As previously mentioned, all players must create a character to be their alter-ego in the Starflight Universe. GMs will have to likely have to create many characters throughout the course of a campaign, including patrons, allies, villains, bystanders, and occasionally a player character or two for themselves. Knowing the steps involved in how to create a character is therefore crucial to everyone who plays the game. After all, there are few things as rewarding as taking a character and watching that character grow and develop as they go on adventure after adventure.
The steps involved in creating a character are as follows:
- Determine if the character will be a “player character” (PC) or not.
- Select the character’s species and note the modifiers.
- Determine the “hero level” for the campaign.
- Select the character’s traits.
- Determine the amount of points to add to the character's Disciplines.
- Determine the amount of points to add to the character's Attributes.
- Spend points on character skills.
- Determine derived statistics.
- Add any additional “finishing touches”.
The following rules outline how to create a character from scratch, but this is not always a necessary procedure. Sometimes a GM will want to create cookie cutter characters (like a band of G'Nunk fighters, when their stats really don't matter all too much). For those situations, a set of character archetypes has been created for SFRPG. This list of archetypes and instructions for their use is covered in
Chapter 12.3.1.
Regardless of whether or not a character is created using archetype rules or from scratch, all characters use the
Character Record Sheet (available in Appendix Two) in order to record their vital stats.
Determine if the character will be a “player character” (PC) or not.
One of the biggest decisions a character designer can make about a character is whether or not it be controlled by a player, and whether or not there the possibility that, should the character begin life as an NPC, the character may become a PC later on. These decisions are up to the player creating the character, and should be made before the character creation process proceeds. If using a character sheet and the character is a PC, the player should write their name in the
Player field on the sheet. If the character is an NPC, the character designer may simply write "NPC" in the same field.
If a character is not a player character (a
non-player character, or
NPC), chances are they have something to do with the storyline. Examples of NPCs that players may encounter in the course of an adventure include captains of other ships, traders, etc.
Obviously, a player will at the very least need to create a player character for themselves, but there is nothing that says they cannot create an NPC at any time. NPCs created by players can be used in upcoming adventures, or possibly in the current adventure, if the gamemaster so wishes. GMs will be primarily interested in creating NPCs for use in their adventures, but may create PCs for other players if they so choose. Having a couple of ready made PCs ready can save time for a group should a new player join the game.
Because some of the character creation rules can be confusing, an example of each step will be provided at the end of each step in the process.
A player is creating a character for a traditional Starflight campaign. This player in particular eventually wants to fulfill the role of the group's Doctor, and has been instructed by the GM to create their character from scratch. Since this character will be the character the player conducts the campaign with, this one's a no-brainer: the character will be a PC.Select the character’s species and note the modifiers.¶
SFRPG uses a system of
points to determine the strength of a sub-disciplines and skills, which in turn determine the strength of the character’s
Disciplines and
Attributes. The amount of points a character receives when they are initially created is determined largely based upon a character’s species. A player should select their character’s species based upon the adventure the GM has in mind.
For example, a traditional Starflight campaign would have the characters hailing from the world of Arth, limiting the players to five species they could choose from 
Race Stats Box with Human Stats
)
On the
Character Reference Sheet, there is an area labeled
Race Stats. Once the character's species has been selected, that species should be noted in the box on the sheet, and the seven
Racial Statistics (
Durability, Learning Rate, Science, Navigation, Engineering, Communications, and
Medical) should be noted in that area. These modifiers indirectly determine the remainder of a character’s derived stats, and will help the player later on in the character creation process.
Our player knows that she is creating a PC for a traditional campaign. This limits the player's choices to Human, Elowan, Thrynn, Veloxi, and Android. Since she's going to want to become the group's doctor, it's important for the character to have a strong Medicine Discipline. Of the five choices, the Elowan are best, followed by Humans. To make things interesting, our player decides to make her character human; she names the character Lisa Freeman. Since Lisa's a Human, the player records the human Racial Statistics in the Race Stats box.Determine the “hero level” for the campaign.
