January 2026 Character Creation Challenge Introduction

Over on rpg.net they've been doing a January character creation challenge: one character a day for every day of January. I started on January 1st., and am using this to give examples of character creation in various games I like. 

It also occurred to me that having a permanent place to post these concepts would be a good idea. And since I don't want to create my own blog...

Here's a general outline of what I intend:

1. Traveller: Classic and Mongoose 2nd Edition: two useless nobles. with character creation commentary.
2. Sword World 2.5, a standard (core books only) and a minor class-based character (many supplements, at levels 2 (beginning), 6, and 9. Again with character creation commentary. Total of six characters.
3. Masks: the "Not the Doomed Playbook" character squad. (4 characters)
4. Fate Core Venture City: Two basic brawlers and a precog, to demonstrate the system.
5. Fate Venture City: The X-women, gender flipped versions of classic characters. (5 characters)
6. Traveller Mongoose The crew of the merchant Ship "Dancing Desire", including the ship as a character. 4-5 characters, with commentary.

Note, this has already gone out the window since I had to make an additional Traveller character.

January 2026 Character Creation Challenge Character 1

Information on the January 2026 rpg.net Character Creation challenge can be found here.

The Dreamwidth posts are a couple days behind rpg.net. So I'll be posting them in a lump sum.

Character 1:
Game system: Classic Traveller
Did you know that in Classic Traveller it's entirely possible to go through an entire Navy career without gaining any skills? Seriously. Each term one can roll on the Personal Development table, which has no skills. Let's see if we can do it....

Quillton Zared Machesky

When he was about to apply to the Navy, his revered grand uncle "Bozie". gave Quillton this advice: "A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body, that's the first thing you need, lad." Quillton took this advice a little too literally.

Classic Traveller Character Generation:
Roll 2D6 6 times: (Note: Traveller attributes are rolled on 2D6, though stats can go up to fifteen, and the stats 10-15 are listed with the letters A-F)

687889

Strength 6, Dexterity 8, Endurance 7, Intelligence 8, Education 8, Social 9. Which is honestly a really good set of rolls.

Term 1 (Note: all rolls are on 2D6, except for skills, which are 1D6)
Enlistment: need 7+ Roll 10. Success!
Survival 3+, Roll 7. Survives easily.
Commission 9+, Roll 3. No commission. Is he shut out of the officer corps?
Reenlist 6+ Roll 7, success.

Skills: 2 rolls on the Personal Development table: +1 Dex, +1 End.
With his career in doubt, he spends time making himself look "Proper Navy"

Term 2
Survival 3+, roll 4. He barely survives.
Commission 9+, Roll 10. Success! Now an O1 Ensign. Undoubtedly due to his heroics.
Promotion 7+ roll 8. Promoted to O2 Lieutenant. Cruising on his success.
Reenlist 6+, roll 6. His rapid ascent must have gotten on somebody's wrong side.

Skills: 3 rolls in Personal Development, +1 Soc, +1 Dex, +1 End.
Rapid promotion leads to increased social opportunities. Also he hits the gym.

Term 3
Survival 3+, roll 4. Still living dangerously.
Promotion 7+ roll 11. Now an O3, Lt. Commander. Probably with his own ship.
Reenlist 6+, 8 Back in the service, no problem.

Skills: 2 rolls on Personal Development, +1 Education, +1 End.
He hits the library and the gym, possibly at the same time.

Term 4
Survival 3+, roll 5. Seriously? What the hell is he doing that's so dangerous?
Promotion 7+ roll 7 Barely promoted. Maybe he's seen as foolhardy. Still, he is now O4, a Commander.
Reenlist 6+ roll 8
Aging: -1 STR

Skills: 2 rolls on the Personal Development table gives +1 Int, +1 End.

Term 5
Survival 3+, roll 3. I think someone in the admiralty is trying to kill him.
Promotion 7+, roll 4. His career stalls, could this be the end?
Reenlist 6+ roll 7
Aging: -1 End

Skills: One roll on the Personal Development table gives +1 End.

