Making Characters – Player Perspective

The character Quickstart provides assistance with creating the basics of a character in a step-by-step manner.

Creating New Features/Effects: All users (especially GMs) are encouraged to develop other creation options and methods for use in their own games. All materials should be built with the documented Incarna Game Design elements.

The Story of Morgan Ironwolf

A step by step story of the player Julia building her character named "Morgan Ironwolf" in the seting of The Steel Realms.

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There are mechanics to become familiar with and setting & Game Master limitations to consider before you make your character.

Steel Realms

The Game Master and the Game Group are choosing the fantasy setting of the Steel Realms. There may be a thousand or more pages of content for that, but its enough to check out the home page for the setting to get an idea of flavor of it. The setting has many options, but the group members even examine playing some cut throat “Evil” Characters, but in the end decide to play characters with a ethics and behavior that align with the notion of “good”. The group considers a common Code of Conduct, but the players are too diverse in how they want to role-play their characters.

Julia talks to the other players in her group. She decides to play a human warrior type to give the group a solid source of dealing damage to enemies. Being a human in the setting is easy for her for now, she wont have to think too differently when she is role-playing her character in game. After looking at the aptitudes, it is obvious that Morgan (her character) is a kinetic based warrior type who will wear armor and wield weapons directly against their enemies.

Ask to see if Character Chronicle Story Rewards will grant any Rewards.

Play Group Considerations

Group Needs: Players should be aware of the other PCs in the group and their outlooks and codes in order to make a character that best fits in with them and to reduce overlap in character abilities so each PC has a better chance to display their unique characteristics. Participating in guidelines used in a Game Group for character creation can be very effective. It is good to consider what your group needs (missing capabilities for succeeding in their journey), but that should not be the driving force of the creative and personal experience of coming up with a character concept.

Group Fit: It is not up to GM to make your character fit in the group. The GM can help with the back story and to get them into the game. If your character’s behavior or Code of Conduct does not fit with the rest of the group or clashes with ideas in the setting and you built them that way, then it’s not up to the other players or game master to accommodate you by contriving reasons why your character would not be negatively impacted. If you want to play a character that is going to force other players’ characters to look the other way, or compromise their own ideals, then you should expect to have to justify it, and or live with the consequences. Disruptive characters may be very short lived as other players refuse to support or protect them in their activities, or even actively attack them to save themselves from the liability.

Considering Character Creation Limits

Character Chronicle Allowed
Best Practice
Setting Limits
– species
– backgrounds
– Vocation/Class

Player Character Materials