Name
Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Jabba the Hutt, Wilhuff Tarkin, General Grievous. Names can tell you a great deal about a character. There are a wide variety of random name generators out there, including some specific to Star Wars or various Star Wars species, if you want some help finding a name that's just right for your character. Please note that you may not use a name famous in other media (Jon Snow, James T. Kirk, Garrus Vakarian, etc), and any associations with canon Star Wars bloodlines must be pre-approved by Staff.
Physical Stats
The first step is in chargen is defining the physical aspects of your character. From this point on, if you have to change anything from step to step, the steps you go back from will be reset, so keep track of the changes that you make.
Species
Within the wide galaxy of Star Wars, there are hundreds of species, of which Human is just one. Each species has something special that defines it, whether that is modifiers to attributes, special abilities, or bonus Feats.
You can see all of the species available with "+help list species" and can see details on any of them with "+help species <species name>".
Your species will also determine whether your character is Small, Medium, or Large. These are very expansive categories, with medium ranging from around four feet to around ten feet. Large starts around nine or ten feet tall, and is a combination between height and bulk.
Height & Weight
The default for listing height and weight is in the metric system, but you can change this by typing "+d20flag me=no_metric" and change it back with "+d20flag me=!no_metric."
Gender
For most species this is a simple binary that has no bearing on your +sheet, although some species may have a third option.
Ability Scores
Fires of Hope uses a simple point-buy system: you will have 28 points to buy up your abilities from 8. There are six attributes, each providing bonuses to different things:
Strength: Melee attack rolls; melee damage rolls; Climb, Jump, & Swim checks.
Dexterity: Ranged attack rolls; Reflex Defense; Acrobatics, Pilot, Ride, & Stealth checks.
Constitution: Fortitude Defense, Hit Points, and Endurance checks.
Intelligence: Number of trained skills your character has; number of languages your character speaks; Knowledge, Mechanics, & Use Computer checks.
Wisdom: Will Defense; number of Force Powers your character gains from the Force Training feat; number of Starship Maneuvers your character gains from the Starship Tactics feat; Perception, Survival, & Treat Injury checks.
Charisma: Deception, Gather Information, Persuasion, & Use the Force checks.
You can find more detail on each attribute in the +help system.
A 10-11 is Human average, and provides no modifier. An 8-9 is below Human average and provides a -1 penalty. A 12-13 provides a +1 bonus, a 14-15 a +2, a 16-17 a +3, etc. An 18 is starting maximum for a Human.
Raising an attribute is on a sliding scale, with the cost getting more expensive as the attribute gets higher.
Every 4th level, your character can raise two attributes by one point each.
Leveling Up
As your character gains experience, you will choose classes for them to advance in. Each class provides a unique collection of talents to pick from, as well as bonuses to defenses, boosts to base attack bonus, a base set of feats, and (for advanced classes called Prestige Classes) special abilities. For Prestige Class prerequisites, your character must have them before the class is selected — this means that all Prestige Classes except Independent Droid can be taken at Level 8 at the earliest, and 4th level is the soonest that Independent Droid can be taken.
Characters on Fires of Hope all start at level 3, although the starting level will rise as the average character level does.
Classes
There are four basic classes available on Fires of Hope: Noble, Scoundrel, Scout, & Soldier. None of the names are specific: a Noble does not necessarily have a noble title (and may not have been born rich at all), but they are generally characters who are best in social situations, for example. The Jedi class is generally unavailable, as their fire has gone out in the universe, but may be allowed with explicit Staff permission (see Force Sensitive below).
As your character levels up, they will have two different ways to track their level: character level and class level. Character level is the sum total of all levels the character has gained, while class level counts how many levels the character has in that class alone.
Example: A character who has two levels of Scoundrel and one of Scout has a character level of 3, a Scoundrel class level of 2, and a Scout class level of 1.
Multiclassing
If your character picks up a second (or third or fourth) class, they gain one of the starting feats for that class, the first level of Base Attack Bonus, the appropriate number of Hit Points from the new class. Defense bonuses do not stack, but you do get the best bonus for each defense.
Example: A character with two levels of Scoundrel picks up a level of Soldier. They gain Hit Points as a Soldier (although do not get the Level 1 multiplier), get to pick up one of the Soldier starting feats, and get +1 to their Base Attack Bonus. Since Scoundrel provides +1 Will Defense and +2 Reflex Defense, and Soldier provides +1 Reflex Defense and +2 Fortitude Defense, the character will now have +2 Fortitude Defense, +2 Reflex Defense, and +1 Will Defense.
