Creating a character on Ninja Academy can seem like a daunting task. There is a lot of information to fill out and a lot to consider. Don't worry though, this guide will serve to help you get through the process as easy as possible. These steps can be done in any order, or some can even be skipped over; just consider them a road map to successfully completing a character.
Where do I post my character?
When you finish this guide and want to post your character, you will do so on the forum. The forum is where the entire game takes place, and is the heart and core of the game. The link below will take you to the Character Creation subforum. There you can see other people who are getting characters approved, or take a look in the How to Create a Character area for more information to help you get started!
Concept
Generally, the first step is coming up with an idea for a character. This seems like the easiest part, but can often be the biggest hurdle on getting a character created and approved here. Fortunately, there are several questions that you can ask yourself if you are having trouble with this step. Asking and answering these questions will very likely help you decide on a personality, and appearance for your character.
• Do you want them to be based off of you as a person? Or would you rather make them the complete opposite of you?
• Do you want them to be based off a character from a different anime/manga series?
• How do you want to build the character, statistically? (Usually placing your stats would help with this question. Building your character statistically can help you decide how you want them to look/act.)
• Do you want them to be focused on a weapon or element choice? (For ideas of what elements we use on Ninja Academy, check out the 'subtle and combinatorial elements' section on the skills page.)
• Do you want them to be a part of a clan? If so, check out the creating and joining clans page.
• What kind of ninja do you want them to be? (There are many different 'path' skills that you should check out on the skills page, this could give you a great idea of what direction to go in.)
Next let's think about your character's actual history. Cliche action packed backgrounds are not necessary; ninja can still live perfectly normal lives in their childhood. The game starts your character off as a Gennin, you shouldn't have a person dying every five seconds in their childhood. You'll get plenty of that in the future. This is not to say that you can't have death involved in the character's past, however. Remember, your adventure starts after character creation, not during!
Different villages have different cultures, and are considerably similar to how they are portrayed in the story of Naruto. There are wiki pages for each village listed on the front page, and these pages can give you a good idea of how your character's life might have been influenced. There is also a handy calendar link on the mainsite; the events that happened after your character was born might help give you some ideas for a solid history! You'll also want to keep in mind the current date, located on the calendar, when deciding your character's age.
Lastly, let's talk about the stats, skills, and techniques sections of your character sheet. These are the statistic strengths and weaknesses your character will have when it comes to battling and GM influence.
Stats
Your stats are the most important thing to consider here, as they fully decide what your character will be like statistically. Want a fast character? You'll invest in more speed than other stats. Want to be a tank? Defense is definitely something you'll invest in. Remember when you decided what kind of character you wanted to play back on step one? You probably thought 'oh, I want to be a taijutsu master', or 'I want to mess people up with some genjutsu'. Well, this is where you want to put your stat points, in each of those specific stats. You start off with only 500, but don't worry. You'll get plenty more as you level up. Even better, you'll gain a better understanding of how these stats work as you gain more and you'll know where to put them to compensate for weaknesses.
It should be noted that most stats are only going to give you a bonus if you allocate them in increments of 20. An example of this would be if you wanted to have a Taijutsu user, and have 100 in your Taijutsu stat. If you put anything less than 20 into the stat after you level up, for example 110, you would only receive a modifier bonus for putting 100 in the stat since you've not yet reached 120. Keep this in mind when you're allocating stats on your character, and make sure to read the stats page to see how they each work.
Skills
We'll talk about skills next. These are almost as important as your stats, as they decide what skillsets your character has and what they can do or not do. Hindering skills, located near the bottom of the skills page, are skills that give your character negative attributes. Why would you do that? Well, taking these skills actually give you more skill points at creation, instead of spending them! Since you only start with two skill points naturally and might see some positive skills that cost more, you can consider 'buying' these hindering skills. The skills page is a wonderful place to browse when creating a character, it might give you an idea you didn't have before about what your character is like, or have a place in their history. A hindering skill like 'hemophobic' is a good example here; your character is afraid of blood. Why? Well, that's up to you. Remember that later on (and even before the character creation process, if you're feeling confident) you can create your own skills.
It should be noted that hindering skills are very rarely "free" skill points and can have noticeable, sometimes drastic, consequences. Keep this in mind when checking them out and building your character.
Techniques
Now we'll talk about techniques, or jutsu. Jutsu are learned by spending Jutsu points, which you'll start off with four of at character creation. You'll gain more of these than you will skill points, but that doesn't make them less important. Your jutsu are how you fight, defend yourself, and enhance your abilities in battles. The mainsite 'techniques' section has a massive selection of jutsu that you can use for your character, as long as you meet the requirements. These range from the village your character starts in to the elemental skills they know, being in a specific clan, and beyond. The options here are all but endless, and remember; just like with skills, you can create your own techniques.
Equipment
Lastly, let's talk about equipment! As a starting character you get 4 Shuriken, 4 Kunai, and $125. This is not a lot to start with, but with that money you can purchase armor or weapons to begin with, and as you collect more money you will get access to larger and more impressive pieces of equipment. So to begin, just know that equipment exists and that as you get to higher levels it will become more and more important.
Conclusion
Finally, consider the following a few rules or guidelines you'll want to keep in mind when creating your character. If you need help with anything, our community is always friendly towards new faces, so feel free to join our skype chat (the link is located at the top of the forum) and ask questions! A bit shy? Feel free to send staff a message instead. Either way, the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked.
• Please avoid creating exact copies of characters present in the Naruto series. This website's events take place roughly 100 years after all the events of Naruto, and most of the Shinobi from that era are dead. This is a fan site, so it is okay to make an homage to your favorite character, but we strong recommend that you diverge from their core attributes as much as possible.
• When attempting to tie your character to a canon character in the Naruto series, we strongly recommend you minimize this connection. Some clans will naturally be descended from a few select famous shinobi, but you will not be typically allowed to make a character that is a direct descendant of an important canon Naruto character. For example, Sasuke was born roughly 100 years after Madara and had heard of him, but only knew him as a legendary Uchiha from an ancient era.
• Keep in mind, the more effort you put in to your character, the more people will likely want to play with you. Something well thought out will make the role-playing experience greater for everyone.
• You may edit a lot of your character sheet at anytime as long as you do not change anything drastic to your character. They still have to have the same clan (or lack thereof), skills, techniques, gender, etc., but you can change their personality and appearance.
• Creating a character in a site that already has a lot of history may sound difficult, but fitting in is as easy as checking out the wiki. It's full of information on past experiences and other characters!
• Try to keep in mind the ratio of power on Ninja Academy. A level 0 character has the basic ability of an Academy Student, fresh out of the academy and in the very last of their history, they should only have that kind of ability.
• Remember to go at your own pace, and enjoy yourself. This is a game, have fun!