If you're feeling confident with the system, or if you've done all this before, then see The Basics at the end.

Before you can play Albion, you will need a character! It's fairly simple to create one - the most important thing is that you have a good idea of who you want to play, what they're like and what their goals are. Filling in the numbers can come later, and if you're having trouble, please do ask one of the GMs for help!

The First Week meeting on Tuesday 9th October will be entirely devoted to character creation for new players, so don't worry about not having a fully fleshed-out character before you turn up.

Feel free to have a look through the Sample Characters page for an idea of some potential character builds. Some of these are based on characters from the Game 1 “Playtest” run in Trinity '07, so please don't lift them wholesale!

It is easiest to start with a basic concept of your character. Who exactly do you want to play? What do you want them to be able to do? What are their ambitions? Do they have some parallel in fiction or reality?

This is by far the most important part of character generation.

The Skill and Quirk system is used largely to determine the result of contested or difficult actions your character might take; the system is a method of representing your character, not their basis.

Once you have thought of these and other similar questions it will be easier to pick the skills, quirks and other attributes of your character. To get a feel for the world remember to read the sections under Setting, Religion, Oxford Society and Court. These are the most useful, but obviously anything else on this wiki can also give you inspiration. If you're truly stuck, feel free to email the GMs to ask if we have any ideas, or anything that particularly needs playing.

Remember - You do not need to have the entire Wiki committed to memory before you play! Just read over the bits that seem like they might be relevant to your ideas for a character; and always feel free to ask questions!

Have a look through the Quirks list and see if anything there is appropriate for your character. Negative quirks add to your pool of points, up to a maximum of ten (so for a total of 35 points if you choose to take the full load), and tend to have negative in-game effects; Positive quirks cost points from your pool, and will tend to help your character along in one area or another. Zero-point quirks are free. Once you've finished picking Quirks, you'll know how many points you have left to spend on Skills (though feel free to switch back and forth).

You have 25 points to spend in total. Try not to spend them all on Quirks, unless you have some reason your character wouldn't have any Skills at all!

Skills represent the things your character is particularly good at. They're used by the GM team to decide how well you succeed at actions. In simple contests between two PCs, the one with the higher rank in the relevant skill will win. The skills list is here; you can spend as many points on Skills as you have left after calculating your Quirks.

If you have decided your character is to be a Magician, or are wondering if they should be, here are a few things to consider:

Do you want a fully-fledged magic-user with the ability to progress within their area? Do you want your character to have a few useful magic tricks for sticky situations at a cheaper cost?

For the latter, it is worth looking at the Hedgewitch, Tinkerer and Street Magician quirks, which give you limited magic, but are cheaper than full magic skills. These cost 7 points, whereas full Magic costs 15pts (i.e. like a 5th rank skill) and give the chance to progress (learn new spells, become more proficient at them etc.).

Magic is a powerful tool in the world of Albion and can be used to change the world as much as any other skill. The power of basic magic is reflected in its expense - buying a full School of magic with no extra Quirks costs as much as buying a Skill at the maximum rank.

For each skill you have at Rank 3 or above, you may have a free, optional Specialisation. This concentrates your skills in that area, and means that you have spent more time focusing on a particular aspect of the skill.

Only one Specialisation may be taken per skill, and it always applies. When you're doing something which is particularly appropriate to your Specialisation, you get a bonus; particularly inappropriate, and you get a penalty.

For more details, see the Skills page.

Next, you need to look into your standing in the world of Albion. This is composed of several elements - your membership in Organisations, your landed Title and/or Wealth, and your Religion.

If you look briefly in those sections, you will find the necessary information on choosing these. Remember that rank in Organisations and your landed title in the Kingdom are different and you only need to spend points on the latter (together with wealth).

You can join several Organisations if you want, choosing whichever starting rank (provided you have the requisites) you want. If you choose a high rank in more than one, however, expect to be required to do a lot of work for the organisation to get your perks! In general, the higher your rank, the more AP you will be expected to expend on Organisation-related affairs per turn; if you fail to do all the required work, it is possible your rank will be at risk.

Your title affects many different things and it is worth thinking whether you want the more general powers that come with it or not.

Wealth is required if you are going to own such things as ships, trade and so on.

Religion is very important in this world and age, and it's important that you choose one for your character. They is most likely to be mainstream Church of England or Jewish. You may choose to be a Heretic, and hold beliefs which prevent you attending Church or Synagogue - alternatively, you may have special dispensation for your variant beliefs; for example, you may be an Ambassador from a Catholic nation. Or you may choose to keep your religion secret, and work for a society like the Order of Arundel, trying to bring down the Church of England as an agent from within!

If you know a little more about this, feel free to specify your particular beliefs or toleration (or indeed lack of such).

There are a few things that we'd like to know about your character, even if you haven't sent us a detailed background. Of course, the more information you give us, both IC and OOC, the better!

Where have you come from? Are you new to the city life that presence at Court entails? Is your family old in its roots, or are you relatively new in the upper echelons of society?

Are you even from Albion? If you are a member of an embassy of another country, or even an itinerant foreigner - why? What is your interest with England?

Many subjects of Albion marry early, especially noble families, where marriages are commonly arranged by one's parents. Are you married? If so, to whom? If not, why? Would you like to be? Are you betrothed? Are you still chaste?

The hardest part of your character generation: picking an appropriate name. If you have a title, don't forget that it is an important part of your name. Being the Earl of Oxford will mean that many will refer to you as “Oxford”, and your name would include the title.

As the world is a parallel of our own 17th century England and Europe, it should be easier to think of a name, but don't discount the odder, more exciting names out there.

If you really are stuck, talk to people, read something, inspiration will always come!

All players are welcome to write “links” with other PCs into their character backgrounds - family ties, previous associations, or any other pre-existing link between two PCs.

Please note that this does not extend to Chris V and Joe W, who are not permitted to write linked character backgrounds with each other.

It will help you, and the GM team, if you think a little about the goals of your character. We'd like to know a little about them, but you don't have to reveal anything to us of course. If you are stuck for motivation, we will be providing a number of plot-hooks and 'quests' to help your character into the world.

Send all the the information above to gm@albion.chaosdeathfish.com. We'll set you up a character page on the Wiki which you can use to review your character details and submit turnsheets, and also provide you with an @albion.chaosdeathfish.com email address to use for IC correspondence!

If you're already confident with character generation systems, here are the raw numbers:

• 25 Points to spend on Skills and Quirks.
• Flaw cap is 10.
• Magic costs 15 at base, no more than one School of magic per PC.
• Skills are ranked 1-5 with triangular costs (1/3/6/10/15).
• Title and Wealth are interlinked. See those pages for more details.
• Organisations are a little looser than normal and multiple membership is allowed (some are incompatible). Rank in Organisation is free, but players with higher Rank will be required to do more in exchange for their influence. Some Organisation Ranks have requirements you must fulfil before taking them.