Starfield character creation explained

Four years after its initial reveal, Bethesda finally showed us some Starfield gameplay at this year's Xbox Games Showcase. As has been the tradition with Bethesda Game Studios' titles, Todd Howard walked onto the stage to demonstrate various aspects of the game, which in Starfield's case were space exploration, combat, character creation, skill trees, settlement building, and more.

We'll break down everything we got to know about Starfield's character creation system, which seems to be quite a departure from Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. With that said, here's everything you need to know about character creation in Starfield.

Biometrics and Body customization explained in Starfield

Character creation has always been an integral part of BGS games and RPGs in general. As mentioned before, the character creation in Starfield is quite different from recent BGS titles and leans more towards older BGS titles like Oblivion and Fallout. Some of the customisable attributes are Biometric ID, Body, Face, Background, and Traits.

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Biometrics can be changed later in the game. The Body attribute offers simple yet effective ways to craft your character. One option which stands out, in particular, is the "Walk Style." In games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, almost every character had the same walking style. Given that Starfield is a next-gen game, this small yet subtle change should bode well with the fans.

When it comes to facial attributes, players can customise their skin tone, head shapes, hair, hair color, and eyes, just to name a few. There's nothing in particular that stands out though fans could expect a wide array of options within these categories.

Background and Traits customization explained in Starfield

Where Starfield's character creation truly shines and is something hardcore Bethesda and RPG fans would appreciate is the ability to tweak their character's Background and Traits.

The addition of Background and Traits indicates how deeply rooted Starfield's RPG mechanics are. Most modern AAA action RPGs fail to implement these elements properly on a fundamental level, resulting in a pseudo-disjointed RPG experience.

Players can choose from a plethora of different Backgrounds, each providing a slightly different experience than the other. Every Background grants players three starting skills to get going.

For instance, the "Chef" Background's starting skills are Gastronomy, Dueling, and Wellness. Gastronomy will allow players to craft special food and drinks, and research additional recipes at a Research Lab. On the other hand, Dueling will grant 10% extra melee damage, and Wellness will give players an additional 30 points of health.

Background options in Starfield include Beast Hunter, Bouncer, Bounty Hunter, Chef, Combat Medic, Cyber Runer, Cyberneticist, Diplomat, Explorer, Gangster, Homesteader, Industrialist, Long Hauler, Pilgrim, Professor, and Ronin. Having a certain Background will give players an advantage or disadvantage in a given situation though we are yet to witness the ripple effects of such a situation in gameplay.

Traits are yet another interesting and praise-worthy addition to Starfield's character creation. Players can select three starting Traits from a wide array of Traits to shape their characters accordingly. For example, having Traits like "Introvert" will allow players to have more endurance when adventuring alone but less endurance when traveling with a companion. To nobody's surprise, the "Introvert" trait can't be combined with the "Extrovert trait."

Some of the Traits displayed during Starfield's presentation at the Xbox Games Showcase really stood out and were just a glimpse of how fun and flexible Starfield's RPG mechanics are. For instance, players who choose the "Kid Stuff" trait will have alive parents who they can visit. In return, 10% of all the money players earn will be deducted and automatically sent to the parents.

These are great additions and, if executed right, open up endless replayability options for the players. Some of the Traits in Starfield are Alien DNA, Empath, Extrovert, Freestart Collective Settler, Introvert, Kid Stuff, Neon Street Rat, Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, Serpent's Embrace, Spaced, Starter Home, Taskmaster, Terra Firma, United Colonies Natives, and Unwanted Hero.

That's everything we know about the character creation in Starfield. After the showcase, Bethesda also confirmed that Starfield features a voiceless protagonist, another big departure from Fallout 4. It's too early to predict how that would turn out though fans seem divided at this new revelation.

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Featured image courtesy of Bethesda.