Based on the feedback from our GM, about to start a new character (Diplomat, not sure of the specialization) and am having a blast figuring it out. I bounced around a few ideas and then went to Google images and looked for " Science Fiction Ambassadors " and after seeing a bunch of images I am now inundated with new ideas and backstories and it got me to wondering how the rest of you build your characters?

thanks in advance,

CreativeMonkey

and, on a side note, I'm looking at Agitator and it looks very nice, but would be interested in input from anyone that has gone this or another route with Diplomat as to what you liked about the specialization?

thanks!

Character idea, then pick a career/spec that reflects it best.

1 hour ago, 2P51 said:

Character idea, then pick a career/spec that reflects it best.

so, backstory, motivations, etc, all from scratch? Where do you take inspiration? Close your eyes and daydream?

Here’s the order that I do for character creation:

1. Career/Spec: What seems interesting. It isn’t really all that fancy of a process.

2. Species: The Complete Species Guide is my go-to tool. I’ll typically pick out a characteristic I want at 3, and scroll through that portion of the guide.

3. Background: Unless I already have something in mind, I use the options in the Career’s sourcebook.

4. Obligation: Unless I already have something in mind, I use the options in the Career’s sourcebook. I never roll for O bligation and base it on Background and Species.

5. Motivation: Unless I already have something in mind, I use the options in the Career’s sourcebook. I never roll for Motivation and typically base it on Background, Obligation, and Species.

6. XP: Once I know about the character, I drill out the mechanical side of things. I suppose I also deal with derived attributes in this step.

7. Gear and Appearance: The Career’s sourcebook is, again, a great asset for this. Otherwise, I just look through the Core Rulebook for what I need.

2 hours ago, 2P51 said:

Character idea, then pick a career/spec that reflects it best.

Pretty much this.

38 minutes ago, MonkeyInSpace said:

so, backstory, motivations, etc, all from scratch? Where do you take inspiration? Close your eyes and daydream?

Pretty much yeah. Coming up with character concepts, and fleshing out their backstories isn't something I have issues with. That's the easy part for me. The mechanics are where my brain starts to just tune out, especially in more crunch heavy systems like D20. I will usually have an idea that I want to try, like "A Consular Sage that focuses entirely on using Foresee and Battle Meditation to deal with conflicts, and doesn't do direct combat if he can avoid it." Then I build it based on that idea, and look for a species that might be fitting based on the concept. If none really stick out, I'll just pick one, though I usually default to human, because I find it to be less hassle. Plus, the extra XP and 2 free ranks is super nice.

I get a general idea of the type of character, and also look at how that PC would fit in the group. For example:

I got an idea for a Trandoshan who expresses his people's philosophy and religion in a somewhat interesting way. Specifically, he finds a group or cause he believes in that is under threat, then he works to ensure that those people or that cause is protected at all times. By him. Essentially, rather than devoting himself to hunting, he is more of a shepherd. This is religious to him, but that's personal. That will get me a motivation, but the background will be further fleshed out once I see how the character fits in the game and the party.

From that, I look at what we are doing as a group. In an Edge of Empire game, I would likely gravitate to Hired Gun: Bodyguard, but could see Enforcer being an equally interesting choice. If the group already had some combat focus, I could instead go with Bounty Hunter: Gadgeteer or Colonist: Performer to beef up the Mechanics capacity (keeping them alive with sweet gear or by making the ship not crash or explode) or by being a very unorthodox face.

In an Age of Rebellion game, this would likely be a Soldier: Commando or Medic, but could make a cool background for an Ace: Gunner as well. Again. if the group is stacked in bruisers, I could just as easily build this concept as a Commander: Instructor and run a fairly terrifying sergeant. They would all work with the core concept: a Trandoshan who sees his purpose as serving as a shield to those who are making the galaxy a better overall place.

In a Force and Destiny game this character would almost certainly be a Consular, which would be very fun to play given how Trandoshans are generally perceived. As the Jedi way is under constant threat, he would work to learn as much as he could, all the while spreading that knowledge to others of like mind.

