Create a Character

Every account gets one character at a time. Character creation is fast but a few choices are durable — home state and country cost real resources to change. This page walks you through each decision.

Account and Character Relationship

• One character per account. You can delete and re-create, but the new character starts from zero.
• Login is separate from character. Your account (email, password, Patreon link, admin rights) persists; the character is your in-world identity.
• Characters are public. Every character has a profile page at /character/[id]. Name, party, office, home state, and stats are visible to other players.
• Banned accounts are hidden from public listings and their characters cannot act in the world.

Step 1 — Country

Pick one of the six playable countries:

Your country scopes everything: which elections you can run in, which players you can wire money to, which party rosters you can join, and which legislature you vote in. Cross-country actions are blocked.

Step 2 — Name and Avatar

• Name — Displayed everywhere. Choose something readable; this is how other players refer to you in news, elections, and mail.
• Avatar — Optional image. Profiles render a default initial tile if you skip it. You can update later from settings.

There is no last-name or title system — one free-form name field.

Step 3 — Home State / Region / Prefecture

Your home region anchors your political career:

• Most elections are home-scoped. You can only run in your home region's races by default (exception: national races like President or Prime Minister).
• Campaign costs are lowest at home (1.0×), 1.25× for neighbours, 1.5× non-neighbour.
• Influence decays faster than it grows. Home campaigning builds Political Influence most efficiently.

US players pick any of the 50 states. UK players pick a country within the UK — England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland — which determines which Commons races are open to you. DE picks one of 16 Länder, JP picks one of 8 regions, CN picks one of 7 macro-regions, and IE picks one of 8 NUTS-III regions.

Home region can be changed later (Relocation), but you lose all state Political Influence and most regional positions. Think before you pick.

Step 4 — Policy Positions

Two axes, each −5 to +5:

• Economic — −5 (strongly left, higher taxes / social spending / market regulation) to +5 (strongly right, lower taxes / minimal state / free markets)
• Social — −5 (strongly progressive) to +5 (strongly conservative)

These feed three systems:

1. Primary scores. Closer alignment to your party's official position = higher primary score.
2. Bill voting. When you vote on a bill your policy position shifts ±0.25 toward the bill's direction. Over many votes this moves you.
3. Demographic appeal. Demographic groups lean on both axes; matching their preference increases your vote share from that group.

You can (and often will) drift over a career because of voting. The starting value anchors your primary eligibility in the party you join — don't pick extreme positions if you plan to run in a moderate party.

Step 5 — Starting Kit

On creation you receive:

Starting currency is always your country's local unit (USD, GBP, EUR, JPY). If you relocate to a different country later, balances are not converted — they remain in whatever currency you had them in, but you'll typically earn and spend in the new country's currency going forward.

Step 6 — Join a Party

Not required at creation, but you should do it early:

• Independents can Campaign, Fundraise, Run Ads, Build Donor Base, Support/Attack, Barnstorm, and influence NPPs — basically everything except run for office.
• Party members can enter primaries, accumulate Party Influence, earn bonus actions from the party pool, and stand for party leadership positions (chair, vice chair, treasurer).
• Closeness to platform matters. Your policy-axis distance from the party's official position amplifies how efficiently your Party Influence converts to bonus actions.
• Switching parties is allowed but incurs penalties — Favorability and Political Influence both take hits.

Browse parties from the country's Parties page before committing. Custom player-founded parties exist alongside the major seeded parties.

What Happens After Creation

• You land on your profile page. A setup banner walks you through: reading the Getting Started wiki page, joining a party, and taking your first action.
• Your character appears in the home-state player list and politicians directory.
• A character_created achievement fires (Founding Father badge if you joined during alpha).
• The turn processor picks you up on the next hour boundary for passive effects (NPI accrual, infamy decay, favorability decay if above 60, etc.).

Common New-Player Mistakes

• Picking a low-population home state hoping to dominate. Small states have lower fund-generation donor bonuses and fewer electoral stakes. Medium/large states give you more to work with.
• Setting policy positions at −5/−5 or +5/+5. Extreme positions cap your primary viability in moderate parties and limit your demographic appeal ceiling.
• Skipping the party for the first 48 hours. You're leaving bonus actions and primary access on the table.
• Spending the 25 starting actions on Fundraise. Fundraise yields the most when your donor base is higher — open with Campaign and one Build Donor Network first.

Related

• Getting Started — Overall first-player guide.
• Relocation — Changing home state / country / CEO rules.
• Stats & Actions — Full reference of every stat.
• Parties — How parties work and what leadership offers.
• First Campaign Walkthrough — Step-by-step new-player playthrough.