Character created in less than six minutes.

Just to see how fast it can be done.

And because I was royally PISSED at the time.

By Mr. David R. Dorrycott

2006 C.E.

Character name: Diana Isabel Carston

Sex: Female

Species: fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)

Fur: Grey

Hair: Very light grey. Waist length, done in multiple 'pig tails' with green beads.

Age: 25

Eyes: Blue-Grey Wears large round glasses for far-sightedness.

Height:5' 7"

Weight:143 pounds.

Nationality: American

Occupation: Diana is an Art Photographer working for the California Institute of Neo-Geological Studies in Forrester, California. She takes photographs of 'interesting geological formations.' Occasionally picking up samples to send back to CINGS.

Dress: In the field rugged male clothing meant to take a beating. American Planesmans style, not standard Hollywood adventures clothing. In civilized areas she loves lace. Lots and lots of lace (and damn near nothing else.)

Equipment: Carries a 1924 Leica 35mm camera for fast short, a Seneca Uno Chautauqua for normal work.

Explanation of this tiny file: 

How fast can a usable character be created on paper, or in this case excited electrons on a CRT. Above is an example. The above was simply a work for myself, after having been informed by an editor that replacing one of my characters in another’s work (used out of character and without permission) would take weeks of rewriting, of creating a new character, thus I was attempting to keep their work from being published. I wasn’t,. I didn’t give a damn. I still don’t give a damn. I simply wanted my character removed.

A large portion of those six minutes, tracked by analog stopwatch, were used hunting down the correct camera data on the world wide web.

Now, this is not to say that everyone would be able to create a usable character in six minutes. No, this has taken some twenty-three years to evolve such a skill. It does though prove that anyone who claims it will take them weeks to create a new character is a bald faced liar. Not even a Hollywood Script Writer who is being paid by the hour takes that long.

During Champions games where one must balance powers, skills and such, creating a good character usually took hours. This became a ‘real drag’ when transferring to PbeM’s that didn’t need numbers, but did need believable backgrounds. So how long would it take me now to add an expanded background for this character that the typical GM would accept? Lets find out.

Start Stopwatch (crick.. Hum.. Japanese make.)

Diana was born third child of a family of six. Four boys, two girls with Diana being oldest daughter. Her father owned a Dry Goods store in Forrester California not many blocks from the California Institute of Neo-Geological Studies main offices. Diana was much the tomboy, embarrassing her siblings (mainly by being better than the boys in sports) and her sister (by being much the exhibitionist while in dresses.)

Through school she maintained fair, though not outstanding grades. It was in an elective course her last year of High School that she found her calling. With a camera she was unbeatable by any of the other students. It was at an end of year exhibition of the Camera Clubs work that a CINGS editor noticed her work. She was immediately asked to drop by the offices after school was over.

A potential job, using a camera! Diana was delighted. Her parents though had other plans in mind. That being marriage of course. They were eventually persuaded to give Diana one chance.

“After all Father. It is simply an interview. I will be loaned one camera with twelve exposures of film. Twenty four hours later I must return the camera, using their darkroom develop and print my shots. If they are not acceptable I will not be employed. Is two days too much to ask?”

Foolishly her parents agreed. Two days was not too great a time to delay introducing her to the boy they had chosen. What they could not know was that two days later Diana was on a train to Utah. Her assignment to photograph ‘anything of interest she discovered there.’ It would be a long summer before they were reunited with their daughter. A daughter no longer interested in marriage. At least, not right now and certainly not to a ranchers son.

Since then Diana has traveled to many odd places, her photographs improving until just last month her photograph of an unknown style of stone carving made the cover.

Diana’s two older brothers have married, settled down and are privately delighted by their sisters growing fame. Her youngest brothers are still in High School and her sister. Well her sister took up painting. Painting large canvas’s for the bawdy houses in San Frisco. For which she makes a great deal more money than her sister, but is no longer welcome in her parents home.

(Crick) Stop Stopwatch.

Twelve Minutes, forty-five seconds with corrections and editing. Two finger typing (one handed, not two handed.) Total time for both creations, about nineteen minutes.

Point made.