You've clicked New Game and are about to create a character and plan to jump right into Chaos Chain and support your local Steam indie developer...
but then you run into a wall of text and choice options and have to click through a bunch of personality traits, backgrounds, ability points, and skills.
This guide will hopefully lay all that out for you in advance so you can run through and get to freelancing.

1. The first option will be your avatar's presented gender. Basically whether you will have a more masculine or feminine presentation. It doesn't affect game play or statistics. There's about 28 choices for each. Take the time to click Next and scroll through them to see what suits your fancy and click Confirm.

Next, you'll define your character's feature points. These are four statistics called:
Muscle; Affects your Melee Damage, Carry Capacity, and change to Intimidate.
Toughness; Affects Physical Protection, Damage Cut, and Nerve.
Finesse; Affects Reflexes, Coordination, and infliction of status effects.
and
Resolve ; Affects Resistances, Persuasion, and Willpower.

Each of the stats starts at 3 and can go up to 12. Depending on the type of character you want to play, these decisions are important.

Might will let you hit harder if you just want to be swinging a bat or hammer, and increased Carry Capacity is always welcome to keep you from walking around like a turtle trying to reach the pawnshop to trade in a bunch of scrap you've found.
Toughness will let you take less damage and affects Morale, or Nerve, which comes into play in certain situations.
Finesse affects your aiming with ranged weapons and your resistance to ranged attacks and the chance to apply status effects to a target, like stunning or bleeding.
Resolve will let you resist effects like bleeding or stunning and also helps you persuade others in situations that don't call for Intimidation or Background checks.

I will not go into how you assign points. Usually I focus either on Might or Finesse and max it out depending on it I want melee or ranged, then drop some points in the other one. If you plan to be a hacker, have lots of cyberware, or psionics then you will need good Mettle, which is based on your Resolve.

Here you will choose your background and upbringing. Whether you were rich, poor, working class, or some sort of lurker on the fringes of society.


Affluent: You were rich and had it pretty easy.
+1 Resolve, +20 starting Experience, +80 starting Creds (money).

Working Class: You worked for a living, maybe a shift in a warehouse, at the docks, or late-night at a convenience store.
+1 Muscle, +40 starting Experience, and +60 starting Creds.

Impoverished: You know the hardships of living on the streets. Roughing it in the the inclement weather and fighting for a place to sleep.
+1 Toughness, +80 starting Experience, +20 starting Creds.

Outsider: You worked outside the city society, maybe as a rural worker, underworld thug, overland courier.
+1 Finesse, +60 starting Experience, +40 starting Creds.

In addition to affecting your starting Experience and the amount of money you have available in the beginning of the game, your background can affect certain choices, allowing options to more easily bypass challenges or interact with certain groups.

You can choose based on either the ability bonus if it matches your play-style or based on who you want to be associated with.

The next choice is your character's overall outlook and philosophy in life.

Pessimistic: You're generally distrusting and sure things are going to go wrong, but that thinking has kept you alive so far.
+5% Recovery (how much Health and Mettle you regain from items that restore them), +5% Critical Evasion (ability to avoid critical hits), –10% maximum Mettle.

Cynical: You've seen it all. Been there, done that, sometimes twice. Almost nothing is new to you. It's hard to shock you, but it's also hard for you to experience wonder.
+5% Stress Resistance, +5% Shock Resistance, –10% Experience earned.

Realistic: You deal with problems in a rational and logical way. When it's time to act, you act.
+5 Initiative, +1% Ability Point Regeneration, –5% Trauma Resistance, –5% Experience earned.

Optimistic: You try and look on the bright side of life and keep an open mind. You benefit from new experiences but the bad stuff rattles you more.
+10% Experience gained, –5% Stress Resistance, +5% Shock Resistance.

This choice can open options in some dialogues, but pick the one that looks most beneficial for your desired build. While the experience penalties may seem bad, you can typically mitigate them with traits during character creation or at later levels.

This is where you select your past profession. The career path you had that will influence some future dialogue options and starting equipment and traits.

Military: You were in the armed services, possibly a mercenary or member of a militia. You can keep your cool when lead starts flying. You start the game with your own firearm and ammo, as well as an MRE, adrenaline shot, and bandolier.
+5 Initiative, +5% To Hit, +5% Ranged Evasion, +5% Shock Resistance.

Criminal: You worked the shadier side of the law. You know how to blend into the shadows and know the workings of both sides of the line.
+5% Critical Evasion, –5% Target Rate (how often you get targeted by enemies instead of your allies), Bonus Tone: Civic (You can choose Civic options in dialogue, but you don't gain any benefits that choosing Civic background would give you). You start with a prybar, some beer, and other items a criminal lowlife like you would have to ply their trade.
You get the Bugout skill, which allows you to flee almost any combat other than ones where escape isn't possible.

