Character Creation

Below, I've provided links for several relevant Blue Planet PDFs. Please use this material responsibly; I kindly ask that no one share it with those outside of the game.

Blue Planet v2 Player's Guide - Core book with character creation, Synergy rules, and setting info.

Ancient Echoes - Sourcebook for cetacean characters.

Fluid Mechanics - Equipment sourcebook.

Frontier Justice - Sourcebook for GEO law enforcement characters and criminal characters.

Uh, I'm going to have to look at Frontier Justice - Sourcebook for GEO Marshal characters. I never really got my first character wet, and that was a junior Marshal on her first assignment

I've checked the first few chapter of Player's Guide and leaning towards a Genie. I couldn't look at the options of genies properly but if there is room for customization I'd very much like to create a special unit with modified genetics, like a combination of humans and spiders (no, not like Spider-Man who just gains muscle and agility, more like perception-wise changes).

Okay, sounds good. That book also covers other GEO character types, as well as organized crime and criminal characters, I believe

While the Synergy System itself is fairly easy to learn, some have described character creation in Blue Planet as daunting. If you find that’s the case for you, there are Character Roles starting on page 82 of the Player’s Guide. These are templates for various careers or archetypes, and selecting one can take some of the work out of character creation.

Likewise, there are fully written, pre-generated characters starting on page 58, most of which are Exceptional-level characters and ready to play. With a few tweaks, you could also use one of those characters.

Blue Planet is a setting with a lot of diverse character options. Obviously, however, some character concepts might not work well together. For instance, a GEO Marshal and a wanted criminal probably wouldn’t make much sense being in the same group. Consequently before making characters, we should first perhaps discuss the group concept.

What kind of game do you want to play? Do you want to be mercenaries working for a corporation? Do you want to be law enforcement on the payroll of the GEO Marshal Service? Do you want to be environmentalists working to support native insurgents? Do you want to be criminals in the employ of one of Poseidon’s cartels? Do you want to be a small gang of Long John prospectors with your own mining outfit?

There’s a lot of possibilities.

I would favor environmentalists working to support native insurgents. In other words, underground eco operatives, possibly terrorists. I also was thinking of creating a photographer/videographer/techie type character; however, it's not set in stone.

I also wanted to know if we were GEO, Eco Terrorists, Corp Mercs, Cartel soldiers, Prospectors, Salvagers/Scavengers...? I am very flexible at this point since once we start, these things will unfold in their own manner and our characters will change and grow over time.

Also, will we have a ship, sub, vehicle?

My character concept is of a junior GEO Marshal, or one who is on the track to become a one. A police officer.
I could make her work with any group concept except criminals

I like the environmentalists concept

Incoming grumpy dolphin mechanic.

I definitely like the idea of straddling ideologies and the tension between them - the practicalities of surviving and thriving in conflict with environmentalism and conservation. It's a thematic space that just doesn't see a lot of exploration, outside of the binary of "industry bad, punch all factories" and "nature is full of horrible monsters kill them" in RPGs. The fact that we live in an industrial hellscape does make punching factories sound great, but the question of how much impact we should and do have just as a consequence of existing and forming advanced societies is one I think Blue Planet is uniquely positioned to explore.

A cell of operatives working for "The Man" that is associated with an ecoterrorist cell and has to decide how far it's ok to take it is what falls out of my brain.

@GreyGriffin what do you mean?

Nature itself is a conflict - over geological timeframes, species have beaten the everliving heck out of each other. Witness the evolution of grass and its effect on other flora, or the Great Oxidation Event.

Humans, as a consequence of being, you know, physica beings that exist in a tightly interconnected environment, have an impact on that environment. We eat and poop and kick up dirt. Technology, our real evolutionary edge, has magnified our ability to impact our environment exponentially, but it has also improved our standards of living.

However, as beings cognizant of our environment, we are aware of the harms we are causing. Almost unique among animals, we have empathy for other species and a concern about the harm that we cause. Right now, in current 21st century, we have extremely obvious adversaries to point the finger at and whose activities we could, in physical theory, easily curtail. (Economics and politics aside...) However, even cutting the worst actors out of the system, if we want to act as stewards rather than consumers of the environment, we have a lot of important questions to answer.

Humankind is vast and fecund. To sustain our standards of living we naturally tend towards cities - where and how do we build those cities? Who lives there and under what conditions? How do we sustain the populations in those cities?

Agriculture is responsible for much of humankind's population growth. Although in modern society there is enormous food waste, in a tighter, colonial setting, you need to know - where do we grow and produce our food, and how? At what point do we constrain food growth? What food does everyone have a right to, and do we expand food production in anticipation of higher populations? At what point do we stop?

These kinds of questions extend in all directions - mineral extraction, refinement of chemicals and plastics, water and sewage treatment, and so on. Not having widely considered the questions and the consequences of their answers is kind of what led to the anthropocene climate crisis. On a "second chance" world, even one settled using highly advanced technologies, they have the potential to become first-order priorities. Having seen the consequences, people may fight for a chance do do it "right" or to stop doing it "wrong..." but they might have profound disagreements on what right and wrong are... or even what "fight" means.

