The creation screens

This page is further along your path. Read ahead if you’re curious; you can return when you reach this stage.

The order of the screens

Twelve creation screens from race to summary — Caption: The creation overview runs from race to summary, followed by the online levelling question.

Step	Screen	What you decide
1	Race	One of eight races. See Choosing a race.
2	Gender	Your character's body and portrait set.
3	Class method	Answer questions to be given a class, pick one from the list, or build a custom class.
4	Class	One of the eighteen classes, or the Custom row. See Classes and Custom classes.
5	Biography method	Answer background questions, or skip them.
6	Biography	Questions about your past; some answers adjust your starting details.
7	Name	Your character's name.
8	Face	One of ten faces for your race and gender.
9	Attributes	Your eight attributes, with bonus points to place. See Attributes and skills.
10	Skills	Your starting skill values, with points to place in each skill tier.
11	Reflexes	How quickly enemies react to you, from Very High to Very Low.
12	Summary	Check everything, then enter the world.

The interface skin changes how these screens look, not what they ask. Classic and Enhanced skins run the same steps.

Three ways to choose a class

Questions: answer a short set of situational questions and the game proposes the class that fits your answers.
List: pick any of the eighteen classes directly. Each has fixed attributes, skills and special abilities.
Custom: design your own class: choose its skills, health per level, advantages and disadvantages. The game measures how strong the result is and makes a stronger class level more slowly.

If you already know the playstyle you want, the list or custom route gives you the most control.

Attributes: rolled, then placed

Each attribute starts from your class's base value plus a random 0 to 10. You then get a pool of 6 to 14 bonus points to place, one at a time, within the screen's limits. Reroll until you like the starting spread, then place the pool on the attributes your playstyle relies on.

Skills: three tiers

Your class sorts skills into three tiers. Each tier starts higher than the one below, and each tier gives you 6 points to place on the skills in it:

Tier	Skills	Starting value
Primary	3	28 to 31
Major	3	18 to 21
Minor	6	13 to 16
Everything else	the rest	3 to 6

Your tiered skills also drive your character level: you level up when they have risen far enough. See Attributes and skills.

Reflexes

Reflexes are a difficulty setting for combat. There are five settings, from Very High to Very Low; the default is Average. Higher reflexes make fights harder:

Reflexes	Time between an enemy's melee attacks	Chance a monster lands each of its extra attacks
Very High	0.9 seconds shorter than Average	70%
High	0.45 seconds shorter	60%
Average	the base timing	50%
Low	0.45 seconds longer	40%
Very Low	0.9 seconds longer	30%

Online, enemies also telegraph many of their attacks (a glint and a marked shape on the ground; see Fighting later). A telegraphed attack lands when its wind-up completes, not on the timer above, so reflexes mostly change the pace of an enemy's ordinary swings and how many of a monster's extra attacks connect.

The setting is fixed at creation. If you are new to Daggerfall-style combat, Average or Low is a comfortable start.

Sources & checked facts

src/ui/chargen.js: ChargenFlow, STATES (screen order), face index, Average reflex default
src/ui/chargenArt.js: PLAYER_REFLEXES, REFLEX_COUNT
src/characters/enemy/enemyAttack.js: MELEE_TIMER_REFLEX_MS (450 ms per step), resetMeleeTimer
src/combat/formulas.js: calculateAttackDamage monster attack gate 50 - 10 × (reflexes - 2); the same gate in the online combat core, src/combat/pcaao.js (PCAAO, forced on online)
src/characters/enemy/enemyAttack.js TACT4/TELL2 notes: a telegraphed blow lands "whatever the clock"
src/systems/online/onlineLane.js: ONLINE_ROOM_MOD_KEYS (pcaao forced on)
src/characters/playerEntity.js: reflexes (0 Very High to 4 Very Low, 2 Average)
src/systems/chargen.js: rollStats (base + 0-10, pool 6-14), rollSkills (tier baselines and 6-point pools)
src/systems/chargenSession.js: loadCareers, applyCreationExtras, online classic levelling (applyHeadlessChargen notes)
src/systems/races.js: FACES_PER_RACE
Research note: handbook/research/C1.md