Starfield: Character Builder [Definitive Guide]

The Character Builder has an extensive list of choices for players, which leads to freedom and customizability. You are allowed to modify every aspect of your character, which includes your Body, face, and even a unique backstory. However, some choices are mainly cosmetic and do not affect your performance.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

The Character Builder allows players to build a unique character in Starfield.
This extensive editor allows you to modify every aspect of your character.
The Biometric ID, Face, and Body allow you to perform strictly cosmetic modifications.
Although Background and Trait directly affect your gameplay and your campaign.
Backgrounds are the backstory of your character that comes with three accompanying skills.
The Traits are additional perks that can have a negative impact.
Moreover, the cosmetic choices are not final here, and players can modify them later by visiting the genetics facility.

Character Builder is mainly broken down into five sections. These sections include the Biometric ID, Body, Face, Background, and Traits. The first three aspects are cosmetic, while the last two directly affect your gameplay. Moreover, most of these decorative choices are not final and can be later modified during your campaign.

Biometric ID

The Biometric ID is among the first things you will stumble upon in Character Builder. This section only contains one option for players: the Personnel Record.

Players can move this bar around to get different variations for your character. Moreover, I used this as mainly the starting point of my character, sort of a basic outline that you can modify further.

You can pick from a series of 40 different already preset characters. These characters vary in ethnicity, gender, and how they look. Therefore, once the players have selected a preset, they can move on to further options to create their character.

These 40 choices ensure that every player has some preset character they can build on. However, it is essential to note that this choice is not final and can be later modified by visiting a genetics facility.

Body

The Body is the following option players will come across. This customization option is precisely what it sounds like: you get to modify the physical Body of your character.

Again, this choice is strictly cosmetic and does not affect your gameplay. Moreover, this section is further broken down into four customization options for the players.

The first thing you will see in the Body section of the Character Builder is the wheel to define your Body’s definition. Therefore, this wheel is divided into three sections: muscular, thin, and heavy.

Players can move the dot on this spectrum and pick a body that can be muscular yet thin or heavy. This is highly customizable and allows me to pick exactly what I want.

The following two options, Body Type and Walk Style are directly tied to your gender. As a result, players can also decide the gender of their character.

You are given two body type options defining whether your character has a male or female body. Similarly, Walk Style can give your character one of two different and unique walks.

Furthermore, we have the final option of Skin Tone right at the bottom. As the name suggests, this option allows you to choose any Skin Tone you want for your character.

Face

The Face section of the Character Builder is highly customizable. Here, players are given 37 aspects to modify and make their own. Moreover, Starfield does a fantastic job of making this section extensive yet very easy to use.

I enjoyed several hours spent here to create a character that looked how I imagined. You can change any aspect of your character’s face, including tiny wrinkles and jewelry.

Therefore, for every aspect, players can move their sliders to pick a preset option or adjust to create something unique. Most features, like the Nose, Cheek, and Forehead, have extra sliders that modify preset options. As a result, players can further adjust the length, position, and size of their facial features.

This freedom allows for unique designs and does not come in the way of creativity. Moreover, you can also add Tattoos and Jewelry to make your character stand out.

Below are all the options available in the Face section of Character Builder:

