Thoughts on Character Creation (Patreon)

Wanted to take a few minutes to write out my ideas for the character generation system of a potential next TES title (or, really, any RPG with a similar system). The intent here is twofold: 

1) sidestep the problematic nature of having humans of one color be be better/worse at [skill] than humans of another color, and the inability to create a characters of certain ethnicities, and 

2) allow for a variety of philosophies behind character creation that don't force you to pick between playing a character you like looking at and a character you like playing.  

In short, I believe that appearance needs to be divorced from skillset. I'd break it down into two or three separate categories: 

Appearance

Choose between 5 basic "races": Human, Mer, Argonian, Khajiit, and Orc. Each has a different set of basic visual identifiers (ex: men have rounded ears, mer pointed) and a whole lot of sliders that let you create a variety of different characters within those parameters. You could have an elf with short ears that barely come to a point, or super long point ones. Humans, too, can have slightly pointed ears, but never as pointy as those of the least pointy elf.  Differences in musculature, height, weight, and sexual characteristics are also part of this limit locked slider system. 

A number of presets exist within each race to let you easily create a Dunmer/Altmer/Bosmer within the Mer category, or Redguard/Nord/Breton/Imperial in the Human category, if you don't want to bother with all the sliders. These presets could also then suggest to the player some appropriate selections in the Culture and Background categories. This system also allows us to introduce more visual differences in previously relatively monolithic races, like the Orcs, Argonians, and Khajiit. 

Culture

Essentially the old "race" selection, but with appearance removed. Culture tells you where your character came from and/or what they believe. It influences stats and attributes, as well as the world's perception of them. You could also throw in a basic name generator to suggest lore-appropriate names. 

For example, you can make a dark skinned human who comes from the Nibenese culture, granting them a bonus to their negotiation skills, but making some folks remark negatively on your people's colonialist tendencies. You could also play completely against type, rolling a Bosmer character who grew up in Skyrim's martial culture, and therefore gaining a bonus to their axe and hand-to-hand skills, rather than the traditional Valenwood bow. 

Background

What you were before you got yourself into your adventure.  More or less corresponds to "class" in an RPG, but without the emphasis on combat. Sure, you can still be a battlemage or a warrior, but you can also be a scholar or a noble or a graverobber, which allows one to both roleplay better (if desired) and offer the player a wider variety of more organic of bonuses and abilities. Background influences your stats and attributes, but also grants you unique bonuses and and impacts the world's perception of you. 

A fisherman could get a bonus to water breathing, for example, as well as a positive athletics modifier. A thief could get a higher chance of finding cool stuff in chests and a bonus to stealth, but also a negative personality modifier when dealing with shopkeepers and guards. 

Roleplayers are now granted more granular control over how their backstory is represented in game. If they want to play a Bosmer who looks more like an Altmer because of their royal Camoran blood (like Mankar), they can do that. They don't have to make an Altmer and pretend he's a Bosmer, or make their own custom classes to represent nobility (which is then never acknowledged in game). 

More tactical min/max players also benefit, since they can stack the culture/background selections to their benefit without having to play a character whose visuals they don't enjoy. Want to play a character who is really, really good with an axe and heavy armor, but hate the look of Orcs? We got you. 

Further, this system accommodates a wider variety of representation within each race. Taking elves, for example: we can have both the angular, kind of alien mer of Morrowind and Skyrim, as well as the smooth-featured, more Lord of the Rings looking elves favored by some players. Further, since we're no longer gated by the traditional ideas of what a "Bosmer" or "Breton" looks like, we can offer players the full range of appearances. Want to play someone that looks southeast Asian or Hawaiian Native? Now you can.