Summary
GET TIPBOX ABOUT OPTION PARALYSIS
Welcome to Character Creation! I'm gonna put it to you straight... Character creation is the hardest and most complicated part of GURPS, but we're here to help! If you have any questions at any point, feel free to hit up the #character-creation channel. All of the actual RPing and gameplay with us should be easily doable from mobile devices, but we recommend creating your character from a computer. It's possible on a phone, but might be a pain.
- Create a blank character using this page as a template. Link to do so is provided below.
- Fill in the sections below to build and describe your character. Use How to Play GURPS and/or the links all the way at the bottom of the character page to look through options. The final point value should be 100. You can take up to -5 in quirks, and -50 in all other negatives.
- Don't worry about adding up and totaling points yourself, the character sheet will do that for you. Work with staff to fill in your character sheet and spend your points. You won't be required to edit Google Sheets if this is your first character, but it's appreciated if you do! Ask us how.
- Describe your character. Backstory Connections are a special thing that give you extra character points. Quirks help bring your character to life. "Short Description" is all that is required, see below.
- What for approval from staff before you go out and RP.
How many points should I spend on each section?
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Step 1: Create a page. CAREFUL.
Use this link to create your character page.
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We created this template to help streamline character creation, and if you don't use the link above, these instructions won't get copied over, and you'll get lost.
The only information you need to fill in right away is Character Name and Title. Character Name is, well, your character's name, or just some placeholder if you haven't decided yet. Title is the Player Name.
Step 2: Ping us to let us know you're working on it.
Please ping @Character Helper to let us know that you've started working on a character. Don't worry, we won't bite, we love pings! We want to know that you've started working on it. We'll need to paste in a blank character sheet for you.
Step 3: Learn how to do "mentions" in Kanka.
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"Mentions" are a quick way to get a link to another page within Kanka to display. This is a mention: How to Play GURPS. The cool thing about mentions is that every page can show you a list of other pages that mention it. This is important because if a change happens that affects an ability you have, then we know to notify you. It also helps other characters who may be looking for the types of skills you have!
To do a mention while editing something in Kanka, type an @ symbol and then start typing the name of the thing you want to link. It will work on both computer and mobile. For example, click the edit button at the top right of this page and try mentioning "How To Play GURPS." If you did it right, it should turn white, and then when you save it, it should be a link.
Please do not move on to the next steps until you have figured out mentions.
THIS SHOULD BE A TIPBOX
Steps 3-?? can really be done in any order. We recommend making at at least one choice at each step, and then coming back to them as you spend the rest of your points later.
Step 3: Choose a Race.
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Click here to view playable races. Once you've chosen one, there are two things you need to do. First, click Edit in the top right and enter in your race. Next, delete all the extra race templates that you don't need. To do this, look for the box on your page that says "Racial Abilities" and click the edit button at the top right:
Step 4: Consider Templates.
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Templates are prepackaged sets of features that you can buy all at once. You don't have to take any templates at all, but if you find one or more that you like, you can add everything in it with one click. All you need to do is mention the name of the template in the "Non-racial Templates" section of your "Character Build" below. Step 5: Consider Advantages.
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What are Advantages? | Available Advantages
When you choose Advantages, edit your "Character Build" using @mentions.
Step 6: Consider Disadvantages.
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What are Disadvantages? | Available Disadvantages
When you choose Disadvantages, edit your "Character Build" using @mentions. Step 7: Consider Skills.
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Skills can be a little bit tricky and complicated. You can read the full text here: Skills, if you like, but if that's overwhelming, here's what you really need to know right now:
- Skills are based off of Basic Attributes, or (in rare cases) Will or Per. Increasing these increases your score in the associated skills.
- Some skills are harder than others, and start off lower than others. (E=Easy, A=Average, H=Hard, VH=Very Hard)
- You can improve your skills by spending 1, 2, or a multiple of 4 points on them (there is actually a cool reason why)
- You don't usually have to have points in a skill to be able to attempt it, but you will be bad at it without. For most skills, there is a "default" value, usually based off of a Basic Attribute and the Difficulty of the skill. This is what you roll if you don't have any points in that particular skill.
- Some advantages raise certain skill levels, and some disadvantages decrease them.
- Your character sheet will handle the calculations of your skill levels automatically!
Here is the full list of available Skills. There are a lot of them, so we've broken them down into Skill Categories to help you choose.
Recommended approach to skills: Add any skills that you think your character might use frequently to your character sheet, regardless of whether you think you might spend points on them now. Then, spend 1 point on skills that you think are important to your character, I recommend spending 1 point each on 10-15 skills. Then, pick a few skills that you want to be really good at, and spend either 2 or 4 points on them.
Weapons
Your rolls to hit with your weapons are also skills! See Combat Skills. They are sectioned into their own category for convenience only; leveling them up works exactly the same as above.
Spells
Each spell is also a skill. Unlike all other aspects of the game, Spells are not totally contained within Kanka, because that's just too many. If you're interested in magic, see Magic. There are three different types of spellcasters; it depends on whether they use Magery 1+, Sorcery, or Power Investiture.
Step 8: Consider Basic Attributes.
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Basic Attributes - edit your "Character Build" to indicate how you want to set your Basic Attributes. Step 9: Consider Secondary Characteristics.
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Step 10: Consider Social Characteristics.
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Social Characteristics - edit your "Character Build" to indicate how you want to set your Social Characteristics. Most people will leave Wealth and TL alone.Step 11: Spend all your points.
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Steps 3-10 were a tour of all the different features you can spend your points on. Go back over each of them, in any amount you like, until you've spent all your points. Work with a member of staff on your character sheet, because it does all of the calculations for you, and also keeps track of how many points you've spent so far. Keep at it until your point value reaches 100. Step 12: Describe your Character.
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Short Description: Click the Edit button at the top right of your page to edit in your short description. This is for other players to read when they want to get a snapshot of your character, so please keep it concise. If you want to add more than what you can fit here, see below!
Quirks: These are small features of your character; you get points back for choosing them. Note that you can choose a couple now and save a couple for later once you've gotten a feel for the character in a few scenes. These go under "Personality and Description." To edit this, hit the "Edit" button in the top right of your screen and go to the "Traits" tab.
Build: Please fill in your character's height and weight. This chart gives realistic ranges for height and weight based on your ST.
Looks: Please either provide a picture for your character, or a description of what they look like.
More: If you want to add more description than the two items above, we highly encourage that! You can add as much information as you want at the bottom of "Personality and Description" or in your "Traits" tab. Here are some good ideas: looks, accent, mannerisms, backstory, origin, family...
Step 5: Choose Equipment.
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- Mundane tools, possessions, clothing, cost of living, etc. are all waived, as long as they make sense for your character and don't have any mechanical bonuses. This includes but is not limited to anything on this page: Negligible Cost. You can also start with an Adventurer's Kit.
- If you spent points on weapon skills, then you get starting weapons for free. See Buying Weapons and Armor to find out how this works. Then go to Weapons / Armor and Shields to choose your gear.
Step 6: Checklist
- Character name is in the "Name" field
- Player name is in the "Title" field
- You picked a race.
- You picked some Advantages.
- You picked some Disadvantages.
- You picked some Skills.
- You considered some Templates.
- You have a "short summary" at the top of your character page.
- Your height and weight are filled in.
- You have an image or a description.