The GM will (hopefully) have an idea of just how difficult their adventure or campaign will be before the character creation begins. In certain situations (
such as if the GM determines their adventure will be especially difficult for newcombers, or if the character is a major NPC that'll be used in a campaign that has been going on for a while), they may elect to give players additional points to help build their characters, establishing the adventure's "
hero level". GMs are allowed to give as many additional points as they wish, but are generally encouraged not to give more than 50 additional points for a beginning player character; part of the fun of the game is allowing the characters to grow as they go along, after all. A good rule of thumb when attempting to add a new PC for an ongoing campaign is to add up the total number of points a PC involved in the campaign already has (preferably the PC with the lowest total), and to give the new character a comparable amount of bonus points, or perhaps a slightly smaller amount. If a GM is attempting to create a more seasoned character, they may use as many extra points as they think is appropriate for the character; a thousand points (or even more) may be necessary in order to create an extremely experienced character, such as a fully trained Interstel captain. A GM never
has to give out extra building points; it's entirely at their own discretion. If a player is building a character without the guidance of a GM, they may add extra points for hero level, but it is
strongly recommended that the GM of any future adventure involving that character review the character before using that character or allowing the player to play as that character.
Added building points are set into a general pool; later, these points may be assigned to any of the character's various sub-disciplines and/or skills.
The GM of Lisa's campaign has decided to beef things up just a tad, and gives all players 30 points to add to their general building points pools.Select the character’s traits.
After any points have been assigned to the character for hero level, the amount of points available may be bolstered by assigning
Traits to the character. Traits are discussed in depth in
Chapter 4. There are three types of Traits:
Complications,
Talents, and
Variable Traits. Strictly speaking, a character does not need Traits. However, in addition to adjusting a character's available general pool of building points, Traits are a great way of adding depth to a character. They may even become the pivotal focus of an adventure (particularly for Complications, which are specifically designed to make life interesting...).
Dr. Freeman's Traits
are Traits that generally have negative consequences, which can potentially impact the character severely (
examples of Complications are effects such as blindness, short-term memory, a social stigma of some kind, and so forth). To offset the negative impact of taking a Complication, a character gains a number of general build points if they
voluntarily take a Complication (
note that there are times during the game wherein it is possible for characters to take Complications involuntarily, and that the character does not get building points in those instances). The number of building points the character earns depends entirely on the severity of the complication they take on; the more severe the Complication, the more points they earn. Most Complications cannot be lifted under any circumstances, and usually must be role-played out (
if a character is placed in a situation wherein their Complication has the potential to dictate their action, the player oftentimes, but not always, has the option to make a self-control Check to keep the character from giving in to the dictates of the Complication, or just giving in; giving in is good role-playing and the GM should consider rewarding the player for it).
Talents are the exact opposite of Complications. Talents are traits that generally have positive consequences, which can help a character perform tasks that would be impossible for the average Joe (
examples include sharpened hearing, eidetic memory, head for numbers, and so forth). Because they enhance a character's abilities, Talents cost a player a number of building points out of their general pool; the more powerful the character's talent, the higher it costs. Players may pay for their talents with points from any attribute or discipline pool, but points in the general pool first if they are available (
more on resolving a building point deficit shortly).
The third type of Trait is the
Variable Trait. Variable traits are unique in that they can behave either as a Complication or a Talent, and as a result they can either add building points to the character's general pool (if the trait is taken as a Complication), or cost building points (if taken as a Talent). Variable Traits taken as Talents can also cause a building point deficit, which can be resolved in the same manner.
Characters are limited in which talents and complications they may take. Characters must have at least five points worth of talents and five points worth of complications, and no more than fifty points worth of either. Additionally, a character must have one Talent worth at least five points and one Complication worth at least five points. It is
recommended a player character have no more than five Talents and five Complications. Variable traits can be used to count towards a player’s talent/complication tally. Certain species have traits as part of their racial abilities and restrictions. Where those traits are listed, the character
must take those traits, and either gain or lose points for their general pool based on whether or not the trait is a talent or complication.
Doctor Freeman already has 30 building points from the campaign's hero level. The player creating Lisa's character decides that a few more points would be helpful, so she decides to have the character take on a few Complications. She decides to give Lisa a minor (5 point) Allergy to plant pollen, gaining five build points. The Doc also probably took the 43rd-cetury equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath; that justifies taking a 15 point Creed to "Do No Harm". These Complications add 20 points total to the general pool, so Lisa now has 50 general building points.
Now the player moves on to Variable Traits. She wants Lisa to have good Nerves and at least a little Wealth. A good Education would also be nice. She decides to give Lisa 5 points worth of Talent in each. This takes 15 points from her general pool, leaving Lisa at 35 points. This almost entirely offsets the gain from her Complications, so she decides Lisa has bad Luck (10 points) and a bit of a Temper (5 points). These add the 15 points back into the pool, putting Lisa back at 50 total building points.
