Because Shadowrun is a game system designed to accurately reflect realistic characters in as much detail as possible, character creation can be a genuine hurdle for new players. Even veterans will pose their creations to other experienced gamers and get advice on how to most effectively build their sheets.
To that end Poetics will individually guide each player through the process of character creation to ensure the sheet they create matches the goals and capabilities they have in mind, and that the personality, background, and story of the character are setting-appropriate and viable for play. He will offer some final refinement after the fact to make sure everything lines up in the best way possible.
Burning Bright is not a campaign designed to be played only with characters which are perfectly idealized archetypes; in Shadowrun it is possible to go (very) overboard with optimizing character sheets and dice pools, and Poetics wants to stress that doing such is not the focus of this chronicle. What matters most is the story and the person the sheet represents, not squeezing every last potential die out of every possible test.
All creation will be done with the help of Chummer, a key software package which contains an index of all relevant sourcebooks and helps with checking point totals and overall suitability for play. Chummer has the added benefit of being able to export completed characters directly into FoundryVTT.
Creation Methods
Depending on the preference of the player and their familiarity with the complexities of the Shadowrun ruleset, any of the following options for character creation can be chosen as a starting point. In all cases Poetics will guide players through the creation process. Each option is explored more fully in the core rulebook Run Faster, starting on page 62.
Lifepath
- Helping to compose a character's story from the ground up, this option allows the player to pick predefined "blocks" of skills, qualities, attributes, and gear which fits the character's overall life arc, piece by piece (e.g. did they grow up in a UCAS corporate enclave or on the streets of Berlin? What happened to them as a young adult?). This is the recommended creation method for players brand-new to Shadowrun, though it usually requires the most post-creation tweaking to make a highly effective shadowrunner.
Priority (Sum to Ten)
- A good midpoint of complexity, the standard priority creation method assigns a given number of attribute points, skills, resources (equipment), and the like depending on how important the player decides a given aspect of their character is. This method provides structure and guidance while still allowing a great deal of flexibility. It doesn't necessarily produce the most optimized sheet, but helps smooth the process and narrow down the large amount of variables a player may be presented with for creation.
Point Buy
- No gods, no masters. The player is given a large amount of Karma (equivalent to XP in other systems) and a blank character sheet. This method is easily the most intimidating but ensures the character is exactly what the player wants, and optimizations can be made during creation rather than fiddling with it afterward. This method is only suggested for those with a very clear picture of the character they want as well as an extremely comfortable grasp on game mechanics.