Character Creation for Modern

Hello all, HOMU HOMU here. Today we're going to discuss HOW TO MAKE A CHARACTER FOR THE MODERN SETTING.

The modern setting is a urban setting with super powers, similar to Toaru Majutsu no Index/Railgun, or X-men, or Heroes.
It plays primarily in the USA, at New York, mostly because it's such a big city, it leaves alot of freedom with RP locations and there's always stuff going on.
So how do you make a character who fits in? There's a few things to consider, but these are guidelines, and you may, if confident, go outside of these boundaries.

Age Group. Preferred between 10 and 30. Most of the cast is above 16 and below 25, and may go to school (Which sometimes is RP'd for social, sometimes skipped).
So that age group is most likely to interact. You can of course make an older character, and find a way to get involved with the group.
It's somewhat of a "group of friends" , Apris, Celina, Jack (Missing), etc.
Race and gender doesn't really matter, though we have a shortage on males.

Character Type. Can be anything, though a protagonist-like character is preferred, especially given Jack is gone, and needs somewhat a spiritual successor.
But even if your character is a cowardly coward who tries to avoid all the supernatural, they will inevitably be involved.
This RP tends to suck the characters into situations, wether they want it or not.

Powers. You may choose to have a power.
http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Superpower_Wiki
This is a very useful database for you to pick out a power.
Some guidelines on powers. There are 2 types of powers, as far as I know.

By birth: Such as Apris power, she had it since she was born, it was latent and activated when she was 15.

By acquisition: Those are a recent development. They are the kind of power you suddenly manifest in extreme situations. Such as a man who is about to be crushed by his car developing super strength, or steel skin, or something like that.
Notes and suggestions for Gm stuff: Using die to roll for random factors in how strong or which power they get from a prepared list that suits said character, or situation the character is in.

Limits to powers? Up to you. Reasonable. For example, no "reality warping" power unless explained properly, and approved by scorp and myself.
Scientific-ish powers are preferred. Things like "steel manipulation" or stuff like from Index and Railgun. Powers generally have one theme, and effects caused by the "theme".
Like. "Molecule Manipulation" being one of the really powerful ones, and requires the user to know the periodic table of the elements to , for example, change copper coins into gold coins.
There is such a character with this power around.

It's just your best bet to just go be creative, and ask me and/or scorp if that's good enough.
That's the complex version of making a character.

here's the easy version: Find a pic you like, give it a name, think up a power, or leave her/him normal, and just jump into the RP and go from there.
That's the very soul this RP started from.

Joke Characters: Allowed, but should be not always there. Examples: Classmate of Apris who looks like Scout and acts like him, his desk neighbour who looks like Bully from the "Bully" game, called Butch, TF2 Medic who's the usual doctor the cast gets fixed up by, and Soldier who is just some crazy wannabe Soldier everyone thinks is crazy, has been in prison before, and goes to Miss Claire the Psychologist. Yeah.

It's sometimes a light hearted RP and sometimes Scorp or I sneak in references, though on request I guess we can stop doing that.

Oh yeah. Character Factions. There's some factions your character can be an agent or whatever of. Scorp will touch up on that mostly, I guess.
Here's some factions I can think of. CIA, FBI and government suit stuff. SCP Foundation. Cops. Templars. Military. Internet Geek. I guess that's not a faction though.

I think that's all.

To further elaborate  on the powers.

Powers acquired are based on the mental state of the character. While "Extreme Conditions" like near-death of yourself or someone you care for are the most common scenario (puppy is about to be run over by a car, I wish I could reach it in time! - fwwwwoooosh, super speed, teleport, telekinesis, etc. could manifest), there are other "stimuli" that can trigger the power activation, including sadness but also happiness, extreme joy, etc. It depends on the character, and the emotional stimulus and the situation would obviously dictate a different power. Like, you being super-happy would not trigger an offensive ability.

Most of these powers start off weak or difficult to control, but using them improves either the control or their strength/re-use time/etc, but this varies on a person-by-person basis. You could find someone with the same or similar power to yours, but he/she might be a complete useless piece of thrash, or a godlike master that can mop the floor with you.


In terms of factions, there are the basic factions currently established, but there are more coming into the conflict as they get introduced officially during active roleplay, to avoid spoilers, meta-gaming and whatnot. More on that if we actually get something done that allows the story to advance and bring them into perspective.

ADDITION.

Character Haircolors. And Eyecolors.
Should be REALISTIC COLORS. If not, explanation required. Like, bleached it/is a punk/etc.
Odd haircolors or eyecolors usually are a telltale sign that the person has odd genetics, and therefore, possibly supernatural powers.
See Azumi or Apris. So keep that in mind if you use anime-images for your character. But you can use any art-style, or just describe.