Finally, the player looks at Talents. The Empathic Sense Talent is an obvious choice; she gives Lisa the full 25 count in that Talent. Lisa's at 25 points in her general building pool. She may not have a whole lot of points there, but she's picked up a very powerful trait.Determine the amount of points to add to the character's Disciplines.
The points a character earns (or loses) from their general pool are not the only points the player has to determine the character's initial characteristics. At this stage in the character creation process, the player will roll dice to determine the number of building points that can be spent on specific disciplines and attributes. This is where the Racial Statistics recorded earlier come into play.
The player begins by rolling out the number of points in their character's Disciplines. This is accomplished by making six rolls on the d10x10 and recording the results of each roll separately. The player then "assigns" the results to the six Disciplines (again, these are
Command, Science, Navigation, Engineering, Communications, and
Medicine). Each assignment represents the number of added points the player may spend on the character in that Discipline. Optionally, a character may be given the indicated number of points for an average member of their species.
Now for the tricky part...the character may be entitled to a greater or lesser amount of training, depending on what the player has assigned the character for a given discipline, and given the character's Racial Statistics (
for more on training, see Chapter 12.2 and Chapter 11.1). To determine how the character's assigned initial point value in a Discipline will affect their maximum training, subtract the assigned value from the normal racial value for the character's species, and add the result to the normal maximum racial value for the species. The final result is the maximum value the character may be trained up to within the Discipline. This arrangement gives a player a tough decision when creating a character; they can either take a lower score in a field and be able to receive more training, or take a higher score but receive less training. An initial score over 50 points may not be assigned to any character whose species average initial point vaue is zero points in a given Discipline (100 points maximum). Similarly, an initial score over 80 points may not be assigned to any character whose species average initial point vaue is ten points in a given Discipline (150 points maximum).
The
Command discipline is a unique field, in that no species has a point listing in the
Command discipline. For all species, the maximum trainable skill level in
Command is 150, regardless of the original assignment level.
Medical Discipline with Skill List
Once the number of points in each Discipline has been distributed as the player, those numbers become the
score for the given Disciplines. Each ten points under a given Discipline (i.e. for every ten points of the score, rounded down) add a +1 modifier to
all Checks and rolls requiring that Discipline and its associated sub-disciplines. It's generally a good idea to record these modifier along with their associated Disciplines.
After picking out traits, Lisa's player rolls 6d10x10. The results are 90, 80, 70, 60, 60, and 20. The norms for a Human are 0 in Command (like all species), 50 in Science and 30 in the other Disciplines. This includes Medicine, which any good Doctor obviously needs.
The abundance of higher than average rolls present the player with a problem: since most of the rolls are higher than the Human norm, Doctor Freeman will not be able to receive as much training in most of the available fields. Since the normal Human maximum in Medicine is 200, though, the player decides that more training there might be crucial, so she reluctantly assigns the low
throw (20) to Lisa's Medicine score. Because of her score in Empathic Sense, Lisa can automatically tack on 25 points to the normal Max for her maximum training. Lisa will be able to train up to 235 in her Medicine Discipline (30-20 = 10, 200+25 = 225, 225 + 10 = 235). Her Medicine modifier becomes +2.
With the crucial score out of the way, the player assigns 90, the high throw, to Lisa's Command Discipline (giving her a +9 modifier to all Command related throws). This is because she knows there are several helpful sub-disciplines under Command, even if the good Doctor never becomes the captain of a starship...
The player decides that it might be good for the doc to have some knowledge of Biology
and Anthropology
, and so decides to assign 80 to Lisa's Science Discipline, even though this means she won't be able to receive the full normal amount of Science training; 220 to be exact (50-80 = -30, 250 + -30 = 220). Lastly, she decides to throw the 70 points to Communications (since knowing a patient's language could be helpful) and the 60 point rolls into Navigation and Engineering, where the Doc is least likely to spend much time. The maximum training level for Communications will be 160 (30-70=-40, 200-40=160), and the maximum for the other two skills will be 170 (30-60=-30, 200-30=170). Her modifiers for these Disciplines are +8 for Science, +7 for Communications, and +6 for both Navigation and Engineering.Special Circumstance: Synthetic Lifeforms
Synthetic lifeforms are unique in that they have set values for their Disciplines when they are created. When creating a synthetic character, do not roll dice for their Discipline values; just put the values given in the appropriate Discipline boxes. While a synthetic character is limited in what they can have for their initial scores, they still have the option of placing the points from those scores in whatever skills they desire in the category.
