Fleshing Out Your Character

Creating Your Character

Whether you follow these steps before or after you choose your race/class does not matter, but it may be easier after you have made a decision. Since this world contains no magic and the classes to choose from are different and less in number, your character may feel relatively simple and flat. To help create a complex and lively character, you will want to delve deep into the personality and backstory of your character, without looking to much at combat and ability stats and numbers. Xanathar's Guide to Everything provides great information and random tables to generate things like family and backstory events if you can't think of one on your own.

Backstory

The following questions and information should help guide you into fleshing out your character so it feels like a "real" person. Spend as much time as you want developing your character's story, passions, and personality.  

• The Important Locations section describes smaller settlements such as Xantham, Andasa, and Freewater and larger cities like Kingshill and New Delver.
• Take a look at the variety of places to live and decide where you lived before you joined the UNSC. Think about why you live there and how you got there. Is your family with you or not? If not, why so? What does your family look like? Do you have a small or large family?
• How old are you? Did you have a job before you joined the UNSC or did you join as soon as you turned 18?
• Speaking of which, why did you join the UNSC in the first place? Did a family member within the UNSC get killed? Did the Covenant destroy your home world or kill a family member? Or do you have personal reasons?
• What kind of person are you? Are you loud and outspoken? Or are you quiet and decisive? Spend lots of time giving your character enough traits to feel unique and like a real person. Use inspiration from real people if necessary, but make sure you don't just copy!
• Do you have any friends on Xenoth? If so, who are they and what do they do? Where do they live? How well are they living?
• Do you have any natural talents? If so, what are they?

Military Career

• Do you carry any odd symbols/items with you as a token of your past? If so, what is it?
• Have you done any form of specialized training other than your basic training? For example, did you go to flight school to learn how to be a pilot or did you take a class learning how to use the UNSC's scientific equipment?

Character Rewards

DMs, reward your players for creating dense characters. If your player decides that their character went through special training to learn how to repair and use UNSC equipment, think about giving them proficiency in some form of artisan's tools and proficiency in UNSC technology. If your player has a backstory where they were a pilot, perhaps give them an extra bonus when flying a vehicle. Whatever unique features and talents a player comes up with during character creation, reward them for it! (Although this doesn't mean your players can keep making up talents to keep receiving benefits)   Speak with your DM about creating your character and ask them to host a session 0 for your group if they haven't already. It may take some time to make a character you love, but doing so will reward you greatly in the future!