From there, I would pick a wildly different variety of Abilities (some builds would have Br 4, Ag 3, 2 in all else; the Consular build would instead be B 3, A 1, I 3, C 2, W 3, P 3; others would vary), mesh my backgrounds with the other PCs to flesh out our shared backstory, and go from there.

1 hour ago, MonkeyInSpace said:

so, backstory, motivations, etc, all from scratch? Where do you take inspiration? Close your eyes and daydream?

Different concepts from fiction and then reimagine it in Star Wars.

I like to start with career, thinking about interesting paths through the talent tree. Then I'll look through species to match abilities/starting characteristics to the path that has inspired me. I'll also consider species choices that play against type, as that can make for fun roleplay.

As to a Diplomat concept, I love the idea of a Propagandist in the vein of Joseph Fiennes' character in Enemy at the Gates . Maybe with a touch of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam . Most of the talents that affect skill rolls apply to Deception, so a species with a high Cunning and a free rank in Deception has obvious synergy. Neimoidians and Gossams are spot on. Devaronians meet the basics but have a one in Presense which isn't ideal. Bothans are a thing. Gotals have the fun sense emotions ability that could play well into a front line reporter concept. But Clawdite might be the most interesting. Taking on the persona of a recently fallen Rebel soldier to fake sacrificial heroics, or emulating a captured Imperial officer repenting for his crimes in a holonet vid - that sounds cool. False flag attacks? - now we're having fun.

A Slicer/Agitator based on the movie Hackers. Lot's of high profile schenanigans, slicing the holonet to get the word out about the Empire. "Slice the Empire!!" *raises fist*.

Sidenote, I LOVE the fact that the first row of images for the google search of Scifi Ambassadors was Delen from Babylon 5. That makes my non-existent soul happy.

Let's see, other ideas for Ambassador type characters:

A former member of the Separatist faction, still pushing against the Empire, seeing as the Republic they fought against became an all powerful, totalitarian dictatorship that now rules with an iron fist. The diplomat uses his connections with groups that were already on the outside of the Republic, to try and foster support and funding for the Rebellion, who he sees as the best chance the old Separatist movement had at this point. He might not agree with everything about what they want to do, end goal, but they're the best game in town to stop the Empire at this point.

My process is iterative, where I pop between mechanics and story. I might start by reading through descriptions of species until one strikes my fancy. Something about them might give ma an idea for a career, which might send me to look at pictures, which could send me to a new career, all the while a backstory starts to flesh out in my mind, which directs me to a spec or talents or powers.

Really, I just pick some portion of a character and start reading.

48 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

A former member of the Separatist faction, still pushing against the Empire, seeing as the Republic they fought against became an all powerful, totalitarian dictatorship that now rules with an iron fist.

All of my Age of Rebellion characters ever.

Find a race that seems interesting, read up on them. Find a career that seems fitting and interesting, come up with a loose framework of a backstory and then start playing. Backstory and relationships evolve during play and the system is great for adding in people that you knew once upon a time via the use of destiny points.

I try not to put too much into a backstory for a character - oftentimes a few salient bullet points are all a GM needs to include my backstory in the game.

58 minutes ago, themensch said:

I try not to put too much into a backstory for a character - oftentimes a few salient bullet points are all a GM needs to include my backstory in the game.

I usually don't have much choice in it, as it sort of autofills itself while I'm structuring the character. When I'm asking myself the basic character questions to give him dimension, the answers sort of backfill. "Ok well if he used to be an Imperial but isn't anymore, something must've happened to make him turn, what happened? Hmm, he probably saw something terrible done by a Moff, possibly killing an entire town of people to find a single Rebel cell. Ok, so he has an aversion to violence, especially large scale violence like that. But wait, if he was a member of the Imperial Navy, he probably had a family, who are likely still loyal citizens. What do they think about his sudden desertion and criminal status? His parents are probably hurt and angry, and will likely try and aid the Empire in finding him, so there's a conflict there..." etc etc. You get the idea

Mostly it just colors how I will roleplay the character, as far as motivations for certain actions he takes, what choices he'd likely make when in a situation. But plenty of it could be fuel for a GM to use for plot hooks.

