Stars Reach Species and Character Creation: What to Pick and What Is Permanent

The six species side by side

Each species in a paragraph

Terrans are, in the studio's words, 'just… humans', in the full range of body types, skin tones, scars and tattoos. They come from Terra, a world the guide calls one of huge contrasts. Terran history is described as great creativity plus constant arguing. To make a Terran stand out among aliens, the guide suggests using clothing style rather than anatomy. Pick Terran if you want the least visual commitment.

Skwatchi are the 'big friend shaped like a bear-shaped boulder', generally the tallest and bulkiest species in the Garden. On their glaciated home Chedderath, small settlements only survived if everyone stayed connected. Their greeting tradition 'orchee martchar' ('making the rounds') comes from walking miles after storms to see who needed help. That makes them the natural pick if you want to roleplay the helper, trader or group anchor.

Gertans get mistaken for 'the spawns of hell' at first glance because of the red skin and horns. Only the Skwatchi are reliably bigger. Their world Kuru is all volcanoes, lava and earthquakes, and their culture is about bracing, shoring things up and getting competent, shaped by a history under a central authority called the Over Sight. The guide also credits them with the force-field and shock-repellent technology that later spread into ship design.

Elioni are the Garden's cat-people, built for alertness rather than bulk and often described as scouts, explorers and hunters. Rowwsia is mostly desert with its population on the coasts, which produced a culture of making your own luck, independent thought and a meritocratic streak. In Elioni culture the tail stands for the self, so insults about tails are taken personally.

Stokadi look, as their guide puts it, like they crawled out of a foggy nightclub that is also a court of law. Revenia is cold, wet and foggy most of the year, and a history of clan communities and plateau city-states left them obsessed with fairness. They are also known for barbecue and lab-grown meat.

The Fae have no confirmed home world. Their folklore points to a lost place called Tír na nÓg, but even many Fae treat it as legend. Historically they survived as stowaways on Servitor ships, and Fae figures were central to the diplomacy that created the Transplanetary League, the TPL whose Starbase every new player passes through.

Click to play · loads YouTube — Stars Reach Character Creation: Everything You Need to Know, by Controlled Chaos Gaming

Character creation, screen by screen

1. Species. Choose from the roster above.
2. Body. Sliders for musculature, weight and height, added with the customisation system in 8.1.5 (9 July 2026).
3. Face. Head size and proportions, eyes, nose, mouth and lips, plus jaw, chin, ears, eyebrows, cheekbones and forehead.
4. Attachments. Hairstyles, tails and horns, available on several of the species.
5. Colours and materials. Skin tone and patterns, plus eye, hair and clothing colour. 8.1.5 shipped only the first variants. 8.5.0 (3 September) added colour variations for Terrans and said other species would follow soon.
6. Stat allocation. Since 8.1.5 this screen has a Basic Mode where you drag only the top three buckets or pick a preset. An Advanced button opens the full screen. If creation is interrupted, it resumes at this step (8.4.0).
7. Name. It must not be in use by another character on your account (8.4.0), and if the filter rejects a name it tells you why (8.3.0).

Naming your character the way each guide suggests

Name is the last creation step, and each official roleplay guide includes a naming recipe. Two rules from the build notes apply on top: a name must not already be used by another character on your account (8.4.0), and if the filter rejects one it tells you why (8.3.0).

Each guide also ends with a phrasebook for chat, from greetings to 'I want to trade': Gertan 'Ki prave skenk', Elioni 'Mi ravaw barru', Stokadi 'Mi zava-va' and Fae 'ovar-kensa'. None of this is a game mechanic. It is optional flavour for players who roleplay, and nobody is required to use it.

What is permanent, what you can change, and what isn't documented

This table answers 'can I change it later?' for each creation choice, using only what the studio has published. Where the notes say nothing, the table says so rather than guessing.

Does your species change how you play?

Nothing published says it does. There are no stat modifiers, racial abilities or restricted professions in any build note or roleplay guide. What decides what your character can do is the classless skill system (which skills you keep in practice) and the tools you carry, and both can be changed.

We have to label that as our reading rather than a confirmed rule, because the studio has never written 'species is cosmetic'. The build notes also don't say whether species affects the stat-allocation screen. If a guide gives you a species stat table, ask where it came from.

Two more species need a note. Hansian and Hyugon were named as Kickstarter stretch-goal unlocks. The Fae and Stokadi also came through that campaign (Massively Overpowered, March 2025). Neither Hansian nor Hyugon has a published roleplay guide, and no build note we have read confirms that either one can be selected in the live build. We have left them out of the table until that changes.

How to choose in two minutes

• Choose on looks and culture. Nothing published gives you a mechanical reason to pick one species over another.
• Watch the creation screens first (video above). You can't edit appearance after creation yet.
• Choose for visibility if it matters to you. Skwatchi and Gertan stand out in a crowd by size. Terran blends in.
• Read the culture line in the table. Skwatchi neighbourliness, Gertan endurance and Stokadi fairness give you something to roleplay.
• Use the Basic Mode stat presets unless you already know the game.
• If you are buying a higher founder tier for its outfits, look at them on your own species first.
• Don't agonise. The progression wipe before 1.0 makes this character temporary.