A UVG Character Creation Guide for Whitehack

Chargen for Whitehack is mostly free-form and takes a bit more time than I am normally comfortable with in an OSR game where the stakes are high and characters fragile. On the other hand the system is setting agnostic, incredibly versatile and therefore a great fit for UVG. To help you get into the groove here is a step by step guide for Whitehack character creation in the Ultraviolet Grasslands. 

Method 1: the d40 table

Step 1 Roll 3d6 in order of the character keeper (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). You can swap 2 results.

Step 2 Roll a 3d40 on the UVG Hero table. You are free to ignore the second column (Why are you on the road?) if later on it won't fit the quest. Note two groups from Species, Vocation or Affiliation next to a Stat. Species can also be understood as Heritage. The most common species is human but Bluelanders could be distinct enough from Orangelanders to justify being a group that you can invoke. Also look at the descriptive elements of your hero for inspiration (undergraduate, secret, settled etc.) or roll on the tables from method 2.

Rainbowlanders are not as similar as you might think

Step 3 Choose your class (Strong, Deft or Wise). Roll HP and note  Attack Value (AV), Saving Throw (ST) and choose your slot(s).
Deft:    HP d6,      AV 10, SV 7
Strong: HP d6+2, AV 11, SV 5
Wise:    HP d6+1, AV 10, SV 6

The slots for the Strong are combat moves that you can find on the character keeper. 
The Deft has two slots for a weapon, item, animal, school of thought or teacher, that they can attune to.
The Wise has two slots for miracles (spells, rituals, experiments etc.).

Step 4 If your INT is equal to or higher than 13 roll or choose additional language(s):

1 High Rainbow

2 Low Rainbow (many dialects)

3 Steppe: Sunsettish, White Line (Porcelain Princes), Satrap Canto (Spectrum Satraps) 

4 Dwarven: Volkan, Deep Dwarf, Winerian

5 Elven: Woodlander, Moonlander (dead)

6 Blue Tongue (language of cultists of the Blue God)

7 Vomeish

8 Black City Alphabet (dead)

9 Lingish (dead)

10 High Ultra

Step 5 Heroes start with 200 cash. Buy equipment.

PCs can carry one sack unencumbered

If we should decide to start at level 2, raise one attribute by one, update ST and AV and re-roll hp.

Ok, I rolled an exiled pirate liberal. Now what?

First you should think about the kind of pirate you want to play and which class would fit that concept the best: A Strong Pirate with say a bone harpoon and laser pistol, a Deft Pirate that is attuned to his rapier and mechanical monkey or a Wise Pirate that studied maps and blueprints in her submarine.
Secondly you need to find two groups for your attributes. As noted above the d40 list can inform some or all of the three elements of a character: Vocation, Affiliation and Species which are called groups. You can write "Pirate" as your vocation next to an attribute if you are a Wise or Strong Pirate but you don't have to: Maybe being a pirate is peripheral and the Strong is a actually a fierce warrior poet and the Wise an engineer who found a vome-infected glass eye that shoots laser rays?

The Deft Pirate needs to pick their vocation right away but doesn't have to write it next to a specific attribute. They always roll with advantage if their vocation is relevant to the task at hand. 
For the other group you can think about a heritage or affiliation: Maybe you picked up a vome-infected glass eye and you write down "vome" next to Wisdom because it helps you see in the dark or spot Ultras. Maybe you have been exiled for being part of a freethinking society of pirates: Write "Redlander Liberation Army" or "Thinking Pirates Union" next to an appropriate stat. 

If you can't think of a second group, you can also leave it open and add it in between session after you have discovered something about the character in play.

Advanced stage of  a Vome-infection

Method 2: Making a character from scratch

As above, but for step 2 roll a d20 or choose your Species / Heritage, Vocation and Lifepath on the following tables:

Species / Heritage

1 Humans: Bluelander
2 Humans: Greenlander
3 Humans: Orangelander
4 Humans: Yellowlander
5 Steppelander
6 Quarter – Ling
7 - 8 Half-Elf
9 Half – Ork
10 - 11 Dwarf
12 Great Folk / Half- Ling
13 - 14 Para-Human Porcelain Prince
15 – 16 Para-Human Spectrum Satrap
17 Machine Human
18 Ultra
19 Vome
20 Cat Lord

Vocation (inspired by the d40 list and Seacat)

1 Ambassador / Spy / Lawyer
2 Merchant Adventurer / Barbarian Destroyer / Laser Cowboy / Timelost Warrior
3 Preacher / Blue God Cultist / Priest / Seer / Summoner / Witch
4 Botanist / Freehold Archaeologist
5 Entertainer / Singer / Acrobat
6 Prospector / Engineer / Industrialist / Tinker
7 Inquisitor / Machinehunter General / Demon hunter / Warlock
8 Electric Wizard / Vome Programmer / Dream Wanderer
9 Trapper / Scavenger / Hunter / Rancher
10 Necromancer / Fleshcrafter / Bonecrafter / Biomancer

A tinker and his golem

Lifepath

If you want to flesh out the character's past you can add a descriptor like: 

1 fabulous
2 disgraced
3 chosen
4 revered
5 escaped
6 infamous
7 traveled
8 learned
9 lost
10 teleported
11 secret
12 desiccated

Fabulous!

Method 3

Sometimes you roll on the d40 table and the result is less straightforward than you would hope. One of the players from the first season for example rolled a Yellowlander Climate Migrant and didn't really know what to do. In this case you can either start with a Whitehack class and work you way towards the result or use the result more as color and inspiration than as a tight constraint. The Yellowlander could be a Strong, a typical fighter of their culture, say a sandworm riding warrior or a Deft scavenger, hardened by acid rain or a Wise engineer, using steam power technology to fight off the cold.