[narrative elements]
The first three steps of Character Creation guide you through the Narrative Elements of your character. These elements are the core foundation of who your character is and serve as the backstory to inform yourself and other players how the character may interact with the world, or, their approach to a challenge
Pursuits
In putting pen to paper, character creation in Echelon starts with a Pursuit. A Pursuit is the driving principal at the core of a Player Character’s identity. A Player Character’s Pursuit can be many things, or it can be one thing. Ultimately, the complexity or number of Pursuits a player character has does not have a profound impact on their success in the game. Rather, it helps the Player inform themselves of the approach the character would likely take when they are faced with a challenge. A Pursuit can be as simple or complex as the player who creates them wishes it to be. Within the Echelon system, it is recommended that simple and/or broad Pursuits be considered for long term campaigns or ongoing campaigns and the opposite, focused and/or specific Pursuits for one shot campaigns or shorthand campaigns.
Example Pursuits:
Simple / Broad
A Simple or Broad Pursuit can often be boiled down to a single theme. The more vague this Pursuit is the more it can grow or change over the course of an extended campaign trail. A Simple or Broad Pursuit is suggested for players who are entering into a campaign that may extend beyond ten sessions.
A few examples of Simple or Broad Pursuits
• Survival
• Knowledge
• Balance
Focused / Specific
A Focused or Specific Pursuit is often an ideal or moral. The more specific this Pursuit is the easier it may become to improvise decisions in the game. A Focused or Specific Pursuit is suggested for players who are entering into a short term campaign that may exist between one and six sessions.
A few examples of Focused or Specific Pursuits
• Protect the people
• Tie loose ends
• Topple the patriarchy
Associations
The next step in character creation is to establish any connections your characters may have to the world you inhabit. Either NPCs that need to be included in the world, organizations that your character has dealings with or objects and/or locations that are important to your character. This should be done in collaboration with your Game Master. Perhaps there is an organization that is aligned with your vision of your character’s Associations. Or perhaps this time of Association is unique to the story that you want to tell and you’d like to see it included. In either instance, Associations have loose guidance, the key thing to remember here is that your Associations should be a tool that you can leverage to progress the game’s story. So it would help if your Associations were in some vague form connected to the story elements you uncover.
Personality Traits and Profile
To round out the Narrative Elements of a character, the next steps are developing Personality Traits and a Profile.
Personality Traits
Personality Traits exhibit patterns of thought, feelings and behaviors. These traits are determined by the Player and may be informed by the characters that are chosen by the other Players in the group. There is no limit to how many Personality Traits a character takes on but a character must have at least one of each. For the purposes of Echelon, Personality Traits are split into two categories: Positive Traits and Negative Traits
Positive Traits
For a Personality Trait to be a Positive Trait it must in some way support another character’s Pursuit. Even if the prescribed trait is a generally ‘negative’ quality, so long as it may support another character’s Pursuit it is considered a Positive Trait within the rules of Echelon.
Negative Traits
For a Personality Trait to be a Negative Trait it must in some way conflict another character’s Pursuit. Even if the prescribed trait is a generally ‘positive’ quality, so long as it conflicts another character’s Pursuit it is considered a Negative Trait within the rules of Echelon.
Profile
The Profile is the surface level description of who a character is when they are introduced in the game and should provide a general visual image of the character a Player is performing as.
A profile is document that details high level information about the character:
• Name
• Age
• Origin
• Height
• Weight
• Physical description
