Character Creation

Welcome to Cygnium!

We are happy to have you aboard for an amazing adventure creating and sustaining new Settlements on distant planets. If at any point you have any questions, please see your local Overseers and Operatives for further clarifications and information. We hope you enjoy your ride to your new home and are ready to help you be prepared for the excitement you are about to face.

Creating Your Settler
Starting a new character can be a daunting task for a LARP game. Here is a quick reference as to how to prepare for your first game at Cygnium.

Concept
There is a lot of ways to go about coming up with a concept for your character. There is also a number of wrong ways to go about coming up with a character concept.

Encouraged Concept Creation

 * Play to an archetype (Check out TV Tropes for ideas)
 * Inspired by X character. (Should only be an inspiration, should not be a direct knock off.)
 * Creating Short, Medium and Long term goals.
 * Playing a Stereotype with the intention to grow beyond that.

Discouraged Concepts

 * Direct knock offs from any form of Media
 * the "For the LOLs" concept
 * One Dimensional Characters
 * Backgrounds that do not fit the Genre (Examples: "I am a Human raised by Doss." "I am from another dimension with Zombies." "My burner thinks he is a Wizard.")
 * Concepts based around the character being clinically insane from the beginning.

Selecting Details
First things first. You need to decide on the three Categories that make up the base of your character. These three categories are Species, Field and Background. There is an optional Fourth category called Organizations.

Species: Alien species that have gained access to Faster than Light travel. Each has their own benefits and downsides as well as varied starting Health, Energy and Stability, and Species Skills.

Fields: This is the job your character has focused on. This opens up access to tier 3, 4, and 5 skills specific to that field, as well as lowering the cost of tier 1 and 2 skills specific to that field. Your Field also determines what skill you can teach to other players. Without a skill being on either your Field or your Species list, you can not teach them.

Background: This gives a rough outline of how your character grew up in society. Beyond just giving you a starting point for your character's story, it also gives you Three free skills specific to that background (unless otherwise stated under the background). These Three free skills can not be taught to other players. These are just things your character picked up while they were growing up. The idea that other people don't know how to do these things is absurd to you.

Optional - Organizations: These are Corporations that differ depending on what Species you decided to start with. Choosing to start game as a part of a Corporation immediately places you as a Rank 1 employee of that corporation. This could give you benefits or downsides, depending on what Planet you have settled on. You do not have to start with a Corporation, but it may help you get started in the game with other players.

Starting EXP and Skills
What is EXP? EXP is an abbreviation of the words Experience Points. As you come to more games, your character will gain more and more EXP that they can use in a variety of ways.

Starting EXP is 16 points.

How do you use your Starting EXP? By selecting a combination of skills off of your Field or your Species list or by putting points into Health and Energy. Whatever combination you wish to go with will work out, so long as your total does not exceed 16. If you choose to not spend the full 16 starting EXP, any extra is lost and can not be spent at a later time. It is best to spend it all.

First Game
When you arrive on site for your first game, if you have not finalized your character in our system yet, you will go to the Ops building (Called the Space Elevator in game) and speak to one of our Overseers there about creating your character. A sheet is then printed out for you and you are now in our system.

But there is still more to do.

Once your character sheet is in hand, you then need your starting Items. Each new settler is given a Basic Care Package by the Cygnium Alliance. Each is customized for the specific Settler and what their needs are. A Surgeon is not going to need the same basic gear as a Warden or a Programmer. Other things that can alter what is in your Basic Care package is if you have chosen an Organization to be a part of.

Here is a list of items you may find in your Care Package The last thing you are going to do before you head into game and begin your adventure is to check to see if you have any skills that are referred to as Check In or PreGame skills. These are skills that most likely give you something before game even starts. Some examples of these skills are Stipend, Piloting, Privateering, Information Broker, and Bounty Hunting.
 * Basic Weapons (Max of 1 Melee and 1 Ranged, only given if the player has both a Phys Rep and the skill to back it.)
 * Basic Shield/Armor (Shields only given if the player has both a Phys Rep and the skill to back it.)
 * Personal Sleeping Barrier (Can only be used by your character. Allows for uninterrupted sleep for a full 6s per weekend)
 * Basic Med Kit (Only given if character has First Aid as a starting skill)

All of this may seem a bit overwhelming. Not to worry. If you have any questions, please see our friendly Planetary Overseers or Operatives for further information.

Have a Great Time and remember the Cygnium Accords: Prosperity, Advancements and Unity for a Better Tomorrow.