Making Your Canon Character
Here are some guidelines about creating a character that fits within the Continuity, or canon, of Furcadia. This means making a character which matches up with the Furcadia lore, referencing locations, species, languages, etc.
With that said, however, making a canon character is totally optional. Every player is free to play as they please in their own Dream. These rules are for those who want rules. There's no rule that a character has to somehow be "valid" by the standards of any other player than their creator.
A good place to roleplay canon characters is Theriopolis (for Dragonlands Persona Play), and Goldwyn (for Dragonlands Strict Roleplay), though there are also plenty of player-run Groups for you to roleplay in as well!
Table of Contents
- A Furre Is Born!
- Extras
- Have Fun
- Respect Others
A Furre Is Born!
What is your name?
Your character's name can reflect a lot about their ancestry or ethnic background. Furcadia has many parallels to the real historical Earth. Take a look at locations in Furcadia for ideas on where your character might be from.
You can change your character's name later if you'd like. In addition to this name, there's a special system Furres have, called "long" naming, that includes prefixes and other names. Longnaming is a custom used by nearly every Furre, regardless of culture.
Your character might also be named after a well established, or even noble house. Read more about commoner family names here, and the less common but far more distinguished Greater and Lesser noble houses.
Learn more about Longnames here.
What is your gender?
You can play a Furre that's male, female, or unspecified/an alternate gender. Remember that your real-life gender is private information. No one, including you, is obligated to tell anyone else their own gender.
What is your Type and Species?
Furres
Furres are anthro characters which can be any type of furred mammal. The most common in Furcadia are Rodents, Mustelines, Canines, Equines, Felines, Lapines, Squirrels, Bovines, and Ursines. In addition to species, there are many additional avenues to explore when creating your Furre. Most of these fall under the title Supernaturals. You can read more about Dragonlands native sapients, including Supernaturals, here.
Birds
In general, birds in the Dragonlands are used for food, transportation (Ostrixes and Scarhawks), and bird-wool (Herdbirds). Here are some options for making a more sapient bird character:
- Werefurres are cursed Lycanthians. One of the forms a Werefurre can take is a bird.
- A Ferian bird is a Werefurre who lost the ability to transform back into a Furre. Ferians have their own culture, though their ancestral ties do lead to Werefurres.
- The Phoenixes, also known as Byrddes are a lost race from a primordial part of Drakoria.
- And finally, you could make a Feline or Phoenix character who has some kind of connection to Dark Prime Peristane or Light Prime Saligor, which transformed your character into a Gryffe (Feline/Phoenix mix). For example, your character could be an ordinary feline who wished for flying powers, and then upon discovering a secret shrine to Saligor, the body transformed, mixing with avian features to become a Gryffe.
- And of course, wings in general on Furres are normal - it just means that your Furre has to have some kind of connection with a Prime, or has Quarter Prime ancestry.
Reptiles
The same from above applies to reptiles, in that most reptiles are used for food (with a few exceptions). Options in the Dragonlands for reptile characters:
- While Wyrmmes are bipedal dragons, non-noble Wyrmmes are land bound and wingless. This means that most Wyrmmes look more or less like lizards (or any other species of reptile you'd like to play).
- Note: If your character is a dragon the Dragonlands, they're a Wyrmme, and their ancestors were Drakorian.
Insects
Insects in the Dragonlands are called Bugges which in all shapes and sizes. Location is important to be aware of when playing a Bugges, since Bugges are all slaves in Drakoria, while escapees find sanctuary in Kasuria and Olde World.
What colors are you?
When you first create your avatar, a random set of colors are generated, but you can tweak your choices of color to match your character. Furres have hair and like to color it all sorts of colors. Thanks to Light Prime Jeltana, even Furres of different Orders (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) can have fertile offspring together with the aid of potion. It's not unheard of for there to be cheetah-spotted ferrets, and so on.
How are you different from other Furres?
Being beautiful or fast or strong or skillful, or owning a dragon, or being noble-born.... these things don't come for free: they are Advantages. Most Advantages don't help the character statistically. They're more of a roleplaying tool.
A Furre should ideally have equal parts Advantages and Disadvantages, as well as limit the overall number in total. Having too many of only Advantages or Disadvantages creates characters that are far too powerful, or very difficult to play.
