Whether you’ve been acing dogfights or dutifully lugging cargo, your working life has been spent strapped into the cockpit of a tin can as it blasts its way between the stars. You feel at home at the helm, and whether your particular tin can was glamorous or not you still have countless successful missions under your belt.

You worked underground, mining rare elements or energy. Life as a miner is hard, even with all the technology available today, and it rarely pays well. You feel at home beneath the surface, and have learned not to fear the dark.

What were you mining? Why did you leave? Who employed you? Did you witness any tragedy, and if so how was it handled?

You haven’t met your match at dice or cards. A career of high stakes and daring escapades has taught you when to play close to the chest and when to risk it all—but you haven’t yet learned when to walk away.

Are you a brilliant student of the game, a charming master of the bluff and counterbluff, or a cheater with fast hands? What turned you to a life of adventure: a string of bad luck, or an insatiable thirst for risk?

Countries, planets, federations, the Fleet— they all think they hold power with their big decisions and lofty ideals. You know who is really boss because you worked under them. Corporations stretch their reach throughout the galaxy, entrenching their products and agents into every life activity. Their end goal is always the same: profit. You know because that was your end goal as well before you finally left their employ.

Why did you quit corporate life? What kind of riches did you leave behind? What field were you in? Which previous colleague do you hope to never see again?

It doesn’t matter how far apart the worlds are or how many peoples live in the cosmos, communication is still key when it comes to peaceful coexistence. As such, individuals prepared to engage with outsiders are always well-valued. As a diplomat, you are a representative of a world, company or culture to the stars beyond. You act to present the ways of your people in a positive light and further their interests, and learn about the ways of other people either as a form of knowing your enemy or as a means of achieving empathy.

You are a follower of a religious movement, whether new or ancient. Your devotion to the faith is anything but casual, representing years of service and training as a disciple or for ordination. Your religion might be common or obscure, open or insular. Some traditions disparage science as an aberrant way of thinking, while others inflate scientific discoveries into eschatological dogmas.

You are a detective, called to investigate and solve mysteries—including crime and unexplained phenomena. Gumshoes such as yourself often skirt the law and deploy subterfuge to obtain truth and justice. After all, what lurks in the dark may hunt you, too.

You have done time. Quite a lot of time, in fact; enough to fully acclimate to the life of a prisoner, whether you deserved it or not. Your time incarcerated has shaped you as an individual and it is highly unlikely that you bear much resemblance to the person you were before you went inside.

You were born yesterday.

Well, maybe not yesterday, but you do not have a full history the way that others do. Any memories you may have are implanted, and skills and knowledge pre-programmed via advanced genetic engineering and DNA splicing. There’s not much stigma about clones, but they can inspire a little jealousy at times, being slightly ‘better’ at many things than naturally born individuals.

The person from whom a clone is copied is known as the ‘template.’

Whether you’re a celebrated chef, musical superstar, or popular influencer, you’re famous. Your name and face are across billboards, advertisements, and merchandise galore, and people love—and love to hate—you for it.

Did you come to the public’s attention by winning a famous cooking competition, putting out an innovative new album, or just being wealthy and controversial? Did you step gracefully down from the pedestal you were put on, or were you pushed? Do you want to return to prominence or would you prefer a quiet retirement?