Bethesda first announced its open world sci-fi RPG Starfield at E3 2018 with little more than a logo. Three years later, Bethesda released a short cinematic for Starfield, giving fans a better idea of what to expect from the game's tone. Now Bethesda has fully pulled the curtain back on Starfield, dropping an extensive gameplay trailer at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase that confirmed many interesting details about the game.
In the gameplay trailer released by Bethesda, the studio showed off Starfield's character creation options. As to be expected from a large-scale Bethesda RPG, Starfield's character creator will really let fans run wild, giving them the tools to create characters of all different shapes, sizes, with unique backgrounds, character traits, perks, and more. Of particular interest are the different Background options that players will be able to choose from, as well as the Character Traits, both of which have a significant impact on gameplay.
Here are all the Starfield Backgrounds and Character Traits that were spotted in the gameplay trailer. Keep in mind that these are not comprehensive lists. It's possible Bethesda will reveal the rest of the Backgrounds and Character Traits ahead of launch in 2023, but it's also possible players won't have the full picture until they get their hands on the game for themselves. As it stands, Starfield is without a specific release date, but the game will be launching at some point next year. Every game at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase was said to be coming within the next 12 months, so barring any further delays, it sounds like Starfield will be available in the first half of 2023.
Starfield Backgrounds List
- Beast Hunter
- Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter
- Chef
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Diplomat
- Explorer
- Gangster
- Homesteader
- Industrialist
- Long Hauler
- Pilgrim
- Professor
- Ronin
A scroll bar is visible in the Starfield gameplay trailer, indicating that there are still some Backgrounds that have yet to be revealed. However, these are the Backgrounds that have been revealed so far, with three of them getting more in-depth details released about them.
The Cyber Runner Background in Starfield makes it so pistols do 10% more damage. It also lets Starfield players hack advanced locks and have two auto hacking attempts at their disposal. They are also more likely to be successful during speech challenges. Cyberneticist, meanwhile, makes it so Med Packs heal 10% more, robots and turrets take 10% more damage, and laser weapons dish out 10% more damage. And finally, the Diplomat Background in Starfield gives players increased chances at completing speech challenges, forces a target NPC at or below the player's level to stop fighting for a while, and makes it so players can buy items for 5% less while also selling them for 10% more.
Starfield Character Traits List
- Alien DNA
- Empath
- Extrovert
- Freestar Collective Settler
- Introvert
- Kid Stuff
- Neon Street Rat
- Raised Enlightened
- Raised Unviersal
- Serpent's EmbraceSpaced
- Starter Home
- Taskmaster
- Terra Firma
- United Colonies Native
- Unwanted Hero
After Starfield players choose the Background for their character, the next step is picking three different Character Traits. Selecting some Character Traits make others unavailable. For example, Starfield players won't be able to have a character that has both the Extrovert and Introvert traits.
Not all the Starfield Character Traits were shown off in the gameplay trailer, but the scroll bar for them was shorter, meaning players have a much clearer idea of all the traits they will be able to choose from come launch. The Starfield gameplay trailer also showed what more of these traits mean when it comes to one's character. For example, the Introvert trait makes it so players have more endurance when adventuring alone, but less endurance when adventuring with one of Starfield's human companions. Starfield companions that aren't human, like the robot Vasco, presumably won't have an impact on one's endurance level.
Kid stuff makes it so Starfield players have parents they can visit, though 10% of all the money they earn is automatically transferred to them. Neon Street Rat makes it so players have special dialogue options and better rewards when completing missions in the Starfield city of Neon, though crime bounties by other factions are greatly increased. Raised Enlightened gives players a discount at the Enlightened store, though they lose access to the Sanctum Universum store. Likewise, those who pick the Raised Universal trait get a big discount at the Sanctum Universum store, but lose access to the Enlightened Store.
The Serpent's Embrace trait makes it so grav jumping gives Starfield players a health and endurance boost. The flipside is that players will have to jump regularly, or else their health and endurance will be lowered. And finally, Starter Home gives players a "small house on a little moon," but it also saddles them with a 50,000 mortgage through GalBank. The gameplay trailer confirmed that Starfield will have base-building elements, ala Fallout 4, but this trait seems to confirm that proper housing will be available to players as well.
Starfield will launch in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X.