Character Creation

Character Conception

First of all, decide what type of character you want to play. Your character should be distinctive, interesting, unusual. Once you’ve picked a character type, then you should think of all of the things that make your character unique. Pick a name for her. Figure out what her past history is. Decide on her basic personality traits — is she humble, boastful, obnoxious, witty, bitter? Pick a couple of catch phrases she uses in conversation.

Sample Character Conceptions

  • An alien who has come to Al Amarja to study "typical Human culture".
  • An android trying to pass for human.
  • An Androsynth who has somehow avoided being exiled to Makarta.
  • An aspiring musician whose come to Al Amarja in the hope of meeting a wealthy patron.
  • A Bloodguard in hiding.
  • A Deathless (which can mean just about anything).
  • An entrepreneur looking to set up a business office on Al Amarja.
  • A famous interstellar porn star who has decided to move to Al Amarja.
  • A former Coda Assassin on the run from the Coda.
  • A gunslinger who wants to retire in peace.
  • A journalist who's come to Al Amarja to discover why it is so hard to find information about the place, and why it doesn't even appear on most star maps.
  • A Mallrachen Intelligence agent who wants to defect to Al Amarja.
  • A Mallrachen Intelligence agent who is pretending to defect to Al Amarja.
  • A member of the Children of the Sanguine Mind on Al Amarja trying to spread the Good News.
  • A priest of the Universal Church on sabbatical (read: vacation).
  • A Sommerite who has come to be with others of her faith.
  • A spy from one of the worlds of the Starways Congress.
  • A Voyan who has escaped from her homeworld.
  • A writer seeking to do The Unauthorized Biography of Monique D'Aubainne.
  • A young member of one of the Imperial Houses who's run away to Al Amarja because she thinks the nobility are leeches.

Melodramatic Hook

Each character must have at least one melodramatic hook. This is a fact about your character that the GM can use to create storylines. It should be a classic staple of adventure fiction, one that motivates or haunts the character. Whenever this hook comes up in the story, your character should have a strong emotional reaction to it. Some typical melodramatic hooks are old enemies, old allies, painful or traumatic events, and so on.

Crunching Numbers

OK, now that you have a good solid idea of where your character is coming from, it's time to crunch some numbers. Buy the stats, skills, and whatnot that are appropriate for your character.

Copyright © 1998-2001 Brandon Blackmoor