Character Creation

Before you get together with your group to play Mnemonic, I recommend taking a look at the character concepts in this chapter to start thinking about what kind of character you want to play. If none of them are a perfect fit, you can also build a character concept from scratch using the rules provided below.

In order to play Mnemonic, you’ll need a character whose story you’re interested in telling. Remember: in Mnemonic, we don’t play heroes; we play storytellers, telling the stories of heroes. Because of this, the character you imagine will likely begin larger-than-life, borrowing traits and aesthetics from your own culture and from stories you’re already familiar with. The character will develop, as you tell their story, into something more life-like, but it always begins with a concept.

Your character concept gives you something to hold onto while you’re figuring out who your character is. It tells you a bit about their outlook and it provides some ideas for how to play them constructively within a group (even if the character themself would rather be alone).

From a mechanical perspective, your concept tells you your character’s strong suit and their two standard suits, along with your character’s four starting skills. Those are the pieces you absolutely need in order to play the game, so if you just want to jump into the game, pick a concept and you’re good to go.

That said, if you read through the sample character concepts in this chapter and none of them feel quite right, you can use the rules below to create your very own concept from scratch. Just follow the steps as they’re presented to build the character you want.

Once you start playing, you may find that the concept you’ve built or chosen no longer fits. That’s okay! You can rename skills or even your entire concept as you like to match the character you end up playing. Characters evolve over time too; your chosen concept is just a starting point.

Building a Concept

If none of the sample concepts provided fit the character you want to play, you can create something new. The process is simple:

  1. Choose one suit from one of the following; record it in your character journal as your character’s strong suit.
    • Hearts (Use of one’s own body)
    • Diamonds (Use of one’s own mind)
    • Spades (Use of external personal things, like tools or other objects)
    • Clubs (Reliability of things dependent on other people or fate, like persuasiveness or luck)
  2. Choose two other suits for your character from the remaining three; record them in your character journal as your character’s standard suits.
  3. Record the remaining suit in your character journal as your character’s weak suit.
  4. In your character journal, under your character’s strong suit, record two skills with a rating of 2.

    You can name your skills whatever you want; think about the kinds of things you want your character to be able to do, and give them names that feel personal to your character.

  5. In your character journal, under each of your character’s standard suits, record one skill with a rating of 1.
  6. (Optional) Give your concept a name.

Once you’ve done all of that, your character is ready to play. All you need to do is flesh out the details.

Fleshing Out the Details

Once you have a concept built, to make sure your character journal is ready for play:

  • Every suit should have space for adding more skills.
  • Every skill should have space for a rating and for marking injuries.
  • Your character should have a name and, if appropriate, some designated pronouns to help you and everyone else refer to them correctly during play. You can come up with an alias, too, if you like.

You may want to create some sections in your journal for different kinds of notes, such as Injury lists or details about the world, but the basics should fit on one or two pages.

Naming Your Character

Names come from all sorts of things. You can use names you’re familiar with, or you can make something up. If you need some specific inspiration, I’ve found that the following name categories are a good starting point.

  • Names Based On Plants:
    • Willow
    • Ash
    • Lily
    • Rose
  • Names Based On Objects:
    • Spindle
    • Blade
    • Wheels
    • Cog
  • Names Based On Weather:
    • Zephyr
    • Rain
    • Thunder
    • Tide
  • Names Based On Animals:
    • Mouse
    • Tiger
    • Cricket
    • Weasel

In This Chapter:

  1. The Loner
  2. The Social Construct
  3. The Immortal
  4. The Mercenary
  5. The Fighter
  6. The Soldier
  7. The Engineer