4 ways to create a new character

Generating a character in Unknown Armies 3 is, by default, a collaborative process that is tightly integrated with world-building.  It’s designed for setting the campaign stage, and knitting the cabal together and into a world that the players and GM want to explore.

It is the recommended route, for good reason. You get to create an interconnected, immersive environment with characters who are invested, and who will face tensions that they care about.

Together, the players and GM develop a shared understanding of the world, its limits and challenges, and where the characters individually and the cabal collectively fit in.

Alternative methods

However, it’s also not the only way. And it’s not always either appropriate or convenient. Across Books 1 (Play) and 2 (Run), there are four methods to design and introduce new characters into a game.

1. World-Building. The default collaborative approach, fleshed out with an example of play in Book 2 Run, Chapter 3 (from p24 pdf | p25 print).
2. Character Phase. A summary of detailed world-building, described from a GM facilitator perspective, and in the context of game phases. (Book 2 Run, p35 |p 36)
3. Lonely Singles Club. Creating solo characters, without deeply integrating into the world-building process. (Book 1 Play,  p53 | p54)
4. Bringing in New PCs. Introducing new player characters into an existing game world and cabal. (Book 2 Run, p36 | p37)

Each method serves a particular purpose, so there is variance between them as a result of missing steps, alternative sequences and different emphases. There’s good advice in all, but there are also contradictions and confusing discrepancies. With the rules spanning multiple books, it’s difficult to get a clear and complete picture.

Different steps

The following table summarises the process in the different approaches. You can sort by each method to focus on its relevant steps. Book and page references direct you to a section of the text (in both print and PDF versions) that is relevant to the mechanism being dealt with in that step.

I’ve also identified where each step relates to one of three different aspects of the overall world-building process:

• Setting: building the backdrop and environment for the cabal’s adventures, along with prominent places they might explore and GM characters they might encounter.
• Character: fleshing out individual player characters, with most steps resulting in something being recorded on their character sheet.
• Campaign: defining the kind of game the group wants to play, including campaign themes and scenario objectives.

It’s hopefully easier to see the gaps in each process, and where you might need to fill in from other methods.

For example, the Lonely Singles Club only has steps related to creating individual characters, as it’s a process that’s isolated from campaign building and setting development.  It is the only method to mention tying the fear obsession to a shock meter.

On its own however, it’s still not the full picture, as there are more character-related steps in the other processes. For example, it crucially does not mention character obsessions.

There are anomalies and discrepancies with the other methods too. Whichever you rely on, it’s good to know what might be missing and where to plug the gaps.