Considerations when formulating your backstory

High Orbit takes place initially in the Kuiper Belt, on the fringes of the Solar System - a region far from the reaches of the inner Solar System where most of humanity lives. It's a hostile, lonely place, where few people even have reason to go.

But ships like the Prevailing Wind (and their corporate owners) are here because the outer system is a sort of legal no-man's land - nobody claims it and the precious minerals and ice within it are free game for anyone willing to make the several-years' journey out.

Suffice to say, it's a job few are willing to take, and the demographics of grey-area mining barge crew members leans toward the poor, outcast, miscreant, or any number of people who couldn't make it in the inner system. If you're here working on a ship like the Prevailing Wind, you're either forced to or you have a good reason to be out in the fringes.

Origin and ethnicity

There are many spacefaring nations sharing the Solar System, and numerous post-colonial nations descended from them. Your character can potentially be of any background and from any place, even but people of certain backgrounds tend to come from certain places, as discussed below. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of cultural groups, but just a list of the most major spacefaring cultures.

Fennoscandians

• Major Subcultures: Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Finns, Karelians, Murmanskis, Titanians
• Primarily found on: Earth, Titan, Europa, Ganymede, Rings of Saturn

"Fennoscandian" is a slightly ambiguous term that can either refer to citizens of the Union of Fennoscandia, or persons of generally Scandinavian descent, such as Titanians or citizens of the Titanian treaty-city of New Malmo. There are many cultural subgroups of Fennoscandians, the most significant being Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Finns, Karelians, Murmanskis, Titanians (denizens of the Saturnian moon Titan.) Fennoscandians are known as brilliant scientists and highly educated citizens of their nations. They have a more diplomatic and democratic disposition when compared to other groups of people.

Europeans

• Major Subcultures: Germans, French, Spaniards, Belgians, Italians, Catalonians, Basque, Croats, Slovenians, Serbs, Albanians, Greeks, Western Turks, Swiss, Bulgarians, Europans, Ganymedians
• Primarily found on: Earth, Europa, Ganymede, Pluto, Rings of Jupiter

From Germans, French, Belgians, Italians, Croats, Turks, Greeks, and so on - "European" today generally refers to a citizen of the European Federation, or a person ethnically descended from the EF. These are the well-to-do, cosmopolitan citizens of Earth, enjoying a position of elevated status due to the primacy of their federation in international politics. Somewhat controversially, "European" is also sometimes used to refer to those groups ethnically descended from the greater European continent, such as the Jovian peoples of Europa and Ganymede, as well as the peoples of countries such as the United Kingdom, Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia. Europeans are generally a socially progressive people who espouse old liberal democracy, as well as the ways of classical economics, though much more conservative than most Fennoscandians. They are considered by many to be the "New Americans," with all that comes from that label.

Chinese

• Major Subcultures: Han, Selenians
• Primarily found on: Earth, Luna, Mars

Chinese people are a widespread group, inhabiting planets and colonies far and wide, with a significant diaspora. However, there are three primary places that they call home - China proper, the lunar city-state of Baixing, and New Calabasas, the capital city of the former-Californian colony of Dorado. Chinese people are heavily technocratic and believe in use and dependence on technology as a primary means of improving themselves and society. Their worldview is that of a meritocratic world where one's worth is tied to his or her willingness and ability to contribute to the whole. Unlike the Peoples' Republic of Old, modern China is run by the elusive Directorate - a technocratic bureaucracy forged out of the crises of the 21st century - a sort of benevolent oligarchy of technocrats and experts, entry to which is decided not by who you know, but only what you are capable of. For its flaws, it is a system that has propelled China to superpower status, and maintained that status for well over three hundred years. Because of this, the Chinese are a very proud people, and view themselves as equals, and sometimes even superiors, to the Europeans.

Indians

• Major Subcultures: Too many to count!
• Primarily found on: Earth, Mars
  Indians are prime among the denizens of the solar system. When India emerged as a superpower in the early 22nd century, it was one of the first to enter the space race, colonizing Mars in earnest. While India was forced to shed its imperial periphery during the Years of Liberty, the Olympus Mons Federation remains as a testament to India's interplanetary, colonial legacy.

North Americans

Major Subcultures: Californians, Texans, Americans (Federal Republic of America), New Englanders, Cascadians, Midwesterners, Canadians, Mexicans

• Primarily found on: Earth, Mars, Luna, Ceres

Incredibly diverse and fiercely independent, North Americans are heirs to an incredibly tragic and dark history, but also a legacy as the first truly global citizens of the world. Although their grand experiment in the form of the United States didn't work out, they have not forgotten their ideals of individual liberty and self-determination. Largely spared from the devastation of the War in Heaven, Californians, Texans, Cascadians, and Canadians are largely the demographic representatives of North America in the solar system today, themselves a huge melting pot of subcultures. Evidence of their interplanetary colonial legacy can be seen in the existence of Dorado and New Austin, former colonies and now independent states.

