Character Creation
AX.GAT.05.01 - Character Creation
The core rules (AX.C.05) define the universal character creation process, attribute distribution, talent selection, generation packages, and the mechanical steps for building a character. This file defines the catalog layer: the choices that are specific to Astraeus Terminal, what they mean in context, and how to connect a new character to the setting before the first session.
Read AX.C.05 first for the mechanical process. Return here for the Astraeus Terminal-specific decisions that shape what kind of character you are building and where they fit in the station's world.
Generation Packages
Three packages represent characters at different points in their operational history. The GM selects or the group agrees on which package fits the campaign.
| Package | Total Dice | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Docked (6D) | Starting | New arrivals, fresh operatives, people just finding their feet on the Terminal |
| Active (9D) | Experienced | Established station residents with a track record and faction relationships |
| Deep Range (12D) | Veteran | Proven operators; people the Terminal's factions have opinions about |
Attribute caps apply as defined in each lineage file. Most lineages cap Attributes at 5D; specific lineages raise one cap to 6D (see Lineage Selection below).
Step 1: Lineage
Six lineages are available in the primary catalog. Choose one. Each lineage entry (AX.GAT.06) provides the full mechanical and social detail; the summaries below are starting-point framing for character creation.
Velhari, Bioluminescent empaths; Psionics 1D lineage-direct; Wit cap 6D. Characters who perceive emotional states as a baseline condition, navigate the Terminal's faction landscape with unusual social intelligence, and carry a cultural relationship to the Velhari community's governance structures that is present whether they honor it or resist it. The station's most politically embedded lineage.
Gorrathi, High-gravity worlders built for physical endurance; Health +4; no lineage Power Access. Characters defined by physical capability and environmental tolerance, the vacuum and radiation that endanger others are slower to affect them. Present throughout the Terminal's labor economy; read differently in different social contexts depending on who is doing the reading.
Skein, Modular biology that adapts in real time; Speed cap 6D; no lineage Power Access. Characters whose physical form is a tool as much as a body, capable of configurations that other lineages cannot achieve, carrying a social experience of being perceived as unsettling in proportion to how openly they use what they are. The Terminal's most capable operators in tight spaces and under pressure.
Synthari, Constructed beings of uncertain origin; Cybernetic Integration 1D lineage-direct; Health +1; recover HP through repair rather than rest. Characters whose existence is the station's most pointed open question, who built them, why their population is declining, and what the silence of their apparent manufacturer means. Operationally capable and socially complex in equal measure.
Human, Unremarkable in the specific sense that matters: psionic senses cannot detect them passively, making them operationally invisible in ways other lineages are not; dual Attribute-Talent cap 6D; no lineage Power Access. Characters who arrived on the Terminal or were born on it with no lineage ability that announces their presence, which is its own kind of capability. The Terminal's most diverse social presence.
Ashori, Bioelectric; Arc Theory 1D lineage-direct; Body or Wit cap 6D. Characters with an electrical relationship to the world, capable of generating and perceiving charge, carrying a lineage tradition that is simultaneously a capability, a cultural marker, and a legally ambiguous tool on a station where weapons are regulated and Arc Theory is not quite either. The Solis League's cultural relationship to the Ashori community is the most visible faction expression of what they are.
Supplemental Lineages
Four additional lineages exist for GMs who want to expand the available roster: Meridian, Keth, Drift-Touched, and Auric. These are available at GM discretion. Their files (AX.GAT.06.06–06.10) provide full mechanics; they are not part of the primary catalog's default character creation options.
Step 2: Profession
Profession determines Favored Save (+1D), optional Power Access, and Progression Track. It also establishes the character's institutional position on the Terminal, who they answer to, who backs them, and what access that backing provides.
Choose from the six faction dossiers (AX.GAT.07.02–07.07) or the unaffiliated templates (AX.GAT.07.09).
Choosing a Faction
Faction affiliation is not only a mechanical choice; it is the character's social position at the table. Consider:
What does the faction provide? Each faction gives characters specific access, institutional backing, and social standing that unaffiliated characters do not have. A Vigilant officer can walk into spaces an unaffiliated character cannot; an Oryx contractor has supply credentials that most residents lack.
