Character Sheet Approval Guidelines

The following guidelines are used by the Voice Staff to process and approve member-created Character Sheets that are submitted for review. Failure to meet these guidelines will result in a remand from a member of the staff. Any remand, however, will contain clear instructions on how to make changes that will lead to getting the Character Sheet approved. The Voice Staff is available through both email and Telegram and is always going to do everything in their power to help a member get their Character Sheet approved.

Introduction

The purpose of this approval process is to maintain a consistent quality across all Character Sheets. The Guidelines are not meant to prevent members from writing or playing the character(s) that they desire, but to help ensure that all Character Sheets are held to the same standards as guidelines progress and that all Character Sheets are operating within the Brotherhood’s fictional systems. Please read each section carefully.

Finally, the Character Sheet system is inclusive and open to various forms of gender, orientation, and identity. There are different ways to explore these types of characters, and if you are concerned, curious, or have any questions please reach out to the Voice or the Voice Staff.

For a step-by-step guide on creating your Character Sheet, please see the Character Creation Guide.

Notes From the Staff

• All Character Sheet reviews and approvals are checked against the current Guidelines. This means that previously approved Character Sheets do not guarantee automatic re-approval.
  • The Voice Staff is not responsible for auditing previously approved Character Sheets.
• Any time that a member modifies a text field on the Character Sheets, it will require staff approval.
  • Applies to: Physical Description, Height/Weight, Custom Aspects, Lore, and Languages
• Staff approval is not needed if you just want to change: Discipline, Skills, Force Powers, or Feats

Physical Description and Species

The Physical Description field is meant to convey a basic, static image of what your character looks like, as if looking at a photograph or being described to someone else. The purpose of this still image is for others to write your character's appearance accurately without making a mistake that could be cause for loss of points in a judgement in which consistency was key.

Physical Descriptions should not contain notes on behavior or history that would go in Custom Aspects or on a wiki. They should not detail items or armor that belong in Item Aspects, or otherwise list any attire, as these are both under the purview of the Possessions system and covered on the Character Sheet in an attached Loadout.

Physical Appearance

• Details included in this field must be purely cosmetic in nature. For an approved sheet, you must make sure you hit all the basic six (6) descriptors: skin tone, eye color, hair color and hairstyle (pick one), body type, and distinguishing marks like scars or tattoos (or the absence of them).
  • Not every Species will have hair, or skin, but may have fur or a carapace. Whatever traits the Species does have, make sure those basics are covered.
  • Please avoid out of universe references, such as Asian, Caucasian or African, and instead use terms like "flat nose, angular eyes, pale features, exotic or dark skinned, coarse haired."
• Descriptions must be static descriptions (things that don’t change day to day). A character's natural hair color must be listed even if they dye it, as should the current dyed color, and a default style must be listed even if they frequently wear different styles or accessorize. You are still free to write your character doing these things in fiction entries and stories as much as you like; but for the character sheet you MUST provide a single, static description for others to use for grading purposes. Saying that a character wears multiple hair styles or changes their hair color will result in a remand. If your character often wears disguises, it is recommended to purchase a Costume for your Loadout from Possessions.
• Descriptions must be current. Discussing what a character WILL look like when they grow or what they looked like in the past at length is not helpful nor does it provide a current image to grade with. You may write something such as, "her once blue eyes have corrupted to Sith gold" but you must provide and focus on the character's current appearance.
• Physical Descriptions must be written in full sentences, not in a list format.
  • Example: Listing, "Hair Color: red. Eye color: blue. Tattoos: tribal." would result in a remand. It should be written as, "Master Skystar has red hair, blue eyes, and wild tattoos with swirling lines."
• As there are no other fields for it, the Staff allows mention of makeup, piercings, and accents in the Physical Description, but as with anything else, these 'must be static. If any makeup is included, it should be a single style. Piercings should be assumed to always be present. You may include accents, but keep in mind that there is not an England or Southern United States in Star Wars — these fall again under out of universe references. Instead, you can use things like "aristocratic lilt" (English accent), or "slow drawl" (Southern United States). Accents are considered flavor for the purpose of better describing a character's "voice" in dialogue writing, but any mention of them should be short and not delve into Character History.

Species

• The physical description must also be consistent with the Species choice. Variations may be approved, but they would have no mechanical benefit. Always check your Species infobox for information about what colors or features are standard to your selected Species.
  • Example: Standard Chiss have blue skin, black or dark hair, and red eyes. A hybrid Chiss may have paler skin instead of dark blue skin, but you may not add claws and fangs when their selected Species is Chiss.

