Info refers to the information stored about each character in the CDB. For most characters, much of this information is pre-determined but there are some fields that need to be filled out in this room. A list of all fields, as well as more information about each field, can be viewed by typing +HELP CDB FIELDS.
Whether your character is drawn from the CDB or a new creation, the goal of this stage is to ensure that all applicable short and long info fields are filled out. Some will already have been set by the Admin (if so, you cannot change them), and some will be set by the Admin at a later stage, so what players should be setting are the short info fields Eyes, Hair, Height, ShortDesc and Weight and the long info fields History and Persona. Additionally, players should if applicable fill out the long info fields Hints, Rumors, and Secrets (mandatory if you have the Secret: Major or Secret: Minor flaw, and even if the information is also present in the Justify) as well as their character’s Relations to other characters.
Eyes is your character’s eye-colour. Hair is your character’s hair-colour and hair-style. Height is your character’s height. Weight is your character’s weight. ShortDesc is a brief (max 300 characters) description of your character, shown among other things by +glance (see +HELP +GLANCE. Regarding Height and Weight, keep in mind that they need to be reasonable in relation to each other and in relation to your STATS. We also ask that you do not set your height to higher than 6’1” (185 cm) or 6’2” (188 cm) for a male character or 5’7” (170 cm) or 5’8” (173 cm) for a female character unless your character is from a house known for tall individuals or your character is a tier III, II or I. Finally, the Height and Weight you select should represent the Height and Weight of your character as an adult.
The short info fields cannot be changed once you leave the CharGen. To change or set these fields out of CharGen, you need to use +jobs (see +HELP JOBS) to submit any proposed changes, using UPDATE as the item type.
Hints is a publicly viewable field for things that other players should take into account when roleplaying with the character. For example, if your character for whatever reason (bastard birth, a scandal, etc) is frowned upon by much of society, make sure to note this here to stress that this would be the common reaction to your character.
History is a publicly viewable field that essentially is a public version of the background.
Persona is a publicly viewable field that describes your character’s persona.
Rumors is a publicly viewable field that lists various rumors regarding your character.
Secrets is a hidden field that lists any secrets your character might have.
The long info fields can be changed after CharGen as well, allowing you to update them when necessary.
You should set Relations for all characters that your character has a significant connection to. Relations can be changed (and added) after CharGen as well, allowing you to update them when necessary.
Relations consist of several different fields: Status, Type, Kind and Info.
Status can be Public or Private, where Public Relations can be viewed by other players. In most cases, you will probably only need Public Relations to other characters. But sometimes the public perception of a Relation may not be the truth, and then you might also need a Private Relation to a character. There might also be occasions where it is not known that your character has a Relation to another character, and then you might just need a Private Relation.
Type can be Parent, Sibling, Spouse, Lover, Child, Relative, Acquaintance, or Stranger. The Type describes what the other character is to your character, not what your character is to the other character. So, if you enter a Relation for your character’s mother, you put the Type as Parent, not as Child.
Kind can be Intimate, Friend, Admirer, Ally, Supporter, Neutral, Rival, Opponent, Detractor, Adversary, or Enemy. The Kind describes how your character views another character, not how the other character views your character. Below is a listing, sorted roughly in order of how close and/or positive the relation is, that attempts to clarify what each Kind encompasses:
Info, finally, is a free-text description of the Relation. This is the field that determines whether a Relation is necessary. If you have nothing more to write here than just restating what the connection between your character and another character is, then you do not need to set a Relation. For example, a Relation that simply says that ‘character B is character A’s brother’ is not necessary. However, if your character hates his brother, then you should describe that here. The Info should describe the Relation from your character’s point of view, expressing your character’s subjective feelings about the other character. It should not, as far as is possible, define the personality and opinions of the other characters.