What does the faction expect? Faction membership carries obligations. A Vigilant officer answers to Commander Sawyer's chain of command. An Oryx contractor operates under Loriya's institutional mandate. Characters who take faction professions have institutional obligations that will generate play, not as a burden, but as the source of the missions, pressures, and relationships that make faction membership meaningful.
What does the faction mean to other characters? A mixed-faction party has built-in tension and built-in cooperation, the Survey Corps specialist and the Solis League fixer have different institutional relationships to every situation they encounter together. This is not a problem to design around; it is a design feature.
Faction Profession Overview
| Faction | Professions | Power Access | Favored Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vigilants | Vigilant Officer, Station Analyst | , / Psionics | Body / Wit |
| Oryx Logistics | Field Contractor, Corporate Analyst | CI / CI | Body / Wit |
| The Span | Crew Operator, Guild Fixer | VA (Stage 2) / VA (Stage 2) | Body / Speed |
| Survey Corps | Survey Specialist, Void Navigator | Void Attunement / Void Attunement | Speed / Wit |
| Oblis Consortium | Corporate Infiltrator, Information Broker | CI / Psionics (Stage 2) | Wit / Speed |
| Solis League | League Enforcer, League Fixer | AT (Stage 2) / AT (Stage 2) | Body / Speed |
VA = Void Attunement · CI = Cybernetic Integration · AT = Arc Theory
Power Access at Stage 2 means the tradition becomes available at the 25 XP progression point rather than immediately. See AX.GAT.08.00 for tradition access advancement costs.
Cybernetic Integration prerequisite: Any character accessing CI through profession (rather than Synthari lineage) must also have at least one qualifying implant, hardware that replaces or fundamentally augments a naturally occurring biological system. Establish this implant during character creation as part of the character's history. It is not free equipment; it is a prior investment that the character made before the campaign began. Coordinate with the GM on what the implant is and when the character acquired it.
Unaffiliated Templates
Characters who begin without faction affiliation choose from four templates (AX.GAT.07.09): Freebooter, Station-Born, Stranded Traveler, or Independent Psionic. These characters have full Standard-tier access and no Restricted-tier credential; they gain faction access through relationships built in play rather than institutional membership.
The Independent Psionic template provides Psionics 1D access outside the Velhari community and Vigilant registration structures, with the operational freedom and specific risk that unregistered psionic capability produces on Astraeus Terminal.
Step 3: Attributes and Talents
Distribute dice according to the generation package following AX.C.05 mechanics. Astraeus Terminal-specific notes:
Attribute priority by role: Most faction professions signal their attribute priority through their Favored Save, a Body Save profession is built around Body; a Wit Save profession rewards Wit investment. This is guidance, not a constraint.
Talent selection: The Terminal's operational environment rewards diversity. Characters who invest entirely in combat talents face encounters, investigation, social navigation, environmental survival, tradition use, where their investment does not apply. The faction dossiers include Talent suggestions appropriate to each profession's operational context; these are recommendations, not requirements.
Cultural Talent (free die): Some lineages provide a free Cultural Talent die in a specific talent as part of their lineage package. This die does not count against the character's Talent dice budget. Check the lineage file for whether this applies.
Step 4: Tradition Access
At character creation, establish:
1. Does the character have lineage-direct tradition access? - Velhari: Psionics 1D (immediate, no prerequisite) - Synthari: Cybernetic Integration 1D (immediate, no prerequisite) - Ashori: Arc Theory 1D (immediate, no prerequisite) - Drift-Touched (supplemental): Void Attunement 1D
2. Does the profession grant tradition access? - Immediate access (Stage 1): Survey Corps both professions (Void Attunement); Vigilant Station Analyst (Psionics); Oblis Consortium Corporate Infiltrator (CI); Independent Psionic template (Psionics 1D) - Stage 2 access (unlocks at 25 XP): Span both professions (Void Attunement); Solis League both professions (Arc Theory); Oblis Consortium Information Broker (Psionics)
3. Does the character have a second tradition? Characters may access a maximum of two traditions. Each tradition maintains an independent Flux track. A second tradition requires a separate profession pathway or lineage access; it cannot be purchased outside these frameworks at character creation.
