Character Creation Guide

You've got a lot of choices to make when you create your Sol. Here's a breakdown of them.

Introduction and Thanks

There's a lot to decide with these sorts of games, and the choices you make before Sol reaches the planet can alter how you play the game, so I figured I'd write this up to help guide your own character creation.

I'm not going to talk about the cards you get added to your starting deck here - just the way your choices alter Sol's skills and friendships.

Also, thanks to Steam user smokey for helping me with a couple of things here - much appreciated!

The First Time

The first time you play this, you won't have as many choices to make that will alter Sol's starting skills - four after you settle their name and pronouns. But no matter what, Sol always starts with Empathy 10 and the Loyalty-Rebellion slider is set at the middle (50).

Choice #1:Augmentation

Genetic enhancement is common but optional here, and Sol is no exception. You always get the same six choices no matter how many times you've played the game.

Augmentation	Skill Bonus	Additional Bonus
Eagle Eyes	+10 Perception	+1 to all Perception and Animals increases
Extra Fingers	+10 Creativity	+1 to all Creativity and Organising increases
Absorbent Brain	+10 Reasoning	+1 to all Engineering and Biology increases
Super Strength	+10 Combat	+1 to all Toughness and Combat increases
Calm Temperament	+10 Empathy	Reduce all Stress gains by 2
No Augmentation	N/A	Start with 30 Kudos

Choice #2: Your Best Friend

The second choice is when you meet the other six kids on the ship and you choose which one you want to be closer to. This gives you a starting +5 Friendship with the selected character.

Friend	Skill Bonus
Anemone	+5 Toughness and +5 Combat
Cal	+5 Biology and +5 Animals
Dys	+5 Bravery and +5 Perception
Marz	+5 Persuasion and +5 Organising
Tammy	+5 Empathy and +5 Creativity
Tangent	+5 Reasoning and +5 Engineering

Note that the two skills your friend boosts also gives you a clue as to which skills you need to focus on for their friendship route.

Choices #3 and #4: Arriving At The Wormhole

The wormhole sequence starts off with Sol getting some Stress, before you get Hal rounding everyone up for group safety, at which point you get two choices - obey or disobey.

• If you Do as he says, nothing changes.
  
• If you Try to slip away, Sol gains 5 Rebellion.

Sol ends up with the other kids and has to find a way to cope with the fear of what's going on.

• If you Put on a tough face, Sol gains +2 Friendship with Tangent; this requires a minimum Toughness of 5.
  
• If you Get in touch with your emotions, Sol gains +2 Friendship with Marz and Tammy; this requires a minimum Empathy of 5.
  
• If you Think of a game to play, Sol gains +2 Friendship with Anemone, Cal, and Dys; this requires a minimum Creativity of 5.

Every Other Time, part 1

Once you've finished the game once and you play it again, you actually get a few more events that boost Sol's starting skills and add more cards to your starting deck. Once you settle on their name and pronouns, you actually get five choices to make.

Choice #1: Sol's Fourth Birthday

Instead of going straight to choosing the augmentation, Sol has a memory of their fourth birthday party and the presents they got. You get six choices here, and you're picking one to be Sol's favourite, which not only nets Sol a skill increase but also gets them a piece of gear!

Present	Skill Increase	Gear Effect When Equipped
Gardening Trowel	+5 Biology	+5 Biology, +1 to straights
Animal Book	+5 Animals	+5 Animals, +1 to flushes
Doll	+5 Empathy	+5 Persuasion, +1 bonus to pairs
Eudicot's Old Hat	+5 Persuasion	+5 Empathy, +1 bonus to straights
Learning Tablet	+5 Reasoning	+5 Reasoning, +1 to all flushes
Sportsball	+5 Toughness	+5 Toughness, +1 bonus to pairs

Choice #2: What Geranium Reads To Sol

Between Sol's birthday and the augmentation choice is another new one - Geranium deciding to read something to Sol to ease their fear. You initially get three choices, but you can unlock two more with certain choices:

Reading Material	Skill Increase
Sir Knight and Princess Petticoats	+5 Creativity
Superhero Justice Warriors	+5 Combat
Futuredog and the Space Cadets	+5 Engineering
Ship Engineering Manuals	+5 Engineering, Engineering Books Gear
Stories from your dreams	+5 Bravery

Choice #3: Augmentation

This is identical to the first time you did it - no changes there.