Feature	Description	Number of Options
Skin Tone	Change the Skin Tone of your character	9
Head Shapes	Here select a Head Shape or adjust to create a unique shape	9
Hair	Select a Hair style for your character	45
Hair Color	Select a Hair Color from list of colors	23
Facial Hair	You can select Facial Hair from a list of styles	20
Facial Hair Color	Select a color for your Facial Color from a list	23
Eyes	Select an eye style for your character or adjust to create a unique look	11
Eyes Color	You can select an eye color from a list of colors	12
Eyebrows	Select an eyebrow style from the list or adjust to create a unique one	10
Eyebrow Color	Select an eyebrow color from list of colors	23
Forehead	Here select from a list of Foreheads or adjust to create a unique look	11
Nose	Select from a list of Noses or adjust to create a unique nose	11
Ears	Select from a list of Ears or adjust to create unique ears	11
Cheek	Here select from a list of Cheeks or adjust to create unique Cheek	11
Mouth	Select from the list or adjust to create a unique mouth	11
Teeth	You can select from a list of different teeths	4
Jaw	Select from the list or adjust to create a unique jaw	11
Chin	Here select from the list or adjust to create a unique chin	11
Neck	Select from list or adjust to create a unique neck	11
Jewelry	You can select from a list of different jewelry pieces	18
Jewelry Color	You can change color of selected jewelry	9
Dermaesthetic	These are different skin conditions visible on your face	64
Complexion Color Temp	This is another layer of Skin Tone	14
Complexion Blemishes	These are marks on your Skin	46
Scars	You can pick from a list of different Scars	26
Facial Forms 1	These are wrinkles on mainly the forehead section of your face	16
Facial Forms 2	These are wrinkles around the eye part of your face	16
Tattoos	You can select a face or neck Tattoo from the list.	14
Cheeks 1	This is the Blush color on your cheeks	3
Cheeks 2	These are the highlights on your jaw	5
Lipstick Base	You can choose your lips to be shiny or matte	6
Lipstick Accents	This allows you to change your lip color	7
Eye Shadow Upper	The color on the top eye lid	7
Shadow Lower	The color on the bottom eye lid	7
Eye Liner Upper	Cosmetics applied on the edge of your eye	.7
Liner Lower	Cosmetics applied on the bottom edge of your eye	7
Dirt	This allows you to pick dirt marks on your face	8

Background

The Background is an essential part of your Character Builder. This is one of the first sections that is not cosmetic and affects your character’s starting Skills. In essence, the Background is the backstory for your personality and can change how certain characters interact with the players.

However, what makes these Backgrounds important are the three Skills accompanying them. Each Background is entirely different and accompanies different Skill with them. Therefore, some of these Backgrounds attend Skills that help in exploration, while certain Backgrounds are designed for combat.

Moreover, it is essential to remember that these Skills come in utterly free without the player’s need to use skill points. Therefore, I recommend that this decision be made carefully, and you should analyze what specific skills can do for you. There are 21 Backgrounds that players can choose from, giving you plenty of choice.

Below is a list of all backgrounds in Starfield:

Beast Hunter
Bouncer
Bounty Hunter
Chef
Combat Medic
Cyber Runner
Cyberneticist
Diplomat
Explorer
Gangster
Homesteader
Industrialist
Long Hauler
Pilgrim
Professor
Ronin
Sculptor
Soldier
Space Scoundrel
Xenobiologist
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Traits

The Traits are the final section of Character Builder. This last section is fascinating and will often cause new players confusion. However, I assure you that the trait system is not as complicated as you think; everything you need to know is within the descriptions. Here, players are given a maximum of 3 traits out of 17.

These traits are like perks defining specific characteristics of the player. One of the traits allows players to have parents in the game, which is an excellent detail. However, having parents also means you would need to send 10% of all your credits straight to them.

Most traits are like these; each pro comes with a con. This means that each Trait brings something good to the table but also has a negative impact. Therefore, players must be extra careful in picking their Trait, as you would not want to play with a Trait that becomes a bother during your campaign.

Although I would recommend getting an attractive Trait and seeing how that plays out, no amount of negative impact could take away from all the exciting content and choices certain Traits bring.

Below is a list of all available Traits in Starfield:

Alien DNA
Dream Home
Empath
Extrovert
Freestar Collective Settler
Hero Worshipped
Introvert
Kid Stuff
Neon Street Rat
Raised Enlightened
Raised Universal
Serpent’s Embrace
Spaced
Taskmaster
Terra Firma
United Colonies Native
Wanted

My Thoughts

I have tried to explain everything you need to know about the Character Builder. Moreover, this section is divided into five sections, each allowing you to modify your character further.

Within the initial ten hours of the campaign, I discovered that some cosmetic modifications could be changed in-game stores. Meanwhile, some modifications do affect your gameplay.

This section of your campaign can be unique and reflect the character you want to build. I recommend seeing all the options for yourself and messing around with the sliders until you find something you like. This will allow you to create a character that looks and plays the part.