4. Tradition starting die rating: Characters with immediate tradition access begin at 1D in that tradition unless their lineage provides a higher starting die (Meridian Void Attunement via profession begins at 2D). Tradition dice advance through the Odd Talent system (AX.GAT.08.00) during play.
Step 5: Starting Equipment
Starting equipment reflects the character's profession and institutional position. It is established in fiction, the character's prior experience, faction issue, and personal acquisitions, not purchased from a store at character creation.
Baseline (all characters): - Personal Comm Unit (Standard) - Station wear or equivalent clothing - One Standard-tier item appropriate to profession or background (GM approval) - Station Credit account with campaign-appropriate starting balance (see below)
Faction characters additionally receive: - Faction-issued personal weapon (appropriate to profession, see faction dossier) - Faction-issued armor or protective equipment (appropriate to profession) - Faction credential (access card, ID, or equivalent) at Restricted tier for their faction's operational scope
Unaffiliated characters receive instead: - One additional Standard-tier item of their choice (total two Standard-tier items) - A small supplement to starting Credits reflecting their independent status
Qualifying implants (CI prerequisite): Characters with a qualifying implant have it at character creation. It does not appear in the equipment list as a separate item; it is part of the character's body. Its mechanical effects are active from session one.
Starting Credits
| Package | Faction Character | Unaffiliated |
|---|---|---|
| Docked (6D) | ℃r 150 personal + faction supply access | ℃r 300 |
| Active (9D) | ℃r 400 personal + faction supply access | ℃r 700 |
| Deep Range (12D) | ℃r 800 personal + faction supply access | ℃r 1,400 |
Faction supply access means the character can requisition Standard-tier equipment through their faction without spending Credits, subject to operational justification and chain-of-command approval. This is not unlimited; it reflects the practical reality of faction membership's economic benefit.
Starting Credits represent personal liquid assets, not total wealth. Characters may have other assets, equipment they've accumulated, debts they're owed, or favors with economic value, that are established in fiction with GM input.
Step 6: The Anchor
Before the first session, each player should establish three things about their character:
Why are you on Astraeus Terminal? There are two kinds of answers: choice (the character came here deliberately, for work, for a specific person, for something they were told the Terminal had) and circumstance (the character is here because of a chain of events that brought them here and has not yet provided a clear path out). Both are valid. The distinction shapes how the character relates to the possibility of leaving.
Who on the station do you already know? One NPC from any faction dossier (or a GM-created equivalent) who has a relationship with the character before the campaign begins. The relationship does not need to be positive, a faction contact who owes the character something is as useful as one who likes them. This relationship is a starting resource and a starting complication.
What does the Terminal owe you, or what do you owe it? A character who has been on the Terminal for any length of time has accumulated something: a debt called in or outstanding, a favor extended or received, a piece of information that someone wants. This does not need to be dramatic at character creation; it becomes dramatic through play. Establish one specific thing and let the GM note it for the faction or NPC it involves.
Group Character Creation Notes
Faction balance: A group composed entirely of characters from the same faction is coherent but limits the range of institutional access and relationship networks available in play. A mixed-faction group starts with built-in tension and built-in access breadth. Both configurations work; the GM should be aware of which they have and design early session encounters accordingly.
Tradition distribution: Two or three tradition practitioners in a group covers the catalog's major perception and capability gaps, Void Attunement for void operations, Psionics for social intelligence, CI for electronic environments, Arc Theory for electrical deterrence. No group needs all four. A group with no tradition access at all will find certain encounter types significantly harder; a group with Void Attunement will find void operations and void entity encounters significantly more navigable.
Unaffiliated in a faction group: A freebooter or station-born character alongside faction-affiliated characters is a common configuration, the unaffiliated character provides social mobility that faction members lack, while the faction members provide institutional access the unaffiliated character cannot match. This asymmetry is productive, not a balance problem.