Skills & Languages
Skills, languages, feats, and talents can be taken in any order within a level, but since many feats and talents have Skills as prerequisites, it's often a good idea to start with skills and languages. Within a level, however, you can "+unspend" freely to remove the last thing you chose without having to go back or forth within chargen, so feel free to try things, knowing that you can change them if you don't like them.
Training a skill provides a +5 bonus to rolling it, and often provides access to uses of the skill only available to characters who have the skill trained.
Each skill is linked to an attribute, receiving a bonus (or penalty) equal to the attribute's modifier. The rest of the skill rating comes from 1/2 you character's level, the +5 bonus if the skill is trained, and miscellaneous modifiers from feats, talents, and equipment (the competence bonus from the feat Skill Focus is the most common). Keep in mind that bonuses of the same type do not stack with one another.
Some particularly common languages are:
Basic: The default language spoken by a large portion of the sentients in the universe.
Binary: The language spoken by droids.
Bocce: A trade language spoken throughout the Mid Rim and Outer Rim.
High Galactic: A language spoken mainly by nobles or upper-class people, particularly in the Core.
Huttese: A language spoken by the Hutts and their client species (and many crime bosses as a consequence).
Sy Bysti: A trade language spoken in the Outer Rim.
Feats
Feats provide your character with bonuses to attacks, defenses, or skills, or with additional abilities that most other characters do not have. They are one of the two major ways that you can set your character apart from other characters. Every character gets one feat at first level, and one additional feat every third character level (level 3, 6, 9, etc). You can see a full list of feats, including which feats your character already has and which ones they have fulfilled the prerequisites for with "+help list feats."
A character also gets a bonus feat every second class level of a basic class (Prestige Classes provide different bonuses every second class level).
Example: A level 5 Soldier gets enough XP to level up, and selects the Scoundrel class for level 6. The character will get to choose a standard feat (for reaching level 6) but will not get a bonus feat, because they are reaching Scoundrel class level 1 (they will, however, get a Scoundrel talent — see below for more information about talents). If the level 5 Soldier instead chose the Soldier class to gain a level in, they would get both a standard feat (for reaching level 6) and a bonus feat from the Soldier bonus feat list (for reaching Soldier class level 6).
Force Sensitivity
Being Force Sensitive in Saga Edition is dependent on a feat. That feat can be taken by anyone, but there are some restrictions. The Force Sensitivity Feat and Force Training feats are available with no restriction. The Skill Focus: Use the Force Feat, and Jedi Class are restricted. You can not gain the Jedi class without being taught by a Jedi, and you can't gain the Skill Focus without either the Jedi Class, or the PrC Force Adept.
Talents
Talents are the second major way in which your character differentiates themselves from other characters. Like feats, talents provide bonuses or new abilities for your character. Every odd class level, your character gains a talent from a set of talent trees determined by the class they are leveling up in. Many talents have prerequisites within the same talent tree, so you will have to plan carefully to gain them.
Sheet History
If you want to go back to one of the previous steps in chargen, you can look at "+sheet/history" to see what classes, feats, talents, skills, and languages you have selected thus far and at what level. This can help you rebuild the character you had before after you change whatever you want to change.
Biography
When writing up the background for your character, keep in mind that the Empire has been in control of much of the galaxy for the past 17 years — young characters have known nothing but the Empire their entire cognizant life. The background should cover broad strokes of the past (their family life, their training, any major past events). It can be in written out in paragraphs or in bullet-points, and only needs to be long enough to cover the necessary details.
Description
Every character will need at least a basic description coming out of chargen, including at least some basic physical details (including their species). Descriptions of clothes are nice, but so long as they are posed in each scene, it's not strictly necessary. There is a multidescer installed, check "+desc/help" or "+help +desc" for details.
Goals
Your character will need at least 2 goals that are attainable and approved. These goals should be IC, relatively long term (it will take over a month for a goal to be achieved if you only work on that goal) and should move your characters story forward. "+help +goals" should help here.
Reserving Clones
At any time, you can use the "+reserve clone" command, and log in as one of our character clones. These clones have access to enough XP to level up to level 20, and access to all of the abilities available on the game (and a few that aren't available to PCs). You can use them to plan out your character's build, test how prerequisites work, or build NPCs for plots.
Need Help?
Saga Edition can be pretty complex at times, but if you ever need help with it, just speak up on the Newbie channel, and someone will be more than happy to answer questions, give suggestions, check over your character's +sheet, or whatever else you might need help with. If you want someone to look over your character's +sheet, you'll have to set it visual ("d20flag me=visual") or send it to them via mail ("+sheetmail <name>").