Character Creation Options
This page is here to present the different options for creating a character. Some may prefer one system over another, but I have balanced them so that they are balanced. They are mostly balanced as published, but with my alterations to the standard chargen system, I needed to rebalance. My preferred method is the standard. It provides more options and generates more versatile characters, but it also takes the longest.
TRAINING A SKILL: After character creation, there is a standard method of training a skill, so don't worry if you missed a skill you wanted or a skill wasn't as high as you wanted. Through a number of weeks of study and an EDU check, skills can be learnt and improved. The same is true for improving stats.
TRAINING A SKILL: After character creation, there is a standard method of training a skill, so don't worry if you missed a skill you wanted or a skill wasn't as high as you wanted. Through a number of weeks of study and an EDU check, skills can be learnt and improved. The same is true for improving stats.
STANDARD
The standard chargen starts the character at eighteen. They select three or more (depending on EDU level) background skills at level zero from a specified list of skills. They have the option of trying to go to school as a pre-career option and can goin low level skills (level zero and level one) and improve these skills if they graduate. After their education, which is completely optional, they may attempt to join a specific career, to which acceptance is not guaranteed. If unsuccessful, the character may be required to go through the draft which could land them in almost any career. Each career term is four years, though I am adjusting this depending on survival rolls and life events. The acquisition of skills is based on successful survival rolls, life events, and successful promotions. One character can go through with successes in all of these. Another character can go through failing all of these. The successful character will end up the same age as the failing character, having spent the same amount of time in the various services, and be more than twice as skilled as the failing character. |
THIS IS THE PRIMARY DRAWBACK OF THE STANDARD METHOD, unpredictability and the possibility of producing a less than stellar character. You could be looking for a particular skill and never have the opportunity to take it.
PACKAGE-BASED
After making a few characters, I think this is the best option. It does limit some choices, but it streamlines character creation nicely and allows the player to guarantee they get at least some of the skills they want. Package-based chargen greatly streamlines the process. Players select a background package and a career package. These replace almost everything in the standard method. The Background Package replaces the background skills selected in Standard and the first term. The Career Package then replaces everything the character would have done through their career. There are no life events, no survival rolls, no advancement rolls. The packages are all or nothing. Once the packages are selected and the character mostly completed, the player makes three selections from three short tables (one on each table) to distinguish their character from other characters that took the same packages. To balance this method with the standard method, I am allowing five selections from those table. At the end, the character's age is randomly determined and can range from twenty-one to thirty-six. THE PRIMARY DRAWBACK OF THE PACKAGE METHOD, is the lack of choice and customization. The trade-off being the speed of chargen and the ability to make sure you get the skills you wanted. |
HYBRID
As an additional choice, I am allowing players to mix the Standard and Package methods, with two options. First, you can take the package background and then resolve your career through the standard method. Or, you can select your background skills and first term through the Standard method (including going to one of the pre-career educations), and then use the career Package to complete your character. Either way, you will be able to select three options from the tables at the end of the package-based method. THIS METHOD, minimizes the lack of customization, though it is still significant. But it can also ensure you get the skills you are looking for and can shorten chargen just a little bit. |