Term 6
Survival 3+, roll 4. I think my dice are broken.
Promotion 7+, roll 8. He is now O5, a Captain!
Reenlist 6+ roll 6. Nearly caught by a force reduction.
Aging: -1 Dex

Skills: He gets + 1 Social from his promotion to Captain. He is now Soc B, a Knight.
Also, Personal Development gives us: +1 Str, +1 Dex

Term 7
Survival 3+, 8 Finally he gets a desk job.
Promotion 7+ roll 10. He easily makes admiral.
Reenlist 6+ roll 3. Just in time to be retired after 28 years of service.
Aging: -1 Str, -1 Dex

Skills: He gets + 1 Social from his promotion to Admiral. He is now Soc C, a Baron.
Also, Personal Development gives us: +1 Str, +1 Edu.

Time to muster out. for 7 terms he gets seven rolls, +3 due to his rank. We'll start with the maximum three rolls on the cash table:

roll 5: Cr20,000
roll 5: Cr20,000
roll 2: Cr5000

45,000 credits to start. Not bad.

Now to the benefits, where he can take a +1 to rolls due to rank.

Traveller's Aid Society (basically an adventurer's club that gives low cost hostel stays)
+2 Social (14, or Marquis)
+1 Int
+2 Edu
+2 Edu
Blade (a large dagger)
+1 Int

Our final result is:

Admiral Marquis Quillton Zared Machesky

69BBEE Age 46
CR 45,000
Member, Traveller's Aid Society
Blade

There he is, probably mingling with the movers and shakers of Imperial nobility, and with lots of riveting stories to tell his nephews about how his dignity and perfect posture saved the day many times.

January 2026 Character Creation Challenge Character 2

Information on the January 2026 rpg.net Character Creation challenge can be found here.

The Dreamwidth posts are a couple days behind rpg.net. So I'll be posting them in a lump sum.

Character 2
Game: Mongooose Traveller, 2nd Edition.

And another useless noble. Though she does have some skills, and she can serve as a patron or contact.

Katrien Roffissard Duquesne Zakaria

Stats: 496A9B
Again, an excellent set of rolls. Let's see what I make of them.

Background:

Homeworld: A000988-F
Asteroid, Vacuum, Industrial, High Population, High Tech. Gas Giant, Military and Navel Bases present.

Duquesne system is a highly developed asteroid swarm in the same system as a gas giant, with a population in the billions and is a major military and political hub. The perfect place for a huge noble family. We'll say she's 12th in line to the Dukedom of the subsector, and in spite of her title, she'd never do more than manage some of the merchantile or industrial interests. Which she has no interest or aptitude for.

Growing up she'd normally be kept away from the more industrial areas, so think of her growing up in something that looks like a combination of a high-end mall and a city park. Intelligent, active and prone to causing trouble out of boredom, she ran away with her families unofficial blessing. Let's see how this black sheep will do....

Background skills: for a rich bored kid: 3+ 1 for intelligence
Art 0
Athletics 0
Science 0
Vacc Suit 0

Class: Noble
Assignment: Dilettante

Term 1
Enlistment is automatic, with her social of 11.
Survival: Survival 5+, + 1 for social of 11. Roll: 5+1=6. Right off the bat, she got into some sort of trouble she barely got out of .
Advancement: 7+, +1 for Int of 9. 7+1= 8 Success: Her rank is Now 1.
Skills: She gets the basic array of skills at Level 0 (Admin, Advocate, Electronics, Diplomat, Investigate, Persuade), and one extra skill for her promotion:
She rolls on the Service Skills table: 5 = Gambler 1
Personal Events: you sponge off your family's wealth a while longer. Gain a jealous relative as an Enemy. Gain DM+2 to your next advancement roll.

Her first term away from the shelter of her family is rough for a naive spoiled rich kid. Her basic gambling skill gets her in trouble that her family bails her out out of, at the expense of her cousin Alferto. Something he will never forget.

Term 2
Survival 5+, + 1 for social of 11. Roll: 7+1=8. A quiet few years.
Advancement: 7+, +1 for Int 9, + 2 roll of 5+3= 8 Success: Her rank is now 2.
Skills: She gets Carouse 1 for Dilettante Rank 2, plus 1 roll for the term, plus 1 roll for advancement. I take two rolls on Service Skills: 5 = Gambler, 5 = Gambler. W. T. F.
Event: You manipulate and charm your way through high society. Gain one level of Persuade.

She hits her mid 20s, and the high point of her life. The event pretty much gives an idea of what she's like: a charming gambler going through expensive resorts and casinos like a shark through minnows. She's the attractive and stylish young woman who will come up to your table and say "So how is this played again?"