Determine the amount of points to add to the character's Attributes.
If the campaign calls for
RPG-style stats, the character will receive a number of building points to spend in each of the character's Attributes. The method of determining the number of building points is different from that of Disciplines, but not very much so.
To determine the points that may be spent on the character's "physical" Attributes (
Power, Finesse and
Physique), the player makes three rolls of xd10, where x is the character's
Durability score (
e.g. for a Human, each roll would be 6d10 since a Human has a Durability score of 6). As with Disciplines, the results of these rolls are recorded separately, and then assigned to one of the three physical Attributes. The player then does the same thing again for the character's "mental" Attributes (Intellect, Acumen and Charm), using the character's Learning Rate score to determine x (e.g for a Human, each roll would be 9d10 since the normal Human
Learning Rate is 9).
Physique Attribute with Skills
In addition to these rolls, the character gets a "physical attribute" and "mental attribute" point pool. These pools are ten times the character's
Durability and
Learning Rate scores, respectively. The player may place points from the pools in any of the three attributes represented by that pool. Attributes receive a roll modifier of +1 per ten points in the Attribute's score, similarly to Disciplines.
Continuing the earlier example of Lisa Freeman, the character makes three separate rolls of 6d10 for the Doctor's physical Attributes. The rolls come up as 17, 30, and 34. Additionally, Lisa will get 60 extra points that can be spent in any of the three physical Attributes. Knowing that the Doc's health is of utmost importance (and that it's likely their exposure to disease might be higher than your average character), the character puts a total of 64 points in Lisa's Physique, 34 from one of the rolls and 30 of the pool. She'll get a +6 modifier for her Physique score. It's likely that the Doctor would have to go into combat situations sometimes; not getting hit would be important in those cases. Realizing this, the player assigns 60 points to Lisa's Finesse, assigning 30 from the roll and the remaining 30 points from the pool. She also gets a +6 modifier to all Finesse-related rolls. This leaves 17 for Lisa's Power score; she can move and she's tough, but not too strong. She only receives a +1 modifier for Power, though this could be readily modified.
Now the player makes three 9d10 rolls for mental attributes, which come up as 41, 41, and 36 (much to the player's disgust; these rolls are all below average for 9d10). 90 points go into the character's mental attribute pool. The player splits the pool evenly (30 points) among the three rolls, as all three mental attributes contain potentially useful skills (such as Resourcefulness
under Intellect, Perception
under Acumen, and Personality
under Charm). This gives a final result of 71, 71 and 66. Given a Doctor's need to sometimes be forceful with stubborn patience and the need for extensive medical knowledge, the player assigns the two 71s to Intellect and Charm, leaving the 66 for Acumen. She'll get +7 for all Intellect and Charm rolls, and +6 for Acumen rolls. Special Circumstance: Synthetic Lifeforms
Synthetic lifeforms are again a special circumstance when it comes to assigning their attributes. All rolls for points for a synthetic lifeform's physical attributes are doubled (
it's therefore possible, though not likely, for a synthetic lifeform to begin the game with a "perfect" 300 point score in a physical attribute). An android rolls 10d10 for all mental attributes, but receives no pool for mental attributes. Other synthetic lifeforms use the same roll as non-synthetic lifeforms.
Spend points on character skills.
A character with any additional general points left over at this point may spend the remainder however they see fit on any of their character’s Disciplines and Attributes. The pool
must be emptied of points at this point in the character creation process. Should the pool have a negative number of points (i.e. if the character has more on talents than on complications), enough points will need to come out of whatever Disciplines and Attributes the character wishes in order for the pool to balance to zero
exactly.
Once there are no more remaining points in the general pool, the time has come to spend the points the player has allocated to the character's various Disciplines and Attributes on the skills and sub-attributes that the individual characteristics cover. For more information about the effects of skills and sub-disciplines,
see Chapter 3. Each point spent on sub-characteristics correlates to a +1 modifier to any d% rolls that require them (usually called a
Check of that sub-characteristic). A player may leave any sub-characteristic under these characteristics unmodified, but must allocate all of the points given to the characteristic sub-characteristics under that characteristic; they cannot be "saved" to be applied later.
