Characters

Characters are the heart of role playing games. Fully Automated makes it easy to build characters that reflect whatever concept you have in mind.

Creating Unique Characters

The mechanics of building a character come down to allocating points between seven base Attributes; assigning Skill points to the skills that matter most to your character; and picking out Abilities from a tree of options that fit your concept. Between the available options, players can create characters that demonstrate a diverse array of skills and weaknesses.

Narratively, character sheets and the character creation process try to counteract a lot of common tendencies in RPGs that create a 1000 variants of the badass loner. Characters are encouraged to briefly describe their living arrangement, family, neighbors, and community.

The game offers instructions for playing unmodified or minimally modified humans; heavily augmented humans (adapted for the ocean, forests, space, etc.); talking chimps, gorillas, and birds; non-verbal non-human animals; androids; disembodied sentient computer programs; and transhumanist cyborgs. We don’t provide instructions on playing as a sentient beehive or three kids in a trench-coat, but if your GM is cool with it we’re confident that you can make that work.

Character Types

Fully Automated doesn’t use character classes. Any character can build out their skills and special abilities in whatever way suits them. But if you’re looking for advice on building characters that fill certain functions within a team or a narrative, we offer the following suggested character types.

Hacker

Recommended Skills:  Hacking Software, Hacking Hardware, Assess Tech, Detection & Analysis, and/or Physics & Engineering 

Recommended Stats: Intelligence, Observation, and Knowledge.

Tinkerers, engineers, technicians, and any characters who like to apply lateral thinking to solve problems make great hackers.

Investigator

Recommended Skills: Situational Awareness, Research & Investigation, Detection & Analysis, Assess Tech, and any subject matter expertise

Recommended Stats: Observation, Knowledge, and Intelligence.

Detectives, journalists, and puzzle-solvers make great investigators.

Healer

Recommended Skills: Care, Medicine, Chem & Molecular Bio, Empathy, and sometimes Physics & Engineering. 

Recommended Stats: Intelligence, Knowledge, Observation, and sometimes Strength and Dexterity

Doctors, medics, clerics, nurses, therapists, and anyone who likes to give care all make good Healers.

Negotiator

Recommended Skills: Charm, Intimidation, Acting, Art Music & Culture, Empathy, Psychology, Community Contact, and possibly Psionics 

Recommended Stats: Charisma and Observation and sometimes Knowledge or Strength.

Actors, lawyers, government delegates, union reps, and other positions that require cooperation make natural negotiators.

Knower

Recommended Skills: Any of the subject matter skills (History & Geography, Law & Crime, Physics & Engineering, Chem & Mol. Biology) as well as Research & Investigation, Community Contact, and Art Music & Culture,

Recommended Stats: Knowledge & Observation

Archivists, Librarians, Analysts, and Scientists make good Knower characters. Highly technical workers like supply chain analysts with a hobby interest in one or more esoteric liberal arts offer a fun way to be the character in a group who has the most understanding of the game world’s inner workings.

Athlete

Recommended Skills: Athletics, Will, Riding & Piloting, Stealth

Recommended Stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance

Competitive athletes, physical trainers, dancers, outdoor enthusiasts, adrenaline junkies, explorers, firefighters, construction workers, any other physical profession or anyone else who enjoys pushing their limits or challenging themselves can make good athletes.

Fighter

Recommended Skills: Combat, followed by Athletics. 

Recommended Stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance

Most characters who would make good athletes would also make good fighters, though characters who enjoy confronting conflict or who have a passionate moral alignment are especially suited. Adventurers, monks, and other clergy members may make good fighter characters. Soldiers and other military characters are a natural fit, but be sure to review the culture of armed forces with players and make sure their character concept won’t create unwanted friction at the table.

Premade Characters

If you’re looking for examples of the kind of characters you might create in Fully Automated, check out these premade characters.