Choice #4: Your Best Friend

This is identical to the first time you did it. However, if you met certain conditions in other playthroughs you will get a seventh choice - Congruence, the ship's AI. This gives the same skill boosts as Tangent does (+5 Reasoning, +5 Engineering), but doesn't increase friendship with anyone and is a requirement for being able to alter the shields (which is a whole different thing).

Choices #6 and #7: Arriving At The Wormhole

This is identical to the first time you did it. However, if you met certain conditions in other playthroughs you'll get a third option to try to get Congruence to recalibrate the shields. This choice means you get no Friendship increases or extra card, and it only works if you've made other choices during the prologue, but it's necessary for two endings.

Every Other Time, part 2

You may have noticed that I skipped number five in that last section. That's because, once you choose a friend, you get an additional scene involving an activity Sol does with that friend, that will alter Friendship with that character and one of Sol's skills. You still get the initial skill increases and the bonus to Friendship - these are extra opportunities and can help round out Sol's skills.

Anemone's Scene

Sol and Anemone are playing tag, but something gets broken - and naturally, everyone assumes it was Anemone's fault. What does Sol do? You get three options:

• If you Let Anemone take the blame, Sol gets +5 Reasoning, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Anemone.
  
• If you Admit you were playing tag too, Sol gets +2 Bravery and +25 Loyalty.
  
• If you Say you were trying to learn stuff, Sol gets +5 Engineering and +10 Rebellion.

Cal's Scence

Cal has found a mouse, and wants to keep it as a pet. How does Sol help him? You get three options:

• If you Help raise it, Sol gets +5 Empathy, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Cal.
  
• If you Tell your parents, Sol gets +5 Organising and +10 Loyalty.
  
• If you Search for the rest of the mice, Sol gets +5 Animals and +10 Rebellion.

Dys's Scene

Dys has a habit of wandering off into the ship somewhere, but he usually comes back for dinner. Not this time - and Sol is tasked with finding him. You have three options:

• If you Go find him, Sol gets +5 Perception and +2 Friendship with Dys.
  
• If you Cover for him, Sol gets +5 Persuasion, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Dys.
  
• If you Tell them where he is, Sol gets +5 Organising and +10 Loyalty.

Marz's Scene

Marz gets grounded! How does Sol help her out of it? You get three options:

• If you Stay with her, Sol gets +2 Empathy and +25 Loyalty.
  
• If you Help her sneak out, Sol gets +5 Creativity, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Marz.
  
• If you Plead on her behalf, Sol gets +5 Persuasion, +10 Loyalty, and +2 Friendship with Marz.

Tammy's Scene

Tammy wants to be nice and make everyone some carrot cake. The problem being that there aren't any carrots readily available. However, Sol's parents have access to carrots, so Sol is tasked with trying to get them. You get four options:

• If you Ask your mom for the carrots, Sol gets +5 Biology and +5 Loyalty.
  
• If you Ask your dad for the carrots, Sol gets +5 Persuasion, +10 Loyalty, and +2 Friendship with Tammy.
  
• If you Steal the carrots, Sol gets +5 Perception, +10 Rebellion, and +5 Friendship with Tammy
  
• If you Find something else to use, Sol gets +2 Creativity.

Tangent's Scene

Tangent wants access to more of the databanks and information because she wants to know and doesn't appreciate adults keeping it from her - and she asks Sol for help. You have three options:

• If you Help by scoping out the bridge, Sol gets +5 Perception, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Tangent.
  
• If you Ask for permission from the captain, Sol gets +5 Persuasion and +10 Loyalty
  
• If you Hack into the holonet instead, Sol gets +5 Engineering, +10 Rebellion, and +2 Friendship with Tangent.

How to max out a skill

If you're wanting to try and get the maximum possible increase in a skill during the prologue for some reason, here's how you do it.

Empathy 30

• Sol always starts with 10.
  
• Take the Doll (+5) or Eudicot's Old Hat (+5 equipment bonus).
  
• Take Calm Temperament (+10).
  
• Befriend Cal or Tammy (+5).
  • If you chose Cal, Help raise the mice.

