Star ratings

Let's first make clear that this RP is not really "stat-based." This system is just here for greater ease in comparing characters' abilities against each other, to give a tangible sense of progress as characters advance, and to avoid the dreaded power creep. Have fun with the system, but remember that it cannot perfectly list the end-all extent of a character's abilities, and isn't intended to.

Another thing that should be understood before reading on is that 5 out of 10 stars doesn't mean "average!" Some Sonic characters are really extreme, so the scale has to go pretty high in some areas. Consider somewhere around 2 stars to be what you'd expect from an entirely "average" (non-human) person in most categories. (This will also be the assumed limit for all player characters with unfinished or unapproved character profiles, excluding story-important NPCs.)

With that said, continue onward to see the specifics, and the details on the higher-end stuff for each individual category.

One more note: I am typically talking about the non-human members of the cast in these ratings, not average Joe Human. I'm doubting we'll get many human characters, so don't do a double-take when I talk about running 40MPH as being "average" for a citizen of this world. Okay?

Starting Out

All new members are allowed to use up to approximately 18 stars total, spread across the following categories. This isn't really a hard limit, but more a guideline that, if followed, will make it easier to get your profile accepted. Remember, characters can improve their ratings through development and experience in the story—and it's always more believable to "grow" a character to be powerful rather than try to dump one in that way from the start!

"Max" star ratings are applied whenever a category's rating goes well beyond 10 stars (12 or above). However, generally speaking, no Max ratings are allowed for anyone's first character, so avoid them unless you have a very good reason in mind.

(Please note that any characters used in the RP without first having completed and approved wiki profiles [whether Beginner Member characters, non-admin NPCs, or just incomplete, unsubmitted characters] are automatically assumed to have no more than 2 stars in any given field unless special permission is given.)

The Standards

Agility

Consider this like a super-ability shopping list! (I'd recommend whipping out a piece of paper or an instance of notepad to help keep a tally as you go.) Basically, your character will be given stars for certain strengths (including its top speed), and will lose stars for certain weaknesses. There are a lot of different ways a character can be agile, so the description text you write under your rating will really important. Don't skip it!

As for the top speed part at the beginning here: List your character's fastest possible speed (under normal conditions, of course, not running downhill or anything silly like that). If your character is fastest in flight, mention it under the rating. Notice that there are some restrictions on character design in this section. Basically, we don't want some Neo-wannabe superspeeding around in a trenchcoat, nor John McAverageguy nearing the sound barrier in jeans and a bomber jacket. That being said, Sonic's running speed is treated as something special here, and it will be extremely rare for any fancharacters to be allowed to get close to it.

You MUST Select ONE (1) of the following for your character's top speed:

• 0-10 MPH (~0-15 km/h): Frail, out of shape, or flat out immobile.
  
• 10-20 MPH (~15-30 km/h): Normal human-like speed.
  
• 20-40 MPH (~30-60 km/h): Good track-running humans to average non-humans.
  
• 40-60 MPH (~60-100 km/h): Too fast to be a normal human, but not unusual for a non-human.
  
• 60-80 MPH (~100-130 km/h): Respectably fast.
  
• 80-100 MPH (~130-160 km/h): Very fast. Harder to steer and stop at speed. Upper limit for baggy clothing (long coats, etc.)
  
• 100-125MPH (~160-200 km/h): The equivalent of a good track runner for non-human sapients. Steering, stopping, and control suffer more at top speed. Upper limit for heavy, average clothing.
  
• 125-175 MPH (~200-280 km/h): Truly gifted runner. Limited to characters who dress light and don't carry clunky accessories.
  
• 175-250 MPH (~280-400 km/h): Supernaturally fast; maximum for normally-shaped, non-flying characters. Clothing must be either flexible, formfitting, partial, or absent. May be able to run on water.
  
• 250-400 MPH (~400-650 km/h): Dangerous, ridiculous, unheard-of fast. No normally-shaped non-flying characters. <--- (Click the reference for more info.)
  
