This is a brief guide to assist you in creating a character for the Nightraven.
General
Writing - The quality of your writing when completing the Personality and History sections of the Join form will be what determines whether you will be accepted as crew. If you cannot write a coherent, grammatical English sentence, you should consider joining a different sim. By age 16, players should be well-enough educated to use proper English.
Note: If English is not your native language, some leeway will be given. People who take the time to game in a language foreign to them are undertaking quite an accomplishment, and that effort is appreciated.
Character Basics - Please keep your character's personality at least somewhat consistent with that of his or her race, or be able to explain why he is odd. For instance, if your character is a Vulcan, he should act as most Vulcans do, unless you have a very good explanation for why he does not. If your Klingon is a pacifist, how did he not get beaten to a bloody pulp in childhood or possibly killed by his own friends or relatives to prevent dishonor?
Character names should be consistent with the character's race. If your character is an Andorian, why in the world would he be named, for example, Daniel Jones, instead of something Andorian? Enjoy the fact that your character is from a non-human race (if he is), and run with that.
Races - Why aren't hybrids allowed, when the possibility of them is Star Trek canon? Because, seriously, do you truly believe that every humanoid race in the Star Trek universe has 42 chromosomes and is genetically compatible with every other humanoid race? It's not terribly likely, so we're not even going there.
The following races are not allowed to be crew on the Nightraven:
Breen
Borg still in the Collective
Changelings
Medusans
Q/Trelane's race
Species 8472
Xindi
Whether we allow Cardassians and Romulans to become crew will be decided by the members of the Nightraven, as their diplomatic relations with the Federation are a gray area after the Dominion War.
Timeline
The year 2007 = 2383 on our ship.
Officer, Enlisted, or Civilian?
The choice is entirely up to you. Members wishing to play officers will generally start as ensigns unless the player is coming in as a department head.
Enlisted crew will usually come onboard at the rate of Petty Officer 3rd Class.
Civilian scientists, physicians, etc. will have to possess a doctoral degree of some type and have completed Starfleet Basic Training before they'll be allowed to serve in one of the main departments. Generally, most civilians on the ship will serve as waitstaff in the lounge or in places like the ship's barber shop. Civilian departmental staff are answerable to the department head or his/her assistant, and they have only limited power to give orders to Starfleet personnel. For instance, a civilian MD can give orders to a Starfleet nurse, but only because an MD has higher professional rank in the medical field than an RN.
Pets
Porthos notwithstanding, pets aren't allowed on the Nightraven, and that goes for the CO, too. Sorry!