Characters that have been posted so far look good! I'm optimistic that we'll be able to start early next week. At this point I'm mostly waiting for character creation to finish up - I think that instead of writing up tons of backstory right now, I'll try to let the plot and supplementary background emerge organically from what the players come up with.<br/><br/>So, something that I was planning on introducing later on but, in retrospect, will be good to make a part of character creation: allies (a.ka. retainers, henchmen, servants, pets, mounts, and so on). Each character will be allowed to start with 2 modestly-powerful allies or one more potent one. Savage Worlds encourages the practice of players controlling small numbers of friendly NPCs, usually extras, that help fill in gaps in their skills and support them in battle. These extras are only loyal to a specific player character - others in the party can't control them, even if their "owner" is absent at the time.<br/><br/>Rather than creating them from scratch, I'll allow choosing pre-made NPCs from the bestiary sections of the SW Deluxe corebook, science fiction companion and fantasy bestiary companion (PM or AIM me if you need access to that last one - though you might be able to decide you want a certain NPC just based on their job description, in which case you only need those stats).<span style="font-weight: bold">Extras in this list marked with an asterisk count as 2 choices, I.E. that ally is the only one you'll start with.</span><br/>These creatures and characters start with the equipment listed in their stats, and can't be given magic items with your starting money. In the case of the fantasy bestiary companion, use the gear stats from the deluxe book rather than those listed (I.E. a longsword does str+d8 rather than str+2 or whatever they list). In the case of NPCs from the Sci-fi Companion, any high-tech armor they have will be replaced with a portable shield generator.<br/><br/>From the  Savage Worlds Deluxe bestiary:<br/>Dire Wolf*<br/>Dog/Wolf<br/>Horse, War<br/>Lion*<br/>Orc (Note: Represents strong/tough anthros and demis rather than actual orcs)<br/>Snake, constrictor<br/><br/>From Fantasy Bestiary Toolkit:<br/>Bandit<br/>Centaur<br/>Dragon-man warrior*<br/>Dwarf<br/>Elf<br/>Frost Wolf*<br/>Hellhound*<br/>Knight<br/>Veteran Knight*<br/>Lizard man<br/>Novice mage<br/>Mercenary<br/>Veteran Mercenary*<br/>Noble<br/>Court Jester<br/>Ranger<br/>Veteran Ranger*<br/>Rat-man<br/>Thief<br/>Master Thief*<br/>Unicorn*<br/><br/>From Science Fiction Companion, "Travelers and Xenos" chapter:<br/>Bounty Hunter*<br/>Diplomat/Politician*<br/>Explorer*<br/>Pirate (Note: Exchange 'Gravitic Adaptation' for block)<br/>Scientist<br/>Spy*<br/>Thug