Stuck for ideas and looking for inspiration? Want to see some possibilities to get a feel for what's possible? The GM team has you covered with a few sample characters below.

What should we call your character offline?
Richard (Dick) Fletcher

And online?
MrMisty

What pronouns do they prefer?
He/him

To help with our official statistics, where are they based?
Hull

How do they spend their time offline?
Hydraulics engineer. Spends time off fishing, building model trains, and lurking in bushes in the woods searching for gnomes.

What, if any, would you say their most defining relationships are?
An ex-wife who still lives in the area and has since re-married, and a much younger sister who has since moved to Camden, London.

Why do they use CryptoNet?
Shortly before his divorce (which was completely unrelated, he would politely explain) he became convinced that there were fairies and gnomes living in his garden. Joined Cryptonet to find other fae hunters.

To ensure a user experience tailored to their specific needs, what is their primary interest in the unexplainable?
The Fae and folklore - fairies, gnomes, dwarves, etc.

What would you say are the biggest things going for them?

• Good technical skills with electronics, able to fix most day-to-day problems with devices.
• Dick doesn't spend his money very much, as such he's got a nice stash of money in the bank.
• Has extremely unremarkable features. Difficult to pick out of a line-up or spot in a crowd.
• Owns a dependable Toyota Corolla

What, if anything, do you think holds them back the most?

• Not exactly thin, or getting any younger. Gets out of breath climbing the stairs.
• Something of a shut-in and is very uncomfortable in social situations.
• Very out of touch from popular culture, struggles to relate to younger people

What has life been like for them so far?
Dick Fletcher never really hoped for anything other than the bog-standard, run-of-the-mill life. Finish an engineering degree, get married, have a kid, retire, die. He managed to get through the first couple of steps, but that's when things went downhill. Convinced that he spotted a gnome-like creature at the bottom of his garden one night, he became obsessed with studying folklore and hunting magical creatures. Though his wife indulged his fantasies to begin with, she swiftly lost patience once fairy hunting became his priority in life outside of work. After she left him, Dick rarely left the house for anything other than work. Using Cryptonet as his only source of social contact, he obsessively reads paranormal periodicals and spends his weekends camped in the woods, hoping to be visited by the Fae.

What should we call you offline?
Zahra Baqri

And online?
_x_FallenAngle_x_ (I was 12 when I typed this username, lol)

What pronouns do you prefer?
She/her

To help with our official statistics, where are you based?
Tower Hamlets, London

How do you spend your time offline?
Studying for my A-levels mostly, but sometimes I get time to go exploring old buildings

What, if any, would you say your most defining relationships are?
Me and my mum are so close, omg. Like we talk about everything, she's super cool. Also my friend Sarah and I are really close, it's nice 'cause I don't have any brothers or sisters.

Why do you use CryptoNet?
I wanna meet a ghost! Like not just “experience a ghostly presence”, like I wanna be the first person to chat with a ghost. We'll be best mates, it'll be amazing. I thought I might find some cool leads on CryptoNet

To ensure a user experience tailored to your specific needs, what is your primary interest in the unexplainable?
Ghosts!

What would you say are the biggest things going for you?

• Not to be full of myself but I'm like super good at gymnastics! I love parkour as well, my mum keeps trying to stop me running all over the roofs and stuff all the time.
• I'm pretty good at writing. Like I do a lot of fanfic and things like that, I'm predicted an A for English lit this year
• My mum's a computer scientist, so we've got tons of cool tech stuff lying around the house. I'm sure if I ask nicely…well, she won't notice a few things missing anyway

What, if anything, do you think holds you back the most?

• My mum says that I talk to much when I'm nervous, and it gets me into bad situations. I dunno about that lol I just say what I mean, you know like when someone's all up in your face you wanna be like “back off”, yeah? Like fine if you can't deal with me telling you you're being shitty that's your problem, like I've got a right to express myself and fra–[HIT CHARACTER LIMIT]
• My mum's kinda out of work, and dad hasn't been around in a while (they're seperated btw), we're struggling a bit with money. We get by I guess, but y'know.