• 400-750 MPH (~650-1200 km/h): Superhero-like. Impossible to make any kind of turn other than a gentle veer at this kind of speed without either slowing down or just plain wiping out. And collisions? Very bad.
  
• 750MPH+ (~1200+ km/h): This rating is presently only applied to Sonic, Shadow, and Metal Sonic.
  

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following for your character's "quickness" (acceleration):

• Generally slow on his or her feet (No increase—may merit mention in profile)
  • Completely average quickness (Such as for taking off in a run or dodging, either on foot or in air. Not really necessary to mention in profile, as it is average.)
    • Good acceleration (Fast, but not outrageously so — better than the average bear, so to speak)
      • Can lunge very quickly from a standstill to very high speed (Comparable to an Olympic track runner, at or over 30MPH in a single step)
        • Can accelerate as quickly as traction with the ground will allow
          

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following for your character's jumping ability:

• "Normal" jumper (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • High jumper (over five times his/her own height)
    • Extremely high jumper who can jump over ten times his/her own height (without resorting to actual flight).
      • Capable of bounding several-story buildings without truly flying
        

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following for your character's flight capabilities:

• No flight capabilities (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Can glide (or hover in some limited capacity, or only fly short distances)
    • Can truly fly (not just glide)
      

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following for your character's acrobatic abilities:

• Not acrobatic (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Is somewhat acrobatic (flipping, cartwheeling, somersaulting, etc., but nothing advanced)
    • Very acrobatic (capable of complicated gymnastics, advanced somersaults, etc.)
      

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following for your character's climbing capability:

• Climbs normally, or not at all (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Is a fast climber (or capable of wall tricks, like kicking off walls to jump higher)
    • Can run up or along walls for considerable distances or climb completely flat surfaces
      

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following for your character's swimming ability:

• Swims normally (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Can swim fast
    • Swims like a fish (After all, some characters may BE fish!)
      
      • Like a speedboat in the water

Select any of the following other qualities that apply:

• Can perform a spindash (See note)
• Can effectively tunnel or dig through many types of terrain or obstacles, such as Knuckles or Rouge
• Can change direction in mid-jump (Needs a reason why—can't be slapped on just ANY character. Not applicable to characters who already have stars for being able to fly)

However, if your character...

• Has a hard time stopping/braking, subtract
• Isn't very flexible, subtract
• Can't jump very well, subtract
• Can't swim, subtract
• Is naturally clumsy or uncoordinated, subtract
• Has a missing or bad limb besides its tail), subtract

For example, here's the logic we'd use looking at Knuckles and scoring him:
He's a very fast runner (+3 stars), he can glide (+2 star), he's somewhat acrobatic (+1 star), he's an excellent climber who can climb completely flat surfaces (+1 star), he can reach high speeds extremely quickly (+2 star), he can dig/burrow quickly (+1 star), and he doesn't have any stars removed for being heavy, inflexible, etc.

Thus, his section would look something like this:

Can probably reach speeds of around 125MPH, very agile and unhindered by obstacles; is acrobatic, can climb sheer walls, glide, burrow through the ground, and accelerate quickly.

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Strength

This section's simple. Overall arm and body strength (such as is needed for heavy lifting) is the focal point. Leg strength is pretty well implied by the top speed and agility ratings, so please don't consider it here. If you feel your character's rating falls between any of the descriptions below, feel free to use half-stars however you see fit.

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following:

• Weak or frail
  
  • Below average strength
    
    • Entirely average
      
      • Athletic and strong (Can probably carry a couple hundred pounds with effort)
        
        • Great strength (The epitome of human strength or greater)
          • Completely inhuman strength (Can probably bench press small cars)
            
            • True super-strength (Boulder-heaving brutes like Knuckles are ranked here)
              
              • Beyond super-strength. The world is your playground. You knock walls down by accident, pull trees out of the ground like weeds, and find it easier to pick cars up and move them than actually parallel park. Strength of this sort is restricted to huge characters. Big the Cat champions this rating.
                

