Character Guidelines

[The Exodus]

AI/Actor Image List

Q: What is the AI list?
A: The AI list-- or Actor Image List --contains all of the characters on the site, matched up to an AI. The AI is an actor, actress, singer, or other person meant to physically represent your character. This gives other writers a visual clue as to what your character looks like.

Q: Must my "AI" be an actor?
A: Goodness no! However, he or she must be someone in showbuisness. Please, don't use your friends and relatives as AIs. Nothing against them; it's just standard procedure.

Q: The AI I wanted is taken! What do I do?
A: Pick another AI. The rule is one character per AI. However, if you and another RPer plan to write identical twins, the same AI must be used. Consult with the person first! Do not create an identical twin character without the original RPer's permission.

Q: No one looks like my character! What do I do?
A: I highly doubt that's true. If you're stumped, ask an admin! Send us your character's physical description; we'll help you look.

Q: Can anime characters be used as AIs?
A: No. This is a realistic RP. We only use photographs. Sorry!

Q: What about cartoons?
A: See previous.

Q: My AI is kind of obscure...
A: That's okay! Just know that an obscure AI presents its own challenges.

Q: My AI is someone uber-famous. Does their real-world counterpart not exist?
A: That is entirely up to you! One of the other admins (Marissa) has actually used Marilyn Monroe as the AI for a character's deceased wife. Other characters can and have referenced Marilyn Monroe and there hasn't been any conflict.

Q: But... Back to my earlier question... There is no one that looks like my character. He/She is much more attractive/unattractive than all the actors, actresses, singers, and television personalities out there!
A: While I highly doubt that's possible as there are all types out there, it's inherently assumed that AIs are mere approximations to your character's appearance. And that's okay.

[The Exodus]

Character FAQ

Q: Does my character have to be French?
A: No. We welcome characters from all over the globe. However, we do ask that you give your character a believable, entertaining, and realistic reason to be in Paris. No teleporting or anything like that.

Q: Does my character have to be human?
A: Yes. This is a real life RP site. Your character is more than welcome to have pets... just keep it realistic!

Q: How old should my character be?
A: I'd recommend writing a character older than 18. We don't have infrastructure for high school aged characters and have no intention of changing that. However, there is no rule that says you can't have a teenaged character. The average age of RW characters is currently 31.41 years old. Our oldest character is 80 and our youngest character is 18, with most characters falling in the late-20s to early-30s range.

Q: What do I do if my character has children?
A: That's up to you. However, children of characters are typically not characters in their own right. Often, they are what we call "NPCs"-- non-playable characters. You don't have to apply for NPCs, but you cannot do scenes with just the NPC present. Your character must also be present in scenes in which NPCs feature. A few times, characters' grown children have become characters in their own right, in which case, they MUST be applied for like any other character.

Q: Can my character have the same job as someone else?
A: That depends on the job in question. Can we have two or more doctors? Yes! Can there be multiple presidents of France? No! If someone is RPing the career you want and you aren't sure if this will be a conflict, PM them and work something out. You might come up with an awesome plot that way!

Q: Let's talk about love. Are their requirements about love and sexual identity?
A: Bring us your straight, your gay, you bisexual and your asexual. Bring us your transexual, pansexual, cis-gendered. Bring us your lonely hearts, your happily married couples, your divorcees. You get the idea. We don't discriminate.

Q: What about race? Or religion?
A: Bring us your-- Well, your anything. Again, we don't discriminate. Variety is the spice of life!

Q: Can my character have a shared history with someone else's character?
A: As long as both writers agree on the shared history, of course! There seems to be a pattern here....

Basically, if you don't know... Ask! Brainstorm with others. Plot. Have fun, be respectful. It's all really simple and all a lot of fun!