PCNs

[Knight Of Pentacles]

How does everyone else format their PCNs?  Kinda curious.  Personally I usually just put up a short biography, a premise of my character's agenda, and a list of goals.  I'll make notes of things I've accomplished or things that have happened to my character.  

Also curious to DM preferences..  

[Adhesive]

I format them like I'm writing an app, except with more emphasis on bio/personality than goals, with little sections for accomplishments pertaining to said goals. For instance, on Alexis Damarthe I simply had a log of all the people I'd pickpocketted, along with all the individual amounts I'd lifted from them...
 

[HarshestNight]

First post is basically a reminder- a way for DM's  to get a grasp on who your PC is and what they're about if they're starting from zero. Background/goals/quirks worth mentioning.

Everything after that is either cool encounters that happen to me or things I make happen that bring about some change in goals/personality/etc. Usually accompanied with screenshots, because lots of text is boring.

[Vlaid]

I'm pretty particular about my PCN, they are a way for me to work on my PC and fine tune the character when I don't have time to login and play. I don't typically do it for the DMs, so it may not be the BEST way but it helps me keep track of who and what I want my PC to be. I keep the original post as a documentation of who the PC is, what they are trying to do and so forth. Each post after that is a small post about anything relevant they have been doing or trying to do and why.

[hide=PCN]

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[Stranger]

Currently, I post nothing but screenshots in my Personal Character Notes.

This has made it easier to browse the daily life of my monster, I'm sure. I try to choose my shots so that they provide sufficient context through implication.

I also writhe in hatred every time I miss a good one...

[Random_White_Guy]

When I was a DM I preferred people who posted PCNs talking about both their character's motivations and their OOC goals. Basically showing how they were living up to their application, etc.

Personally I prefer to break things down. Early on i'll start with just some paragraphs app style about the PC (background, goals, etc). Eventually though my PCs hit a stride and then I just update about the "big events" rather than about all the little things.

Fat Dave's return in an example. If I was going for ways to show he was earning his Corrupt Sergeant promotion from my application I'd submit something like this if it happened IG.

[hide=Fat Dave and the Black Guild Prefect]Today had an interesting meeting with the Black Guild prefect. He kicked me some gold and we talked about strangling out the Red Guild, using our tax funds from extortion to push them out of business and so on.

We've had a lot of good interactions but the PC continues to try and push different angles beyond the business. Fat Dave is a thug, he cares about his reputation and his image. He's fine being known as a corrupt Watcher but has no interest in being known as someone who hires assassins.

To push that angle though I met with a criminal I arrested.[/hide]

[hide=The Arrest of Dirty Haired Phil and Job Offer]Since the Black Guild Prefect was looking for wetwork I floated the job to Phil after arresting and roughing him up a bit. I told him it'd be easy to make these claims disappear if he'd do a small job for a friend. He was reluctant but after I gave him his fine gold back but kept a few of his potions I "Accidently" forgot to lock the cell door and told him I'd be back in fifteen minutes to get a sandwhich.[/hide]

[hide=Phil and Prefect Meet]Later was able to arrange a meeting between Phil and the Prefect. Since Dave's a pretty petty figure I had him sit at the head of the table and enjoy a meal while the two of them hashed out details. The occasional grunt or snort of derision to disagree with someone. Casually nodding as he stuffed his gob. In trying to portray the glutonous angle I spent most of my time focusing on my own emotes. Making them pretty thematic about how he was picking apart chicken with his fingers/etc.

Didn't want to deflect from their meeting so mostly focused on ambiance.

They agreed on terms and the criminal was paid half up front, Fat Dave taking his cut for "arranging" the meet, and everyone splitting amicably.[/hide]

Granted depending on how much went into it/etc or what crazy event happend I can get a little more verbose.

That's the typical style I try to push for though.

Screenshots here and there to show proof of events/hi-light the conversations, etc.
 

[Aethereal]

Screenshots! Now that is what my PCN's are missing. I think I shall remedy that.

For the most part, I just muse OOCly about character development and ideas I have, along with providing transcripts of in-game interactions or pertinent events. In the spirit of PCN I try to keep it an OOC narration of things, and provide additional insights to the DMs and for my own records regarding the way the character's mind works.

Oh it's also a good place for putting sensitive information that can't be shared in the IC Journals and Musings forum.

[Halfbrood]

Were PCNs even around when you were a DM, RwG? lol

Think about PCNs kind of like marketing your PC - small, bitesize, informative. Bulletpoints and screenshots are always good. What have you done that has achieved one of your daily goals/long term goals? Remember, as DMs we often have a lot of PCNs to browse through and quite often I will miss something if it's a mess to navigate, or too lengthy. PCNs aren't just for DMs though so don't let this sway you.

[Random_White_Guy]

They were indeed!

And yeah HB raises a great point. It can serve as your own private OOC planning area. Granted you don't want to go spamming 50 different threads but making the occasional "Hey so I had this idea I'm gonna put this here so I don't forget it" - could be very helpful for a lot of PCs, particularly intrigue-heavy based ones. Spymaster PC saving all of his PC nicknames and alter egos. Serial Killer drafting a list of potential victims. Cleric or Political PC drafting potential sermons or speeches. A thief coming up with some potential "Heists" but writing them down so your PC can remember them IG.

The forums are a great tool is used right!