, most importantly, lets you build connections with your fellow writers.
Anyway, first thing I want you to do is connect with your fellow Sith, whether independently or as part of a Faction. Go hunt for a Master - and please, don't post multiple threads in multiple places. There are usually threads on the Faction boards for that sort of thing - and even for the independents. Post your biography where we can find it, and listen to what everyone has to say when it comes to improving it. You'll gain more friends among your fellow writers if you're willing to give and take, and finding a teacher shouldn't be too difficult with the right mindset. Let's be honest: if you're reading this, then you're being thoughtful and giving your character creation some consideration. You won't have any trouble finding someone that'll train your character!
5) Equipment and Possessions
I wanted to mention this specifically because a lot of Acolyte writers start with robes, a lightsaber, a ship to help them get around, and lots of other little goodies, in addition to a plentiful supply of credits. I sure as heck didn't give those to you, so where'd you get them? I honestly don't mind you having bits and pieces - bring a whole arsenal, if you wish. Just let me say this: be prepared to have them taken off you!
The start of Sith training is all about taking away your old identity and giving you a new one. Not necessarily in the 'You are now Darth Whatshisname' way (though some do that - I always feel best to wait until Knighthood/Mastery for that part, by the way!), but in the sense of your old life is over - now you belong to us! Pre-Sith, you're nothing, really. Nothing special (even if you are a Princess of some important planet), nothing remarkable. NOTHING.
The Sith way is there to break you into tiny little pieces. We'll break you in ways you didn't even know existed, and then we'll stomp up and down on those pieces and make even smaller ones. Sometimes just for fun, but also because we find out if you're made of sterner stuff. Then we build you back up into something we can use: a warrior, a weapon, a strategist, an engineer, anything we need and you want to be. Survive, and you're worthy to press on. Die, and you're just another voice added to the cacophony of them that echo around our Temples. Either way, you get a new career out of it.
Bring the lightsaber you stole off a Jedi, or the one you inherited from your grandfather. By all means, wear your Mandalorian armour, impenetrable to our weapons. Fly that beautiful ship that cost a few hundred thousand credits by all means. I always wanted one of those.
At the start of your training, remember: you're going to learn humility, you're going to learn obedience, you're going to learn the meaning of pain and suffering, and only then will we really start to hurt you. Bring your expensive stuff, sure, but don't expect to keep it. We've got Temples for a reason, you know: it's mostly to store your stuff when you're out in the wild or in the field being shot at etc.
If you survive, if you do well, you can have it back after that. And then we'll move on to thinking about the kind of Sith you want to be. That's Part Three, which I'll finish writing...later.
This one's going to focus on how to build an effective Sith character. Many of the writers joining us will be doing so at the Acolyte level - we do get the occasional transfer dropping by, but this guide isn't for them! I'm talking to those who want to create a brand shiny new Sith, preparing to enter training and do battle with Jedi, Mandalorians and, of course, each other.
Just for reference, I am working on (as requested) a guide to the different Sith Pathways, but we'll call that Part Three. First off, just some straight-up advice for those starting out.
So, let's get started:
1) Character Name
I wasn't going to do this, but here it is: big pet peeve #1. You are NOT Darth Something The Amazing when you first start out. The board has an excellent name change feature for when you hit that point, but if you call yourself Darth Whatever when you sign up as an Acolyte, prepare to linger in purgatory, because you've already shoved off a truckload of potential development. To be granted a Darth title is an important thing: you might be given one by your Master when he apprentices you (think Vader), or it may well be something you earn as a Knight or Sith Lord (since it is often used as a title marking respect for deeds accomplished). A newbie character that's done nothing other than talk about how awesome they are is not a Darth. And probably won't be, unless they do what they started out with, which is giving it to themselves.
Trust me, I won't take you seriously. A lot of others won't, either. Have an assumed name, something to hide your real identity behind. That's fine. But if it's Darth Something-Or-Other...just no!
