Character creation is fairly straightforward and separated into steps you must complete in order. For most of the steps, if you are uncertain on what to choose, you can click the Recommended button to automatically choose a sane set of options for what you have already chosen so far.
For Gender you can select either Male or Female. This choice is purely aesthetic and just determines how the player model appears.
You can then choose your Race. Generally each race has a stat they get a +2 bonus in, and a stat they get a -2 penalty in another stat and some constant and some situational skill bonuses. The main exception being Humans. The Recommended option will choose Human for you.
- For more information on the differences between the races see the Races page.
The Portrait is another purely aesthetic choice. It will be displayed on the main screen throughout your entire playthrough with your health bar next to it and a few other places.
There are 11 basic classes you can choose for your character. Your character's Class determines what your character is able to do such as what weapons they can use effectively and which skills they can learn and improve. As you level up you can also sub-class in up to two other classes letting you dabble in each, but no longer being able to master any of them. The Recommended option will choose Fighter for you.
- For more information on the differences between the classes see the Classes page.
Alignment can affect how certain characters will react to your character and some items and classes can only be used while you maintain a certain alignment. Overall it is a role-playing guide and should not affect your gameplay in most circumstances. The Recommended option will choose an alignment that makes sense for the Class you chose to play.
Abilities will let you choose your base stats for your character. You get 30 points to spread out between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. As you increase the score it costs more points to increase the ability further. It is important to increase your stats in a way that aligns with your chosen class to ensure your character is effective. The game actively suggests that you use the Recommended button here. It will fill out the ability scores in the most efficient way for chosen class. You can make further adjustments after pressing the Recommended button so don't be afraid to press it to get a base to work off of.
Packages are a way for the game to automatically choose skills and feats for you as you level up in the game, which allows you to play the game without worrying about which feat you want to choose over others, picking feats over several levels that don't add real value to your character, or how to dole out your skill points. If you don't care about the nuts and bolts of your character's build, this is an effective way to play the game. The Recommended button will choose the Default package for the class you have chosen. Keep in mind that certain combinations of Race and Class could mean certain more focused packages might be less effective to choose.
However, if you do want to make your own choices of skills and feats you can click the Configure Packages button. This will take you to the Skills screen. You will have a certain amount of points to allocate to the various different skills here. You can increase class skills for 1 point and other skills for 2 points here. You can increase them up to 4 in this initial allocation, but during level ups will only be able to increase them by 1 point. The Recommended button will allocate the skills according to the default package of the Class you have chosen.
On the next screen you will be able to choose some feats. Your race and class you have chosen will give you several automatically, and you will be able to add several more. When you hover the mouse over a feat a box with a "?" will appear. Clicking this will give you a description of what the feat does. You'll want to choose your feats carefully. Some feats may not actually be useful for your character, and others will have prerequisites you need to meet. The Recommended option will once again give you the Feats the default package would have given you.
Certain classes will have more options to choose from after this.
Lastly is the Customize button. This gives you some very limited choices on your character's in-game model appearance, then lets you name your character, set their age, and choose a voice set. Once you have completed this step you will be able to start playing the module selected with your new character.