Character Generation

Below you will find all the information you should need to guide you through the mechanics of the Character Generation (Chargen) Process. If you should have any questions while going through the process in-game and they’re not answered here, the best place to ask is on the “Newbie” Channel (Just type +n <Whatever you’d like to ask> in-game).

Please be sure to read this page thoroughly before/during your character generation process. We know it’s a lot of information, but if you take the time and effort to do so it will definitely make your approval process go much smoother than it otherwise might.


The Character Generation process is basically broken down into three phases:

  • Finding a Concept - Coming up with a general overview of who your character is, what they do, and why they do it.
  • Filling out your statistics and vital information - This is the process that you go through when moving through the character generation rooms on-game. When completed, you’ll have a filled out +sheet, +finger, and background, as well as some other pertinent information for playing your character in-game.
  • Submitting for Approval - After you’ve been through the chargen rooms, you will submit your application for review by the staff, who may approve it or may ask for changes

Additionally, we have a Roster in-game of pre-existing characters that can be picked up. For information on how to claim one of these characters, see the "Rostered Characters" tab far below.


Finding a Concept

Need inspiration? Check out +roster in game, as well as the character concepts for wanted and available characters. As well as general character concept guidelines, what concepts are currently restricted or disallowed!

The more clear a picture you can have of the character you want to play before you start the character generation process, the easier it will be for you to finish. After all, having a good idea of your concept already starts you on the road to knowing which skills you should probably take and what some of your background will entail. Some important questions to consider when coming up with your concept are:

  • Is your character a noble, petty noble or a commoner?
  • Which area is your character from and where do they live now? Couviere? Rivana? Pacitta?
  • What noble House or other organization is your character most strongly associated with?
  • What occupation does your character have? Why did they end up on that path, and how did they learn the skills that allow them to pursue it?
  • What does your character want out of life?
  • What is your character’s greatest strength and greatest weakness?
  • And as you continue to flesh out your character's background - What ways have recent events impacted your char? Which ones were they directly a part of?

As you answer those questions and add up the answers, do you feel this character should be an advanced or elite character? If so, see the information provided in the next section on how to apply for an advanced (or elite) character. If not, feel free to claim the character from the +roster, or contact a staff member to create a standard character bit in-game.

Creating Your Sheet

Firstly, there are some guidelines to follow for starting attribute and skill levels depending on which of the character types your character is; standard, advanced or elite. It is important to note, that these are just starting points for a character as it is possible for standard characters to eventually receive all the same benefits that Advanced and Elite characters receive through RP, XP expenditures, and meeting certain other benchmarks, as described in the "Raising and Lowering Attributes" section below.

Stats

These are the nuts and bolts of the chargen process. As you pass through the chargen rooms on-game, you’ll be guided through the steps to give your characters their stats. This is where you will fill out your character’s background, determine what their skills and quirks are and how good they are at the former, and add a bit of info on your characters personality, equipment, and some general info that helps other players know a bit about your character and how they might interact.

Most of the information needed to help you in this process is detailed below, including a full list of attributes, skills, and quirks. See the tabviews below for more information.

Attributes

Do not take the generalized descriptions of attribute levels above as "set in stone" descriptions. They are generalizations by design, and if you want your character to not precisely follow the guidelines for any given rating, it is permissible within reason. For example, a person with Presence 3 might be quite physically attractive but somewhat weak-willed (or vice versa could be strong-willed but not terribly attractive). A person with Body 4 might be very strong but still prone to illness or allergies, etc… There is room for roleplaying variation within the attributes, so long as they don’t dive outside the bounds of your rating.

Higher skill levels can often compensate for lower attributes, as well, so it's perfectly possible for someone with a Presence of 2 to be a good leader of soldiers with a high Leadership skill. They just won't be as good as someone with a Presence of 4 or 5 and the same skill level. That’s the difference between the naturally talented and those that have to work harder for their skills.

Skills

Skills are important, they help form the base of your character, the skeleton to start a background, or help support a background already in mind. They are what your character has learned to do in life, how well they do something, how good they are at their job, what hobbies they might have

Please note that while Background Skills and Quirks are freeform as far as the game system is concerned (IE you can type anything in there and as long as it’s not an attribute or action skill it’ll show up), we require that players choose their action skills, background skills and quirks from the list(s) provided on this page.


 

Action Skills

Actions skills are just that, the action. Not just the physical action, but also your social and political actions. A lot of tabs, a lot of skills but this is where a fair number of skill for the character are likely to be pulled from. There is a limit on the number of points that can be spent on Action skills, and do save some points to be spent on Background Skills.

Background Skills

Background skills help provide a character with some hobbies in some cases, or in some cases, their primary skills, such as in the case of a bard or tradesman. This is also where the various Lore skills fall to give a character knowledge in a wide range of areas from Folklore to Military and Politics, so be certain to check out that tab as well as there is a little something for everyone there.

Each character will need to set at least 3 background skills.


 

Quirks

Last but not least, you'll need to choose between 7-8 Quirks for your character. These will help give added flavor to your character, giving them some potential bonuses and other perks.

You will need to choose 2 Skill Quirks, 2-3 Social Quirks, and 3 Personality Quirks from the following tabs.

As you select your quirks, make sure not to take ones that contradict each other. Or likewise, may be redundant.

Final Steps and Approval

Now that you've chosen your quirks, you can calculate your starting rating for Perception and Willpower using the following formulas:
Willpower = 1 + (Average of Mind and Presence) + (Bonuses from Quirks). Up to a maximum of 8 for standard characters and 10 for Elite characters. (9 and 11 if they have the "Unbreakable" Quirk)
Perception = 1 + (Average of Mind and Reaction) + (Bonuses from Quirks). Up to a maximum of 8 for standard characters and 10 for Elite characters. (9 and 11 if they have the "Perceptive" Quirk)

Note : Averages should be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Make sure to keep track of how many points total you have between your starting Perception and Starting Willpower. For instance, if you come out with 7 Willpower and 5 Perception, your total would be 12 points. You can "overspend" skill points in Chargen to an amount equal to this number. So basically if you're getting an error message that you've spent too many chargen points, as long as that number is beneath the sum of your starting Willpower and Perception, you're OK. Don't worry, if you've overspent beyond what you're allowed the staff will likely catch it in approval.

After you have calculated your starting Willpower and Perception, set them to the appropriate starting levels. If you wish to raise them beyond your starting levels, you may do so with chargen points, up to the limits described above, and within the usual limits on total number of high-level skills, etc….

Note : If setting your starting Willpower and Perception levels gives you a warning about spending to many Action Points. That is ok. However, you may not spend additional points to raise them further at this point.

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