Police: You worked a beat. Did your share of time on the street and also pushing paperwork. That's behind you now, but you still know how things work in the department.
+5% Evasion, +5% To Hit, +5% Physical Resistance, +5% Stress Resistance.
You start with a Nightstick, a Leather Jacket, and a Firearm of your choice.
When you defeat outlaw or gang factions, you have an additional chance to gain a cred stick. You also do not gain any Heat for fighting humanoids. (Normally, getting in fights with people builds Heat and draws attention to you).

Medical: You trained as an EMT, medic, or worked in a clinic or hospital.
+1% Health Regeneration, +10% Healing effectiveness (your health items work better), and the Stabilize skill (revive a character without using Smelling Salts or Defib, but it's very weak)..
You start with a variety of health items and trauma kits.
You also get a Field Triage skill (heals group except for drones).

Civic: You're an urbanite. You know how things work on the street and at a bureaucratic level.
–10% Target Rate, +5% Mettle, +5% Barter bonus.
You start with a big backpack and lots of energy food and snacks as well as a First Aid Kit for urban exploration.
You are able to blend in to lower Heat (Each day, there's a chance for Heat to go down, this increases that chance).

Technological: You were a data analyst, IT tech, or hacker. Maybe you just did some coding for extra cash or hacked a grad or two for college students. Either way, you know your way around a hackpad.
+5% Experience gain, +1% Mettle Regeneration, +2 Skill points.
You start with a low-end Hackpad, and an Infovisor and Neural Link to let you access it and do hacking tasks.
You get a skill that lets you block system shutdowns while hacking.

Psion: You are gifted with psionic talent. A mental skill or mutation that lets you do things a normal person cannot.
+1 Resolve, +5% Confused Resistance, +5% Stressed Resistance, and access to Psionic tricks.
You start with some Essence, a pharmaceutical that regenerates Mettle.
You gain access to Psionic options in certain dialogues and you receive a 20% bonus to your abilities for tests outside of combat.

Next you choose a personal edge. A knack or special talent that benefits you.

Cautious: This ups your defensive stats. Making you harder to hit and less likely to be targeted.
+5% Critical Evasion, +5% Evasion, +5% Ranged Evasion, –5% Target Rate

Aggressive: This ups your offensive stats. You hit more often, harder, and move faster.
+5% To Hit, +5% Critical Rate, +5 Initiative, –5% chance to receive Shocked condition.

Cunning: This increases your experience gain and gives an extra skill point.
+10% Experience Rate, +5% Counter rate, +1 Skill point.

Vigorous: This makes you tougher, giving you higher health and Mettle.
+10% Health, +5% Mettle, +1 Toughness.

Now it's time to pick out a weakness. Everyone's got one. This is were you pick out your Achilles Heel.

Bad Memories: You have psychological trauma from a past event. It makes it harder for you to process information quickly.
–10% Experience Rate, –1% Mettle Regen, –5% Mettle.
This isn't the best choice for a Psion or heavy cyberware user (since that also lowers your Mettle Regen).

Chronic Illness: You've always been a bit sickly. You have a chronic illness that affects your immune system, making you more likely to catch colds.
–1 Toughness, –5% Mettle, –10 Sickness Resistance.

Paranoia: They're out to get you. They're all aroud. You can't trust anyone. You don't eat right, you don't take care of yourself. You jump at shadows and miss the signs when you really are in danger.
–15% Mettle, –5 Initiative.

Permanent Damage: You were injured in the past. Maybe it was a work-related incident, cost you your job, or your ability to do it effectively. It's never healed right.
–10% Health, –10% Recovery Rate.

After all that, now you can pick out your skills and talents. This is where you set up the things you can do. You start with 3 Skill Points (SP), though you may have some extra based on traits like Cunning or other background choices.

There are four categories.
Passive: These are inherent perks that generally affect things like accuracy, resistance, or status infliction.

Talents: These skills reflect training, they include things like resisting status effects or taking damage and using weaponry. This is where you will find things like training for firearms, exotic weapons, and additional background tone, like Criminal or Police to open those dialogues or options..

Abilities: This list is additional option, typically used in combat. Things like Stabilize or Trip.

Psionics: This is where you choose psionic powers, like Mend or Mind Spike. If you're playing a Psion, don't neglect this list.