Under no circumstances is a skill or sub-discipline allowed to have a score greater than 100 at any point during the game. Lisa's player decides that the 25 points left from her character's general building point pool would be best spent on freebies for the doctor's Medicine Discipline. She allocates all 25 points to Medicine boosting it to 45. This increases her Medicine modifier to +4.
The player decides to assign skill values first. She only has 17 points in Power; she decides to put all 17 points in Three-Dimensional Maneuvers
, as that will help her move around in combat a little easier. It's an even split, 30 points each, to Dodge
and Dexterous Maneuvers
. Physique skills are a little harder. She decides to put 22 points in Concentration
and Stamina
, leaving 20 for Recuperation
. Moving on to mental attributes, she puts 30 in Lisa's Knowledge
(you have to know a lot to be a doc), 21 in Resourcefulness
and 20 in Cunning
. She splits the 66 points evenly among the three Acumen skills (22 apiece). Finally, 50 points go into the doctor's Personality
(she can be really intimidating when she needs to be), and 21 goes into Lisa's Leadership
.
Now the player moves on to Disciplines. None of the Command sub-disciplines are particularly crucial for the doc, but she nonetheless gets 40 points in Inspire
(to help out Shaken crewmembers) and 50 points in Security
(this helps out the doc's combat bonuses, which haven't received much attention up to now). She receives an even split (40 points apiece) in Biology
and Anthropology
, as the player intended. The Navigation and Engineering points are largely unnecessary, so the player decides to have a little fun there: she places the 60 Navigation points in Vehicle Piloting
, and thinking there might be room for some medical synergy, puts the 60 Engineering points in Synthesize
. 50 of the doc's Communications points go to Alpha Sector Languages
, and the other 20 go to Intimidation
.
Finally, the player reaches Medicine, the doc's crucial Discipline. She's got a measly 45 points to spend here, but her Empathic Sense will help offset this obvious disadvantage. While the player might have preferred to spend points on specializations, she realizes the general Medicine sub-disciplines will give Doctor Freeman the greatest latitude. She puts 25 points in her Long-Term Care
sub-discipline, and places the remaining 20 points in Intensive Care
.Determine derived statistics.
Once the scores for the character’s characteristics have been determined, then it is time to figure out the
derived statistics for that character. All characters have twelve derived statistics:
hit points (HP), non-lethal hit points (NHP), strength index (SI), hit difficulty (HD), touch hit difficulty (THD), flat-footed hit difficulty (FHD), Initiative, Melee Attack Bonus, Ranged Attack Bonus, Fortitude Save, Reflex Save, and
Willpower Save. How these statistics are derived is largely dependent upon what style is utilized to make the character. Where there is a substantial difference, it will be so noted.
Derived Statistics Boxes
The first two derived stats are the character’s
hit points (HP) and
non-lethal hit points (NHP). These two counts are used as a measure of the amount of damage the character can sustain before either passing out (in the case of NHP) or dying outright (in the case of HP). The effects of loss of HP and NHP are thoroughly covered in
Chapter 9.2. To find the character's HP and NHP, simply multiply the character’s
Durability score by ten.
The next derived stat is
strength index (SI). Strength index is a measure of how "powerful" a character is (
more specifically how much punishment they can withstand and dole out) and how well they rate in combat alongside other characters. A character’s strength index is a combination of their hit points, any armor hit points, and the strength of their strongest available weapon. Because this value is armor and weapon dependent, it can fluctuate greatly. This value is the most basic method for "keeping score" and helps determine whether or not the character will withdraw in combat, if given the opportunity and if a battle comes to a premature end.
Hit Difficulties (HD, THD and FHD) are a measure of how hard it is to hit a character in order to cause damage, whether in combat or in situations such as industrial accidents (wherein no one necessarily intends to cause damage, but damage could still potentially result). All characters have three hit difficulty ratings. Normal hit difficulty, or
HD, is how hard it is to hit the character under normal circumstances. Touch hit difficulty (
THD), measures how hard it is to hit the character with a "touch" attack, such as an attack with a stun baton or other mechanism which requires an opposing character to touch the character in order to cause damage. Flat-footed hit difficulty (
FHD) measures how hard it is to hit the character when they are surprised, i.e. they aren't expecting to have to try and avoid taking damage. HD ratings figure heavily into combat
(see Chapter 9.2). The determination of HD ratings are dependent upon what style is being used to create a character, as well as whether or not the character is wearing
armor (see Chapter 5.3). All characters and lifeforms have a base rating to each HD count noted with the race's Basic Characteristics. HD bonuses from armor are added to the character's HD and THD. If
Starflight-style stats are being used, add the character’s
Durability rating to their HD and THD ratings. If
RPG-style stats are used, add the character’s
Finesse modifier instead.
