[BlackSquad]

Creationg a character
Now that you've chosen a shard, you'll need to create your first player character. Your player character (or PC) will be your representation in the world of Ultima Online and will be visible to any other players who interact with you.

Note: Here is a simple rule to keep in mind: You are unlikely to continue playing your first character once you begin to grow accustomed to Ultima Online. And that's perfectly all right. Think of your first character as the one you use to dip your toes into the virtual world of Britannia and test the water.

To create a new character, click on any "Create New Character" bar on the Character Selection menu. This will open the Character Customization screen, allowing you to customize the look of your character.

If you are using the 2D version, the first step in creating a character is to pick a profession. 3D users will need to pick a profession after they’ve set up their character.


Choosing a Profession

Ultima Online uses a skill-based advancement system; meaning that you choose your path in Britannia by the skills you focus your attention on. With over 48 different skill types, you may customize your character in nearly any way you wish by mixing and matching complimentary skills.

However, we certainly don't expect you to understand each and every skill on your first day in Britannia, so we've created a series of templates: Warrior, Magician, Blacksmith, Paladin, and Necromancer. You may choose a character template, and your skills will automatically be set to those we feel are optimal for a starting character.

Hint: the 'Warrior' option is suited for the typical fantasy hero or heroine. Choose this option if you're interested in fighting monsters or slaying dangerous beasts. The ‘Magician’ option is for those that prefer the mystic art of magery. Choose this option if you’re interested in using spells to defeat your foes. The 'Blacksmith' option is suited towards a more peaceful life in Britannia. Choose this option if you enjoy chatting, social interaction, and crafting trade goods. The 'Paladin' option is for those who prefer the virtuous way of life. Choose this option if you wish to play a warrior with special Paladin abilities. The 'Necromancer' is a follower of the dark arts. Choose this option if you wish to play a spellcaster that uses dark magic as their weapon.

The 'Advanced' option is for those players that are already comfortable with the UO skill system, and are interested in building a character from scratch.

The Advanced character selection allows you to manipulate your attributes directly by dragging the brass sliders to the desired settings, and you can change your skills by clicking on the Skill field on the lower right of the screen. The text window will change to a list of skills. Simply click on the one you want and it will move to that field. You can then adjust the slider to determine how many points you wish to allocate to that skill. Remember that you only have so many points to distribute across all three skills!

You begin with 100 skill points that may be adjusted between your three starting skills, or you may choose to leave the skills at their default settings.

Additionally, you begin with 80 points distributed between Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. The minimum for a starting attribute is 10, the maximum, 60.

Strength governs how much you can carry, how much damage you can do in combat, and which weapons and armor you may use. Your Strength score is also used to calculate your maximum Hit Points, which determine how much damage you can take before dying.

Dexterity governs how quickly you react. Your Dexterity score is used to calculate your maximum Stamina, which determines how long you may keep moving, fighting, or engaging in other strenuous activity.

Intelligence is extremely important to a number of skills, including Magery and many craft and lore skills. Intelligence is also used to calculate your maximum Mana, which determines how much energy you have available for spell casting at any given moment.

Note: It is not advised that you change these attributes and skills until you are experienced in the game.

Selecting a Name

Your character's name is probably the first impression other players will have of you. Offensively named characters may be assumed to be offensive and treated rudely. If you wish to be taken seriously, choose a name for your character wisely, as your character will be stuck with it for life.

Ultima Online allows redundant naming, so there may be other characters at loose in the world with a name identical to yours. Most names are allowed, although egregiously offensive names are screened, and a few names of important characters (e.g., British, Blackthorn) are reserved.

Customizing Your Appearance

Once you've decided on your name, it's time to mold your character to look the role. An alcove on the screen shows the current state of your figure. This figure will represent you in the game, so you should take your time and decide what you want to look like.

On the left you will see a list of physical attributes you can change about your figure. Simply double-click on each field to see the pull-down menu of possible options for that field. Once you make a selection, the appropriate change will appear on your character. Unselect the attribute to change back, select another attribute to try another style.

You may choose your gender, skin color, hairstyle and color, pants/skirt color and, if you've chosen to play a male character, facial hair style and color.

For example, to change your hairstyle and color, select the 'Hairstyle' option. You will be presented with a scrolling list of hairstyle choices. As you click on each choice, it will appear on your character. If you wish to change to a different hairstyle, simply select the 'Hair Select' option again.

Once you've chosen a hairstyle, you may want to change your hair color. Select the 'Hair Color' option. You will be presented with a palette of available hair colors. To preview hair colors on your character, simply hold your mouse pointer over each color. The color preview will appear on your paperdoll. To choose a hair color and return to the main menu, single-click the color choice.

When you are satisfied with your name and appearance, click the small green arrow to continue.

Entering Britannia

Once you have chosen a starting profession, you are ready to choose your starting city. A map of Britannia will appear, with possible starting cities written on it. The exact cities available to you as starting locations depending on what profession you selected. As you click on a city name, a description of the city will appear in the text box. Once you pick a city, click the Next button to continue.