There was a discussion a while back about how you should go about making a new character, whether for a new gamer or a veteran gamer who needs a new character as a replacement or for a new game entirely. What follows is a list of opinions by various list-members as to how a player should approach making a new character.
My idea is that we could all outline ideas that would allow starting players to make characters that they would be better able to role-play.
Here I'll start:
1. DON'T make a character who is a better talker than you, or better anything that you could role-play. I made this mistake with my last character - Maverick (who was a favorite chatacter of mine despite the flaw which follows), Mav is a smooth talker, he had 7D con, 7D seduction, and 4D perception, I'm not, it was difficult to think of a con so I would just opt for the easy way out and try rolling my 7D. In other words it resulting in worse role play.
Anyone want to make creating character point number 2?
From: "Lucas, David"
x+1. DON'T make a character that you will lose interest in within a few adventures. Make a character that has room to grow and develop as a person, not just a set of stats. This will mean making a character with flaws, just like every real person out there. It is easier to play these flaws if you understand them yourself; that is, they are your own.
x+2. DO define the character's background a lot. Throw in ex-relationships, old friends who hate you, old friends who have taken up Bantha hunting on the planet furthest from the bright centre of the galaxy; describe your parents, and your relationship with them. And make sure you've got some good hooks in there, so the GM can integrate your background into the current plot.
x+3. If the GM lets you start off with a classic speeder, worth lots of money if only it could be restored, DON'T sell it off as soon as you can turn a profit. And if you begin with a 'droid (even a G-7 Crappy model), don't drop him off on the first rock you can find. In other words, do things for style and not for function, like a real person would. That means giving up the +5D+2 energy armour for the +1D blast vest "because this vest is all the rage in Coruscant."
From: Paul E Nowak
x+4. DON'T give skills to your character you have absolutely no idea about, or that is too different in personality. i.e., don't make him a xenologist specializing in the Dark Lords of the Sith if you can't even name two of the Dark Lords. And don't pick, say, a slicer when you personally hate technology (of course, then why are you playing Star Wars?)
From: Dustin Earnhardt
x+5. DON'T make a character to kill another PC out of spite or anger. This also goes for making characters to kill NPC's as well. I feel that this takes the fun out of the game unless you like to run missions where nothing gets acomplished or your gamemaster likes to run missions that are all combat and no roleplaying. This happened in one of my campaigns and the campaign was totally ruined. Consequentially my gaming group was also disbanded. I have since planned a new campaign that is to start next Saturday. This will not happen again in my campaigns. I also like a lot of the other rules and I am considering using most of them.
From: Rob Lucas
x+6 DO work with the GM and other PCs when creating your character. This means that you try to make your character fit in the campaign setting, in return the other PCs will do the same and the GM will create NPCs and situations that your character's roleplaying strengths will be brought out in ( ie. you have a slug taxi driver who beleives himself to be the messanger of salvation on his people, but at the same time has no confidence, the GM may create an NPC who fanatically beleives in Sluggo, this NPC will then allow Sluggo to explore his "savior" part of his character). We all want to be the most powerful, biggest, and strongest, but this takes away from the dynamic of the game. If your GM is planning a campaign of the voyage from small time heros (or farmboys) to galactic saviors, it doesn't help to make a bounty hunter with 4D dex and 3D+2 str, this makes your characters no longer have to get through with their sheer strength of will, but instead with their sheer brute force, it may be okay in some games. So basically make your character to fit the campaign.
Now ... once you have an approach in mind, what do you do for your character? That's the next page...
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