Name: Any old name will do. But please, your mother didn't name you "The Killer" or "Bloodstorm" or basically any other generic name you'd find on your favorite RPG gaming site. Even screwed up serial killers have normal names.

Age: Any age will do. Of course, the Fallout universe allows for Ghouls to have an extended life period, but anything above 300 is really unrealistic. When posting for a character that has an extended lifetime, one should also put the age of what the character appears to be.

Gender: You have a 50/50 chance at being a boy or a girl, and neither is wrong. Keep in mind, however, that if you are playing as the opposite six, don't be disrespectful. Don't be that guy who makes an 18 year old hottie who uses six as an ice-breaker, it’s actually very immature and disrespectful. And before you even THINK about going there, you aren’t at liberty to be making people of questionable genders.

Race: Race includes your ethnic background, like Caucasian, African American, Asian, etc. This may also include your character's place of birth.

Appearance: Your appearance is what your character will look like (excluding clothing). This section should be very detailed; as it's unlikely your character will meet Pinkerton during the RP. Details should include things like eye color, hair color, height, weight, physical build, facial structure, etc. However, not every single one of your characters has to be rippling with muscle and looking like a Greek God. Fact is, it signals to other people you're making a desperate attempt at attracting the opposite six into your king-sized bed.

Clothing/Armor: Clothing is pretty generic, and can actually change throughout the course of the RP, so feel free to step into something new at any time... Just not in front of people, kay? In the Fallout world, you could be generic and list something that appears in-game, or you can personalize your style by describing what exactly your character is wearing. Now, here's where things get controversial. Unless you are a character in the employment of a very wealthy military organization, your character should be wearing leather padding and knee pads at best. Not every Wastelander sports a fresh new suit of T-51b power armor (though I hear it's all the rage in some newb fashion circles).

Weapons: As much as people enjoy the fact you like playing Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, this isn't the place where you begin to list your favorite newb-mower with its tricked out array of red dots and under barrel spam shooters. In fact, most of the weapons you were thinking about putting down in your arsenal don't even exist in Fallout. So, say good-bye to your M16A4s, and your TAR-21s, and your SPAS-12s, and your Mini-Uzi because they don't even exist in Fallout. Of course, this isn't to say you only have to use Fallout weapons, being creative is encouraged. Oh, and try to avoid the magnum revolver you inherited from your dad with the words "Die Legion Scum" engraved on the side, it's a cliché.

Furthermore (yes, this section takes two paragraphs), those who are moral enough to avoid the Modern Age weaponry, should also avoid multiple weapons. As much as you love your assault rifle, it's a heavy companion, including the ammunition. Those with an assault rifle should have nothing more than that if they plan on making long distance trips, and those packing a minigun are just plain stupid. Also, be mindful that holding a very valuable weapon makes you a target in the Fallout world, so less is more. Also, after a heated battle, please be mindful of your amount of ammunition, especially if you're using an automatic weapon. Lots of people assume that their rifles come with an extended magazine to China, but in reality, bullets go by quickly, and scavenging for more is not really an option. So, like the clothing rule, your weapon can change from time to time as well.

Evenfurthermore (THREE paragraphs, do you see the importance?), modding your weapon is completely acceptable, and doesn't necessarily make your weapon overpowered. In-game weapon modifications apply here, and so do ones that you think up on your own. Just don't spawn a modification that turns your 9mm into a fully automatic sniper rifle.

Occupation: You don't really see this one too often, but I thought it beneficial that I waste your time with more rambling anyways. The occupation of your character is essentially what they do for a living. You know. Their job? Again, make sure this section fits in with the rest of your character sheet. Let's not have a character who preaches in Rivet City but is also a nymphomaniac, alright? And let's try to avoid the Special Operations Grand Poo-bah Uber General.

Skills: Like yourself, your character has talents that makes them unique. Skills can be useful, like being a handy repairman, or a good survivalist. Skills can also be totally useless and miscellaneous, like the ability to sing at high octaves or pack away an ungodly amount of whiskey. However, this is another chance where people will want to try and strut their stuff by making their character the best shot in the entire world. Please, marksmanship is alright, but don't expect to be able to run through a hail of bullets and pump three rounds into every enemy’s skull without missing a shot. Another cliché to watch out for is "SuperDuperSpecOpsTraining", or as I like to call it, "stupid". Being a Special Operations operative has become about as common in some RPs as the amount of booze in the New Vegas Strip.

Strengths: At some points, the Skills can be replaced with the Strength category, meaning both categories pretty much share the same guidelines. For emphasis, you shouldn't go overboard with how many strong points your character may have.

Weaknesses: This section. The one right here. This one. It separates the men from the boys. If you're a man, this section will be much longer than your strength or skill section. If you're a boy, then your biggest weakness is puberty. This section should be (again) longer than your strengths, and should identify at least two weaknesses that hinder your character's abilities or mental faculties. If your character has an arch enemy, this enemy should be able to read this and say to himself "Good golly gosh, I now know at least two ways to gain an advantage". These weaknesses don't necessarily have to be physical handicaps, they can include mental tics and other oddities that may hinder the character, or might put them in a bad situation.

Personality/Mental Bio: Since these two sections are essentially one in the same, I combined them. Mostly because I'm lazy, but that's not the point. Your character's personality is rather simple to understand, but harder to apply. A common mistake people have when making their character's personality is that they write a certain personality in the character sheet, but when they start writing the character's personality changes. It happens to the best of writers, mainly when their own personal personality conflicts with their character’s. If you need to, start off with characters that match your own personality to make it easier on yourself when you're RPing. There's only one stipulation in this section, and that's for people who want to try and pull off the anti-social silent types. In theory, being a Boone is a fantastic idea, but being Boone gets really boring. Fast. Especially when someone's talking to you and the most you can say is "Yeah, sure." Quite frankly, you basically become a non-factor in the RP.

Bio: Basically, this is your history for your character. This section should sum up what you're character's been doing in the world since he/she first popped into the bright shiny light and chose what they were going to look like. You really can't go wrong here, but make sure your character stays true to what they'd really be doing, and be sure to mention important life-changing events that may have led them into the current situation or attributed to any of your character's assets. This section can be any length, and doesn't have to be an entire history; you can just throw in the important bits. Personally, I enjoy killing other people's time by writing novels for my character bios, while others do it in a paragraph and still manage to fulfill the requirements.