Japanese

• Primarily found on: Earth, Luna, Asteroid Belt, Venus
  Humble and yet incredibly ambitious, the Japanese people are proud of their heritage and carry it forward into the solar system. As one of the most advanced economies in the solar system, Japan boasts a small and yet highly educated, wealthy, determined populace, in addition to an enormous North American diaspora. It's surprisingly hard to find a Japanese national living somewhere unexpected - most call Japan proper home, with a small diaspora heading up New Hokkaido in the atmosphere of Venus. When you do find a Japanese person out in the Solar System, they usually have a very specific reason to be there!

Koreans

• Major Subcultures: North Koreans, South Koreans
• Primarily found on: Earth, Luna, Asteroid Belt, Venus, Mercury, Ceres, Phobos
  The Korean people and their diaspora are something of a case study in success - taken overall, Koreans are among the wealthiest, longest-lived, most educated populations in the solar system. Their megacorporate welfare-state ensures a highly productive, competitive society that nonetheless refuses to let people fall through the cracks. Having been the first nation to invent and popularize fusion power generation, they have levied their control over a powerful and essential technological base to become the mini-elites of the stars. Few Koreans, even in the lagging North, have known poverty for centuries. Whether it be Seoul, Pyongyang, or various stations across the belt, Korean societies are the closest thing the solar system has to utopian living conditions. Nevertheless, Korea and its diaspora remain highly competitive and exclusive societies, where a disdain for work or social contribution is met with proportionate disdain from society itself. Those who are capable of producing are expected to try, and those who do not want to are shunned - it's perhaps for this reason that you'll scarcely find the poor or homeless on Korean streets and station-ways.

Alanians

• Major Subcultures: South Ossetian, North Ossetian
• Primarily found on: Earth, Mars, Luna
  Exceedingly small with an outsized impact on solar system affairs, Alanians are a minority of a minority. Formerly known as Ossetians, Alanians unified their nations in the late 21st century and miraculously forged a post-labor utopia. In the process, they developed a new religion combining elements of traditional Assianism and technology-worship. Alanians are ardent transhumanists, revering and seeking to become like the highly-intelligent (HI) humanoid droids that form the backbone of their economy. Few Alanians perform manual work, and instead choose to focus their time and efforts on spiritual, intellectual, or creative endeavors. They are respected diplomats, artists, philosophers, and technological researchers and their nation is the glue that holds the Solar Commerce Organization together, having been the arbiters of post-war negotiations after the War in Heaven.

Brazilians

• Major Subcultures: Brazilian, Novobrasilian
• Primarily found on: Earth, Mars, Luna
  With the ascendance of their nation to superpower in the early 22nd century, Brazilians have since enjoyed a newfound status as global, and indeed solar citizens. Extremely diverse and with cosmopolitan attitudes, Brazilians are the "Americans of Latin America," and they enjoy all the perks that come with it. Nonetheless, Brazil has no shortage of problems, and people come from all walks of life - rich, poor, black, white. Brazilians are also some of the last imperial citizens, so-to-speak - Brazil is one of the only countries which retained extraterrestrial colonies during the Years of Liberty. As a result, their colony of Sao Francisco largely avoided crisis or struggle, and remains today as one of Mars's greatest metropolises, supplying Brazil proper with rare heavy metals, rare earths, and microprocessors. Brazilians themselves are an adventurous and hardy bunch, and can be found all across the solar system, making a paradise out of the cold darkness.

Skills and Backstory

All characters start with a base 30 in all the base stats. The base stats are as follows:

Charisma: Your ability to play the social game, convince and relate to others, negotiate, or manipulate.
Strength: Your physical ability to exert force, lift objects, hit and break things, and stand up to punishment
Endurance: Your physical ability to keep on going despite exertion, take prolonged punishment and physical tiredness.
Intelligence: Your ability and willingness to learn and form new and creative connections, research new topics, and use what you have already learned to solve novel problems.
Genetics: The hardiness of your genes in relation to resisting disease, radiation, and accepting cybernetic and recombinant augmentations.

Based on what you think fits your character and your backstory, assign your character an extra 20 points into any combination of stats. You may also subtract points as you see fit.

Submitting your character

To submit your character, send me a DM in the following format:

Name: Your character's name. Normally, your character's name would depend on their ethnicity or nationality, but this is not always the case.

Physical Description: A physical description of your character. This will be used to generate a portrait for you.

Nationality: The nation/place that your character comes from, and is usually a citizen of. This will affect some things in the story.

Ethnicity/Subculture: This is usually dependent on the nationality you choose, for example as a Fennoscandian you'd be Norwegian or such, but this is not always the case. This will affect some things in your story, as well as how certain people interact with you.

Background: A rough outline of how your character's history up to this point. This can be as short or long as you'd like, and can include things such as previous jobs/education, military background, early-life circumstances, et cetera. This will not only affect the types of skills that you start with, but also your knowledge base and your story arc.