After going through character customization that you saw in our video, the player will be offered to create the character’s psychological portrait.
There are two steps to this process:
1. Choosing the archetype
Archetype determines the main motivation of the character, regardless of the goals he wants to achieve.
By following their motivation, players will gain bonuses related to character development. For example, a Theorist is better at acquiring theoretical skills while a Politician will receive a small buff while holding a leading position.
Note: This wasn’t done to trap the player in a “class system”, all of these bonuses are just pleasant additions to the game; they will not become a decisive factor when choosing an activity and they will be thoroughly tested before being introduced into the game. Base skills won’t have any bonuses that depend on the archetype.
For example, I want to select a Social Butterfly archetype because I want to develop the character by climbing the social ladder, gaining influence and upgrading social stats.
Social Butterfly
Main values: love and recognition, social interactions.
Whatever Social Butterfly does, he wants to gain public recognition for it, and oftentimes adoration of others is more important than his own well-being. This type is obsessed with his social standing, prestige and image; any attempts to hurt either of those will be taken very seriously.
Social Butterfly doesn’t necessarily want to be the center of attention, what matters to him is prestige and elitism. To put it simply, in a Victorian Europe Social Butterfly would rather be a poor aristocrat than a rich merchant.
Now, let’s move to the next step.
2. Character traits settings
Character traits are there to make your character unique and emphasize the ways he can interact with the environment.
You won’t refuse to help someone out, but won't insist on it either.
You are unable to critically assess your own beliefs and constantly try to push them onto others.
You follow traditional values if they don't go against your interests.
You often lose yourself in the world of fantasies, providing you with respite from the real world and giving you time to think.
Your mood is that of a flame, changing with every gust of wind. You are sizzlingly zesty and unpredictable.
You don’t see the need to be secretive or forthright unless the situation demands it.
You are always polite regardless of the setting, making you seem cold or even eerie when dealing with your foes.
You are inclined to be rational in everyday situations, but when it comes to making quick decisions, you try to rely on your instincts and intuition.
You will be honest if there’s nothing in it for you; otherwise you will not hesitate to lie.
Your own audacity shocks you and you often ask yourself “how am I still alive?”
You enjoy society and people. It’s always nice to spend some time with friends and relax from the daily troubles.
This way we get an individual who can be brought to life through roleplaying, instead of a simple game character whose only interest is the progress in just one area.
Maybe to those players who aren’t interesting in roleplaying, these things won’t seem that important, but why not include something for those who enjoy it? Furthermore, somewhere down the line we could create specific dialogue trees with certain NPCs, quest choices and even some random events.
