Gen's Character Creation Walk-Through
Gen's Character Creation Walk-Through
This guide is intended to be a basic step-by-step process in creating a character for Sinai. In no way is this a definitive guide on how you must make a character, but you still may find this document to be useful.
The first step is choosing who and what you want to be. Do you have a particular species in mind or career?
Example: Bob likes cats, and he decides he wants to play one on Sinai. He also likes the idea of a traveling merchant type of character.
With a species, the first thing you need to do is look up the information on that species. Does it have a native country? A native language? Are there any particular beliefs that they might have from that country or any social habits? With a career, you need to think about how this career might draw a PC into a plot. Note that a "career" might be something as simple as being a bodyguard or junk collector or something elaborate like being a wealthy shop-owner or merchant.
Example: After some research, Bob finds that there are lots of Khattas in Sylvania, Chronotopia, Rephidim, and the Himaat. After some consideration, he decides to play a Himaatian Khatta, which means that Bob's character will probably dress in luxurious silks and talk in an elaborate and flowery way. He also decides that his character will be a jewelry merchant, selling trinkets and gems all over Sinai. Bob decides to name his character Zhamir.
The next step is to figure out points. For starters you need to look up the statistics for the species you've chosen to see if there are any racial requirements.
Example: There are no racial skills required to play a Khatta, but Bob gives Zhamir Nightvision (1 pt) and Natural Weapon: Retractable Claws (1 pt) just so he'll seem a bit more catlike.
After that, you need to start working up possessions, skills, and other details. The best idea would be to write down everything that interests you on a piece of paper and not worry about point totals just yet. You can hack and prune as necessary later, but it's a good idea to have everything in front of you before you choose what you want and don't want.
Example: Bob wants his PC to have ample possessions so he'll be able to have wares to sell. He decides on 4 pts Possessions, plus 4 pts Wealth. Bob wants Zhamir to be able to appraise things and maybe even have a knowledge of artifacts, so he gives him 3 pts of Knowledge about jewelry appraising, and then 3 pts in being able to craft jewelry (Artisan). He also figures it might be a good idea for his PC to know a few languages, so he also purchases 2 pts of a Linguist skill. Zhamir may need to defend himself against brigands sometime as well, so he purchases 5 pts for a Weapon Skill with a scimitar. And finally just so Zhamir might be greeted in a friendly manner where he travels, he decides to have 4 pts of Status.
Once you have your points picked out, it's time to start to cut and prune. It's also a good idea to note when the "package" deals might be cheaper than buying a bunch of individual skills instead.
Example: Zhamir's point total is 27. One thing of note is that he has 12 points in total sunken into Wealth and Status and Possessions alone. It'd be a bit cheaper to simply buy 10 pts in Status, so Bob opts for that instead -- taking the wealth and possessions that come with it. He also decides to lower Zhamir's fighting skill from 5 pts to 3, and to drop the use of claws entirely -- giving him a total of 22 points spent on character creation.
There is also the matter of Disadvantages. The important things to keep in mind when picking disadvantages are how long you intend to keep them, if they will be a plot hook or a hindrance, and if you are truly willing to play these things.
For example, Vartans are attracted to shiny objects and Vartan PCs with this disadvantage might be lured into a potentially dangerous situation or cheated because of a shiny object. The player will be expected to act on this disadvantage from time to time or else he will be encouraged to buy it off with experience points. There are other disadvantages like phobias (afraid of bugs), enemies (hunted by unknown people, bounty on head, rivals), physical problems (drug addiction, medicine requirements, blindness, or bad eyes), or attitude disadvantages (refuses to trust any mages, will never tell a lie). All we ask is that your disadvantage be something that doesn't hinder role-play (like a character who snubs everyone she meets, or is so shy she never wants to leave her house) and that it would be something that you are willing to play when the time comes to play it.
Example: Bob decides to give Zhamir -1 in Jealous Rivals. It will mean that he might find something he worked up for sabotaged or stolen from him, or he may find himself going head to head against people out to ruin his business. On top of that, he gives Zhamir a -1/2 Hates Water disadvantage. If Zhamir's clothing or fur gets damp he goes into fits, and woe to him if he ever needs to take an ocean voyage or gets caught in the rain! On top of that, he gets a -1/2 Tries to Win Every Business Deal, Even if he Takes a Loss to Do So disadvantage.
From this point, all you need to do is write up a background plus some ideas on what you'd like to do with the character. It's all right to leave some holes in the character's background, and even better to let the GM know what's available for further development. A small back-story on how your PC got to her current point would be nice, but what's really important to us is where you want to go with your character now. You should also try to be flexible. Sometimes a character will develop in directions you hadn't planned.
Example: Zhamir becomes Zhamir Ali Ut-Albarat, sixth son of Hasheed Ut-Albarat. When Zhamir turned sixteen, his father gave him his portion of the family wealth and sent his boy out into the world to make his fortune or starve. Zhamir prospered and formed a business selling trinkets and eventually expensive jewelry all over the Himaat, and in fact all over Sinai. The Khatta now travels the world with his wares, hunting for more dazzling and unique items to buy and sell. For plot hooks, Bob offers that he wouldn't mind Zhamir traveling through dungeons in search of jeweled treasures, or traveling to different countries to try and sell his wares, or perhaps getting commissioned to craft some elaborate piece for a noble and having to deal with his rivals trying to steal his prize. Also, since Zhamir can appraise items to a certain extent, he might be useful in a plot centering around a magical piece of jewelry.
Zhamir's character sheet write-up looks like this:
10 pts - Status (Major, Expert): Rich merchant (includes a small manor, servants, 4-pt wealth)
3 pts -- Knowledge (Minor, Good): Jewelry Appraisal
3 pts - Artisan (Minor, Good): Jewelry Crafting
2 pts - Linguist (Minor, Average): knows Eeee, Gallisian, and Nagai. (Also speaks Rephidim standard and Khattan)
3 pts - Weapon Skill (Minor, Good): Scimitar
1 pts -- Nightvision
-1 pts -- Jealous rivals
-1/2 pt -- Hates water (getting wet, swimming, etc.)
-1/2 pt -- Must win a deal at any cost, even if he takes a loss in the bargain
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