Initiative is a measure of the character's quickness and availability to react. Higher Initiative scores can enable a character to go ahead of other characters and move further in combat situations. Generally, the tougher a character is, the slower they are. To determine a character's Initiative value, subtract their
Durability score from 11.
All characters have two attack bonuses:
Melee Attack (MAB) and
Ranged Attack (RAB). Both are used in combat situations as a bonus to the character's attack rolls in combat situation. Which one is used depends upon the "flavor" of combat being experienced by the character (
for more on this, see Chapter 9.2). The determination of a character's Attack Bonuses are dependent upon the style being used to create the character. Both styles use one-tenth of the character's
Security sub-discipline score (rounded down) as a base value for Attack Bonuses. If
Starflight-style stats are being used, the two attack bonuses are identical; simply add the character's
Durability score to the base value. For
RPG-style stats, add the character's
Power modifier to the base value for the character's MAB, and add their
Finesse modifier to the base value for the character's RAB.
Finally, all characters have three Save rolls:
Fortitude, Reflex, and
Willpower. Saves are generally used in extreme situations where quick action on the part of the character can prevent serious consequences, or to mitigate the severity of situations where there will be some negative consequences against the character. Fortitude Saves are used in situations where a character's toughness can mitigate the situation (such as when the character has exposed to a disease, whether or not they will contract the disease). Reflex Saves are needed when the ability to move instinctively is needed (such as moving to avoid falling boulders). Willpower Saves are needed when mental fortitude is required to keep the character from doing something against their will (such as trying to avoid getting scared after taking a nasty weapon hit). The determination of a character's Saves are dependent upon the style being used to create the character. Both styles use the value of certain Traits as the base value (the
Health trait is used as the base for the character's Fortitude Save,
Reflexes for the Reflex Save, and
Discipline for the Willpower Save). If
Starflight-style stats are being used, simply add the character's
Durability score to the base value for their Fortitude and Reflex Saves. For their Willpower Save, add the character's
Learning Rate score to the base value. If
RPG-style stats are being used, add the character's
Physique modifier to the base value for their Fortitude Save, their
Finesse modifier to the base value for their Reflex Save, and their
Acumen modifier to the base value for their Willpower Save.
Doctor Lisa Freeman's derived stats can now be determined. Her Durability is 6; this gives her an HP and NHP of 60 (6*10 = 60). Her Finesse modifier is +6 and she hasn't been given any armor yet. She also has no weapons yet; only her HP counts towards her SI, so her SI is also 60 for the time being. A Human has a base HD count of 50 as listed in the species' Basic Characteristics. She therefore has an HD and THD of 56, and an FHD of 50 (50 + 0 +6 = 56; 50 +6 = 5; 50 + 0 = 50). Since her Durability is 6, she has an Initiative value of 5 (11-6 = 5). She spent 50 points in her Security
sub-discipline, so her base attack value is 5 (50/10 = 5); she adds +1 to that amount for her Power attribute, making her MAB +6 (5+1 = 6). She also adds +6 for her Finesse modifier to that base amount, getting +11 for her RAB (5+6 = 11). She didn't take any points in Health, Reflexes or Discipline, so the base value of all three of her saves is zero. She has a Physique modifier of +6, the Finesse modifier is (once again) 6, and an Acumen modifier of +6. She has a Fortitude Save of +6, a Reflex Save of +6, and a Willpower Save of +6 (6+0 = 6).Add any additional “finishing touches”.
Once the derived stats have been calculated, the character is technically playable. The player may stop at this point, or they may go on to add other finishing touches to their character depending on how much of the details of that character's life they wish to fill in right away. Many good role-players will go on and add more details to their character at this point; doing so adds more depth to the character and may explain some of the choices made during the character's creation, and can even serve as a launching point for a group adventure.
There are a few "finishing touches" that should not be neglected:
- Name: If the character hasn't been named yet, now would be a really good time. Suggested names for characters of any given species are listed in the Onomastikon section of that species, along with the convention typically used to name characters of that species. If using a character record sheet, the character's name goes in the Character field.