Term 3
Survival 5+, + 1 for social of 11. Roll: 11+1=12 Nooooo problem.
Advancement: 7+, +1 for 9 Int. Roll: 2+ 1 = 3 Well Crap. She fails to continue the Noble career.
Skills: 1 Skill, on the service skills table (please not Gambler): 2: Deception 1
Event: 8: A conspiracy of nobles attempts to recruit you. If you refuse, gain the conspiracy as an Enemy. If you accept, roll Deception 8+ or Persuade 8+. If you fail, roll on the Mishap table as the conspiracy collapses. If you succeed, Gain one level of Deception, Persuade, Tactics or Carouse.
I'll Accept, and Roll Persuasion 8+: roll is 9 +1 = 10. The conspiracy success, and I'll take +1 Persuasion.

This ties together well. She's swaning her way from one casino to the next, until suddenly she deals with a simple request- one that brings her into the deep end of a conspiracy to gain influence with her extended family.. She manages to talk her way through, but the fallout means she has to move from her normal haunts.

Mustering Out: She has 3 rolls for her three terms of service, +1 roll for her rank:
Cash: (+1 to roll) 5+1 = 6 CR 100,000
Benefit: 5: Travellercs Aid Society Membership
Benefit: +1 Soc and Yacht
Benefit: +1 Soc.

So this is interesting: the Lady Katrien is happily flitting from one TAS hostel to another, breaking hearts and gambling tables, when she abruptly finds out she's a baroness. No, make that a Marquissa. Obviously she's gone from 12th in line, to eighth, no make that fifth. Making her the subject of suspicion-or possibly a target. Is it the Conspiracy making a deeper oove? Or someone else? She really needs to find out- pity her skills aren't really suited for the task....


Marquissa Katrien Roffissard Duquesne Zakaria

Noble Dilettante, 3 Terms, age 30

Skills:
Admin 0
Advocate 0
Art 0
Athletics 0
Carouse 1
Deception 1
Diplomat 0
Electronics 0
Gambler 3
Investigation 0
Persuasion 2
Science 1
Vacc Suit 0

CR 100,000
Traveller's Aid Society membership.

Initial Equipment (initial CR 10,000 allotment):
300 Stunstick
500 TL12 Mobile Comm
1000 Toiletries and makeup
2000 Jewelry
6000 Stylish Clothing

 

January 2026 Character Creation Challenge Character 3

Character 3

System: Classic Traveller

I'm having a bit of trouble getting the Sword World and Masks characters together, so today to buy time, I'm just going to remind everyone what a Classic Traveller character sheet should look l like:



Extra points if you can name the two SF writers that character's name is assembled from. Hint: they're both writers that use scouts.

January 2026 Character Creation Challenge Character 4

Character 4

System: Sword World 2.5


I'm going to go step by step through the process for creating a beginning Sword world Character, so I'm going to put a bunch of stuff behind spoiler tags

MIranda, Runefolk Artificer. AKA マジテック の ショーター ミランダ

So for my first Sword World character creation, I'm going to create a Runefolk marksman, simply because I liked the picture in the game book. Since I am only using the three core books, I'm anticipating she'll be very similar to the base character. Runefolk are artificial humans created back in the days of the Magitech civilization. Aside from a their neck (and possibly other body parts being covered with a hardened material, they are identical to humans, and also need to eat and sleep. However, they are born fully adult from generators.

Background: There are four tables one can roll on, three to give background ideas, one for a reason to adventure. Normally this is rolled last, but I'll roll on these tables first:

• There is (or was) an adventurer in the Family.
• You admire certain adventurers
• You've found large ruins.

Why does she Adventure?:

• Come to power

So...to put that together...She hails from a small Runefolk village in the Burshain region in the Burlight region parented by an artisan and a former adventurer. She loved listening her mother's tales of her service for a noble family, and determined to serve civilization the same way her mother had. While she had an impulse to serve like most runefolk, nobody in the local towns seemed worth serving, and her explorations of the area turned up an ancient magitch ruin, which fascinated her, and reminded her of how the technology to create Runefolk generators had been lost. So at the advanced age of three, she has set out to put her talents to use in the greater world, to find some person or organization to serve, and even better, to find lost secrets of magitechnology.

( Steps 1-3: Race, Background, Atributes )

( 4-6: Classes, Language, Combat Feats )

( Step 7 and 8: Equipment and Figured Characteristics )

And that's it. Very close to the shooty runefolk in the book- and flat broke. We'll see how she develops.