I usually come up with an idea first, then I'll try to translate it into numbers. From there I'll start filling out the backstory. I have a very hard time just sitting down and creating a character unless I have some sort of story inspiration.

If need a character, and nothing is coming to me I'll start looking at pictures, or through old books to see if anything triggers an idea. If that fails I will sometimes just start playing with numbers and see if a talent or something calls to me.

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 8:03 AM, themensch said:

I try not to put too much into a backstory for a character - oftentimes a few salient bullet points are all a GM needs to include my backstory in the game.

That's kind of how I am. I used to write long stories that were really just for me (no one else read them), so I started shortening things to a series of bullet-points for myself of the salient points.

thanks for all the feedback!

I typically start with a concept, or even drawing of a character, such as "Mandalorian Jedi" or "dual-wielding Albinio Wookiee". After that, I flesh out the background and stats.

With Oggdude's generator, of course!

But seriously, for me, I like to work with the party, pick a role (pilot, medic, mechanic, face etc), then decide what fits into that role. If I get a crazy idea, I think it out a bit then go the GM and make sure he agrees.

I'm partial to the quartermaster as a diplomat spec. It's a nice well rounded spec and I have a tendency for well rounded characters. For example bounty hunter gadgeteer. Niman disciple is my favorite lightsaber spec. For me I start with a well rounded spec that roughly fits my concept and then choose other specs that synergize and get me closer to the concept.

I also think martial arts/brawling is cool in rpgs

There are a few things I do.

1) In some cases, I'll see what other characters everyone else is playing. I then ask what Niche do we need filled, if something needs to be filled I'll fill it and go from there.

2) Regardless of my first step, I go to the top of the mountains and meditate there for the next 24-48 hours (Depending on weather and time of year). Write down what I perceived in a journal, which will include a name, and use that as a foundation for exploration of the next steps.

3) Consult star signs to get a sense of who my character is in terms of species

4) Do a Tarot reading to decide my characters past and possibly what they intend for the future

5) Check the chinese Zodiac to get a sense of who they might be as a person.

6) Combine all my findings with the aforementioned journal and put it all together.

7) If career and spec hasn't been picked, do a tea reading to see what the cosmos has planned.

Honestly, it's the only civilised way to do character creation.

I have no set methodology. Right now we're about 3 weeks away from wrapping up one campaign and we're toying with the idea of doing a Next Generation, picking up with the current PC's kids some 20 years down the road, centered on the colony that the current batch of PCs has been helping to establish. So that kind of sets my background in - well, not necessarily stone, but certainly gives it framework. I hadn't thought of the specifics yet, but the background is (probably) going to be that he/she/it is tired of living under Mom's shadow. He joins the planetary Self Defense Force, but is always compared to all the awesome stuff that mom did - not even necessarily intentional, but just that 1,200 experience points casts a long shadow.

As for what tree? That's a combination of things. Do I have a strong concept (Like the time I played an IRA-like terrorist that was a Stormtrooper clone), then I sort through until I find one that fits, like Solder->Heavy for my terrorist. No strong concept? Then I'll think of what I haven't played yet or haven't played in a very, very long while. Have I done a pilot in the last 4 or 5 characters? No? How about that? Or I'll pick through the books and see if there's anything there that I've not played yet that looks cool. Or if I want to try the Signature Abilities and see how they play.

And of course I'll ask about and see what the others at the table are thinking about playing. I don't want to step on anybody's toes and I don't want to accidentally double down on someone.

Or I'll be influenced by outside movies and TV. My very first character, back in 1987, was a shameless mashup of Indy and Han (Come on, I was still a stupid teenager-ish and brand new to RPGs). My thief that I'm currently building? If I said that I wasn't a slightly bit swayed by all the Lupin the 3rd that I've been watching the last couple of weeks, I'd be lieing.

So my TL;DNR version - I have no good answer for you.