- Gender: This may or may not be obvious from the name picked out for the character, depending on the species. There are a few real game effects the depend upon being male versus female versus something else, though usually these crop up during the course of actual gameplay.
- Billet: Occupation is another term for this; what job does your character perform? This could be anything from a starship captain, to a master trader merchant, to a lowly burger flipper on some backwater Thrynn outpost...
- Age: Knowing the character's age can be vitally important. It's generally assumed that PC characters are at least "adult" age when they begin their adventure (giving them time to gain knowledge and experience, at least enough to justify the levels they have in their skills). On the other hand, NPCs can be any age as needed for the campaign. There are six categories of ages for each species, known as life stages: Child, Adolescent, Adult, Middle-Aged, Old-Aged, and Venerable. Life stages have varying effects on a character's stats. Pre-Adult characters have temporary drains on their attributes; if creating a pre-adult character, go ahead and assign their stats as with a normal character but make the following temporary adjustments when done. A Child has -2 Durability, +2 Learning Rate, -20 to physical attributes, -10 to mental attributes and no Discipline scores whatsoever. An Adolescent has -1 Durability, +1 Learning Rate, -5 to all Attributes, and a maximum score of 10 in Disciplines. The drains on pre-Adult characters are lifted as the character ages on toward adulthood. Post-Adult characters have permanent changes to their attributes; create the character as normal but modify the final results by the indicated amount. Middle-Aged characters reduce physical Attributes by 5, increase mental attributes by 5, and gain 50 points to any Discipline or combination of Disciplines. Old-Aged characters reduce physical attributes by 10, increase mental attributes by 5, and gain 50 points to any Discipline or combination of Disciplines. Venerable Aged characters reduce physical attributes by 15, increase mental attributes by 5, and gain 50 points to any Discipline or combination of Disciplines. Post-Adult gains and drains are cumulative. To create a character in one of these age brackets, go ahead and create the character assuming it's an Adult member of the species, and then adjust the characters stats as necessary. Upon reaching a new age bracket for their species, a character's stats should be changed as indicated. If an Attribute must be reduced as the result of changes due to age, one or more of the individual Skills under the given Attribute will need to be reduced to reflect the changes. Should a character wind up with an Attribute score of less than zero as a result of the change, it will be necessary for some Skills to have negative values. When a character reaches Venerable age, roll the Lifespan roll indicated in the species' Basic Characteristics; after that many more years have passed, the character will finally die of old age.
- Height: This is an indication of the character's height. Along with the character's weight and the character's abilities, this little factoid helps to indicate the character's overall build. Height can be determined via a dice roll under the Basic Characteristics of the character's race.
- Weight: This is an indication of how much the character weighs. Along with the character's height, this little factoid helps identify the character as lanky, stocky, slender, fat, etc. Height can be determined via a dice roll under the Basic Characteristics of the character's race.
- Size Class: Characters have a "Size Class", based largely upon the character's height and weight. Size Class is based upon a "bounding box" volume for the character (the minimum dimensions of a box needed to contain the whole of the character). The Size Class boundaries for a character are listed in with the Basic Characteristics of that character's race. Size Class is important for a number of actions that can occur in combat.
- "Handedness": This stat is called "handedness" for lack of a better term; it's entirely possible that your character has no hands whatsoever. However, any character with motor appendages may use one of them more predominantly than the others. When a character has a dominant motor appendage, their have handedness in that particular appendage (for example, the vast bulk of Humans use their right hand predominantly, and are thus right-handed). Handedness is important in combat, as using another appendage to shoot (using the "off-hand") can inflict significant penalties.
- Equipment: After creating a character, its not uncommon for a player to want to purchase vital tools the character will need in order to survive. This includes weapons, armor, shields, computers, medicines, food, and so forth (equipment and purchases are discussed in Chapter Five). The amount of money a player receives with which to equip their character is dependent upon the character's Wealth trait: add 30 to the level of the Wealth trait to determine how much money they receive. Regardless of how much money a character receives, all characters receive one outfit free of charge (except under unusual circumstances as determined by the GM). GMs may want to restrict the kind of gear available for a number of reasons, including the technological development level of the civilization at large (see Chapter 10.2.5).