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following:

• Frail or unathletic build (Physically weak and frail, or extremely out of shape)
  • Thin, short, or small build (Appropriate for characters who, even if fit, are still considered physically small or light. Also suitable for normal or large characters who aren't athletic.) [Amy, Tails, Cream, Charmy, Wave, Marine]
    • Fit, athletic build (Normally-shaped, athletic Sonic character with reasonable weight) [Sonic, Espio, Rouge, Blaze, Jet, etc.]
      • Stronger, heavier build (but still normally shaped/sized) [Knuckles]
        • Big, burly, and muscular [Storm, Bark]
          • Tank-like hulk [Big, Vector]
            

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Toughness

Here, toughness relates to how easy or difficult it is to injure your character. There isn't a Sonic character that isn't inhumanly resilient in some way, so the general assumption we're going to make here is that a completely "average" non-human individual is tough enough to not easily get broken bones, even from fairly high falls or hard hits. Doesn't mean they can't be KO'ed with a good wallop, though.

What this rating doesn't cover quite so much is how well your character is able to persevere and keep fighting through injury. That's more dictated by your character's stamina, vitality (CE), and recovery in the next (and final) star rating, Energy.

And remember, like agility, these stars are meaningless if you don't include why your character has the rating it does in the description!

If this section looks daunting, please remember you don't have to worry with most of it. It's just here to give plenty of options, and make sure that as many character features as possible are acknowledged. It's just a big list to choose from.

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following:

• Frail or unathletic build (Physically weak and frail, or extremely out of shape)
  • Thin, short, or small build (Appropriate for characters who, even if fit, are still considered physically small or light. Also suitable for normal or large characters who aren't athletic.) [Amy, Tails, Cream, Charmy, Wave, Marine]
    • Fit, athletic build (Normally-shaped, athletic Sonic character with reasonable weight) [Sonic, Shadow, Espio, Blaze, Jet]
      • Stronger, heavier build (but still normally shaped/sized) [Knuckles]
        • Big, burly, and muscular [Storm, Bark]
          • Tank-like hulk [Big, Vector]
            

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following:

• No shell, armor, quills or spines (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Rigid shell, armor, quills, spines, spikes, or other partial (but substantial) protection, or thin/light full-body armor
    • Can roll into a protected ball or pull into its shell , or decent (but not bulletproof) full-body armor
      • All-encompassing, full-body armor or exoskeleton (Would be appropriate for a crustacean, for example)
        
        • Very heavy full-body armor or exoskeleton (Heavily bullet-resistant, explosive-resistant, etc.)
          

Select AS MANY of the following as apply to your character (if any):

• Really thick fat or muscle (For all those sumo-like guys, like Big)
• Invulnerable point (The opposite of an Achilles' heel, a part of the character that is virtually impervious, such as Knuckles' fists.)
• Leathery skin or super-thick fur (To protect against cuts and the like, not applicable if character already has stars for armor)
• Trained / highly experienced fighter (Someone who has been trained to know how to take a hit, protect him- or herself, and avoid injury)
• No pain (Has a high tolerance for pain or doesn't easily feel it in the first place, either naturally, or because of fully-enclosing armor, or whatever else)
• Toughened (As in the case of a daredevil, active soldier, prizefighter, reckless adventurer, etc. who has been toughened by a rough, injurious lifestyle; don't tack this one on if your character doesn't get hurt often)
  • Toughened (2) (Same as above but to a greater degree—not applicable to new characters; only to be added after actual in-RP experiences)
    • Toughened (3) (Like above, cannot be applied to new characters, and needs actual in-RP events to justify)
• Unusual flexibility (Like a gymnast or other flexible athlete)
  • Extreme flexibility (Full-fledged contortionist, or just plain rubbery-bodied)
    • Liquid-like flexibility (Such as Chaos, Artificial Chaos, etc.)
• Partially fire resistant (Such as because of an exoskeleton or special clothing)
  • Fully fire resistant (Same as above, but better)
• Partially electricity resistant (Such as because of natural resistance, an exoskeleton, or special clothing)
  • Fully electricity resistant (Same as above, but better)
• Capable of executing blocks with chaos energy (without using a full-fledged energy shield)
  

However, if your character...

