Add Foils and Fine Details
Make sure your character has a name. Detail their appearance and mannerisms. Declare any personal goals, subplots and rivalries.
Category: World Building
Character generation in Unknown Armies is a collaborative player-led process that is tightly integrated with world-building. It is designed for setting the campaign stage and scenario objectives, while knitting the cabal group together and into a world that both the players and GM want to explore.
It takes place as the first session of play, known as the Character Phase.
References: UA3, Book 2: Run. Chapter 2 ‘Objectives’. Chapter 3 ‘Characters, Cabals and the Stage’.
Check Mental State
Count how many hardened notches your character has. Check for burnout (25 notches or two fully hardened shock meters). Mark failed notches (1 per 5 hardened notch, rounded up) and check for mental trauma.
Allocate Identity Points and Features
Select features for each of your character’s identities. Set the starting values for each identity. Distribute 120 points between them all. Set your Wound Threshold.
Add Elements and Make Connections
Add a new character or location to the board. Make and describe a connection between any two elements (including player characters) now on the board.
Harden Remaining Shock Meters
Mark up to ten hardened notches between the two shock meters that are currently unset.
Choose your Obsession Identity
Add any more identities you really want to take. Link one to your obsession to be able to flip-flop related checks.
Determine Your Passions
Define rage, fear and noble passions that stimulate your character. Be clear about when they do and don’t apply. Link the fear to one relevant shock meter.
Link to a Player Character
Draw a line between your character and one other player character. Describe the connection. It can be, but doesn’t have to be, a relationship.
Harden Two Shock Meters
Choose any two shock meters (apart from Unnatural) and mark up to ten hardened notches between them.
Relate to the Cabal
Each player defines their character’s position towards the cabal, adding it to one of their empty relationship slots.