Here are some suggestions for other details to add to the character:
- Distinguishing Marks: Distinguishing marks help to identify your character and make them unique among the many members of their species. These can be mundane marks (such as having red hair, blue eyes, dark skin, etc.), or something more exotic (such as a jagged scar, third nostril, hypomelanism, etc.). Some of the more exotic marks may have game effects; a player should consult a GM before giving the character an exotic distinguishing mark.
- History: No good role-player ever neglects their character's history. Characters don't just pop into the world, unless they do; is sci-fi, after all. The vast majority of characters will have a back story, including such details as where they were born, what kind of place they grew up in, a family life, and events and experiences which ultimately lead them to where they are, who they are, and why they do things they way in which they do them. Characters may have secrets about their life from things that have happened to them; these little tidbits can become elements of an adventure or campaign, or even its main focus. A character's history can also contribute to that character's goals for their life; again, these goals may serve as a focus for an adventure or two (as the character tries to fulfil those goals).
- Personality: All characters have some sort of personality, something which indicates how the character acts, what are their likes and dislikes, what makes them react in whatever way they react, their code of ethics, and their overall life outlook. If a character is a PC, the character's personality should be set up such that the player is comfortable being that character; it should be interesting and fun to play. Personality can change over time as the character grows and develops.
Dr. Freeman's "Finishing Touches"
The addition of finishing touches does not have to be done at the time the character is created, and indeed, such information about the character can be added through the course of game-play. The level of development a character reaches is entirely dependent upon the player who portrays the character and how much work they want to put into that character's development. At this point, what can be done with a character is going to be dependent upon what is going to happen in the campaign.
Lisa's player decides to add a few details about her character. She obviously already has both a name and a gender. She will be assigned as the Chief Medical Officer (i.e. the Doctor) aboard the ISS Abylwyvern
. Since Lisa has little actual medical skill, the player decides that she is fresh out of medical school (perhaps beginning her residency), so about 29 years old. This makes Lisa an Adult, so none of her stats are modified. The player rolls the dice for Lisa's height and weight; she is 1.9 meters tall and weighs 80 kilograms...so she's taller than average for a female, but of average build. Humans are a Character Size Class 5 species; Lisa is also that Size Class. The player decides to make Lisa left-handed, fair-skinned, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed. She also has pierced ears.
Lisa's Wealth trait lets her start out with a little more money than normal for purchasing her initial equipment (35 MU, to be exact). She selects a Military Service Uniform for her outfit (which makes sense if she's serving on an Interstel ship), as well as a Trowser Holster and a Satchel to hold all of her stuff. She arms herself up with a Class Three Sonic Gun (a good non-lethal weapon; she'll put it in the trowser holster) and defends herself with Class One Ballistic Mesh as well as a Class Two Energy Shield, the later of which she deploys on her uniform's holster pocket. She purchases a PDA and a Short-Range Communicator along with spare batteries for her gun and her shield, all of which she places in her uniform pockets. She also purchases a chronometer, which she straps to her wrist. Finally, she purchases three Vita Kits, which she places in her satchel. After all of these purchases, she has 3.64 MU cash remaining. Her Ballistic Mesh has a -1 penalty to all of her HD ratings, so her final HD ratings are 55/55/49. The Sonic Gun can do 40 points of Non-Lethal Damage, the Ballistic Mesh offers 50 AHP of protection, and the Energy Shield offers up 100 SHP. All of these are added into her character's SI along with her HP, giving her a final SI of 250 (60+40+50+100 = 250).
Lisa was born into a middle-class family on Arth. She caught a disease during her childhood (leukemia) and was subjected to a long medical stay in a hospital while undergoing treatment; this led to her interest in medicine, but also a simmering resentment towards her situation and her life outlook (possibly explaining her somewhat bad Temper). Having ultimately been cured of her cancer, Lisa recovered but never developed a lot of strength afterwards (hence her low Power score). In high school she was part of a track and field team; she wasn't so great at it, but at least it helped her keep limber and develop her stamina. She ultimately went to medical school to fulfill her childhood ambition of becoming a doctor. She joined Interstel as a means of paying for med school.
Lisa does have a bit of a Temper, so it can be hard for her to make new friends. So far her temper hasn't led her to insubordination, but it could happen; she's aware of this and is trying to keep her anger reigned in. She doesn't make friends easily, though she is generally easy going towards people she trusts. She will drop everything to help someone is in need of medical help, and remains steady in a crisis.
The player decides that's enough about Lisa for the time being, but continues to consider her character and how she will develop as the GM begins to tell the tale of the ISS Abylwyvern
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