Some examples of both are listed below:
Disadvantages
Addictions: Alcoholic, Clothes, Collectibles, Euphorics, Smoking, Ostrixes, Raptors.
This is something that isn't secret; those who know your character well enough to call them by name also probably know your addiction. When your character isn't around the object of their addiction, they become irrationally unhappy. Their life is strongly influenced by either their pursuit of the object of their Addiction, and they're drawn to others with the same preoccupation.
Age: Kid (5-12), Senior (60+)
Physical: Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Poor Vision, One Handed, Tailless, One-Legged/Lame, Mute, Fragile, Weak, Small, Slow
Acquired: In Debt, Illiterate, Oathbound/Code, Wanted, Foreign, Uneducated, Poor, Unknown, Unfortunate, Homely, Dense, All Thumbs, Clumsy, Mindmute, Mindwhipped, Mindslave, Drone
Advantages
Physical: Night-Vision, Eagle-Vision, True Sight, Super-Keen Smell, Ultrasonic Hearing, Hardy, Tough, Strong, Very Strong, Quick, Very Quick
Acquired: Boss, Foreign Nobility, Respected, Celebrity, Wealthy, Rich, Lesser House, Greater House, Highborn, Garrison, Skyship, Educated, Scholar, Sidekick, Followers, Beautiful Singing Voice, Natural-born Mimic, Ventriloquist, Contortionist, Dragonrider, Raptor Knight, Lucky, Charmed, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Sharp, Brilliant, Dextrous, Ambidextrous, Graceful, Very Graceful, Telepath, Antipath, Empathy
Pets: Kiwi, Ostrix, Minidrake, Nightdrake
Noble House: Greater or Lesser noble house
Restricted Advantages
Mages are sapient beings that are able to use and manipulate the energy and power that comes from within them, while Shamans tend to manipulate the energy from the environment. Read more about Mages and Shamans here.
This category includes Werefurres, Vampfurres, any "undead", etc. If your character is also a mage, and your character can perform a Spell without the Mage's visible gestures and incantations; it means that magical ability your character has is an innate one. As a perk, though, a supernatural character is immune to disease, and ages very slowly. See: Vampfurres, Werefurres, Feyfurres, Quarterprimes
Alchemists are Furres who create potions instead of/in addition to channeling magical spells. All the Mage abilities may also be accomplished by making Potions. A potion is a one-time use of an ability/effect. A potion lasts for about 30 days without being consumed, but after that, loses its power completely. All effects having to do with telepathy, empathy, and other psionics may not be done by a Mage, however. This is where Alchemists are very special.
- List A Potions:
- Color Change, Sex Change, Magical Harm, Kiwi, Ostrix, Aging, Destroy, Scarhawk
- Potion of Binding: The subject's mind is made very readable by those with Telepathy. A Kajutar Mindscourge uses this dreaded drink to permanently enthrall a mindslave. The blood of a Kajutar Mindscourge is an important ingredient.
- List B Potions:
- Magical Healing, Lifesaving, Regeneration, Anagathica, Water-Breathing, Water Walking, Resurrection
- Potion of Antipathy: For one day, all Telepathic effects from or upon the imbiber are null and void. A Kasurian Dragonrider will resume Telepathy with their true dragon afterwards, but any Binding of a Kasurian Dragon or a mindslave will be shattered. One of the ingredients in this potion is the blood of an Antipath, which is a Furre who is cut off from all Telepathy. They cannot be made into a mindslave by a Kajutar Mindscourge, but they also can never be a Dragonrider or speak with mindspeech.
Their specialty is inflicting pain telepathically, an ability that is not possible for Furres or Bugges. They are related to the Lords and Ladies of Drakoria. They most likely have a number of Furre and Bugge slaves in their household. With almost no effort, they can instantaneously inflict a flash of searing pain that paralyzes their thrall for four seconds. They can inflict the same on non-thralls, but to a lesser effect. Any injury caused by a Kajutar Mindscourge Wyrmme naturally deals more damage.
In the Olde World, cities do not have "city guards" while in Kasuria, only the very largest do. Keeping people safe is the responsibility of household guards in the pay of noble families. That leaves the roads between settlements a ripe place to harvest the money of travelers!