2) Strengths and Weaknesses
Do all your biographical basics first: species, eye and hair colour, height, weight. Force Sensitivity should definitely be 'Yes', otherwise you won't be with us very long! Where things get interesting will be the other areas of your profile. Let's start with Strengths and Weaknesses.
The temptation among many new writers is to provide yourself with lots of skills and competencies that you shouldn't have yet - seen plenty who have decided that they are a master swordsman/woman, competent with Force Lightning and Illusions, capable of doing all sorts of cool stuff that they, well, can't. Here's the thing, people: your characters are new to the Sith. Even if you write your character as having already begun training and shaved off a few IC months, you won't know half the stuff you're writing in your profile there. If your character even knows that Form I is referred to as Shii-Cho...you probably already know more than you should!
The part I would really recommend you flesh out more should be the 'Weaknesses' section. I know that sounds contrary to the way a lot of people like to write (who likes their characters to be weak?), but trust me, this will help. Part of good Sith training is exposing weaknesses and working through them, to turn them into strengths. Volatile and whimsical? No problem, we can use that. Doesn't like physical contact? Cool, we'll torture you until you scream, and learn to cope with it. Hate insects? Excellent. Ever been dipped into a vat filled with Bloodflies? Trust me, we can arrange it.
One of the big things you'll notice about all good Sith characters is that have some sort of weakness attached to them. Vader was conflicted, Palpatine was arrogant as all heck, Bane was a self-righteous zealot, and so on. All of that comes from somewhere: you grow into your weaknesses, as much as you do your strengths. Don't view them as a negative, but as a natural part of your character. We all have dark sides to ourselves (pun intended!), and a good writer will explore these.
3) Biography/Background
My first warning here is to avoid cliche as much as possible: to be quite frank, we've got far too many orphaned Sith running around, those that either did not know their parents or, worse, killed them in a fit of homicidal rage and went forth to join people just as evil as they were. It's so cliche that writing such into your biography is practically a rite of passage...
First thing I'd want to know, aside from the usual where you were born, what your family were bit is this: how did you figure out your were Force Sensitive? A lot of writers go the cliche route of murdering their family or being provoked in a moment of anger, and unleashing a power they didn't know they have - that's all well and good, but the reality of someone exposing something like Telekinesis or Lightning without any training whatsoever...they're going to be pretty small.
One of the great things about being Sith is that you're going to have to spend a lot of time playing with the Dark Side, which means some pretty creepy stuff going on. Maybe it starts out by you hearing whispers of voices inside your head, incoherent, but there. Maybe you start picking up on people's feelings without meaning to. Maybe you go the Voldemort route and start discovering that you can manipulate those feelings easily, without trying to. Plenty of weak-minded people around you, after all!
The other common approach is to go Jedi: discovered at a young age by the Order, initiated into their ranks, then something happens later to draw you to the Sith. Maybe you were captured, maybe you were injured/near-killed, maybe present at some disaster or incident that shook your faith in the Jedi, and drew you to question their teachings. Could be anything, really.
Here's the best part: you don't have to be a child to start training with the Sith. We honestly hate that: the best Sith start out as adults, with major chips on their shoulders, something to prove, frustrations and anxieties and desires that we can exploit the hell out of in order to turn you into what we want you to be: something that can advance our cause.
Second thing we want to know: how did you find us? Sure, we've got Orders and Empires and secret cabals and cults, but we don't exactly put out advertisement banners saying "Join the Sith! We have cookies (which we will eat while you watch, on day four of your future starvation diet to toughen you up)". We have our fortress worlds, but many of them may or may not be occupied by the Sith at any one time: sometimes the Jedi set up shop on Korriban and there's not a damn thing we can do other than glare at them, and prepare to take it back. Sith happens.
4) Learning the Sith Way
Strap in, because this can be a wild ride. Bad writers, the type I often complain about, they become 'Sith' right away, full of anger, hatred, anti-Jedi sentiment and a love of lightsabers and casual genocide. They're the type I kill on sight, quite honestly, because they give Sith a really bad name. Please don't be those guys.
