Character Creation

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At character creation, players will be able to define the follow for their character:

Personal Information

At character creation, players will be asked to define:

  • Name
  • Character Species (See Species of the Federation)
  • Homeworld
  • Group associations

The characters of Drift are the dock workers, the shady corporation representatives and backstreet surgeons; the outcasts of a Federation that has abandoned them. Player characters in Drift are not typically high-flying heroes of war, prize-winning scientists in good standing, or council members of the Federation. They are the nobodies of an unforgiving galaxy.

Most characters in Drift hail from one of the core Federation Species, each of which has an associated lore page. Species selection provides a unique species perk.

The species lore page should be considered a guide for characters based on those species in order to retain the narrative integrity of these species and their cultures. Exceptions to these guidelines should be discussed with the Game Team at the earliest opportunity.

Whilst many other species exist outside of the Federation, any players which intend to create characters that do not hail from one of these species MUST be discussed with the Game Team for explicit approval.

Each character should define a home world of some description. This could be a number of different planets, moons, space stations or otherwise.

If the character is to be, or have previously been a part of any named groups, corporations or other in-game entities, this should be set out in the pre-event character submission form.

We want players to come and add to the lore of Drift – but this is balanced with the narrative integrity and tone of the game and setting. If you’ve got ideas, come and talk to us about them and we can chat about how it might fit within the setting!

Character Background

Characters in Drift come from a variety of backgrounds which provide additional perks and character flavour. Standard backgrounds to choose from include:

Backgrounds provide player characters with one or more contacts within those organisations, who may provide plot hooks, support in the form of information or equipment, or other benefits.

A note on player organisations

Player characters in Drift are not assigned mechanically to any specific groups or factions – player characters are individuals and free to align themselves as they please with player or NPC organisations. Furthermore, Drift is intended as a co-operative system. NPC organisation politics do not heavily feature in the main event plot of Drift, and players should not consider backgrounds as a hard direction on how their character must be aligned and play.

Small player-made organisations (for instance, crews of ships, small business entities, or gangs) are welcome. In these instances, players should select a background that their organisation is affiliated with – perhaps they work for a subsidiary company of one of the mega-corporations, or they are enforcers for an underworld smuggling ring.

Backgrounds are intended to provide additional flavour to characters which link to some small in-game perk. If the standard backgrounds don’t fit, come and talk to us about your character concepts and we can craft a background to suit!

Career Ranks

Player characters have two career ranks at character creation, which can be assigned as they prefer; either two ranks in a single career, or a single rank in two different careers. This enables characters to specialise; gaining access to advanced skills within a career, or to have a broader set of less-specialised skills across two different careers. For more information, see Careers.

Skill Points

Skills are the specific abilities and capabilities that a character has. Skills might enable a character to wield specific types of weapons, conduct research in specialised fields, diagnose rare diseases or build cybernetic implants.

Regardless of skill selection, all player characters are able to use*:

  • Utilise one handed melee weapons
  • Utilise one handed energy weapons (eg. sidearms, < 18)
  • Wear Light Armour
  • Anything a basic humanoid would be able to do.

*Note that one handed energy weapons and light armour must be acquired (including at character creation). Player characters do not automatically start with these items.

Starting player characters have 20 Skill Points which can be allocated in accordance with their Career Rank selections. Note, that General skills are accessible to all characters, regardless of Career selection.

The universe of Drift is dark and dangerous, and more challenging for those who attempt to traverse it alone. That’s not to say lone adventurers won’t survive, but the Drift character skill system has been designed with collaboration inherent within it; those who put their heads together to solve a challenge or overcome a problem will be set to gain more from that experience than characters who attempt things by themselves.  

Skills are assigned one of three categories:

Lore
A Skill which provides information to the character. This might be innate understanding giving access to Self-Ref cards and other gameplay mechanics, or the ability to Ask a Ref for information.

Crafting
A Skill which provides access to crafting mechanics. This might be the ability to utilise Machines, generate or access Blueprints or craft specific types of Items.

Mechanic
A Skill which provides a unique mechanic within the game, provided by that Skill.

Skill selection also provides additional starting equipment to support initial usage of that skill.

A Skill Map is available to aid character creation – Skill Map

Skills in Drift are divided into three categories:

General and Career skills have an assigned cost in skill points. For example, the ‘Contacts’ skill is a Rank 1 Envoy skill, costing 2 skill points.

There will be situations that are more dangerous than your character’s skillset. Surveillance, reconnaissance and investigation are all key to understanding the universe around you and to understanding the threats you will face. Crafting, invention and ingenuity will also serve you well – quick thinking in the face of disparity will be key.

Gear Selections

At the point of character creation, characters will be asked to select their starting gear from the Standard Gear List. Gear selectable at character creation include various armour and armaments, medical equipment, materials packs for crafting skills and specialised tools and equipment.

Access to many Items in the gear list will be restricted to characters with specific skills or career ranks. 

Players should be aware that gear selection is not a definitive list of what items or equipment they have will have access to in gameplay – and there are no items on the gear list which aren’t accessible in play. It is simply a starting list of kit that the character might be travelling across the outer colonies with.

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