So now that we have a basic understanding of the rules (I hope, since you should’ve read part 1 before this, very important!), it’s time to work on the next most important thing!

“But Magi! Everyone knows you need a character for any RP! That’s how RPs work, durr!”

Yes! But this part of the guide will focus on how to develop your character in a way that will capitalize on your own limitations, as well as how to properly develop them into a character everyone wants to interact with.

Think about it:

The Mane 6 didn’t start off as the great ponies we know and love now. In fact, when they first appeared in episode 1, they were practically nobodies! We didn’t know who they were, what their motivations were, what their personalities were like, what their particular skills were, or what their personalities were really like. We didn’t know strengths, we didn’t know weaknesses, and we didn’t know dispositions. Now in season 5, after hours upon hours of development and experience, they’re national heroes many times over, have influenced several important events in Equestria, and honed their skills to build up a reputation as ponies to be emulated in Equestrian society!

The show started basic ideas, and molded them over time into something wonderful. That’s how character development should really work!

Though another portion of a character comes from the skill of the player. One big problem I see in a lot of combat characters is that they’re talked up to be fearless killing machines, and then the skill of the player behind them can’t keep that talk up to snuff.

Think of it this way. You’re a performer, and people want to see you perform! You post fliers everywhere for your act at the faire, telling everyone how great you are, that the show will change their lives! An experience they’ll never forget! And then, when it comes to be show time, everyone finds out you can’t even juggle properly. Everyone is disappointed because you couldn’t deliver on the hype, and it’s incredibly damaging to your reputation.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

Just because your character might start unskilled, because as a player you might not understand much about combat, or know how to translate it into your RPs, doesn’t mean they will stay unskilled! Through interaction with other players, your character will gain experiences that will serve as valuable lessons to shape them into the sort of character you really want them to be! And who knows? Maybe you’ll learn something along the way too, and you’ll be able to develop yourself as a more knowledgeable and experienced player!

Alright, pep talk over. It’s time to get to the fun part. How to develop a character!

I like to use a tier system when developing a combat character, based on the knowledge needed to pull off the character itself.

Tier 1: Basic – Needs a basic understanding of fighting and minimal knowledge of weapons. Often a novice level combatant with little to no experience. Plenty of room for development, perfect for newbies and veterans alike! Build your character from the ground up through RP!

Tier 2: Advanced – Requires a thorough understanding of combat and weapons systems. Can be specialized. Experience can come from extensive training in order to build combatant reputation, though there’s still room for building experiences.

Tier 3: Elite – Requires an expert understanding of combat, weapons systems, and is almost ALWAYS specialized. You better know your stuff and how to use it, or else your reputation is going to flop much faster than your character will. Not at all recommended for minor characters or newer players.

I’ll show you a good way to build up a character using each tier!

Let’s say our character is an Earth Pony mare. A good idea to form this mare into a combatant is to know what we want out of her. What are our interests, and how could we implement those interests to get her to a tier 1 combatant?

For now, let’s say we’re interested in ranged weaponry. Firearms, to be specific. Everybody likes guns. But, they’re not as easy to use as some people like to think, and require a lot of knowledge, awareness, and skill.

We’ll say she grew up around them, to give her a basic idea of what they are. A family background, perhaps? Father was a gunsmith making muskets for Griffons! She eventually decided to help her father, learning the nomenclature for each piece of the gun, how cartridges worked, and how to tell if something wasn’t working, which would include test firing!

This is a basic example, but a good way to establish a background of exposure to our particular weapon interest. We can use this to establish a basic knowledge of the weapon, from which we can press on and establish this character through RP!

Personally, I love to start here. We have bare bones of a character, enough to be accepted if we write out the finer details, and then from there release them out into the world to interact with other characters, make some friends, go on adventures, and develop on those experiences to become great!

But for some, this might not be enough. We want a bit more than bare bones. We want some meat on those bones, something to fall back on so we don’t look like such a newbie, or we don’t feel like waiting for action to find us to get that experience. This is where tier 2 would come in.

