The Concept
The Star Wars 2nd Ed. R&E supplies you with ways to Create a Character Template, however, it has very little on fleshing a Character out. Fleshing a character out entails coming up with a background story. In that background story, you create a concept… a character concept. To develop a character concept and in turn a background for the character, you have to ask yourself questions, like:
- Where/when was my character born?
- What did my character do as a child?
- What unusual experiences did my character have?
- Why did my character ‘choose” to become the character he/ she is now?
- What was my character doing right before the game begins?
There are, of course, other questions you can come up with, though these are among the most common. As you go through these and other questions, do the following:
- Brain-storm on each point, jotting down ideas
- Expand on the ideas
- Highlight the high points
- Come up with your own ideas of advantages and disadvantages the character might have as a result of these ocurances in his/her life.
- Browse the Advantages and Compensations to get more ideas
The System
Each Advanatge & each Compensation have a point value. Each point counts as 1 pip. Depending on the type of character the player is playing, the character can have a certain amount of pips, represented as a dice value, to spend to buy Advantages, which in turn need to be balanced out with an equal or near-equal amount of Compensations. Any points left over can be used towards Attributes. No more than 3 pips or 1D can be used towards Attributes. The player can spend three more points over his limit on Compensations or not spend 3 points in Advantages, but no more than 3 can be converted to attributes.
Depending on what species the player chooses for his character, there is a set amount of points. Because some species already start out with special abilities, they have to be compensated for. The following table lists the amount of Advantage Points a Character recieves using this system:
| Species | Advantage Points |
|---|---|
| Human | 9 |
| Published Alien | 6 |
| Homemade Alien | 12 |
As stated, the points spent on Advantages subracted from the total point spent on Compensations must be <=3. Most Advantages and Compensations have a game effect but they all should be roleplayed, and part of the Character Concept.
Buying Off Compensations
At some point, your character may want to get rid of a Compensation. Compensation points are only supposed to be used and kept track of during character generation – once the game starts, nothing has to add up ever again. Although it is assumed that the player doesn’t expect to get rid of all his Compensations at once or the that the GM doesn’t let it happen, after a while, certain Compensations may become more annoying than fun.
Most Compensations can be gotten rid of fairly simply though it may take time. “Enemies” and “Pursuers” may be killed, bought off, or pacified. “Debts” may be repaid.These are all part of the story, which of course is the most important thing.
However, some Compensations are seemingly here to stay.For example, if you start playing a Human mutant who has a really ugly appearance (and incurs “Alien Prejudice”), it may be very hard to get rid of that. Major surgery might do it, but then again, it might not. But, roleplaying the character might be the better way to go. Perhaps the character becomes so well known or accepted that the prejudice is nullified. If, however, you want to “target” a Compensation that has grown annoying, simply tell your gamemaster. Maybe he or she has some ideas that can be worked into the campaign – that is the best way to “buy off” Compensations.
Gaining Advantages
Naturally, as your character adventures, he is going to pick up “stuff.” These are not “new Advantages” that have to be kept track of – they are just parts of the roleplaying experience. Don’t worry about point costs. The same thing goes for gaining Compensations. If your character does something to bring down a “Compensation,” that’s all part of roleplaying. The “A’s” and “C’s” are meant as a roleplaying “jumping off point” they aren’t all your character is or all he or she is going to be. Keep track of your character’s story – not points.
Special Effects
One last note about Background Generation. Often, especially when you are constructing an alien character, you may want to “enhance” the description of the character or the background of the character to make it more interesting. This is a special effect.
Special effects are those little additions that make a character different. None of these characteristics actually have any game effects (though they do get the 1 point “Alien Prejudice”), so they don’t cost points. More simply, if you want to play a really big, really small, really “handsome” or “beautiful” character – or one that has pointy ears and green skin – unless you pick an additional game modifier, it is just a special effect. Of course, the gamemaster may insist that certain SFX have game effects, but a lot can be taken for granted.