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 /politician/[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 four 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 and JP pick one of 16 or 47 regions respectively.

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.