Hello, everyone. I thought I'd run in and make a quick breakdown of what we know, as a community, about each personal story to help everyone choose their presets. Know that spoilers will be hidden in spoiler tags - if you don't want to know, don't click. If you do help fill this sheet, please post in spoilers in your own posts. Please, if something is amiss let me know.
Sadly, all I really know are the human stories - and not even all of them. I have spots reserved for the rest. By no means do I intend to breakdown the whole story - just enough for you to have a basic idea on whether or not it will appeal to you. I thank anyone and everyone who chips in their knowledge to make this a one-stop shop for easier decision making. Obviously, I will update the first post as more information comes in. Also, 1-6 will have to do for placeholders while the wiki is down and I can't confirm the arc names.
Human
Street Rat
As the name implies, you're poor. Worse, your friend is an idiot and has gotten himself mixed up with a gang. With this choice, you spend the first part of your personal story working to get him out of "debt" to the gang leader while teaming up with the Seraph to shut them down for good.
Commoner
You've lived a normal-ish life with a couple of very close friends who own and operate a fairly popular tavern. When you go to check in on them, a bar fight breaks out and the owner gets caught in the crossfire. You spend the first part of your story getting the medicine needed to save him.
Noble
Much like the street rat, you've got an idiot friend. This one just wants to party and fight alongside you, even though his martial skills are not up to snuff. He does know a little bit about a connection between a certain noble and the bandits that are causing trouble in Queensdale, though...
Orphan
Sister and Centaurs
In the second arc, you search for information about the Seraph party that went missing awhile back - the party your sister was with. Your search leads you to a couple of outposts and a few centaur camps. Your sister may not be dead, after all...
Never Joined the Circus
Asura
1
2
3
4
5
6
Norn
1
2
3
4
5
6
Charr
Blood Legion
Bold and brave, frontline infantry, they tackle their foes head on, they're the bulk of the glorious Charr army, the shock troops, the backbone of the army.
Ash Legion
Scouts, assassins, information gatherers, and spies. Ash Legion uses cunning, deceit, infiltration and subtlety to deal with the enemies of the Charr. Let the Blood Legion charge blindly to their deaths, the Ash Legion will be there in the shadows to clean up their mess. They're the elite force, if you are marked by one, they're the last thing you'll never see.
Iron Legion
Machinists, the smiths, forgers, and engineers, the furnace of the great Charr society, makers of all the machines and weapons of the rest of the legions. They're the ones responsible for the industrial revolution of the charr, and the sole reason they are the most advanced race in the world (And any Asuran saying otherwise will get scratch marks >_>). They're the great warmachine of the Charr, spearheading the technological advancement of the race.
During the tutorial mission, your warband gets almost completely wiped out, the only surviving members being you and another charr of your choosing, specifically the one you feel closest to
First Guy
Option one is that he was an honorable soldier, and a great warrior, and you are trying to live up to his name
Second Guy
Option two is that he is of the despicable Shaman Caste, a group seen with suspicion and hatred for their tyrannical rule of the Charr for so many years. Your father is seen with contempt and suspicion and its up to you if you wish to trust his word.
Third Guy
Option three is that your father is a Gladium: The worst of the worst, a gladium is someone who abandons their warband to die, a traitor, a coward, a dishonorable scum, not even shaman are seen with the same spite as a Charr who doesn't do everything and anything for their blood companions. Your father is one such man, leaving his own warband to die, just to save his own hide. Up to you to decide to give him a chance at redemption (if he even wants to redeem his honor)
Credit to Derah for the Charr update.