Character Creation that Matters

Ordered by the number of things you can change, so the first games you see will have the most comprehensive character creation. You could say this is a measure of depth. Really, it's more of a ballpark estimate.

Explanation (IMPORTANT):
Character creation varies a lot in actual relevance to the game. There are many, many games that have detailed character creation and none of it actually matters mechanically, or very little of it does. In this list, I'm including games that allow you to pick AT LEAST two things at chargen that have an effect on gameplay. Rankings of games with the same amount of stats are ordered by how much I believe they matter as a whole.

Caveats:
- If I list something like "race" or "gender," that means the race/gender you pick actually has an effect on gameplay. Example: Argonians in Oblivion have water breathing. Men and women in Dragon's Dogma have various differences.
- If something is able to be attained by all other characters as the game progresses, I do not count it. Example: Skills in New Vegas, Fallout 3, Oblivion, Skyrim, can be maxed out on all characters.
- If you play as a preset character, the game is not included here. Example: Commander Shepard in Mass Effect.
- "Class" is listed if the effects come from the class and not from things you define within the class. Example: In The Elder Scrolls: Arena, knights cannot use spells no matter their stats. On the other hand, in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, you can make a custom class have literally anything you want, and the preset class picks have nothing special going on, rendering the class itself as just a name.
- Extremely minor things that have little notable effect are omitted. Example: Torso shape in Dragon's Dogma has a minor effect on movement speed. Gender has a small effect on dialogue in many games.
- The game has to be fully released, so no TBD.
- I'll try to list special cases in the notes section for each game.

Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress
- Race
- Attributes
- Personality
- Civilization
- Status

1

Crusader Kings III
Crusader Kings III
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Culture
- Traits
- Skills

2

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- Race
- Attributes
- Advantages
- Disadvantages

3

Chapter Master
Chapter Master
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
- Mutations
- Class

4

Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
- Race
- Gender
- Background

5

Fallout
Fallout
- SPECIAL stats
- Traits
- Skill tags

6

Fallout 2
Fallout 2
- SPECIAL stats
- Traits
- Skill tags

7

The Elder Scrolls: Arena
The Elder Scrolls: Arena
- Race
- Attributes
- Class

8

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
- Birthsign
- Race
- Gender

9

Dragon's Dogma
Dragon's Dogma
- Height
- Weight
- Gender

10

Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
- SPECIAL stats
- Traits

11

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Race
- Birthsign

12

Mount & Blade: Warband
Mount & Blade: Warband
- Gender
- Attributes

13

Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade
- Gender
- Attributes

14

Comments




Last updated: