Character Creation

When you roleplay, you take the part of another person – a "character" that you create. GURPS lets you decide exactly what kind of hero you will become. Asteroid miner? Wizard? Professional time-traveler? You can take your inspiration from a fictional hero or heroine, or create your new “self” from the ground up. Once you know what role you want to play, its time to bring that character to life! The GM (Game Master – the person "running" the game) will give you a number of character points with which to “buy” your abilities. For instance, the stronger you want to be, the more points it will cost. You can also buy advantageous social traits, such as wealth, and special abilities called advantages.

If you want more abilities than you can afford on the budget given to you by your GM, you can get extra points by accepting below-average strength, appearance, wealth, social status, etc., or by taking disadvantages – specific handicaps such as bad vision or fear of heights.

Advanced players can fine-tune these traits by adding enhancements and limitations. Such modifiers will raise or lower the basic point cost of the modified trait.

Start with a character sheet and fill it in as you go along, keeping track of the points you spend.

First, you need to know:

• Power Level of the campaign, starting points (also see Realism and Game Balance)
• Tech Level and Genre of the campaign
• What rules and books are used
• What kind of characters are applicable

The steps for creating a character are:

• Come up with a Character Concept
• Go through all these sections:
  • Racial Templates (if races are used)
  • Basic Attributes and Secondary Characteristics
  • Build, Age, and Beauty
  • Social Background, Status, Rank
  • Wealth and Influence
  • Friends and Foes, Identities
  • Advantages
  • Disadvantages and Sexual Orientation
  • Skills and Techniques
    • Tip: see Choosing Your Skill Levels.
• Assign character points
• Find out starting cash and what equipment is allowed
• Buy equipment