Chapter 14 — Character Creation Overview

This part of the book walks you through building a Wanderer. The process has six chapters, but only four real decisions: who your character is at their core, the life they lived before play, and how you spend the experience and credits that life left them with.

Creating a Wanderer is best done at the table, together. Character creation in Wanderstar is partly a dice-driven story — your character's past is rolled, not just chosen — and watching each other's histories unfold is half the fun. Bring a character sheet (in the back of the book), a few six-sided dice, and a rough idea of the person you want to play.

Infographic: [[14 Character Creation Overview.pdf]]

The shape of it§

The first two steps define who your character is at their core. The third — careers — is where randomness enters, shaping the life they lived before play begins. The last steps give you control back: a pool of experience points and a budget of credits to spend however you like.

Step	Chapter	What you do
1. Name & Heritage	15	Name your character. Choose Sleeper, Wanderborn, Seeder, or Companion (and a lineage, if Companion). Purely roleplaying.
2. Characteristics	16	Mark N characteristics as Advantage and N as Disadvantage (0–3 each). You always have the same number of Advantaged characteristics as Disadvantaged and vice-versa.
3. Careers	17	Enter careers, take terms, collect career events, and roll a Life Event after every term. Stop when forced out or when you choose to.
4. Credits, Gear & XP	18	Take Cr2,000 plus two outfitting choices; then optionally take starting Banes and spend your XP on skills and Boons.
5. Finishing Up	19	Clear the lighter scars, confirm at least one contact, and fill out the sheet.

A few things to know before you start§

Heritage is flavor, not mechanics. Which of the four peoples you choose shapes your character's background, culture, and perspective — and nothing on the dice. Pick the one that speaks to the character you want to play (Chapter 15).

Your past is rolled, not bought. The career step trades in narrative probability. You choose which careers to attempt, but the dice decide how each term goes — you might come out with everything you planned for, or with a contact who complicates your life and a scar you didn't expect. That's the nature of a life actually lived. Lean into what the dice give you.

Momentum doesn't apply yet. The Advantage and Disadvantage your characteristics grant on career entry tests and term rolls are applied freely during creation — you don't spend Momentum to receive Advantage, and you don't gain Momentum from Disadvantage or from trauma taken along the way. Momentum is a per-session play resource and begins to matter only once the campaign starts (Chapter 7).

You get a generous floor. Regardless of how your careers go, every Wanderer ends creation with 40 free XP, a starting credit-and-gear package, and at least one contact. A run of bad luck on the dice costs you terms, not viability.

With that in mind, turn to Chapter 15 and name your Wanderer.