Character Creation

“The Three were not content with one another, in time. Talamh grew tired of Dearr's vanity; Dearr grew weary of Cuan's rage; Cuan grew bored with Talamh's jealousy. Talamh decided to create something new to distract them - beings made in their image, with their own flaws and talents, free to do as they might with the sea, sky, and soil.”

– A recounting of the creation of mankind, according to a Soil-Blessed preacher.

The preferred method of submission is via this Google form. You will receive a copy of your response via the email you use to fill in the form.

If, however, you encounter technical issues with this or prefer not to use a Google form, we can also accept character submissions by email to gm@contagion.oxfordrpg.com, though use of the form is preferred where possible. The deadline for character submissions is 23:59 on Friday October 17th.

Character Creation in Contagion consists of the components detailed below.

• OC information: Inform the GMs (and eventually your fellow players) of your name and pronouns. In addition, you will need to supply an email address, and if you are under 18, you will need to alert the GMs for safeguarding reasons (this information will not be shared, as per our Privacy Policy).
• IC name(s) and pronouns: Select a name for your character. Please also tell us your character's pronouns.
• Character Questionnaire: Answer some important questions about your character. See below for more details.
• Quirks: Characters will have a broad role they fit into, as well as either positive or negative Quirks that determine how they interact with the world. See the Quirks page for information about the Quirks you can take.
• Private Bio: A brief (2-5 paragraphs) biography of your character visible only to you and the GMs.
• Public Bio: A shorter (1-2 paragraphs) biography that will be published on the Player Characters page on this wiki, visible to all players.
• OC Notes to GMs: An optional message to the GMs, primarily to inform them how they can make the game more comfortable or accessible for you.

If you have any questions for the GMs concerning character creation, or are simply looking for inspiration for what sort of character to play, we will be running a joint character creation session with the GMs of APERIS, both online and in-person. See the When and Where page for more details.

The Character Questionnaire is a set of questions that helps make sure players have decided on, and GMs know, some important details about the submitted character. The 6 questions are:

• What did your character do before arriving at the Bastion?
  • The End began decades ago, but it began slowly. Some noticed the moment the wind changed and took action to protect themselves, heading to bunkers or stockpiling supplies. Others clung to normality, working office jobs as though nothing was happening. Before coming to the Bastion, how did your character spend their time?
• How did your character get to the Bastion?
  • People from across the world are at the Bastion. How did you discover its existence, and how did you cross land or sea to reach it? Were you injured or inhibited along the way? Do you want to stay?
• What is their role here?
  • At the Bastion, everybody is expected to pull their weight. Resources are tight, and the outside world is dangerous. How does your character establish a unique and useful role? Are they really as good at this as they claim to be, or do they just hope no one will call their bluff?
• What beliefs do they hold most strongly?
  • In the face of the end of the world, what beliefs does your character cling onto? What drags them through each day? Are they the same as they used to be?
• At the very end, what will they leave behind?
  • If it all goes wrong, and the sun razes the land and the contagion gets to us all, will your character have left a mark? If not—or if they’d rather leave some other trace behind—what do they hope their mark will be?