What has life been like for you so far?
It's been okay I guess. My dad walked out on my mum when I was a baby, so it's just been me and her since. We get on really well, so that's good. When I was a kid I had an experience where like my grandma appeared in my room, but she died the year before. I really wanted to talk to her but she just disappeared really quickly. So yeah ghosts are really folks, I know I was just a kid but I remember it really clearly. School is alright. I get bullied a bit, I guess 'cause I'm not like other people. I don't really have many friends and I spend a lot of time writing and drawing. I just really want to be the first person to talk to a ghost, to actually get their side of things.

Has that covered everything?
Yeah I guess

What should we call you offline?
Dani Dray

And online?
dani

What pronouns do you prefer?
Any

To help with our official statistics, where are you based?
Staffordshire. A couple of miles away from the Peak District.

How do you spend your time offline?
In my current state I am a nurse. It isn't a destination, just part of the journey. A very diverting part of the journey.

What, if any, would you say your most defining relationships are?
The head nurse, I suppose. Do I like her? No. Is she important to my daily life? Yes. Someone has to dictate my schedule and placements, and HR has chosen this person. Of course, my teacher is much more important to my higher well-being. Someone needs to help me interpret the signs and I couldn't ask for better than Dr Will, even if I'd willed it. That's his joke, not mine. I am not close to my family.

Why do you use CryptoNet?
To find more people who can see the signs and discuss them. And of course to give people who have questions insight with actual meaning. Sharing is one of life's wonders.

To ensure a user experience tailored to your specific needs, what is your primary interest in the unexplainable?
Tarot readings

What would you say are the biggest things going for you?

• Competent first aid. I dislike boasting so I will simply state this fact: I have brought seven people back from the brink. I'm sure there will be more.
• Understanding of human biology. Aside from my nurse's training I pay attention when caring for patients. I can't give an elaborate diagnosis but I can tell what's right, what's wrong, what belongs and what doesn't.
• A supportive tarot class. We meet once a week to learn from Dr Will but sometimes we go out for coffee and discuss what we don't have time to discuss at the classes. I know I can rely on them to ask around if I hear about something that seems out of place. Nothing is really out of place. Some things are simply not considered from the right angle.
• I am acrobatic. It helps me be in tune with the signs when I can climb to the top of a higher tree or crawl to a further spot than other people, so I have made an effort to work at this.

What, if anything, do you think holds you back the most?

• The head nurse and I do not get along. For some reason she has not appreciated my readings for her, even though they will surely be useful later. Sometimes she schedules my shifts at inhospitable times or makes me do several shifts in a row. Sometimes I even have to miss my class. It's terrible.
• Some debt to Dr Will. Money is a minor concern in the grand scheme of things, but at this surface level I live in it does unfortunately seem to have some impact. I am glad to keep paying the fees for Dr Will's class. It does not matter that the prices keep rising and I need to buy all the accessories to really help it pay off. I do that happily. But still. I may have a monetary debt to Dr Will, but my spiritual debt to him is far more than I could ever hope to pay. But I do need to pay that money.
• I do not like to move quickly. Haste makes waste and I plan on wasting nothing of this life. It does tend to make me late for things and, should I ever need to run away from something, it could prove problematic. At this stage I don't think I could move quickly if I tried.

What has life been like for you so far?
My life has been fairly normal, I suppose. Born and raised in this house. This is not an exaggeration: mother insisted on getting a midwife to come to the house. Parents have moved on to a warmer climate in Spain, and I remain here. With my good instincts, sometimes I could guess at things happening in other rooms with some success. No one believed me, and I suppose when I only appear to be right occasionally there is some logic to this silly conclusion. When I was on my nursing course, I found a flyer for Dr Will's tarot class. I wasn't sure if anyone could really understand me by this point. I had all but given up. But Dr Will was the first person who listened to me, who took me seriously. I have been going to his class for over six years now and I have learned a lot. It has been very insightful. One of Dr Will's students even introduced me to CryptoNet. Seeing other people's opinions on the supposedly unexplainable has been interesting.

Has that covered everything?
Nothing is ever complete. But this is a reasonable place to pause and breathe.