We will have an impact on our environment. In order to cease impacting our environment we would have to cease to exist. But deciding how much impact we should have and can have, and what constitutes sustainability once we have gotten past the burning-ourselves-alive point of inaction is an interesting philosophical axis to explore.

Yes, there will have some sort of group vehicle.

I know that Runekyndig has recently submitted a GEO Marshal character. I don't want to speak on his behalf, but his character might not want to delve into full-on ecoterrorism. One option, however, could be that the PC group works (officially or unofficially) for the GEO Justice Commission. Maybe you liaison between GEO and some of the native settlements. Natives are often hostile to colonial law enforcement, but they might be more open to dealing with third parties. Your group could be sympathetic to the plight of the natives and trying to de-escalate some of the wars raging between native groups and the Incorporate States.

I realized that I should probably post a brief list of the various factions that exist on Poseidon. These are the groups that you'll likely encounter or be dealing with on Poseidon.

Global Ecology Organization (GEO): A massive, Earth-based international organization (not unlike the U.N.) that was originally created to prevent the environmental devastation and economic collapse of Earth. Having mostly succeeded in those efforts, GEO now administrates the colonization of Poseidon. On Poseidon, GEO serves as the de-jure government and is responsible for maintaining the peace, which it tries to do with GEO Peacekeepers and Marshals. The organization's authority doesn't go unchallenged, however, and GEO regularly butts heads with the Incorporate States, native settlements, and other groups that resent GEO's supervision.

The Natives: The first humans settled Poseidon almost a century ago. However, serious economic and geopolitical strife back on Earth forced governments to abandon the colonization effort, leaving these early explorers to fend for themselves. In time, the settlers had "gone native," foregoing technology and adopting a simple lifestyle not unlike the Pacific Islanders of Earth. When ships from Earth finally returned to Poseidon nearly a century later (an event known as "Recontact"), they discovered the settlers' descendants populating the ocean world and thriving.

In general, natives have become wary of the new wave of colonists, if not outright hostile. They seek to protect Poseidon, which they view as their home, from the depredations of the Incorporate States and thoughtless colonists. Environmental destruction caused by Long John mining, as well as rampant colonialism, has led to incidents of violence and rebellion. There are currently several full-blown wars raging between native groups and corporate militaries. Despite their technological disadvantage, the natives have proven resilient and effective at fighting Incorporate security forces.

The Incorporate States: These are mega-corporations from Earth that have come to Poseidon for profit. Most seek to exploit the planet's immense natural resources, especially Long John, in what amounts to a modern day gold rush. The Incorporates are powerful entities with advanced technology, deep pockets, and security forces that serve as small armies. Many of the companies have demonstrated a callous disregard for environmental laws and native rights, and even GEO has difficult keeping them in line. The Incorporates have established "company towns" throughout Poseidon where corporate culture, laws, and money reign supreme.

Organized Crime: With human colonization came criminal elements, and the settlements of Poseidon have their fair share of organized crime. Seeing major opportunities for profit, many Earth-based cartels have extended their reach to the water planet. Most of these groups have carved out niches for themselves in the larger settlements such as Haven, where they provide contraband and services that are hard to come by on an alien world. Organized crime also has a hand in trafficking people to Poseidon.

Independent Operators: A large number of colonists have made their way to Poseidon; each for their own personal reasons. Some have come to strike it rich. Others to indulge academic or scientific curiosity. And others still to start over and create a better life on a new world. Whatever the case, there are many independent colonists roaming Poseidon, just trying to survive while avoiding the politics between GEO, the natives, and the Incorporates.

Yes, those are good points. A big part of Blue Planet is navigating the complexities between progress and environmental conservation. The effects of colonialism is also a recurring theme in the game.

My character is not set in stone - it was the character from my first game that never really got going. If the group desides that sticking it to the man and ecoterroisme is the name of the game, then I'll redesign her

@LactoseTheIntolerant what did you envision? What story did you wanna tell?

I don't want to play this, just to play Blue Planet. I made a character sheet template and finally got my head around the rules.
I think that has for filled my BP desire.

The concept that spilled out of my brain was specifically related to disaffection - the idea that the PCs are people in positions in either the government or bridge organizations that can make a difference, and are in contact with rogue elements.

The motivational tensions go wild in a lot of directions. Does the organization push the Marshal who doesn't like how heavy-handed the government is go too far and ask too much? Does the Native who found employment with a Megacorp want to go off-script and blow up a facility and bring down a spotlight too bright?

Again, it's just an idea that spilled out of my brain, but my character idea can probably be slotted into a lot of different campaigns.

I, too, am interested in your thoughts @LactoseTheIntolerant - If you could put the PCs where you wanted, and kick off in a given set of starting circumstances, what would you pick?

Hey guys, I'm enjoying the discussion, but I have to say, without some guidance, I'm lost on a character idea. The setting is to unknown for us to treat it like we would a D&D campaign. Especially since the players don't really know each other. I wouldn't mind a "Your a group of ..." as a starting place.

I'm going to withdraw from this game