Joining Down the Rathole

Oh, so you wish to go Down the Rathole? We will happily welcome you among us (we don't bite - at least not very hard). However, before you join, there are a few thing you should give some thought to.
It is important to plan the character well, this way gaming will be easier for both you and the other players. People will be more than happy to ask you to play with them, if your character is original and interesting. Create your own, unique character.

It might be a good idea to write the character sheet on a writing program and save once in a while, so the precious work shan't be wasted.

This is an example of a character sheet, with some (rather eloquent) explanations.

Name: Name your character. Choose a name based on the ethnicity of your character and their time of birth; if your character is born in Victorian era Britain do not name them Akane Nakamura, Alex (if girl) or - for the love of gods - Barbie.
Nickname(s): (if any)
Gender:
Birthday and age: Because Down the Rathole has no defined year when everything happens, we do not require you to count your character's exact birth year. You need only to tell us the day and month of her birth and determine their age.
Homeplace:

Social status: is your character a doctor, a traveler, or perhaps an aristocrat?

History: It is necessary to mention the place and approximate time when your character was born (for example, mid-1800s), as to avoid confusion. Describe their family relations and their life before going down the Rathole. In case you wish not to play a game where your character enters the alterreality, do explain here how your character ended up in there.

Personality: Write a good, in-depth description about your character's personality. It is nice for the other players to know what things their character has in common with yours and what things can evoke an interesting reaction. The personality description is the single most important part of your character. It is always a good idea to give your character flaws - no-one likes a perfect character. Flawed characters are more likeable, and always evoke more interesting reactions - and that is exactly what RPGing is about.

Appearance: Describe your character's looks. If you have a photo for them, the description does not need to be so in depth, if not, then take some time to write a good description. Mentioning the character's height and general body build is rather important - descriptions like "the shorter girl" or "the petite girl" are rather usual in games. Other things it is good to mention are hair colour, length and style, eye colour, facial features and clothing style. It may be nice to go as in-depth as to describe the character's voice and scent/smell, too. It may be good to give your character at least one external flaw, to make your character believable.

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Tell something about yourself:

Once your character is done, you may register on the forum with your internet nick (or why not with your first nime, if you wish to do so). You will recieve an activation message into your e-mail inbox.
Create a new topic into the Characters-forum for your character sheet, with your character's name as the topic title.
After this you may add a link to your character's description into your signature. The signature can be edited in the Profile-section of the site, in the Signature-tab.
In the Signature-tab, above the box where the signature is written, is a handy button with a picture that looks quite a bit like a chain (hover the buttons and you will see what they do - this one says "Link"). Click the button and you will see two boxes; into the one with the simple chain, you will ad the adress of your character's description, into the one with an "A" with the chain, add your character's name. Or you can just copy the code from here and edit this one appropriately.

Code:

[url=http://www.your_character_sheet_address]Your character's name[/url]

Wait for an Orderly to add a post into your character's introduction topic. The post will either tell you that your character has been approved and you may start playing on the forum, or give you suggestions on how to improve your character or perhaps correct some possible inconsistencies.
After being welcomed, you may start to play with your character.