Player Character Creation and Advancement

Players will interact with the game world through the characters they create and it is important that they feel a connection to their characters. You can tell a player cares about the development of their character when their heart beats faster after a couple of enemies come around the corner. A player who cares about his character cares about the setting of the game. So what is it that gives players this connection?

Time
Time is the most common means by which this attachment is made. If you spend a lot of time working on something, you want it to be good. All MMORPG's offer you the opportunity to spend a lot of time on a PC (player character), but some time is more valuable than others.

Evolution
The reason that RPG's are the most character focused of the game genres, is the ability to change the nature of the PC over time, and the PC's relationship to the rest of the game world. Anyone who has played pen and paper RPG's know that they are more immersive than the digital sort. Why? Because of a human GM or DM every action has an effect on the game environment. Games do this to some degree. In either format killing the annoying little boy outside of town is going to make the townspeople react more harshly toward you, but only a pen and paper RPG can handle the subtleties of human existence. Baldur's Gate was a great computer RPG, but you could not have played out the drama of a characters emotional reaction to accidentally killing an innocent bystander. It may not be epic, but the characters new fear of hurting when he tries to help, leading him to forsake adventuring and to open a business of his own instead can be interesting. There is always the possibility that the governor may grow despotic, and when faced with atrocities he need not leave home to witness would the character take up arms again? Limitless options depend upon game systems which utilize the human mind as the source of change and human relationships as the largest factor in character development. Current MMORPG's do a terrible job of this.

Distinctiveness
Your character served as an ambassador for the Alexandrian King. Stationed in Cappadocia, where the dress, the architecture, the social organization, and the language are different, he eventually learned to fit in and to perform his duties well. During his stay he accumulated enough wealth to buy a particularly fine horse from the local stables. This horse wasn't just any horse, it had distinct characteristics. It looked different from the other horses, it ran faster, and it ran longer. The player had wanted his character to own a fine horse since he had begun playing and here it was. He would one day ride this horse through crowds of player characters as a high official. He took great care to insure the security of his prized horse, paying to keep it in a well guarded stable. The horse had a name and the player thought of the horse as an extension of his own character. Eventually, the character boarded a ship and returned to Alexandria to seek higher government office. He was given a new job, as Public Works Officer in one of the outlying settlements, and on his way to his new post, he was waylaid by bandits (PCs) who killed his horse first to prevent his escape. The player is not going to mechanically think of the cost to replace his horse. THIS was his horse and the possession of this horse was in the players mind a distinctive trait of the character. He is going to be very annoyed, and one can easily imagine after taking up his new post the player might press the local Commander of the Guard to begin patrols of the route to Alexandria. This player will keep paying to play every month because he has felt an actual emotional reaction to something that happened in the game.

At the start of the game the player has a set number of points with which to pay for the attributes, skills and starting wealth of the character.

Attributes
Attributes are ranked from one to ten, five being average.
Agility
Agility influences a characters ability to dodge attacks, their chance to hit a target with a weapon (particularly ranged weapons), and their ability to move stealthily.
Endurance
Endurance determines how quickly your character becomes fatigued from running, jumping, and swinging weapons, as well as how much damage the body may take.
Intelligence
Intelligence determines the percentage chance of a character gaining experience toward raising a skill after using it successfully. A character may not have a skill rating in a language higher than their intelligence rating.
Strength
Increases the chance to successfully hit a target with a melee weapon, affects damage dealt by a successful melee attack and the characters maximum weight in gear he may carry.
Charisma
Charisma affects the reactions of Non-Player Characters. The morale of soldiers under a charismatic leader is increased, as is the loyalty of the populace of a charismatic ruler. The opposite is true for those with no charisma.

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