Brigands try to look like no race in particular. Thus, you may find rat-like dogs, cat-like rabbits, wolfish horses, and so on, amongst them. They will trim the fur on their tails or permanently cut their ears for this effect-- all the better to elude the law.
The normal operations of brigands is to stop furres on the road and demand they leave their goods and money. After they have robbed their victims, it is normal for them to attack until the victims are not in any shape to follow them. More vicious brigands simply kill their victims and rob them afterwards.
The brigands of the Olde World will tend to use sword and crossbow. Brigands of Kasuria can be mages with wands as well. Brigands of Drakoria tend to use flint-tipped spears and bow-and-arrow.
True Sight is an ability to detect supernaturals. Those who possess it constantly see a fringe of colored light around others (a la Kirlian photography). It does require the Furre's eyes to be open. Characters with True Sight have some distant Prime or Dark Prime ancestry. True Sight may give a false reading if the subject is a very kind, sympathetic, and caring person.
More Restricted Abilities
These abilities are only available to Furres who are already a Restricted type of character.
Advantages
Vestigial Wings, Ageless (Character may claim a history of up to 1000 years old), Breathe Water, Two Extra Arms, Heal from Death (If body is beheaded or cremated, it is not possible to heal from death even with this ability), Winged Flight, Natural Armor, Resistant to Magic (Magical effects wear off twice as fast.), All Languages, Shapeshifter (This ability permits transformation into 2 distinct forms, of up to 1/2 or x2 the character's original mass.), Carry Cargo (The character is a quadruped or has a centaur-body.)
Disadvantages
Addiction: Flesh of Furres (If your character has the Flesh Hunger Lacuna, they may not take this as a Disadvantage), Addiction: Souls (A compulsion to kill, in a ritual fashion. If they have the Inimicality Lacuna, they may not take this as a Disadvantage), Paralyzed by the Vinca Sigil (All Vampfurres are repelled by the sign of the Vinca, but having this Disadvantage means that your character will stop frozen in your tracks, completely vulnerable to all things that might befall you, until the sight of the Vinca is obscured. Your character cannot steel yourself and overcome this with magic or willpower or any other means), Upsetting to Animals (Cannot ride Ostrixes or Scarhawks; they will bristle and scream at the sight of this character. All Vampfurres get this Disadvantage automatically, therefore they cannot use it as a separate disadvantage.) Severely burned by Sunlight (All Vampfurres get this Disadvantage automatically, therefore they cannot use it as a separate disadvantage.), Paralyzed by Day (During daylight hours, the character is paralyzed, trapped with eyes closed in a state of unconscious terror resembling a coma. Begins at sunrise, and ends at sunset. All Vampfurres get Disadvantage automatically, therefore they cannot use it as a separate disadvantage.)
Skills
What do you know how to do?
Your choice of skills for your character can reflect the professions of your character's parents, places that your character has travelled, or your character's career. The goal is to take Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills that add up to a portrait of a character that's coherent, interesting, and most importantly, balanced.
Example list of skills from Furre!
Extras
Have Fun
Sometimes you may feel locked into an action by your character's nature. You might find yourself roleplaying out a course of action even though it makes you, the player, deeply unhappy. But although as a Roleplayer you have a reasonable obligation to uphold the Continuity, you also have an obligation to yourself to have a good time! Roleplaying "martyrdom" may get you attention but "method-acting", throwing yourself utterly into their pawsteps, isn't the point of the game. Roleplaying is discovering and portraying your character's "hooks" and having "character developments" over time. Sometimes you lose old "hooks" and sometimes you gain new ones. The key to roleplaying is finding the compromise between that which makes you, as player, happy yet makes your character's story dramatic and satisfying.
Respect Others
Every player is free to play as they please in their own Dream. These rules are for those who want rules. There's no rule that a character has to somehow be "valid" by the standards of any other player than their creator. Furcadia is for living out your dreams, and different players want different levels of challenge and complexity. You can insist that those who enter your Dream play by your rules if you use Dragonspeak to make sure that wanderers can't accidentally come by and disrupt your play, and also, that your "House Rules" are posted somewhere on a web site.
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