Character creation

**Character creation** is a vital part of the *Pentiment* experience. The Andreas Maler you create will serve you for a quarter of a century, as he gets deeper and deeper into the mysteries surrounding Tassing.

## Act I

Character creation occurs as Maler works on his masterpiece in Tassing his *Wanderjahr*, recounting what he accomplished and where he spent his year abroad. There are two stages to the process:

### Wanderjahr

Literally meaning "wandering years," a wanderjahr is a time period in which a journeyman artist or craftsman, like Andreas, would travel away from home in order to learn new skills and gain new experiences. Andreas picks one area where he took his wanderjahr.

**Basel**

**Flanders**

**Florence**

### Background

The background serves a secondary purpose and determines Andreas' general attitude, giving access to unique conversation options. Specifically, Big Jorg asks Andreas what he spends time doing other than art. Andreas can pick one of the following background factors.

**Hedonist**

**Craftsman**

**Bookworm**

**Rapscallion**

**Businessman**

### Master's Degree

Andreas was working towards a doctorate but did not finish, instead leaving university with a Master's Degree. Andreas picks one of the following as his major area of study.

**Theology**

**Imperial Law**

**Medicine**

### Favorite Subjects

Outside of his major area of study, Andreas would have been exposed to several additional fields of study. Andreas chooses two of the following minor subjects. (The order of this choice does not seem to matter for dialogue options.)

**Latinist**

**Logician**

**Orator**

**Occultist**

**Heavens and Earth**

## Act 2

Seven years later, Andreas is a successful artist in Nuremberg, though haunted by his life's experiences. The player selects where he has been working for the past couple of years, which determines additional languages and cultural knowledge he gained, in addition to different interactions with some characters.

**France**

**Poland**

**Aragon**

**England**

## Act 3

Set years after the peasant revolt, the final Act features not Andreas, but Magdalene Druckeryn. Once again, the player selects Magdalene's traits as well as her skills. In addition, she starts with an unique character trait, depending on which book Magdalene was given by Andreas in Act II.

### Traits depending on book given by Andreas

The following traits depend on which book Andreas bought for Magdalene at the library in act 2. Only one can be selected.

**Bibliophilia (The Philobiblon)**

**Empiricist (Albertus Magnus' De Animalibus)**

**Vitae Sanctorum (Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend)**

**Myths and Legends (Parzival )**

### Work

Magdalene always has some skills in printmaking. In addition, she chooses one of the following to supplement that work.

**Tinker**

**Domestics**

**Bookkeeping**

### Reputation

Magdalene selects one of the following personality qualities that has given her a certain reputation in town.

**Barbs**

**Flirt**

**Haggle**

**Snoop**

### Reading Interests

Magdalene selects one of the following as her current reading interest.

**Polyglot**

**Volksbücher**

**Reformation**

## Notes

* In initial gameplay images, Andreas was able to choose from six Favorite Subjects instead of five. The "Astronomer" and "Naturalist" options seem to have been replaced by the "Heavens and Earth" option, which encompasses both ideas.