Cybernetics

• Cybernetics and other “modifications” are allowed, but they are only cosmetic in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood system. You can describe how they look, but cannot mention how they modify or enhance your character's attributes. Cybernetic limbs may not include weapons or armors, and additional redundant organs may not be added if the Species did not originally have them; a cybernetic may only replace an organic piece with a metal one.

• A system exception exists for members of the Technocratic Guild in the Collective, who get a unique feat that lets their cybernetics enhance other abilities. This is for NPC usage only for the rival faction.

Behavior or History

• Physical Descriptions cannot explain how a character behaves. Aspects are used for this purpose. Since the focus of this field is solely on the character's visual details, the effects of the character’s appearance or their behavioral traits should not be included in a Physical Description.
  • Example: Your character cannot "intimidate everyone they come across with their gaze." Your character MAY have "sharp, piercing green eyes" and "always wear a scowl."" This allows a reader to infer they are intimidating, instead of dictating any effect on another character or describing a character's behavior.
• Physical Descriptions cannot be used for extensive character history of how and why a character behaves - this must be covered with Custom Aspects and/or supported by Wikipedia article.
  • Example: You cannot' say that your character, "was a lifetime slave under Jabba the Hutt and grew strong enough to defeat them and rescue their fellow slaves so they have large muscles and many scars". You MAY say that your character has "large muscles and many scars from a life of slavery". You cannot say that your character "was in a fight to the death with his master and stabbed in the gut, but survived and now he has the scars after defeating him." You MAY say your character's scar is "a thin white line from a knife wound."

Items and Armor

• Physical Descriptions cannot be used to explain the properties or functions of armor or weapons (such as material resistance or augmentation). These details can be displayed through the Possessions and Loadouts interfaces, and fall under the discretion of the Regent staff.
• A character's attire — often defined by their clothing style, preference, or details, as well as any armor they wear, no matter how often, belongs in the Item Aspects found in Possessions items that get equipped into the Armor and Back slots of a Loadout. Listing out attire in the Physical Description field will result in a remand. See the Creating Custom Item Aspects page for more details.
  • Example: You cannot say that a character's "pale skin, short-cropped dark hair, and hazel eyes are constantly hidden behind their Mandalorian helmet".
• Weapon selection/placement may not appear in a Physical Description. These details can be displayed through the Possessions and Loadouts interfaces, and fall under the discretion of the Regent staff.

Hybrid Species

While characters descended from two species (hereafter hybrid Species) are permitted, they will be subjected to increased scrutiny by the Voice staff. The selected species should be from similar genetic styles, meaning you cannot merge a Reptilian based species with a Mammal based one. The following items are required for these sorts of characters in addition to the above.

• A hybrid Species is denoted by selecting your Primary Species and denoting the hybrid races in your Physical Description.
  • Example: "Skystar is a Chiss-Human hybrid with light blue skin and red-tinted, green eyes..."
• A hybrid Species will only get Feats from their Primary Species. They do not get Feats of the Secondary Species.
  • Example: Skystar is a Chiss-Human hybrid, but his selected Species is Chiss. He will have only the Chiss Feats and cannot use the Human Feats.
• A hybrid Species must have only cosmetic elements of their Secondary Species worked into their Physical Description. This should be clearly defined by the writer and focus solely on the cosmetic details of what makes the Character a hybrid.
• For an example of an approved Character Sheet featuring a hybrid Species, check out the Inquisitorius NPC Harry West featured in the ACC Qualification exams.

Character Images/Formatting

The Weapons Loadout field has been replaced with Possession Loadouts. In removing the text-based field, the option to directly embed images into Character Sheets has effectively been phased out. Members are still welcome to include a hyperlink to an image of their character, however, using Markdown syntax.

Example: [Character Image](https://characterimage1.jpg)

Please note: The Voice staff will inspect image hyperlinks to ensure they are appropriately linking to character art that adheres to the Brotherhood's PG-13 policy in terms of nudity and graphic content. Linking to inappropriate content is subject to discipline at the discretion of the Justicar and the Covenant.

