Character Creation
This chapter covers everything needed to build a player character from scratch.
Creation Summary
- Species. Pick a species. Record your Ability array, distribute floating points, and note starting XP and species traits.
- Occupation. Pick an Occupation (free). Optionally buy a second (15 XP). Record trained skills, Tools of the Trade, starting Feat or skill ranks, and your Occupation Feat list.
- Background. Pick a Background. Gain 1 rank in 2 skills from the Background's list (trains you if untrained).
- Flaws. Optionally take Flaws (recommended: 1 Major + 2 Minor = 20 XP). Record them on your character sheet.
- Spend XP. Spend remaining XP on Skills, Abilities, Disciplines, Specialties, and Feats. No Skill above 2 during this step.
- Veteran (optional). With GM approval, determine experience level and spend bonus XP. Creation Skill cap does not apply to bonus XP.
- Derived Stats. Calculate Defense, Wound Capacity, and Willpower Pool.
- Play.
Hanako is a League Navy officer. She negotiates, she leads, she can put a round through a pirate at fifty meters when she has to. Here is how her sheet comes together.
1. Species: Human. Humans start with all Abilities at 1 and distribute +6 points (no Ability above 3). She puts her points into Presence 3, Will 3, Perception 2, Intellect 2, leaving Strength 1 and Agility 1. Starting XP: 90.
Species traits: Can Use Focus, Intrinsic Will (+1 Willpower), Coalition Builders (one free trained skill — Leadership or an Influence discipline).
2. Occupation: Officer. Trained Skills: Leadership, Coordination: Tactical, Influence: Persuasion (picked discipline), Combat: Firearms (picked over Piloting). Free Feat: Tactician. Tools: CRG Handgun, Armored Clothing, personal pad.
Coalition Builders would give her a second free trained skill. Leadership is already covered, so she picks Influence: Insight — reading people is half her job.
3. Background: League Citizen. She picks two skills from the list: Leadership (already trained, so she gains a rank → Skill 1) and Savvy: Government (new, so she becomes trained at Skill 0).
4. Flaws: 20 XP bonus. She takes Obligation (major, 10 XP — bound to chain of command), Code of Honor (minor, 5 XP — she does not lie to League personnel), and Marked (minor, 5 XP — distinctive uniform and insignia). Total XP to spend: 90 + 20 = 110.
5. Spending XP. Her priorities are leadership presence and combat reliability:
| Purchase | Cost | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership 1 → 2 | 10 | 100 |
| Influence: Persuasion 0 → 2 | 15 | 85 |
| Combat: Firearms 0 → 2 | 15 | 70 |
| Coordination: Tactical 0 → 1 | 5 | 65 |
| Savvy: Government 0 → 1 | 5 | 60 |
| Specialty: Influence: Persuasion (Interrogation) | 10 | 50 |
| Feat: Connected (in-occupation, Tier 1) | 5 | 45 |
| Feat: Follow My Lead (in-occupation, Tier 2) | 10 | 35 |
| Agility 1 → 2 | 20 | 15 |
| Influence: Insight 0 → 1 | 5 | 10 |
She banks the remaining 10 XP for advancement.
6. Derived Stats.
- Defense: 2 (higher of Agility 2 or Perception 2).
- Wound Capacity: 4 (Strength 1 + Will 3).
- Willpower Pool: 4 (Will 3 + 0 Focus + 1 Intrinsic Will).
7. Play. Hanako walks into a holding cell with a specialty in interrogation, Leadership 2 for when she needs to rally her people, and Combat: Firearms 2 for when the conversation is over. She has friends in the League and a commanding officer who owns her weekends. She will not lie to another League officer, and she cannot walk through a civilian market without being recognized. The table is going to write a story around her.