Federation Frontier Character Creation 101
Right, so you want to join this great RPG site you�ve found, and suddenly you have to create a character! With any luck this little guide should make the process as easy and painless as possible! (Note, characters are referred to as �he� throughout, because it�s easier than writing (s)he and his/her all the way through!)
So, starting at the beginning, you have to write a BIO. Now there are several required pieces of information, that you need to think about, these are as follows:
Character
name:
Character age:
Character Gender:
Chosen Department:
Race:
Siblings:
Siblings status:
Mothers name:
Mothers status:
Fathers name:
Fathers status:
Characters background:
Hobbies:
Disappointments:
Achievements:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Likes:
Dislikes
Eye colour:
Hair colour:
Height (in Metres and Centimetres):
Weight(in Kilograms and Grams):
Distinguishing marks:
So let�s start with a name, it can be almost anything, your own name is fine, or find one of those name generators, or those things where you take your pets best friends name and multiply it by two or whatever. Searching the internet for �Star Trek Names� or the like is also always good for inspiration.
Age, well, dependent on race, don�t make it too old, you are just joining as a junior officer remember, but if your character is coming from another force, he may of course be older. Most people would join Starfleet academy at 18, spend 3 years there and become officers at 21.
Gender, again, feel free to be either, or for the more exotic aliens, neither.
Department is an important choice, as it will have a long term effect on the way you play the game. For now, I will give a brief explanation of each, and will go into more detail at another time.
Engineering: The heart of the ship. Characters in this department will have to solve puzzles and problems created by the mission. A rough knowledge of the available technology is useful, but it will be assumed your character knows how to do things that you might not.
Suits: A creative type, new and interesting solutions are always in demand!
Medical: In this department, characters will have to mainly cater for the myriad injuries that can happen in outer space. Occasionally an away team may need a healer, or a virus might be spreading on board, or a certain type of alien may need to be destroyed through nano-probes. Guess who they�ll need then. A medical officer needs to be ready for anything, especially when things take a turn for the worse.
Suits: Someone who wants to have a part in any mission, and has good judgement.
Security: Believe it or not, a difficult position to play well. You really can�t just run in and shoot people all the time. You have to know the ship, and how to subdue without violence. Get good at those negotiation skills!
Suits: Someone who likes to get their hands on guns, but knows when not to use them.
Tactical: This kind of character will be responsible, amongst other things, for ship to ship combat. You have to know where, when and how to hit them, and with what.
Suits: Well, someone who has a grasp of tactics!
Marine: They are hard, tough as nails and get to use the biggest guns (barring tactical.) The marines help out with security when they need it, but really come into their own in boarding and assaults. If you don�t mind your action in short hard bursts at the peak of a mission, the marines may be for you.
Suits: Anyone who likes the idea of being a soldier, but can still wait a while for combat.
Science: A science character could be called upon to solve any problem which is not related to engineering or medicine, and sometimes even help out in these two departments. You are there for research, and to discover new things. Not much direct combat, but the science department can be instrumental in winning through other means, (shield penetration etc.)
Suits: An enquiring mind, it will help if you know quite a bit about Star Trek science already; what is invented, what isn�t and what is impossible.
Flight Corps: If you are in the flight corps, like the marines most of your action will be in large battles, keeping down enemy shields, strafing on a planet, or airlifting men to safety. You may have little to do while not on a mission but train and have a social life.
Suits: Someone who knows the terminology fighter pilots use, and enjoys the death or glory lifestyle.
When making your decision, remember that some departments may do things that are not immediately apparent, and even if you do choose one with a lot of free time, that�s a lot of time for character development, which is all part of the fun! Choose wisely.
Now, race is another complicated one. You can be nearly any race, barring delta or gamma quadrant races, as long as you have a good story to back it up. (I�ll come to that later.) If in doubt, I would recommend going for something easy, Human, Klingon or Vulcan for example (or a mix of any two!) However, if you have a really good idea, go for it! Just don�t make yourself super powerful, no one likes that.
Now the next few areas are all linked, in fact, by thinking through your characters background, you should be able to answer every other section on the sheet. This is possibly the most important part of the BIO, as it defines who you are in the game, and how you will play. It might help to think how you would describe your own life, and then change it to fit your character. Ask questions, �How did he get on with his parents/sibling?� �Did he have a happy upbringing?�
Your hobbies should come straight from your background, if you come from a desert world, are you going to like waterskiing? You might, because of the novelty, but on the other hand will you be any good at it? If you are at a loss, perhaps some of your own hobbies could be included.
Your disappointments obviously come from your past, think through for specific events in the characters life, the same for achievements. Perhaps he could have achieved something after a great deal of effort, and failure, which fits in to the disappointments. Strengths and weaknesses, these will probably link to your disappointments and achievements. Again, what is he good at? What is he poor at? Likes and dislikes can be anything you want, but bear in mind your upbringing. If you were raised outside the federation, in a human colony, you might dislike aliens slightly; on the other hand, there might be a specific race that hurt you in the past. Or it might just be that you don�t like chocolate ice cream ;-) Seriously, little details like this make your character more real, and if he is real to you, he�ll be more real to others when you play him.
You might find it better to create a character in your mind, and then write down his faults and strengths, likes and dislikes, even to put him into a different department to suit him better. This can work better than deciding you want a science officer that is good at close combat and hates Romulans, then trying to make a character out of him.
Finally, you have to describe you physical appearance. This is of course completely your choice, but try to make sure it fits your race and character well. This is unless, of course, you have a really good story behind your short, slender Klingon medical officer.
So in summary: Think of your character first: �Who do I want to be?�
Develop his background: �What is he like?�
Begin to think about how he acts �What would he do here?�
Put in strengths/weakness/likes/dislikes as they occur.
Build your BIO around your character, not the other way round.
Make him real enough to play him in ways you might not behave.
Join up and have fun!
By MCapt Apollo Vindi