So we want to go beyond our gunsmith’s assistant. Let’s make her a soldier.

Military backgrounds are a great way to establish a background with training and weapons. But a mistake that a lot of people make is that they don’t consider that a vast majority of military training isn’t for combat! There’s precision drilling, classroom instruction, learning how to tend your barracks space, eat, sleep, and clean as a team. Characters learn discipline, honor, respect, and how to stay physically and morally fit! This can certainly give us that meat we want to establish a hardy sort of combatant, ready for their trial by fire!

Most specifically, they have a chance to hone their fighting skill. So, back to our gunsmith’s apprentice. During her weapons training, she’d learn how to clean and maintain her weapon, how to properly hold it, compensate for recoil, and reload quickly, as well as improving on her marksmanship. This also opens doors to team experience, as she’d have to learn how to operate as a member of a firing line, learning commands and responsibilities.

There are other ways to establish a learned background, of course, however this will also coincide with our tier 3 example.

Sure, she can shoot better and has some combat training. But for some, even this might not be good enough. We want to strive for something more, and push out a character that’s ready to go for the worst the battlefield has to offer. Ready to chew it up, spit it back out, and fight it again. This is for players who truly believe they have the knowledge and experience to pull off this sort of character, and be able to play them well enough to still be desirable to interact with within the community.

Let’s make this soldier a sniper.

What does it take to be a sniper? Well, it’s stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s going anywhere, anytime, without exception, all for the shot. It’s understanding how to use elements of nature to your advantage, how to be efficient, and be the last thing they never see.

Sounds cool, right?

Well, you better know what you’re talking about in your posts, or your character isn’t going to be as cool as you hoped.

She would most likely move on to a different weapon system. Probably imported griffon semi-automatics or bolt action rifles and an X4 magnification scope. She’d have to learn the ins and outs of these weapons all over again, knowing what part is what, how it contributes to the whole, how to keep it clean and how to put it back where it belongs. She’d have to know how rifling works, and how to reload the weapon. She would have to practice with its handling, practicing and perfecting every element of the firing cycle: feeding, chambering, locking, firing, unlocking, extracting, ejecting, cocking.

Then she’d have to delve into the world of advanced marksmanship. What is the maximum effective range of her weapon on a point target? Area target? How does distance and wind affect the bullet? How much does she have to compensate for the bullet to strike true? What’s a good method for judging distance and wind speed/direction? Is the target moving, and if so, how far will she have to lead them while still taking those other factors into account?

To all these questions, not only will your character have to know the answer, but you will as well in order to best use this skill to your advantage. Otherwise, you’ll make for a very poor marksman.

You’ll notice each tier of this development requires more specific knowledge than the last, which is fine and good, but just because you have the knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean you have to throw in an instant war hero to the RP. It’s all a matter of what you get out of it. Sure, if you can effectively play a tier 3 character you’ll fare a bit better in combat, however the experience is had. It’s done. The development of your character’s skills can’t go much further. This is why I prefer tier 1, or even tier 2 characters so much. It still gives us the capability of letting the character learn through RP, and letting others experience these transitions with us! It creates strong bonds when players can learn and develop together, and for strong and trustworthy friendships on the battlefield!

These are very bare-bones descriptions of these different sorts of character developments, but well enough to guide you. Please keep in mind that the above is simply my own system for considering combat characters, and is not to be taken as scripture for what you do! It’s important to go your own way, though also good to consider the advice above, and know what you want out of an RP experience. But remember, what’s MOST important, is taking into account what you REALLY know, and what you can effectively portray in a character!

THAT is the difference between great characters, okay characters, and bad characters: The ability to play their capabilities and meet the expectations of others you interact with, especially at higher levels.

Building your reputation as a player is paramount!

Hope you enjoyed part 2 of this guide! Stay tuned for more, and if you have questions or comments, leave them below, or feel free to PM me!