A profile, not a name and an avatar
Most roleplay chat apps stop at a display name and a picture. RP Nowz treats a character as a person with a history. Every profile has room for a backstory and a personality, and then for the things that make a character playable over months: who they know, what has happened to them, what is true about them, and what they are hiding.
- Relationships: link a character to the others in your cast and describe the bond. Ally, rival, sibling, the one who got away.
- Timelines: the events that shaped them, in order, so nobody has to scroll back three months to remember when the betrayal happened.
- Facts: the small, checkable details. Left-handed. Allergic to silver. Hums when nervous.
- Secrets: mark any section as a spoiler and other players see only its heading until they choose to reveal it. It keeps the reveal for the scene, not under lock and key, so keep truly private notes elsewhere.
One character, many stories
A character in your library is not tied to a single chat. Add the same character to a fantasy campaign with friends and to a slice-of-life world you found in World, and each chat keeps its own settings for them. In one chat the character can be visible to everyone; in another, hidden until the reveal. In one, played by you; in another, handed to an AI while you play someone else.
When you write in character, you pick which of your characters is speaking. The message carries their name and portrait, so a scene with four players and nine characters still reads clearly. Switch to out-of-character to talk as yourself, or to the narrator to set the scene. More on message modes.
Meet the cast
Anyone in a chat can tap a character to open their card: portrait, description, and the relationships their player chose to share. New players joining a long-running world can read the cast before they write a line. Spoiler sections stay folded until a reader taps them.
Portraits and avatars
Upload a portrait for each character from your phone. It appears next to every in-character message they send, on their card, and in the cast list of every chat they are in. Change it whenever the character does.
Writing a character worth playing
The profile gives you the boxes; filling them well is the craft. If you are starting a character from scratch, our guide on writing an OC character sheet walks through wants, flaws, secrets and voice, with a template you can fill in and paste straight into a profile.
Frequently asked
How many characters can I create?
As many as your stories need. The library is free.
Can other people edit my character?
No. A character belongs to the account that created it. Other players see the card; only you edit the profile.
Can I use one character in several chats?
Yes. That is the point of the library. Each chat keeps its own settings for the character, such as whether it is public in that chat or played by AI.
Build your first character in a minute. RP Nowz is free on iOS, Android and the web.