Character Creation Roundup

Last time, we posted the sixth installment in our Character Creation series to help walk you through character creation for different game lines. We thought this would be a good time to summarize our thoughts about what we were hoping to accomplish, reshare the posts, and then gather some feedback from you.

Character creation is an important part of playing our games, and we understand that a developer can’t always be on hand to explain the text as written. For players new to a game or setting with a lot of lush lore, character creation can be downright intimidating or even confusing because each game has its own conventions. For example Eddy Webb, the developer and creator for the Pugmire line, offered this advice: “Pugmire character creation will look familiar to players who love Dungeons & Dragons, but it has its own quirks to ensure Pugmire players have a better gaming experience appropriate to the setting. Definitely double-check to make sure you’re doing it correctly!”

By breaking up each post into a step-by-step process, we noticed many of you were following along and chiming in with your feedback, too. Some games, like Exalted 3rd Edition, also have certain conventions that beg larger-than-life characters—but not always. Players can and do create characters they want to play, which is part of the reason why we enjoyed seeing what Bill wanted to play as opposed to what we told him to write about.

The series is a blend of six characters that tap into the World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, Exalted, Pugmire, and Scarred Lands game lines. The games and characters featured are:

• Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition – Jack was a reflecting pool, a human changed into living water. Over time, Jack learned to control his water shape during his captivity, and eventually flowed out and across his mistress’ estate to find the Hedge. Slowly but surely, Jack flowed through the Hedge, under it, and around it, until he was free on the other side. For more about Jack, click for CTL 2E character creation here.
• Exalted 3rd Edition – Ayesha is a Solar Exalted. In the game’s backstory, the Solars were mostly killed off by the Dragon-Blooded. Solars were cursed ages ago by enemies they defeated. Subsequently — and over many, many years — many of the Solars began to grow drunk with power or go mad, and so the Dragon-Blooded Exalts — and others — went to war and defeated the Solars. It’s this background into which new Solars step, and the air of suspicion and mistrust surrounding Solars makes for a challenging environment. For more about Ayesha, click for Exalted 3E character creation here.
• Pugmire – In Pugmire, characters are playable dogs. Tralfaz Corgi was the third child of a prosperous merchant family. One day, while moving a wagonload of goods from Houndton to Pugmire, Tralfaz stumbled over a small object, half-buried in the muddy roadside. It was a cylindrical object with lightning bolts stamped into its sides. Tralfaz found that, after keeping the strange object in his pocket for a time, it would warm to the touch of his paw. He became obsessed with learning the ways of the artisans, masters of ancient lore who deciphered the workings of artifacts from the days of Man many ages ago. For more about Tralfaz, click for Pugmire character creation here.
• Scarred Lands – To create a character appropriate for an adventure in Ghelspad and beyond, players will use the D&D 5E Player’s Handbook and supplement choices with the Scarred Lands Player’s Guide. Dinesh is a Slitherin. Dinesh’s fur is dark grey, with a slightly salt-and-pepper look to it. Like nearly all slitherin, he has rat-like features. His snout is much more pronounced than a human’s, with a black nose. His ears poke through the holes in his hood (when he wears one) and his teeth are sharp and pointy. He dresses in dark, neutral colors as befits his choice of careers, but when in friendly environments or social situations, Dinesh prefers bright colors, wearing sparkly baubles and jewelry that dangle from his ears, around his neck, and even from a few subtle piercings in his tail. For more about Dinesh, click for Scarred Lands character creation here.
• Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition – Geoffrey Groves moved to a new city pursuing a pay-the-bills job and hasn’t made many friends yet. He plays the guitar for fun and has honed his talent over the years with diligent practice. When the weather’s nice, he often plays his guitar at night outdoors by the waterfront or in a nearby park. His sire will first encounter him during one of his performances. For more about Geoffrey Groves, click for VTR 2E character creation here.
• W20 Changing Breeds – To create a character using this W20 supplement, players require a copy of the W20 core rulebook. Keira is a Corax who likes dance music, jewelry, and going out most nights. She favors wearing black to compliment her dark hair and often dons sunglasses to hide her ink-black eyes, the mark of her breed, Homid. As a Homid, Keira was born human and that acts as her natural form. Keira wears a black trench coat and carries a large messenger bag over her shoulder. The coat has lots of extra hidden pockets and the bag is large enough to carry several items if needed. For more about Keira, click for W20 Changing Breeds character creation here.

Now that we’ve offered six installments, we wanted to pause and touch base with all of you. We have a pretty good idea that most of you aren’t “new” to these game lines, but we’re not sure if that’s the case or not. In the comments below, can you tell us what you’d like to see more (or less) of if we decide to proceed with another installment? Your experience playing our games would be helpful, too, because that will help us tailor these posts in the future.

Thanks! And happy gaming!