If you want to write a Sith properly, there's a journey attached to it. First, get yourself initiated into our dark pathways: arrive among us, seek out a Sith, let them bring you into the fold and expose you to the horrors, atrocities, deprivations and pain you're going to suffer through the course of your training. Let them unleash you, expose everything that you are, and go nuts on your psyche. They have to break you down in order to build you back up again - if you're already 'there', you've missed out on a LOT of good character development.
It's a bit of a pet peeve, but it's amusing when you see people writing about the harshness of their training when...they didn't write that. They jumped from Acolyte 101 straight into 'I can take on a Jedi in the field, with my teeth!'. Ugh. If I haven't stabbed you yet, drop me a reminder, and I'll put it on my to-do list. Good Sith writing has a background to it: you want your character walking around with a limp for the rest of their days which really puts them in a constant bad mood? Show us how you got it. Learned to jump and run with the Force, having to stave off wild Tu'kata in the wastelands of Korriban? Lemme see it!
Here's the thing: it's really, really easy to skip ahead, but no good story ever starts in the middle, not unless the background is there somewhere. I can't tell you the number of Acolytes that walk up and tell us how good they are at x, y and z, and yet when asked to provide evidence, they just say "cuz I'm Sith!". We ask the transfers to show us evidence that they've been given their rank: why is it wrong to ask you to show me how you learned Lightning, or practiced your Form techniques with a Master? It generates background, creates story and, most importantly, lets you build connections with your fellow writers.
Anyway, first thing I want you to do is connect with your fellow Sith, whether independently or as part of a Faction. Go hunt for a Master - and please, don't post multiple threads in multiple places. There are usually threads on the Faction boards for that sort of thing - and even for the independents. Post your biography where we can find it, and listen to what everyone has to say when it comes to improving it. You'll gain more friends among your fellow writers if you're willing to give and take, and finding a teacher shouldn't be too difficult with the right mindset. Let's be honest: if you're reading this, then you're being thoughtful and giving your character creation some consideration. You won't have any trouble finding someone that'll train your character!
5) Equipment and Possessions
I wanted to mention this specifically because a lot of Acolyte writers start with robes, a lightsaber, a ship to help them get around, and lots of other little goodies, in addition to a plentiful supply of credits. I sure as heck didn't give those to you, so where'd you get them? I honestly don't mind you having bits and pieces - bring a whole arsenal, if you wish. Just let me say this: be prepared to have them taken off you!
The start of Sith training is all about taking away your old identity and giving you a new one. Not necessarily in the 'You are now Darth Whatshisname' way (though some do that - I always feel best to wait until Knighthood/Mastery for that part, by the way!), but in the sense of your old life is over - now you belong to us! Pre-Sith, you're nothing, really. Nothing special (even if you are a Princess of some important planet), nothing remarkable. NOTHING.
The Sith way is there to break you into tiny little pieces. We'll break you in ways you didn't even know existed, and then we'll stomp up and down on those pieces and make even smaller ones. Sometimes just for fun, but also because we find out if you're made of sterner stuff. Then we build you back up into something we can use: a warrior, a weapon, a strategist, an engineer, anything we need and you want to be. Survive, and you're worthy to press on. Die, and you're just another voice added to the cacophony of them that echo around our Temples. Either way, you get a new career out of it.
Bring the lightsaber you stole off a Jedi, or the one you inherited from your grandfather. By all means, wear your Mandalorian armour, impenetrable to our weapons. Fly that beautiful ship that cost a few hundred thousand credits by all means. I always wanted one of those.
At the start of your training, remember: you're going to learn humility, you're going to learn obedience, you're going to learn the meaning of pain and suffering, and only then will we really start to hurt you. Bring your expensive stuff, sure, but don't expect to keep it. We've got Temples for a reason, you know: it's mostly to store your stuff when you're out in the wild or in the field being shot at etc.
If you survive, if you do well, you can have it back after that. And then we'll move on to thinking about the kind of Sith you want to be. That's Part Three, which I'll finish writing...later.
