Summary
- Creating a character in Starfield allows players to imagine almost any protagonist, with traits that can ground them in the game's expansive Settled Systems.
- Players have little contextual information before setting their character's appearance, traits, and background, which can make the faction and religion traits difficult to parse.
- The faction traits (Freestar Collective Settler, Neon Street Rat, United Colonies Native) and religion traits (Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, Serpent's Embrace) offer special dialog options and minor gameplay differences, aligning players with certain organizations within the game.
Creating a character in Starfield lets players take control of virtually any protagonist they can imagine, and a handful of traits can help ground a custom character in the game’s setting. The Settled Systems is expansive, encoming the dozens of star systems humanity has explored by the year 2330, when Starfield takes place. Six traits in particular can help inform a character’s origins and beliefs – three faction traits and three religion traits. However, the trait descriptions are rather vague, and character creation happens before players have any familiarity with groups like Sanctum Universum or the Freestar Collective.
Much like Bethesda’s other RPGs, Starfield gives players very little preamble before they’re asked to set their character’s appearance, name, pronouns, background, and traits. If players go into Starfield without sifting through all the pre-release details, practically the only reference points they’ll have when reaching the creation screen is their character taking on a mining contract and touching some mysterious artifact during their first real shift. The brief trait descriptions do a serviceable job conveying some gameplay differences one might expect, and any familiarity with Bethesda’s previous games will certainly help in understanding, but without a chance to actually explore the Settled Systems, Starfield’s religion and faction traits start out rather mysterious.
6 Freestar Collective Settler
Freestar Collective Settler is the first of three Starfield faction allegiance traits. Selecting one faction trait blocks the ability to take either of the other two, since these essentially outline where in the Settled Systems the main character comes from. The Freestar Collective is one of two major interstellar governments that can be found in Starfield, a confederation of systems that split from the United Colonies, the other primary political player. The Freestar Collective prides itself on individualism and its settlements tend to embrace libertarian ideals, scorning the bureaucracies that dominate political spheres in the UC.
As the description of Freestar Collective Settler states, taking this trait unlocks special dialog options throughout Starfield, and completing missions for the FC carries greater rewards. The downside, however, is that committing crimes in the United Colonies and the city of Neon will result in more hefty bounties. Like many of the traits available in character creation, the unique dialog options afforded by Freestar Collective Settler will likely have the most frequent effect on gameplay, letting players bump heads with UC officials and commiserate with major figures in Freestar space.
5 Neon Street Rat
Neon Street Rat, the second Starfield faction allegiance trait on the list, is the odd one out of the three. Neon isn’t necessarily a government like the United Colonies and Freestar Collective, but a city that enjoys some degree of independence because of its strong commerce. Neon is built on a fishing platform on the ocean world of Volii Alpha, and while the Volii system is under Freestar control, Neon has its own security force and is governed for all intents and purposes by a conglomerate of its biggest corporations, including Xenofresh Corporation, which built the platform and produces the powerful psychedelic substance known as Aurora. The drug is created from fish caught in Volii Alpha’s waters, and is only legal within the city.
Starfield characters who take the Neon Street Rat perk “grew up on the mean streets of Neon,” most likely in the crime-ridden neighborhood of Ebbside, which surrounds Neon’s core mercantile district. Although Neon is a singular city, it contains plenty of quests for player to take advantage of Neon Street Rat’s increased rewards. The special dialog options will most likely give the player character familiarity with Aurora and the major players in Neon’s corporatocracy, perhaps providing benefits to dealing with the city’s small-time gangs, as well as insight that will prove useful in climbing corporate ladders.
4 United Colonies Native
The final faction allegiance trait in Starfield is United Colonies Native, which is more or less the opposite of Freestar Collective Settler. The UC was instrumental in shepherding humanity to the stars, and its capital city, New Atlantis, remains a bustling metropolis in 2330. Much of the earliest side content and main story missions take place in United Colonies space, so the extra rewards from faction missions can be taken advantage of early. It’s also possible to spend a significant amount of time around New Atlantis and other UC settlements before ever venturing into Freestar Collective territory, meaning it’s easy to avoid abnormally high bounties until a large sum of credits can be acquired.
