Character Creation

From Gothpoodle

Philosophy

Characters should begin as a basic sketch and then develop in response to the story as it goes forth. Front-loading background and traits ends up wasting time detailing things which will never come up or be relevant and, consequently, punish players who didn't guess at the outset where the story was going to go. In order to avoid that, players determine what abilities and background their characters have as they play, so they are only defining skills and knowledge as they become relevant. Also, definition of the character is the province of the player. The GM cannot define things about the character's background without their consent, though details are fair game as long as they don't contradict. For example, the GM couldn't dictate that a character never learned to swim, but they could say that their buddy from Luna City was actually a spy.

Template

In order to streamline character creation, pick a template what represents what your character is:

• Human: You are some variation of the human race. You were born and grew up. Your genes may have been selected or modified, but your legacy is humanity.
• Bioroid: You are a biological machine. You were constructed at someone's behest and that person was your legal guardian when you woke.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): You are a fully sapient digital entity. You exist as software which inhabits whatever shell the computer you are currently running on controls.
• Ghost: You were born or constructed as a biological entity but had your mind uploaded into a computer and now have an existence similar to an artificial intelligence.

Facets

Your character will be defined by three types of Facets: Mind, Identity, and Vessel.

• All characters have one Mind facet. This is the core of the character. It is either Organic (Humans or Bioroids) or Digital (AIs or Ghosts).
• Most characters have one or more Identity facets. Those who don't are a social non-entity. Each Identity is identified by a name.
• Most characters have one or more Vessel facets. These are the physical bodies they inhabit. Humans and bioroids have their Body, while AIs and Ghosts have Cybershells and Bioshells. Characters with a body can also have cybershells and bioshells, which they tele-operate rather than inhabit.

Traits

Each facet is defined by one or more traits. Starting characters get twelve traits to spread among their facets with the only limitation being that each facet must have at least one trait.

• Mind traits represent skills (Spacer, Bounty Hunter, Engineer, Soldier), talents (Mathematical Savant, Musical Virtuoso), or areas of knowledge (Luna City, Martian Triads, Economics).
• Identity traits represent contacts in an organization (Trojan Mafia, Nanodynamics, Luna City PD) or region (L5, Red China, Beijing), citizenship, jobs (GRA Agent, Freelance Slinky Star, Pharmer), or wealth (investments, property, cash).
• Vessel traits start with the model (Genefixed Human, Volkspider, Tennin Parahuman, Hecate Model Bioroid) and further traits represent brain implants, biomods, nanosymbionts, or other enhancements or modifications.

Handicaps

Handicaps are negative traits that a player can take to acquire more Plot Points by generating Complications. They are attached to an facet, just like any other trait. You can take as many as you want but it isn't recommended to take more than two.

• Mind handicaps can be: mental disabilities for baseline humans, restrictive programming for AIs, slave mentality for bioroids, being a shadow for an AI, or being a fragment for a ghost.
• Identity handicaps can be: being wanted by the police or hunted by criminal organizations, being property for AIs, having a legal guardian for bioroids, or being in debt.
• Vessel handicaps can be: physical disabilities or being a floater for humans, being identical to others of the same model for bioroids or cybershells, or bugs and design flaws for constructed vessels.

Quick Start

1. Choose a template.
   1. For humans and bioroids, note "Body" under Vessel type. For AIs and ghosts, choose either "Cybershell" or "Bioshell" for the type.
   2. For humans and bioroids, note "Organic" under Mind type. For AIs and ghosts, note "Digital" under Mind type.
   3. Note your model as a Vessel trait.
2. Choose a name and note it under your primary identity.
3. Choose your place of residence.
   1. Note your country of residence an Identity trait.
   2. Note contacts in your hometown an Identity trait.
   3. Note knowledge of your hometown a Mind trait.
4. Choose an occupation.
   1. Note your skill set as a Mind trait.
   2. Note your job as an Identity trait.
5. Choose six more traits. Suggestions:
   • More skills or talents as Mind traits.
   • A second identity.
   • More contacts or wealth as Identity traits.
   • A second vessel.
   • Implants, biomods, or nanosymbionts as Vessel traits.

Example

1. Decide to make a ghost.
   1. Choose "Bioshell" for the primary vessel.
   2. Note "Digital" as Mind type.
   3. Add "Genefixed Human" as a Vessel trait under Bioshell.
2. Name the character "Jill Parker".
3. Choose "London" as her place of residency.
   1. Add "European Union Citizen" as an Identity trait under Jill Parker.
   2. Add "London Contacts" as an Identity trait under Jill Parker.
   3. Add "United Kingdom Knowledge" as a Mind trait.
4. Decide on scientist as an occupation.
   1. Add "Genetic Engineer" as a Mind trait.
   2. Add "GRA Scientist" as an Identity trait under Jill Parker.
5. Choose six more traits. Suggestions:
   • More skills or talents as Mind traits.
   • A second identity.
   • More contacts or wealth as Identity traits.
   • A second vessel.
   • Implants, biomods, or nanosymbionts as Vessel traits.

Character Development

Characters acquire new traits in one of three ways:

• The player spends a Plot Point to declare a new trait from the character's background
• The player declares a handicap from the character's background as a complication and acquires a Plot Point.
• The GM declares a handicap as a complication and the player acquires a Plot Point. This sort of handicap can only be a consequence and may not be from the character's background.

The only rule for adding new traits is that they can't contradict already established ones. If you have a trait "Raised in Luna City", you can't add "Grew up on Titan" later on.

Also, traits (particularly handicaps) can be removed due to story development. The incineration of your cybershell removes its Vessel traits from your sheet. Spending a week in the hospital lets you take off a Broken Arm Vessel trait. Paying off your gambling debts lets you finally get rid of that Wanted by the Martian Triads Identity trait.

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See also Sample Characters.