Character Creation - Pilot Setup
The first step in your participation in NBT-Solaris is the creation or selection of a BTech Character to play. This character will represent your persona throughout your Solaris career. New characters may be created and old characters archived. NBT-Solaris is setup to provide an intensive role-play environment for those that wish to make use of it. We also understand that there are many who will just wish to join in the games of the league, without all the trappings of the role-play. We have provided for these ones as well with an array of generic characters to choose from.
All characters have a multitude of traits, skills, life history and attributes that play a role in their interaction with the Solaris system. Many characteristics directly affect a wide range of events, from winnings in a match, to gambling success, to the cost of ‘Mech repairs. Other characteristics are for purpose of role-play only, like scars or enemies. How you make use of them is up to you.
We have designed the character creation system using the Classic BattleTech MechWarrior 3 RPG rules. There are various other changes made to accommodate the concept of an online Solaris league, but the vast majority of the process follows the MW3 RPG character creation process.
Because NBT-Solaris is designed as a seperate system from other NBT leagues, pilots from NBT are not required to have a character with the same affiliation and background as their NBT persona. Thus, a Clan Diamond Shark pilot could create or use a Lyran Alliance character, while a Magistracy of Canopus pilot could create or use a Clan Wolf character. Please do not let yourselves be limited by the role-play of the other NBT leagues. Think outside the box for your NBT-Solaris characters.
Character Limits
You may only have so many characters on file at one time. The limits are as follows:
- 9 Active Player Characters - These are characters that may participate in NBT-Solaris matches, win money, own ‘Mechs and be developed over time. You may switch between them at will. These characters have seperate accounts, histories and battle records. Remember though that Pilot Limits apply to your account, not to your characters. Thus having 2 characters does not double the number of matches you may play in, nor allow Stable limits to be bypassed.
- 18 Private NPCs - These are NPCs that are available for use by your Active Character alone, and are off limits for use in other characters RP. Examples - Close family (parents, siblings), past contact or benefactor.
- 27 Public NPCs - These are NPCs that make up the largest part of the RP interaction on Solaris VII. They may be used by other players in the league to develop RP for their own Active Characters. Examples - Snitches, bookies, crime lords, police captains, various current contacts and so forth.
- Archived Characters - These are characters (Active or NPC) that have been retired from use. Maybe they died, went bankrupt, or you just became bored with their RP. Archived characters are saved in the automation for the purposes of league history, but are considered unavailable for further development, either in-game or for role-play.
Well, let’s get started. There are 2 ways you may setup a character for use in NBT-Solaris:
- Select Generic Character - This option allows you to select from a roster of generic characters that have been created for use by those who do not wish to go into the in-depth character creation system. While each of these characters are adequate for league play, they are generic, and their histories and skills will not stand out at this time. Also, since there is a limited pool of generics, you may find yourself using the same character as another player in the league.
- Create Custom Character - This is the fun one. You start from scratch, around age 10, and build your character from the ground up. You are able to determine Affiliation, Life Paths (from childhood, to education to careers), Traits, acquired Skills and so forth. Everything determines your characters place in the Solaris universe. It is almost impossible to develop the same character twice, therefore you are guaranteed to have a unique character at your disposal. These are the stars that shine in the galaxy, standing far above the rest.
Select Generic Character
Selecting this option will bring up a list of 30+ generic characters that have been created using the Custom Character system. There are scientists, ‘MechWarriors, Technicians, and many more. Each has their own history, skills and traits. You may select any 1 character from this list for use within NBT-Solaris. You may customize the character creation by selecting the Finishing Touches like name, sex and so forth. All other character development has been completed beforehand.
All Generic Characters are ‘MechWarriors in some way, shape or form. Whether they have acquired the skills during their Life Paths, or have joined Solaris at the end of their current careers. These characters are designed for fighting in Solaris, without all the bells and whistles of custom characters.
As these characters are available to all, there will likely be other people with the same character you are using. During use of your character, he/she will change depending on activity within NBT-Solaris, thus causing your character to develop over time.
Once completed, you may return to your primary Pilot Login page and begin playing in NBT-Solaris.
Create Custom Character
Custom Character Creation Steps
“There are more things in heaven and earth...
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
The first thing that should be mentioned is that creating a custom character involves making a pledge to the league to take an active part in the role-play that is at the center of NBT-Solaris. This is true both in the creation of your character as well as playing out his exploits during his Solaris career. There are multitudes of ways available to accomplish this, and it will be your responsibility to make full use of them while participating in the league. If you are not interested in role-play in this manner, please choose one of the generic characters to play in the league.