Persuasion 15

• Take Eudicot's Old Hat (+5) or the Doll (+5 equipment bonus).
  
• Befriend Marz (+5).
  
• Plead on her behalf (+5).

Creativity 24

• Read Sir Knight and Princess Petticoats (+5).
  
• Take Extra Fingers (+10, +1 to all Creativity gains).
  
• Befriend Tammy (+6).
  
• Find something else to use (+3).

Bravery 10

• Read Stories from your dreams (if unlocked) (+5).
  
• Befriend Dys (+5).

Reasoning 25

• Take the Learning Tablet (+5, with an additional +5 equipment bonus).
  
• Take Absorbent Brain (+10).
  
• Befriend Anemone, Congruence (if unlocked), or Tangent (+5).
  • If you chose Anemone, Let Anemone take the blame.

Organising 6

• Take Extra Fingers (+1 to all Organising gains)
  
• Befriend Cal, Dys, or Marz (+6)
  • If you chose Cal, Tell your parents.
    
  • If you chose Dys, Tell them where he is.

Engineering 17 or 22

• Read Futuredog and the Space Cadets (+5) or the Engineering Manuals (if unlocked) (+5, with an additional +5 equipment bonus)
  
• Take Absorbent Brain (+1 to all Engineering gains)
  
• Befriend Tangent (+6).
  
• Hack into the holonet instead (+6).

Biology 16

• Take the Gardening Trowel (+5, with an additional +5 equipment bonus)
  
• Take Absorbent Brain (+1 to all Biology gains)
  
• Befriend Cal or Tammy (+6)
  • If you chose Tammy, Ask Mom for the carrots

Toughness 16

• Take the Sportsball (+5, with an additional +5 equipment bonus)
  
• Take Super Strength (+1 to all Toughness increases)
  
• Befriend Anemone (+6).

Perception 22

• Take Eagle Eyes (+10, +1 to all Perception gains)
  
• Befriend Dys (+6).
  
• Go find him (+6).

Combat 21

• Read Superhero Justice Warriors (+5).
  
• Take Super Strength (+10, +1 to all Combat gains).
  
• Befriend Anemone (+6).

Animals 22

• Take the Animal Book (+5, with an additional +5 equipment bonus).
  
• Take Eagle Eyes (+1 to all Animals gains).
  
• Befriend Cal (+6).
  
• Search for the rest of the mice (+6).

[Prince Kat]

"Stealing carrots" didn't get me any friendship with Tammy :(
I tried it a few times to see if it was a bug but no...

[somapodra]

Selecting Congruence as my best friend gave me +10 Engineering and Reasoning. Presumably this is to make up for the lack of a friendship scene?

[somapodra]

Update: I started a second playthrough, and this time I only got +5 to the skills when I selected a childhood friend. But I still got +10 friendship!

[somapodra]

I just selected a friend for the first time (specifically Anemone), and it gave me +10 friendship instead of 5. I got +10 to the relevant stats too. Is this because it's my first playthrough, or was the character creation buffed in a patch? Either way, I'm certainly not complaining!

[FauxFox]

for some reason i dont get option #3 and go straight to #4... this is my first time playing...?

[ericneo2]

"Stories from your dreams" aka "Dream People" is an item from a past life. Does anyone know what it unlocks throughout the story? Is it like Engineering Manuals that change the story?

[Tamagomeshi]

So I'm also not 100% sure on the exact point of unlock, but based on what I experienced and tonyastark's comments, I agree that it's based on interacting with either Sym a few times or the Overseer at least once . I got it after a regular no peace on vertumna explorer end, so it shouldn't be ending locked. Hope that helps!

[tonyastark]

@angelsgrace2005 It unlocked for me when I got Peace on Vertumna ending, but I don't know if actually getting the ending is a requirement, or if it is sufficient to take some steps towards it.

[tonyastark]

@angelsgrace2005 I am pretty sure Stories from your dreams unlock when you have at least met the gardeners (maybe even the observer?) in one of your playthroughs you explore the outside enough times + maybe even surveying the ridge specifically which unlocks at 15.

[adhdedrn]

I don't know how you get that option. I suspect it might have something to do with Sol telling people about their memories and getting treated as though they're insane for it, but I haven't tried it so I can't confirm. If Tamagomeshi reads this, help?