Your First Character

Status: Current guidance

Last revised: August 24, 2026

A strong first character is believable, understandable, and able to take part in ordinary life as well as high-pressure scenes.

Name and concept

Use a believable first and last name. Avoid joke names, celebrity copies, intentionally disruptive concepts, and characters created only to provoke emergency services.

You do not need a long biography. Decide:

• what your character does for work or support;
• what they want in the near future;
• a few strengths and flaws;
• important relationships or commitments; and
• how they normally respond to risk, authority, loss, and consequences.

Continuity

Treat events as part of an ongoing life. Remember major relationships, injuries, agreements, debts, conflicts, and decisions. Let consequences influence later choices instead of resetting the character whenever a scene becomes inconvenient.

Motivation and risk

Give criminal, political, business, and public-safety activity a credible character reason. A character should not repeatedly choose extreme danger without a believable motive or regard for consequences.

Keep knowledge separate

Use only information your current character learned through a legitimate in-character source. Do not transfer another character's:

• criminal intelligence;
• department information;
• relationships;
• property or money;
• business knowledge; or
• legal history.

Out-of-character chat, streams, recordings, and staff messages are not in-character evidence.

For broader civilian standards, see the San Andreas Civilian Operations Handbook.