For the most part, I tend to avoid the Abilities at first and run with Passives to start, either going with Quick Learner early on for extra Experience earned as well as Accuracy. There's nothing more annoying then continuously missing. After that, if I'm going melee, I typically go with Stun increases to add to my weapon (which usually has a Stun bonus itself). Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide what fits you.

Hit ESCAPE to back up when you are happy with your selection. You don't have to spend all your Skill Points now. Any unused ones will be available in game.

Choose your alias
Now all that's left is to name your freelancer or, at least, the alias or codename you go by. 'Victor' or 'Victoria' is the default, but you can change it to your heart's desire or just click 'Random' and see if something tickles your fancy.

Difficulty
Select the difficulty you want to play on. Your choice will affect things like enemy health and statistics. At higher levels they will hit harder and take more damage. Your choice will also impact the number of world modifiers in play.

Tourist: Story mode. 2 World modifiers.
Amateur: Easy mode. 3 World modifiers.
Professional: Normal mode. 4 World modifiers.
Expert: Hard mode. 5 World modifiers. 20% Experience bonus.

You will have the option to read through the Tutorial. It's a 24 page slideshow. It's kind of long, but it details things like Condition, eating and drinking, and sleep and saving. Things you should definitely learn, which this guide isn't going into. Reading through it gives you some bonus Experience, so you can always just read through it and fast-click through on later plays.

This will lead to the opening scene where you wake up to a pounding on the door. Open the door and see what it's about, then you can move on to gathering your gear around the room and visiting the bathroom mirror to set the World Modifiers.

You will encounter the World modifiers shortly after starting the game. You will go to the mirror in your bathroom after answering your door.

World Modifiers

Here you can choose the World Modifiers, though the intention is that they are randomly selected.

Backburner
You're a troublemaker. You've done a few things recently that attracted attention while you were trying to pay your deby. You start with 3 additional Heat (the things you've done to attract attention. Encounters with police will be less cordial than normal). You do start with 30 extra Experience and 30 creds. Spoils of your crimes.

Bio Altered
You had your bones augmented with a bio-plastic polymer coating. You're tougher and more resilient but you start with the Sick status. You'll want to clear it up early.

Cold and Dark
The weather is more likely to be stormy and dark. The chance to get sick from being out in the weather is increased.

Complete Chaos
Critical hits in combat will be 3 times more deadly than normal, for you and your enemies.

Contamination
Most of the food you find as loot in containers will be rotten and really bad for you. Normal food will add 1 point of healing, however.

Desperation
Enemies have 10% less Health and Mettle, but they hit more often, have more criticals, and regenerate their Action Points faster, meaning they can do special attacks more often.

Deep Wounds
Attacks that damage Health deal 2 additional damage, for you and your enemies.

Deja Vu Gain a new Memory Chip every day. Memory Chips can allow you to save your progress anywhere. This is all positive. Go for this when you can.

[b[Desperate Times[/b]
The world is a soul-crushing place. After every round of combat, everyone loses 1–3 Mettle points. Take care not to run out and just give up.

Economic Collapse
All prices have a chance to be higher than normal but credsticks have a chance for higher rewards.

Experienced
You instantly start with an extra level but all enemies have a chance to have an increased level.

Fading Rep
You have a higher starting reputation. 3 points randomly distributed between Fame and Infamy. But your reputation has a higher chance to fading each day than normal, You're gonna need to work harder to keep a high reputation.

Hardwired
You've got a cheap cyware processor installed. You'll be able to access other cybernetics without having to buy and get surgery. It's was a pretty crude and shoddy job, you start with the Trauma status. You'll want to get that removed as soon as possible. If you take the Medical background, you start with a Trauma Kit that can treat it.

Harsh Environment
There's is a higher chance for acid and toxic rain. And it rains a lot. The plus side is that you start with a pair of Chemical Coveralls.

Hopeless
Attacks that damage Mettle deal 2 additional damage, for you and your enemies.

Jackpot
The daily limit for winning at Verge is increased by 100 credits per day. However, a high-roller like you is more likely to get targeted in combat.

Loner
Your squad size is reduced by one. Normally you can have yourself and three other allies, but now it's less. Your freelancer's abilities will be 15% stronger, however.

Nothing New
No modifiers. This option will do nothing good or bad.

Tune Up
You've been tuned for enhanced combat and gain a +5% Hit Rate and Critical Evasion and +15% Health and Mettle but your maximum companion limit is reduced by one.

Hopefully this guide will let you breeze through the character creation and not get overwhelmed. It can be a lot of clicking and reading and learning, especially when you just want to get into the world and start getting into the story.

Good luck, freelancer.