“Yeah, this is the League registration queue. Be ready for a wait - last Season it took me several hours to get to the front. Tell you what, it'll speed things up if you just grab one of those form 72/AJT/64-bis/zulu and get it filled in. And you can share a bit of my lunch.”
Some time later…
“Ah, good to see you again. So, now that you're feeling like hell and have successfully registered yourself as Monster-bait, you'll have learned two important lessons. Firstly - don't trust anyone. Secondly - leave the paperwork to the Rules Lawyers.”
“Well, folks, we have a hell of a show for you tonight! On one corner, the latest Monster to come out of Blade's infamous stables - the giant lizard Killer Scale. And facing them, the disgraced Rules Lawyer turned Monster Fighter extraordinaire, Amendment!”
Your character in UMBA is someone who is, in some way, associated with the Monster-fighting Arena. Perhaps you are training your Monster daily to try and win the Championships, perhaps you go out into the wastes and catch Monsters or discover Archaeotech for yourself or others to use in the Fights, perhaps you're a hard-nosed Rules Lawyer finding just the right loopholes to give an advantage to whoever can hire you, or perhaps you are the kind of Fan who is dressed head to toe in Monster merchandise and spends all their time writing completely original1) fic about their favourite Monsters.
Even if Monster fighting is not their main vocation, most people involved with the Arena will have a Monster, even if the only matches they do are friendlies or towards the bottom of the League.
Names in the world of UMBA tend to be single, evocative words. 'Real-world' names do not exist; there are no “Berthas” or “Masouds” in setting.
Inspiration may come from natural phenomena (e.g. Storm, Quake), mechanics (e.g. Wrench, Spillpipe), or from flora and fauna (e.g. Snakebite, Flytrap). Generally (but not always), a person's name will give some hint as to their vocation - a super Fan may be called “Limpet”, a Rules Lawyer may be called “Lectern”, and an Archaeotech expert may be called “Spark”.
Children tend to have generic, simple names. When they are old enough to be independent, they will choose their own names, often formally adopting a nickname, or choosing a name relating to their chosen path. Adults may change their names occasionally, but doing so is a big deal - it is akin to declaring that you have completely changed your vocation and goals in life. For example, an aspiring Monster Hunter working in a restaurant between contracts is unlikely to have a food-related name, but a retired Monster Hunter who decides to become a chef will probably change their name.
As a rough guide, a name should sound cool, and be the kind of thing that you could imagine a crowd chanting in an arena. Think wrestlers and fighting robots.
The GM team need to know who your character is. Please tell us. A good bio will provide some kind of hook for each of your Skills and Quirks, will explain a little of your character's background, and will give us an idea of the kind of thing you are likely to want to do. Private bios should be around three paragraphs at most - if you submit a full essay, we're likely to ask you to rewrite it more concisely.
The private bio will be visible only to you and the GM team.
The other players also need to know who your character is. This doesn't need to take any particular form (though should normally be only a couple paragraphs), but it should include any information that is publicly known, rumoured, or speculated about your character.
“So let me get this straight - you were trying to catch something, and I quote, 'big, green, and kinda sticky' by luring it through a canyon, Rockfall was supposed to have a trap set there, and you had volunteered as bait on the basis that 'it can't be that bad, it's just a sticky blob and I know how to fight'. And now you're here, cluttering up my infirmary, with chemical burns all over you. Right. Good job.”
Your character's interaction with the world will be partly determined by their Skills and their Quirks. These will define what your character is good (and bad) at doing, and other helpful (or unhelpful) aspects of their life.
Skills describe what your character is personally capable of doing. By default, your characters are usually as good at a thing as the average person on the street (for example, you can probably cook well enough to scrounge together a meal for yourself, but can't fight well enough to not become a meal for a Monster, unless you have relevant skills).
Skills are arranged into skill trees, as detailed on the Skills page. Basic Skills have no requirements. Other skills require you to have one of their prerequisites (which may be a basic Skill, or a non-basic Skill from a different tree).
At character creation, you may pick 5 skills. You will then gain an additional Skill each turn (see Character advancement), and will be able to completely Restat your skills once during the game at the cost of a major action.
Quirks define interesting features about your character. These can be either positive or negative. At character creation, you may choose 1 positive Quirk. You may then choose up to 3 further positive Quirks, at the cost of one negative Quirk for each additional positive Quirk. You may not take more than 3 negative Quirks, but you could take negative Quirks without a positive to balance them out, if you really want to.
There are a few playstyle_Quirks which help us to ensure that we are providing the kind of game you enjoy. These do not count towards either your positive or negative Quirks.
“Ooo's a good monster den? Is it you? Yes, yes it is you! Roll over! Beg! Aww, wuzzy wuzzy woo!”
- Transcript of the final recording of famed Monster trainer Chewtoy, later found devoured by something which was, indeed, very wuzzy.
Most attendees of the Conference will have a Monster (unless they have taken the No Monster negative quirk). You can only have one Monster at the point of character creation. Monster creation is described on the Monster Creation page.
Character Name: Character Pronouns: OC Name: OC Pronouns: Skills: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: Quirks (1 positive + 3 positives balanced by negatives): Private Bio: Public Bio: Monster:
(see Monster Creation for the Monster template)