Skills, Force Powers, and Feats

Notes on Skills, Force Powers, and Feats:

• If a Feat is taken that modifies a given Force Power or Skill, that Power or Skill must have one or more points placed in it. The Character Sheet Wizard will not show Feats unavailable to a specific character based on Rank or Order (eg NFU types will not see Force Power Feats). It will also warn the member selecting the Feats that a Force Power or Skill is required to use it if they try to select it without the Skill or Power on their Sheet.
• Skills and Force Powers should be consistent with one’s Aspects.
  • Example: if a character has an Aspect stating a preference for ranged combat, they should have Powers and/or Skills that allow them to engage enemies at range.
• If an Aspect discusses using Powers or Skills in a way that requires a Feat, but the Feat is not selected on the Sheet, the Aspect will be remanded.
  • Example: an Aspect discusses protecting other characters besides the user with Barrier, but the Sheet does not have the Static Barrier Feat that allows this usage selected.
• Dual Wielding allows your character to effectively handle two weapons at once. It does not make your character both left handed and right handed.
  • The ability to fight with both the left and right hands equally requires either the Journeyman Feat: “Ambidexterity” or the Equite Feat: "Alternate Wielding".
• For Non Force-Users, any Discipline but Weapons Specialist does not gain any benefit from selecting a Primary or Secondary Weapon Specialization in the Specialization selector. This is just for the Weapons Specialist to define their respective Feats.
• ‘’’Do not select Weapon Specialization if you are not a Weapon Specialist.’’’

Specialization

This includes Primary and Secondary Lightsaber Forms, Primary and Secondary Martial Arts Forms, Lore, and Languages.

Primary / Secondary Forms

• You must have at least one Skill point invested in a Primary or Secondary Martial Arts Form or Lightsaber Form in order to select one of the Forms from the drop-down selector under the Specialization tab on the Character Creation Wizard.
• Your Primary Skill must be equal to or higher than your Secondary Form.
• For additional information see the Martial Arts Forms page and Lightsaber Forms page.
  • Mind that when selecting a Lightsaber Form if it supports Dual Wielding or not, so that you are not unnecessarily wasting a Skill point in Dual Wielding if taken.
• Primary/Secondary Weapon Specialization only applies for the Non-Force User Weapons Specialist discipline feats. It does not provide any advantage to any other discipline or character type.

Lore

• There should be a number of [Character_Creation_Guide#Lore|Lore topics] equal to the number of points in the Lore Skill. This means : 1 Point in Lore Skill equals 1 Lore Topic. No more, no less. The site is now hard coded to help you with this endeavor, reflected by text-field boxes on the Character Sheet Wizard.
• Lore Topics should be specific but brief.
  • Example: "The engines of starships in ISDs and how they function and repairing them in or out of battle" is not a proper Lore Topic. Instead, for a character to know about starship engines, the member would just put, "Starship Engines" or "Imperial-designed Starship Engines".
• All characters are expected to know broadly the history of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, of the New Republic, and the current era and time period in general. It is also implied that your character will have a working knowledge/understanding of their Species-specific lore or history including culture and habitat. A Lore item is not needed to reflect this, as it is automatically applied to your Character Sheet. They would also not require a lore topic to cover areas of general education available to their Species.
• Lore topics should show an expertise in an area of knowledge that would set them apart from others of their Order, Species, or Unit. They are the equivalent of a degree or masters program on a subject from a university or trade school, or of extensive empirical experience in a subject, such as a lifetime in a career field. Good examples are: "Poisons and Toxins of the Galaxy", "Xenobiology", "Droid Building and Repair," "Criminal underworld of the Galaxy", or “Ancient Sith Artifacts".
• Lore topics cannot merely mention a Shadow Academy course the member has taken. Member activities such as these have NO tie-in to your character's Lore or knowledge. However, Societal awards or topics may be used, such as the topics granted to a member's Character Sheets at certain ranks in the Inquisitorius, Shroud Society, Shadow Academy Society, or Grand Master's Royal Guard.
• Click here for an expanded list of heretofore approved Lore Topics. This list is not a complete reference. It is recommended you ask the Voice Staff if you are unsure about a Lore Topic.

Languages

• Languages should be from the Brotherhood's list of languages under the Character Creation guide.
  • Sith tongue, as referred to on Wookiepedia, is Ancient Sith in our system. Mind notes like these listed for each Language, such as that New Canon has merged Ryl and Twi'leki into one Language now simply called Twi'leki.
  • If a Language has multiple names, the Languages page will tell you which to use, such as Binary instead of Droidspeak.
• Mind your spelling when typing your selection into the Language field.
• Each Species gets their native tongue by default, as well as Galactic Standard Basic. This is coded into the website and is done automatically. Do not put Basic or "Human/English" as Languages.
• Aspects may make references to a specific cult, upbringing, or other factor that could be used to explain a small smattering of words from a Language such as Mando’a without the character knowing the whole Language. The character will be unable to fully speak it or understand it, but know some words without needing to spend a Skill Point.

