This section is dedicated to fleshing out your character. It's much easier to decide what kind of character you want first, and then to build towards making that character. Here are a few questions to get you started:
- How does your Character appear? How would you describe your character? Are they fat, thin, tall, short, average? What color are their eyes? How do they carry themselves? Are they overbearing, quiet, observant? Are they insensitive? Do they cry at the drop of a hat? How do others perceive them? How tall or short are they? Are they human?
- How does your character live? What lifestyle does your character enjoy? Do they live on the streets or in a penthouse apartment? Do they live in a nice area of a bad neighborhood or a bad area of nice neighborhood? Do they live in the slums? The ritz? Did they rise or fall to their current station or were they born there?
- Is your character educated? Did your character ever go to school? High school? College/university? Did they graduate? Were they good students? Did they know a lot? Were they the nerd of their class? The class clown? The cool kid? Where did they go to school? Were they from an educated family or were they the first?
- Why is your character running the shadows? This is the big one. Why is your character choosing a life of crime? While they're breaking the law, why are they doing it? Is it the adrenaline? The money? The fame? The lifestyle? To torque off the corps? Would they kill people? When would they are wouldn't they kill someone?
- Where is your character's family? A character without a family is a bit unrealistic. As a GM, I can't count the number of times that a runner has chosen this as their background: "Both parents are dead and he had no brothers or sisters. He runs to blow things up." Not too good. How about this: Who are your parents and what did they do? Were you close to them? Were they divorced or separated? Did you have siblings, cousins, uncles, and/or grandparents that lived with you? Did you get along with them? Where are they now and what do they do now? Do you keep in touch? When and how?
- Who are your character's friends? Who does your character hang out with when they aren't running? What do you do to wind down? Why do you hang out with those guys? Do your friends know that you run? What do they do for a living?
- What is your character's interests outside of running? What does your character do when they aren't blowing things up? Do they collect art? Go to museums? Build weapons? Go to truck expos? Buy clothing or upgrade their cars? Maintain relationships with friends/family/contacts? Gamble? Paint?
- What does your character like? What does your character desire? Will running somehow achieve their likes? Do they like something tangible (cars, beaches, etc), or something that can't be bought (love, family, etc)? Are the things they like completely different from what would be assumed?
- What scares your character? What is your character afraid of? Is it an idea? A type of character? An action? A critter or animal? Losing their status? Why does that particular thing scare your character?
- What is your character's biggest dream? What is the pinnicle of your character's existance? What is the one thing they want to do/have/achieve before they die? Is the dream obtainable?
- Where is your character from? More than just a name, where was your character born? Was it a rich area or poor area? Where do they consider themselves to be from and what are their values? Are they from far away or nearby? If they live in Seattle, which neighborhood?
- What is your character's name? What name were they born with and what are they called now? Why are they called that? Was the name a joke, something serious, something meaningful, something intelligent? Is their family name known?
- Has your character ever been married? Are they in a serious relationship? Have they ever been? Are they divorced, separated, or estranged? What kind of relationship is it? Is this someone they care about? A support structure? An advisor? An anchor? Or someone that holds them back? Does the significant other know that the character runs? If they do, what do they think about it? If they don't, how does your character hide this fact?
- How old is your character? Why is your character running at this age? What have they lived through that influenced them? Do they see themselves as teachers, students, or outsiders?
- Does your character have a "real" job? How does the character balance their "real" life and that of a shadowrunner? What is their real job? Does it bring in money? How many hours do they work in their real job? What would happen if their secret life was ever discovered? Who are the character's coworkers and how well do they know your character?
- What are your character's beliefs? Is your character religious? Which religion, if any? Why do they believe that way? How do they see the world around them and how do they perceive the other races?
- What are your character's morals? Where does your character "draw the line?" Who does your character defend and why? Who do they hate? What are they willing to do on a run? What would they do for money? Under what situations would they kill someone or let them live? Do they try to avoid death and destruction or do they thrive on it?
- Does your character have a code of honor? What is on it? Do they follow it by the letter or is there wiggle room? Why do they have a code and where did it come from?
- Would your character ever stop running? Would it take some horrific event? Would they need a certain amount of money? Accomplish some task? Take out a person or raise them to power? Do they have a higher purpose or will they always run?
- What does your character do in their off-time? What does your character do for fun? Do they collect things? Go places? Cruise? Hang out? Play video games?
This should get you started. Look over your answers and create a mental picture of your character. Once you have this, you're ready to start making your character. Click the "Continue" button below to go on to that section.
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