Character creation: attributes and skills bought as prose tiers

About this game

Developer: Bay 12 Games · Publisher: Kitfox Games · Platform: PC (Steam) · Art style: Pixel art · Screen type: Character / Unit Detail

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What to study

Adventure Mode character creation refuses raw numbers: the left column sells sixteen attributes in plain prose tiers (Above Average Strength costs 10 pts, everything Average costs 5) and the right sells skills the same way, so a character is described the way the game will describe him later, a Proficient Swordsman who is Not a Maceman, Not an Axeman, Not a Hammerhand, but an Adequate Observer (7 pts). Two separate point pools are accounted at the foot of the screen (Attributes remaining: 30, Skill remaining: 28) under a single green Accept button, and the whole build sits under six tabs (Background, Skills, Appearance, Personality, Equipment, Mount and pets) that promise the person is more than the stats: above them, the name field already holds both a generated name, Luto Pundikgigol, and its nickname, 'Luto Jokeriddles'. Frame at about 0:08 in the Adventure Mode Launch Trailer (Steam).

Patterns

How the screen is arranged.

character-creator customization-list tabbed-panel stat-panel

Components

Parts on screen.

Tabs Portrait Slots Stepper

Screen inventory

• portrait slot and add-companion slot at top-left
• name field 'Luto Pundikgigol' with nickname 'Luto Jokeriddles' and a quill rename icon
• species and sex readout 'Human, male'
• six creation tabs: Background / Skills (active) / Appearance / Personality / Equipment / Mount and pets
• sixteen attributes as prose tiers (Above Average Strength, Average Agility, Average Toughness) with point costs (10 pts, 5 pts) and + / - steppers
• seventeen skills as prose ranks (Proficient Swordsman 10 pts; Not Maceman, Not Axeman, Not Hammerman at 5 pts; Adequate Observer 7 pts)
• pool readouts 'Attributes remaining: 30' and 'Skill remaining: 28'
• green 'Accept attributes and skills' button centred at the foot

Top 3 colors

#1d1d1d 34%#000000 29%#202020 21%

Top three palette colors by share. The remaining colors make up the rest.

Source and credit

© Bay 12 Games / Kitfox Games, Dwarf Fortress screenshot: Siege Update Launch Trailer and Adventure Mode Launch Trailer (Steam), shown for design study and commentary. PlayCraft is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Kitfox Games.

Source tier 2 (publisher-released) · screenshot: Steam store page · Steam page

Source details

Fetched 2026-10-20. verified 2026-10-20: frame extracted from the official Adventure Mode Launch Trailer (Steam) and inspected visually at full resolution; real game UI (Skills tab with attribute and skill lists, point costs, steppers and remaining pools) confirmed visible and legible; no trailer text overlays the frame

no published policy found (checked 2026-10-20); fair-use study use, takedown honored within 48h

Rights holders: see Copyright & takedown.