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within the rules of the games presented to me. These included all manner of games, from the very worst -being White Wolf's Werewolf RPG- to the very best -the Earthdawn RPG- and all things in-between. Dungeons and Dragons, Palladium, GURPS, Albedo Anthropomorphics, Warhammer Fantasy, Millennium's End, and dozens of others were among the vast collection of game books I had at one time, before my divorce from my first wife, a role-player; you can imagine where those game books went to. I came to the point where I decided it was time for me to construct my own game, and so I went to work examining game systems, especially those such as Earthdawn, Shadowrun, Torg: Role-Playing the Possibility Wars, and Leading Edge Games Aliens RPG. I knew I wanted to develop the most dynamic system I possibly could, so I looked to the most dynamic systems.

To get to the point of how RPGs are designed around characters, the process of designing five of my own RPGs -which will never be published unless I can find time to make them happen- taught me, quickly, that the core of a character, their Attributes and Characteristics, were dictated within the game system, and the game system dictated around the character as well. Yes, yes, skills, super abilities, psionics, etc., are all fine and good and dandy, but if you do not have a solid base from which to work, they will not work correctly, and that's why the Attributes of a character are the most important part.

However, Attributes are only the most basic part of the system. Although they work together with the system to make the game what it is at its' core, they are not the end all and be all of the game. No, we get into Character Makeup to allow the entire system to work well. Makeup is the sum of your character's race, which you'll have a grand selection to choose from in most role-playing games, their class/career, which determines what your character is able to do as a unique member of the role-playing party of friends you have sitting around the table, and their derivative skills, attribute bonuses, and special abilities.

Although race is very important to your character, again in most RPGs, but not all, it is normally used for little more than determining any attribute bonuses you may have and certain race-specific skills. Of course, it helps to be able to imagine your character by knowing what the big deal is about their race. Keep in mind the bonuses and skills you get may not be fantastic, but instead are meant as enhancements

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