Aspects

For tips on how to write Custom Aspects, check out the "How To" section of the Aspects article.

Notes on Aspects:

• Custom Aspects must always have the first word of their title capitalized, and have each letter of each subsequent word capitalized, except: a, an, the, at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up, and, as, but, or, and nor.
  • Example: "This Is How You Title an Aspect" or "I Titled an Aspect and All I Got Was This T-Shirt"
• Custom Aspects must be a minimum of two sentences in length and no longer than 150 words. If you are using more than 100 words, we recommend carefully considering whether the additional words aid or detract from what you are trying to get across.
• Make sure your Custom Aspects are spell-checked. The staff may remand an Aspect with perfectly good content with the single note of fixing a syntax issue if the Aspect is particularly difficult to read. This is done to help make sure your Sheet is clear and easy to read for judges and other members.
• Your Custom Aspect should revolve around a single, connected theme; that is, convey a single piece of information about the character. Avoid disjointed attempts involving multiple partial Aspects merged into one or contradicting oneself.
  • Example: A major part of Skystar as a character is his heritage, so a General Aspect is dedicated to his half-Human, half-Chiss upbringing and his own views of the culture, mainly focusing on how being raised that way makes him act. He is also a pilot, and so a Combat Aspect may be dedicated to his ability to dogfight, while a Personality Aspect could focus on his quiet manner leaving him few friends but his loyalty inspiring those he does keep.
• A Custom Aspect must always feature some kind of merit/drawback or balance. This adds realistic depth to characters being created and prevents characters from being overpowered while making them easier to relate to. Flaws and quirks sell more than a list of perfect traits. On a basic level, these are things like, "focuses on melee combat, which makes CHARACTER less efficient against marksman and ranged fighters" or "prefers to work alone and so has few friends" or "has a noble upbringing and is very well spoken and educated but also can be rude or entitled".
  • Balance is the most crucial part of the Aspect process and the most common reason for a remand. For any trait explained about a character, there must be some sort of cause and effect attached to it; something that tells the reader how this trait can both be a benefit and a detriment depending on a given situation.
• A Custom Aspect must pertain to how your character acts or behaves. These cannot be an explanation of your character's history, which belongs on the Wiki, but focus on how they function and interact with the world around them. You can use an element of your character's history, or a specific event, to quickly explain why your character behaves a certain way or has a quirk, but the behavior is the focus of Aspects, not the reasoning behind it.
• Custom Aspects should be supported by the characters Skills, Feats, and Force Powers. For example, if you have an aspect that says, “Blademaster of the First Echelon!”, it is expected that the character will have at least a +3 in Bladed Weapons, and perhaps a Feat to enhance it.
• Proofreading is up to the user and is not a primary criteria for Aspect approval, but readability is. It's important that Aspects be easily read and understood. If you cannot find a proofreader in your clan or summit, ask the Voice staff and they will help you.
• Custom Aspects can make reference to your unique relationship to your clan or the DJB at large, but please keep in mind that there is a fair bit of fiction that needs to be respected. Any Aspects relating to specific element of clan/subunit fiction must not contradict that fictional development. The same goes for the Brotherhood as a whole. It is highly recommended that if you’re going to create such an Aspect that you speak to your Clan leadership or the Voice office before you submit your Sheet.
  • Example: an Aspect that focuses on the character's role as a critical agent in a battle in a specific Brotherhood update, but the character was not mentioned in that update.
• Custom Aspects may link away to other Character Sheets, especially if referencing an important bond between characters, but should not link to non-DJB sites or sources, for quality control. Like with imagery in the Physical Description, the Voice Staff will check any links, and anything linking to inappropriate content may be subject to discipline.

Grandfathered Character Sheets

Thanks to the archival feature of the Character Sheet system, members have the option of reactivating old Character Sheets to serve as their active ones.

• If you had or currently have an approved Character Sheet on file that uses a Grandfathered species, you are able to re-activate that Character Sheet at any time to use as your Dark Jedi Brotherhood character.
• You are not able to create a new Character Sheet for a character with a Grandfathered Species.

An example of this would be:

• Knight Kevin's Character Sheet was created and approved as a Hapan Force-User.
• Knight Kevin changes to a Bothan Non-Force User.
• Knight Kevin wants to change back to a Hapan Force-User. Kevin can reactivate an archived Character Sheet for Kevin the Hapan. Kevin cannot create a new Hapan Character Sheet.