Special dialog for selecting United Colonies Native will likely help win over the affection of characters involved in the UC Vanguard quest line, and may help in other dealings with denizens of New Atlantis, where plenty of side missions can be found. Being a UC Native, however, may draw the ire of those who still despise the nation for its involvement in the Narion War and the Colony War, two bloody conflicts fought against the FC. The Colony War Armistice remains recognized throughout the Settled Systems, so choosing United Colonies Native won’t hinder travel in any way, but more antagonism may be faced the farther one travels from New Atlantis.
3 Raised Enlightened
Raised Enlightened is the first of three religion traits in Starfield. Just like the faction allegiance traits, choosing any religion blocks either of the other two from being chosen. The Enlightened is an atheistic movement, rejecting the idea that humanity was created by a deity, and instead putting faith in the human spirit. At the forefront of Enlightened thought is a belief that humanity can collectively prosper in the interstellar age, forging its own destiny as a multifaceted entity looking out for one another. Because of this, Enlightened individuals often contribute to humanitarian causes, hoping to spread their beliefs throughout the Settled Systems through goodwill.
Perhaps the most lucrative aspect to taking the Raised Enlightened trait is the “special chest full of items in the House of the Enlightened in New Atlantis.” Extra items early on can be nice, but with the sheer amount of loot in Starfield, those gotten from the House of the Enlightened chest are likely to be rather inconsequential. Once again, Raised Enlightened’s dialog options will have the most impact on a playthrough, finding friendly ears from similar-minded folks, and perhaps causing friction with those who are of the Sanctum Universum.
2 Raised Universal
Selecting the Raised Universal trait makes the player character a member of the Sanctum Universum. Sanctum Universum is a foil to the Enlightened, much like the differences between the UC and FC. This trait also grants a number of items available in a chest in New Atlantis’ Sanctum Universum, which are equally enticing but are not likely to be game-changing. Special dialog options from the Raised Universal trait may be able to put the player character in the Sanctum’s good graces, and has the potential (like many other traits) to open up new avenues through certain quests.
The Sanctum Universum believes in a divine being that created reality itself. Seemingly born from the interstellar age, of the Sanctum Universum see grav jumps – the method by which spaceships fold spacetime to achieve interstellar travel in Starfield – as a glimpse into a higher dimension, an experience by which more can be gleaned about divine reality itself. While Sanctum Universum may feel like a sci-fi extension of some modern religions, much of Old Earth culture survives in the year 2330, including commonly held religions and national cultures.
1 Serpent’s Embrace
Serpent’s Embrace is perhaps the most impactful of the three religion traits in Starfield. Choosing Serpent’s Embrace makes the player character a member of House Va’ruun, a potentially precarious affiliation to have. House Va’ruun’s origins are mysterious, but the group is best known for the Serpent’s Crusade, a violent holy war waged in an effort to cleanse the Settled Systems of nonbelievers before the return of the Great Serpent. In more recent years prior to 2330, House Va’ruun sought to mend relations with the rest of humanity, even establishing an embassy in New Atlantis. However, a sect of House Va’ruun Zealots still appear to be waging the Serpent’s Crusade, attacking other spacefarers indiscriminately, and House Va'ruun's religious texts are considered contraband throughout the Settled Systems.
House Va’ruun is believed to have been started in the depths of space, perhaps aboard a colony ship, and thus, Starfield characters who take Serpent’s Embrace get a buff to health and oxygen for four hours (real time, not in-game) every time a grav jump is made. Once those four hours expire, however, health and oxygen maximums are lowered until another grav jump is performed. Taking Serpent’s Embrace allows for similar dialog options as the other two religion traits, but being a believer in the Great Serpent doesn’t necessarily clear up any of the mysteries surrounding House Va’ruun. Of all the Starfield traits available in character creation, these six perhaps ground the protagonist within the Settled Systems the most, creating strong affiliations with some of the game’s largest organizations and factions.
