Character Creation
To play Frostpunk, you’ll require a character. This is who you will act as in the game, and will be the source of your motivations and reactions as the game unfolds. They’ll need to be a character with enough depth that you’ll enjoy playing them for the whole play time, and should have enough complexity to create interesting and unexpected stories in reaction to the events of the game.
To support this, we’ve structured the below to help you build characters collaboratively, engaging others in the process to ensure you’ll start the game with interesting relationships, while still leaving room to adapt and improvise as the opportunity arises.
Character death is likely to be a part of Frostpunk, so while we will put the most work into your first character, you’ll still prepare three. We’ll also have tools like collaborative prompt cards and secrets ready for your second or third character, so you can hit the ground running and establish new relationships in play.
Process
Character creation will begin after the venue is booked, and we’ll ship you a physical welcome pack with useful information as well as your character creation guide on 17th August 2026. This will also include your first character’s faction - we’ll have chosen these for you to ensure the city is balanced at the beginning. Shipping times may vary, but we’ve taken account of this in the schedule!
We’ll ask you to complete a form letting us know when you’re available for a character creation workshop, and what your faction preferences for characters 2 and 3 are. While we will endeavour to give you your top preferences, we can’t guarantee this as we may need certain numbers of characters in different factions to keep the game balanced. Unfortunately you also won’t be able to select a Governor - If another character seeks to lead, they’ll have a job ahead of them to bring their ambition to reality!
Workshops
The next step will be a character creation workshop. You’ll attend one of our three, offered between the 21st September and 1st November 2026. In these workshops we’ll provide a structured process to help you build relationships with other play characters, and flesh out your concept ready to write into a backstory.
Before the workshop you should have read the Setting Information and information relevant to your preferred factions, and ideally the Good Play and Bleed sections. You should bring a rough concept, potentially including things like name, age, background and ideology, though we’d recommend keeping an open mind in case new ideas come to you during the workshop, as you may want to adjust these.
After the workshops we’ll send you the faction selections for the 2nd and 3rd characters, based on your preferences.
Drafts
Following this you’ll be free to finalise your characters! We don’t require you to write novels on their backstory, but we will expect enough content to understand them and be able to judge whether they’re ready for play. Please do not use any large language model (ie Chat-GPT) to create this as we want you to be invested in the creative decisions behind your character. If you have concerns about how a backstory reads if English is not your first language please contact the gamemasters directly. All characters must also be original creations and not historical figures for the same reason.
We’ll require first drafts for your characters on the 15th November 2026, and if second drafts are needed we’ll require them by the 6th December 2026. We will return specific feedback if you need to change anything to have your character ready for play, and will be available to help you resolve any questions about the setting or give advice on your character creation choices.
We’d also recommend speaking with other players - you should confirm any discussions you had the in the workshops, and are welcome to suggest collaborations either in private messages or more broadly in the Discord server. Shared histories are a great idea, but we need these to be mirrored in both character's backstories, particularly concerning the facts - you’re welcome to have either or both characters be incorrect or have a different interpretation of events, but we need to know what the reality is.
A finished character should be:
- Wholeheartedly invested in something - whether it’s only their own survival or the city as a whole.
- A good fit with the game’s theme and tone.
- Likely to create interesting play with others.
We recommend considering:
- Names that are easy to remember, and difficult to mispronounce. With so many characters in play, a name like James Fitzjames may sound comical but it will be easily remembered by your fellow players.
- Your character’s Origin. Where they came from and how they came to be on the Dreadnought bound for the Generator.
- Your character’s personal ethos and moral code. Are they pragmatic or idealistic? What will they do to survive? Where do they draw the line?
- Your appearance and gear. How can elements of your character’s personal history be placed on display in their outfit?
- Your characters goals and motivations. What keeps them going when all hope seems lost? What did they hope to achieve before the frost? What do they hope to achieve now? What are they willing to sacrifice to make their dreams come true?
NPC Bios
Prior to game start, you have the option to create a couple of short bios for a few characters that you own character(s) maintain a personal connection to. These could be friends, family members, lovers or rivals. While these individuals will not appear directly “on-screen” during the game, you may assign them to a specific team within the city, tying their survival to the team’s.
These background NPCs do not affect any game rules or mechanics, but they can serve to enrich your character’s emotional landscape. Their implied presence, and their uncertain fate, can shape how you engage with your fellow player characters. It can also motivate you to develop deeper bonds (or rivalries) with those who are responsible for that faction. Whether to ensure the survival of your loved ones… or to avenge them.
We will also have tools in-game to support your improvisation or the introduction of backup characters. As well as the tools below, don’t hesitate to improvise backstory that you think would be a worthwhile addition! If you want to include others in this, you can always use “off game” to quickly ask whether it would fit their character.
When you begin playing your 2nd or 3rd character, gamemasters may provide you with a small piece of information that your character is aware of. This could be a secret, a mystery or blackmail on another character. This ensures that your new character will have plot to immediately involve themselves in that guarantees an immediate “in” with at least one other player character. If you find that your plot has a new character interjecting that you had not previously anticipated, please show sportsmanship and be welcoming to their intrusion (at least out of character), after all, they did die only recently.
Second, gamemasters will have a set of prompt cards designed to inspire possible connections between characters. These cards suggest shared, untold histories—perhaps your character was once a student of an Engineer or Medic before the frost, fought alongside an Enforcer in a past battle, or helped a Scout in a moment of crisis. Using a prompt card is entirely optional, and you’re free to create your own backstory connections with others. If you’d like to explore a prior connection, simply use the “Off-game” safety tool to initiate a conversation to check with another player to see if they’re interested, and move the conversation to the out of character area to rapidly hammer out any details.