Step 1: Create A Concept
Source Player Core pg. 17
What sort of character do you want to play? The answer to this question might be as simple as “a starship pilot,” or as complicated as “a kasatha seer raised on a generation ship far from their ancestral home world, devoted to Talavet, goddess of community and tradition.” Consider your character's personality, sketch out a few details about their past, and think about how and why they adventure. You'll want to peruse Starfinder's available ancestries, backgrounds, and classes. The summaries on Step 3 and Step 5 might help you match your concept with some of these basic rule elements. Before a game begins, it's also a good idea for the players to discuss how their characters might know each other and how they'll work together throughout the course of their adventures.
Each player takes a different approach to creating a character. Some want a character who will fit well into the story, while others look for a combination of abilities that complement each other mechanically. You might combine these two approaches. There is no wrong way!
Once you have a good idea of the character you'd like to play, move on to Step 2 to start building your character.
Each player takes a different approach to creating a character. Some want a character who will fit well into the story, while others look for a combination of abilities that complement each other mechanically. You might combine these two approaches. There is no wrong way!
Once you have a good idea of the character you'd like to play, move on to Step 2 to start building your character.
Ancestry, Background, Class, or Details
Source Player Core pg. 18
If one of Starfinder's character ancestries, backgrounds, or classes particularly intrigues you, it's easy to build a character concept around these options. The summaries of ancestries and classes give a brief overview of these options (full details appear in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, respectively). Each ancestry also has several heritages that might refine your concept further, such as a venom thought vesk with psychic talents or one with armored scales. Some heritages, known as versatile heritages, can even be applied to any ancestry; for instance, any mortal touched by the essence of the Drift can be a prismeni, regardless of their ancestry. Additionally, the game has many backgrounds to choose from, representing your character's upbringing, hobby, or profession. Backgrounds are detailed later in Chapter 2.
Building a character around a specific ancestry, background, or class can be a fun way to interact with the galaxy's lore. For example, you could play a pacifist vesk who prefers negotiation over conflict, or a pahtra imperial spy.
Building a character around a specific ancestry, background, or class can be a fun way to interact with the galaxy's lore. For example, you could play a pacifist vesk who prefers negotiation over conflict, or a pahtra imperial spy.
Faith
Source Player Core pg. 18
Perhaps you'd like to play a character who is a devout follower of a specific deity. The peoples of the galaxy follow myriad faiths and philosophies spanning a wide pantheon, from Damoritosh, the Conqueror, god of duty, war, and ancestral patron of the Veskarium; to Eloritu, the Hidden Truth and god of history, magic, and secrets; to Oras, Agent of Change, god of evolution and transformation through science. Starfinder's major deities appear here. Your character might be so drawn to a particular faith that you decide they should be a disciple or mystic of that deity; they might instead be a lay worshipper who applies their faith's teachings to daily life, or a skeptic cursed with the church's blessing.
Your Allies
Source Player Core pg. 18
You might want to coordinate with other players when forming your character concept. Your characters could have something in common already; perhaps they are travelers from the same home world, or maybe they work together as part of the same faction. You might discuss mechanical aspects with the other players, creating characters whose combat abilities complement each other. It can be helpful for a party to include characters who deal damage, characters who can absorb damage, and characters who can heal and support their allies. However, Starfinder’s classes include a lot of choices, and there are many options for building each type of character, so don’t let these broad categories restrict your decisions.