• Has a particular weakness / weakspot in his or her defense, subtract or depending on severity (Probably most applicable to armored characters with some sort of glaring flaw or opening, but use your imagination and better judgment)
• Is hypersensitive to getting hurt, subtract (For characters who overreact to pain, or are exceptionally sensitive or have enhanced senses)
• Is inflexible, subtract
• Gets only temporary protection from its primary means of defense, subtract (Such as a temporary shield or barrier that doesn't stay up all the time)

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Energy

This is a measurement of stamina—your character's physical endurance for running, fighting, and everything else—and even Chaos Energy (which is itself a measure of a character's vitality, in a way). This stat also affects the usage of innate special powers, for those characters who have them.

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following for your character's stamina:
If you feel your character's rating falls between any of the descriptions in this section, use half-stars as you see fit.

• Out of shape. The character breaks a sweat going to the mailbox, and hates stairs.
  • Average. Can't run too far, but isn't pathetic.
    • Youthful or decently in shape. Vigorous fighting or sprinting can still wear him/her out.
      • In great shape, or just extremely energetic by nature. Can sprint or fight for a good stretch.
        • Hyper-energetic. Sprint at top speed from one side of town to the other a couple times without getting winded? This is your rating.
          • Never seems to wear out. Fatigue can still happen, but it won't be experienced often, even through the worst exertion or abuse.
            

You MUST select ONE (1) of the following:

• No Chaos Control potential (Most applicable to normal, battery-powered robots. And dead people.)
  • Minimal Chaos Energy (The average level for a human or non-sapient animal. No special abilities.)
    • Average level of inherent energy (May be capable of energizing attacks with effort, but not well developed, or may not bother using it at all. Assumed to be the norm, so you don't have to mention this in your profile.)
      • Above-average inherent energy (Such as for characters who have practiced and developed their ability to use chaos-energy-based powers, or have had contact with powerful sources of chaos energy)
        • Abnormally high latent energy (Capable of using energy powers easily and often)
          
          • Extreme Chaos Control potential (Extremely uncommon. Think Shadow.)
            

Select ONLY ONE (1) of the following:

• Normal stamina recovery (No increase—don't bother mentioning in profile)
  • Quick recovery (Suffers improbably little downtime from exertion, even after being fully exhausted and/or injured)
    • Regenerative (Heals faster than normal people and recovers from fatigue far more quickly than is natural)
      • Heals so fast that it's nearly visible
        • Regenerates flesh at an observably fast speed
          • Regenerates from damage almost as quickly as it takes it (Only allowed in very special circumstances, i.e. Artificial Chaos-like characters)
            

Select AS MANY of the following as apply to your character (if any):

• Can breathe both above and below water (Not applicable to robots)
• Proven ability to use Chaos Control teleportation
• Can hurl projectile chaos blasts
• Infinite reserve (Does not require food, water, air, sleep, fuel, recharging, or anything else of the sort to function normally. Applicable to some robots, artificial / augmented lifeforms, etc.)

Reminder

Remember that it's not all about ratings!

A character isn't made powerful or weak exclusively by its ratings. Often, skills are far more important than strength or speed, and can make it so that a significantly weaker character can often defeat seemingly much more powerful foes. You can often make a much more interesting and impressive character by taking this approach, so long as you have the knowledge necessary to play those skills effectively.

That being said, there are some skills that will be restricted to keep things interesting as they become excessively prevalent. Check the powers and skills page for info on what is and isn't allowed.

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Notes

The following are notes linked to from the above sections. You may also reverse-track the note to the entry it belongs to by clicking the small arrow symbol next to the note.