Creating a Captain's Profile

What is a Captain's Profile?
Your Captain's profile is an introduction to your character. It can be used to describe what kind of a Captain you are, what your hopes and dreams are, in which ships you have sailed, in which battles you have participated and a whole lot more! It is the perfect medium to introduce your character to the rest of the Squadron, and at the same time immerse yourself a little bit further into your character's persona.

Does everyone have a Captain's Profile?
Everyone, from the Right Honourable Sea Lords, to the young and bold Patronage Officers may have a Profile page. Once you are granted the position of Patronage Officer, you can set about editing your own page. Just follow the link from the Captains page by clicking on your character's name. This should direct you to a page named your character's first name_last name.

Do I have to edit my Captain's Profile?
There is no requirement to editing your Profile page, though it is highly encouraged in the Squadron. I for one, would strongly recommend doing so! Not only does it result in a presentation of your character, it can also serve as a clear display of your collected triumphs and accomplishments.

What should be in my Captain's Profile?
There is a template ready for your use in the Captain's Profile. The contents of this page should be used by all members, as it gives a uniform appearance to the Squadron. However, beyond the contents of this template, you should feel free to add features to your Captain's Profile at your discretion. Many players choose to add information about the ships they have sailed, stories about their secondary characters, a presentation of their economy set-up and a whole lot more!

When can I start?
There is no time like the present, Captain; simply log into the wiki and set about creating your profile post-haste!

Blank Character Sheet
The blank character sheet can be seen as a template upon which you can model your Captain's Profile page. To set about doing this, follow the link to the template. Click the edit tab (third from the left) and copy the contents of the page. Then simply go to your Captain's Profile page, click edit, and paste! Now you're ready to set about editing and adding details.

Wikis have a special code they use for things like headers, lines, bold print, etc. Most Captains will probably not be acquainted with this code, but do not dismay! It is very easy to pick up the basics, and the best way of doing that is by simply editing your Captain's page.

The template sheet contains a few headers. Here follows a brief run through them.

Graphics
The top of the page consists of a large portrait of your Captain, along with your Captain's standard, any awards you may have recieved and your rank. You can set about making your own portrait or standard. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask for help in the designated topics in the forum.

Biography
See these as quickfire questions to your Captain. They give a good overview to other Captains viewing your profile and can serve as a foundation for a deeper description in your background story.

Friends and Family
If you have any secondary characters, this is the place to name them. You could also include a background story for them or anything else you find suitable relating to your secondary characters.

Record of Achievment
The Record of Achievement is a bullet list intended for displaying your accomplishments within the Squadron. For example, promotions given to the Captain and awards recieved should be displayed here, along with the date they were given.

Background Story
Basically, your background story needs to convey what your Captain has accomplished or spent time doing prior to his position in the Squadron. This can consist of a few paragraphs, many paragraphs, a timeline or any number of other ways. You're free to tell your Captain's story however you want.

Copy and Paste
If you think that something another Captain has done with his Captain's Profile page looks good, then go ahead and use his idea! Go to that Captain's page, click the edit tab (taking great care not to actually edit anything), highlight the contents you are interested in, and copy it. Then return to your page, click edit, and paste it into your's. There is nothing dishonourable about using another Captain's design for your own. Any Gentlemen or Lady would take such emulation as a compliment, and surely, only a true rake would take offence of such an action. Besides, if such a rake were to exist, well, that's what duels are for!

Shipography
Many Captains choose to add a shipography to their profiles. Some Captains even create a page for each of their vessels. Here is an example of a template for such a ship's page. Though such a page may, of course, be designed according to the Captain's preferences.

Economy
If you want to make the Navy Board happy and, at the same time, show off the impressive business you are running, then you could add a presentation of your business endeavours to your profile.

A note on Historical Accuracy
There is no demand that every member of the Squadron be well versed in naval and seafaring history. Some Captains however, are, and there is much to be said for incorporating historical events into the background story of your character. Placing your Captain at a real battle as a youngster or letting one of his ancestors sail with a famous pirate are both ways of giving a context to your Captain's background story.

So if you feel comfortable with the history of the period, then allowing your Captain meet famous Admirals, Captains, pirates, Generals, even Kings of the time might prove interesting for your Captain's background story. However, there is of course no requirement that your Captain have a background story that at all touches any historical events.

Dates
It is worth noting, both for those interested in placing their Captain in a historical timeline, and for the purpose of dating achievements in the Squadron, which year the Squadron sails in. The first year of PotBS was 1720 (2008), and hence, events that occured on dates during this year are simply referred to by their dates, but dated that year. Events of the second year occur in 1721, etc. For example, I pen this on March 12th, 2009, which in terms of PotBS would be March 12th 1721.