Character creation

After selecting a map, setting the game options, and pressing the "Continue" button, the player has to create their first character - the Avatar - to start the game.

## Left Side Menu

At the top of the left side is the **coat of arms** for the player's dynasty. It will symbolize all the player's characters and buildings. Pressing the arrows at both sides, scrolls through all options. The colour of the coat of arms decides how the clothing of all the dynasty members will be coloured.

Below it, there is the player's **first name and family name**. The family name is most important, because all of the player's decendants will be named the same.

Below the names, the player can choose their **religion**:

* **Catholic** (left) - Catholics believe in the hundreds of years old traditions of the holy Mother Church with the Pope as their supreme preacher and shepherd.
* **Secular** (center) - Secular Christians believe in God, but follow a more secular way of faith. They try not to interfere in the struggles between the Catholics and the Protestants.
* **Protestant** (right) - Protestant Christians follow the doctrines of the evangelical reformers, who criticise riches and the forgiving of sins for money. They deny the Pope their allegiance.

Please note: the chance of success for some actions is lower when you interact with a character or family of another denomination. On the other hand, the alertness of a city guard or lansquenet is higher when it comes to detecting crimes committed by culprits of a denomination other than their own. All city guards have the denomination of the sovereign and the lansquenets have the denomination of their employer!

Next, the player is able to choose a startup skill, which is their first profession or career. Don't worry: during the game, more professions can be unlocked, so this choice is not forever. The choices depend on which game mode had been selected before. There are four branches with (mostly) three professions each to choose from:

* Fisherman
* Orchardist
* Big farmer
 Handicraft (red) | * Crude craftsman
* Potter
* Tinker
* Carpenter
 Scholarship (blue) | * Barber
* Herbalist
* Preacher
* City preacher
* Medicus
 Roguery (black) | * Gravedigger
* Minstrel
* Robber
* Smuggler
* Thief

The display window below shows all the workshops, all the produce, and all the actions connected to the selected profession.

## Right Side Menu

The top half of the right side deals with the avatar's **physical features**:

* **Sex** - male or female
* **Voice** - a sample sentence will be spoken by different speakers
* **Size** - slender, moderate or corpulent body
* **Face** - different facial expressions, also different beard and haircut for men
* **Clothing** - different types of clothing, can be also be bought at a market place
* **Hair colour** - works only for women (bug?)

The bottom half of the right side deals with the avatar's **abilities**:

* **Strength** - The strength attribute indicates the robustness of a character's physique. The greater the strength, the stronger the character and the more endurance they have.
* **Dexterity** - Dexterity indicates a character's agility, physical responsiveness and basic body control.
* **Intelligence** - Intelligence indicates the level of a character's memory, ability to concentrate and general knowledge.
* **Perception** - The perception and interpretation of sensations are referred to as the attribute perception. The higher the value, the better the character perceives their environment and the earlier they can sense danger.
* **Charisma** - Charisma indicates the ability to use the correct facial expressions and gestures, and the character's general effect on other people. Charismatic characters have many advantages in social matters.

The player has a total of fifteen points to spend. In the beginning, they are equally distributed on all five abilities. Using the "+" and "-" buttons right of each value, will change those. **Note:** in order to increase a value, the player has first to lower another, to get spare points to spend.

## Leaving the Menu

The player can either use "Back" to return to the map selection, or "Play" to finally enter the map and start the new game.

Character creation was last edited for version 1.0.4.

Character creation was last edited for version 1.0.4.