Before you can play in Reference II, you will need to ballot for your place in the game. See here for more information on balloting. Once you have had your place to play in Reference II confirmed, you will then need to create your character for the game. To do so, please fill out this form by the Character Creation deadline of 12pm (noon) on Friday 10th July. If you do not wish to use the Google form to submit your character, please email the GMs with your answers to the character creation questions, which can be found on the form or below.
You may find it helpful to attend the Character Creation session on Tuesday July 7th to talk to other players and the GMs about ideas for your character. This will also be a chance to ask the GMs other questions about Reference II before the start of the game.
The rest of this page outlines the questions on the character creation form and gives answers for a sample character called Jimbo.
For more information on how Out of Character information is stored and processed in Reference II, please see the Privacy Policy.
What is your name?
Emma H
What are your pronouns?
she/her
What email address should we use for you?
emmaloubibbityboo@gmail.com
Are you over the age of 18?
Yes
These questions ask about your character, and why they are attending the Exhibition.
Player Characters in Reference II will all be humans who are at least 18 years old. The Exhibition is a one-off event, so your character will have a daily life beyond the Bookworm Exhibition.
Characters will have chosen to enter Alusia's Exhibition ticket competition, and will have had their reasons for doing so. Maybe they are enthusiastic about the new development in technology from a pure love of innovation, or this exciting new experience will inspire them in their job. Perhaps it's not about the Bookworm, but rather to do with one of the largest stores of information on the planet, the Alusia Library.
What is your character's name?
Jimbo McJameson II
What are your character's pronouns?
he/they
Outside of the week-long Bookworm Exhibition, what does your character's daily life look like?
Jimbo is an entrepreneur who has made a relatively large fortune off a series of investments in the right businesses at the right time. He insists that this is all thanks to his natural talent and instinct, and conveniently overlooks the fact that many other people had made similar investments in similarly promising companies and have been nowhere near as lucky. They spend weekdays staying in hotels in the city, and on weekends he returns to his coastal mansion with his husband.
Why did your character enter the Exhibition ticket raffle?
To know whether it is worth investing in the Bookworm as their next major business venture, Jimbo wanted to get some hands-on experience with the technology. They were willing to spend a large amount of money (though still a negligible portion of their wealth) to have a lot of entries into the raffle as “expenses” for this trip. He is, of course, excited to try out the technology first-hand, but is seeing this primarily as a business opportunity.
How much does the fate of In-Story characters in the Epilogues matter to your character?
Jimbo doesn't see these characters as any more real than characters in films. Sure, some people might get invested while watching a film, but it's hard for Jimbo to believe that someone would still think about that after they've had a day or two to process what happened in the plot. Why would the Bookworm be different?
How does your character feel about companies being at the forefront of technological development?
To Jimbo, the fact that companies are leading technological research is a shining example of business the way it was meant to be done. Visionaries know which research is worth sponsoring and reap the benefits of technologies that nobody else in the world has access to. But others waste their money on useless endeavours. It's only fair for those with the right talent to achieve success.
A Player Character's Public Bio will be visible to all other players on the Player Characters page. This should contain information that is common knowledge about your character, or what people may notice about them at a first impression. The Public Bio should be relatively brief. We will be imposing a limit (not a target) of 150 words for the Public Bio.
A Player Character's Private Bio will be visible only to that player and the GMs. This should contain more detailed information about your character than your Public Bio, possibly including information on their backstory and motivations. Information about your character that would be useful for the GMs to know but that you do not want other players to know should be included here. The information in the Private Bio is likely to overlap with the answers to the IC questions, but there is scope to write more in the Private Bio than the previous questions. If you would like to describe your character's local Commune, this can be done in the Private Bio.
Since Player Characters will have had to win tickets to The Exhibition, it is exceedingly unlikely that PCs will know each other prior to the beginning of the game. In circumstances where there is a sensible narrative reason that two people who know each other both won Exhibition tickets this might be permitted, but you must have sought, and received, permission from the GMs for your character to have pre-existing links with another player's character.
Please submit a Public Bio for your character.
Jimbo is a wealthy entrepreneur and might be a recognisable face to those in the business world. They are always well-dressed - rumour has it they even wear a suit to bed. He is tall and imposing, and may be intimidating to talk to for the first time, but they are quite charismatic and easy to talk to once the conversation begins.
Please submit a Private Bio for your character.
Jimbo's father, Jimbo McJameson I, was a businessman who, like Jimbo II, had built up a small fortune. Jimbo I's most successful investment was in a previous Alusia invention. As a result, Jimbo II grew up wealthy, and learned some key lessons about entrepreneurship in their youth.
After his father's passing, Jimbo inherited most of his father's estate and used the money in his own investments. Through this, they were able to make a remarkable fortune, and gained a reputation as a cold, calculating investor, driven only by data and unfazed by emotions. Jimbo has found this reputation helps him in negotiations, so they try and maintain this persona. However, Jimbo does have a sentimental side, and is secretly very emotionally attached to Alusia, thanks to this being the source of their father's wealth.
Jimbo has told themself that they have come to the Exhibition primarily as a business venture, aiming to do due diligence to see if the Bookworm is a worthwhile investment. Deep down, however, he knows his soft spot for Alusia is telling them to invest no matter what, and this has justified the cost of buying a large number of entries into the ticket raffle, and taking a week away from his normal workflow.
Jimbo considers the small coastal town where he spends weekends with their husband to be his main Commune, even though he spends more time in the city with work. Most people in the town work at sea, but are still very welcoming to cityfolk like Jimbo.
Story Quirks will have some impact on the mechanics and gameplay of Reference II. For more information, including a list of available story Quirks, see the Quirks page.
Which Story Quirks would you like your character to have?
Ain't From Round Here and Technical Difficulties
Playstyle Quirks are used to help your experience of Reference II align with what you are comfortable with OC. You may take, or leave, as many Playstyle Quirks as you want. For more information, see the Quirks page.
Mindbender
I would like to take this Quirk.
Boot Me Out
I like to take this Quirk, but warn me OC before it is used.
If you have anything you would like to tell the GMs OC, such as anything for accessibility or your comfort during the game, or anything you wanted to say about your character but couldn't find the right place to do so, please put them in the OC Thoughts section.
OC Thoughts.
I have chosen to take the Mindbender Quirk, but I'm not comfortable with having Jimbo's speech controlled, so please don't do it. The other aspects of the Mindbender Quirk are fine.