In any ELS setting, you need to pick:
- character name
- character faction or race
- starting skills
- starting mutations if applicable (Remnants of Humanity utilizes mutations)
- no profanity
- something that can be written in plain alphabet
- something not overly long. bear in mind that the database will allow up to 25 characters in your name slot
- originality is encouraged. Some settings will allow pop culture references, whereas others will not. Make sure to check your setting book.
Faction or Race
Pending on your setting, you will need to choose a faction or race. Each faction or race adds flavour to your setting, dictates which resources you naturally accrue and may also have special skills associated with them.
In the "Remnants of Humanity" setting you may choose to start as Factionless and choose and later change your faction in game. In "Ascended Terra" you must choose a race. While you cannot change this race, except by ritual means, your character may hail from any in game political group or kingdom before finding yourself within the playspace.
Skills
In any ELS setting, you start off with 10 experience points (XP) to spend on skills.
You may access any of the skills in the Exodus Core Rulebook or your chosen setting book, provided you have the XP and any prerequisites (for example to buy Seer, you must buy at least one rank of Oracle first).
You do not need to spend all of your XP upon character creation (and subsequent events as you pick up more skills), but may instead choose to carry forward unspent XP to learn more complex skills.
With your very first character in any setting, if you dislike your chosen build on your first game as that first character, you may completely change your build before your second game. This grace period does not apply to subsequent characters within that setting and your chosen skills will be permanent in most cases (exception to be found in the LARP Cred book).
Mutations
Some settings, such as "Remnants of Humanity" also include mutations and the RAD Scale. In these settings your character will accrue RADs over their lifetime through death, combat or other misadventures.
Your RAD pool is broken up into:
- invested RAD, which means total RAD used to buy mutations
- uninvested RAD, which are usually accrued and merely sitting on your character.
- total RAD, which affects your Resurrection potential (total =invested+uninvested)
If your setting includes mutations, you may choose to start with:
- no RAD and no mutations on character
- 10 RAD and up to 10 RAD's worth of mutations on character
- 25 RAD and one starting package of mutations on character