After finishing the GURPS Character Creation series of videos. I realize that it is sometimes important to share starting points in the process. In the videos I spoke to starting with the Skills section and moving over to Disadvantages to start. While talking with players and GM’s alike I have found that most start with Skills and Disadvantages. This assumes that you have some albeit an inkling of a concept. So what do you do when you don’t have a concept? Where do you start?
The starting point I recommend is in the Disadvantages section of the Basic Set. You can start here even if the GM has not given you a theme, staring point or background to work with. You as the player have no concept in mind. The best way I have found to proceed is to start with the Disadvantages and select the ones that you feel like you may be able to play and cross out the others. You should print or copy the Trait List on page 297 of GURPS Basic Set Characters. You do not even need to thumb through the book. You should be able to get a feel for how your character will look from examining the remains of the printout. If you are still having a time trying to flesh out the concept then continue on with the Skills Categories list. Do the same thing and cross out what you know you will not use and mark the ones you’re interested in. By this time you should have some idea of where you want to go with the character.
The whole character concept may not be finished but you now have something to work with. You may not even want to call it a concept just yet. Just know that with these two sheets marked up you can begin the next step. In this case the next step is to take a look at the Disadvantages that you may want to take. Pick one or two of them and read their descriptions. Do this even if you know their technical aspects. Out of those two try to run through how you would play them in the adventure. Would you play it silently or cause angst amongst the other players? At this point your character concept should be almost finished.
My way to start the character creation process in GURPS is not always your way. If you don’t have a concept, or even if you did have one, starting with the Skills and Disadvantages may be the best place to start. If you know of a better way or one that works for you, feel free to comment. I am always looking for other ways to create characters. You may have an insight into the process that I have overlooked. Keep making characters!