Secondly, not all characters need to be designed with playing in Solaris matches in mind. There are many characters that can be used as NPC’s (non-player-characters) and in supporting roles for your primary league character. For example: You may decide to design a street urchin who lives in the slums of the International Zone of Solaris City. This character may be your contact to the underworld of Solaris City, able to give information, but not any real monetary resources (he is a street urchin, after all). As you develop your main character, this NPC may show up in those stories, and in the stories of other players. Other examples of NPCs to be created are various contacts, benefactors, enemies, family and friends. This does not mean that if you mention your character’s father in a RP post, that you have to create that NPC. On the other hand, if that father plays a major active role in your characters RP development, then it would be best to create a NPC on file.
That being said, let’s get into the steps necessary to creating a NBT-Solaris character.
Find a Concept
For many players, the first step in creating a character is coming up with a character concept: an idea of what kind of character you want to play. This concept can be as general as “a MechWarrior” or something more specific, such as: “A street kid who beat the odds to become a doctor. Drafted into the FedCom military, he used his skills on the Clan front until a stray bullet cost him his hand and his commission. Bitter and haunted by images of war, he sells what remains of his skills to the highest bidder in the Chaos March.”
Some players prefer not to start with a concept. This is perfectly workable, as the character creation system is designed to let the player draw ideas from the creation process.
There are 2 primary concepts that should be decided on up front though. Are you designing a character to play in NBT-Solaris matches, or rather a background character to work into the role-play of the league? All NBT-Solaris primary characters must meet certain requirements in order to play in matches (no lost limbs, have ‘Mech training, and so forth).
Choose an Affiliation
Every character has to come from somewhere, and this is represented by your affiliation. Each affiliation represents the culture and style of a particular region or group in the BattleTech universe. Players choose their characters’ affiliation based on where the character did the most learning and growing - where he spent his “formative years.” For example, if a character was born in the Draconis Combine but moved to the Free Worlds League at the age of two and has lived there ever since, Free Worlds League would be the most appropriate affiliation.
You can take a look at the affiliation listings and descriptions in the NBT-Solaris Encyclopedia. Choose the one that best fits your character concept, or simply one that you like. Your choice of affiliation will restrict some of your choices later in charcter creation but will also provide unique opportunities.
Choose a Life Path
Most of the character creation process takes place in the Life Path, a series of choices to determine your character’s story before participating in the league. What kind of upbringing did you have? Where did you go to school? Were you in the military, and why? What lucky breaks or tragedies did you have along the way? The Life Path determines a character’s access to Skills, Attribues, Traits and more, based on your choices and occasional random factors (dice rolls). All Life Paths, descriptions and effects are listed in the NBT-Solaris Encyclopedia.
There are 4 Stages in the Life Path System: Early Childhood, Late Childhood, Higher Education and Real Life. Each corresponds to a different period of your character’s life.
Assign Skills, Attributes and Traits (SAT)
After completing the Life Path, you can give your character Attributes and traits and determine your character’s final skills and bonuses. Detailed descriptions of all skills and traits are included in the NBT-Solaris Encyclopedia. SATs vary widely from character to character. Some SATs will have a direct impact on your character in NBT-Solaris, while others are just there for helping to round out the RP of the character. Skill Examples: Engineering or Technician can be used to lower the costs of ‘Mech Repairs. Climbing on the other hand could be used in RP, but would have no effect on gameplay. Trait Examples: Wealth would result in much higher starting funds (and possible secondary income). An Allergy to penicillin wouldn’t have any effect outside of RP.
Finishing Touches
The final step in creating a character is to round out the character’s description, personality, history and any other details: determining a vehicle assignment, purchasing equipment, finalizing the character’s military rank (if any) and so on. Also included here is your character’s name, current Solaris Sector (will determine which Sector Administrator they are assigned to) and other personal statistics.
Depending on your choices during the creation process, this character will either be usable as a Solaris Pilot, or as a NPC in the background. You will need to determine if this character is an Active Solaris Character (takes part in NBT-Solaris), a personal NPC (usable for RP by your primary character only), or a public NPC (usable for RP by the league in general).
Congratulations! You have completed the creation of your first character. If you decide at any time during the creation process that your character has not developed the way you wish, you may click Reset Character to return to the Affiliation Choice screen. Warning - This will totally reset your character, deleting all choices and actions to date. Once completed, save your character, and he/she will become part of the league system.
Once your character is completed it will need to be reviewed by a Sector Administrator before being used in NBT-Solaris or in the role-play of the league. Please proceed to the Character Management screen to submit your character for review.
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