Being a vault dweller, tribal or courier is a generic background, having grown up on a vault or a tribe just means you are a member of that group, but not what specific kind of member (you could be the literature nerd who reads lots of books, the tech wiz, the manipulative smooth talker, the handyman that repairs the machines, the dumb guy who can't even talk properly but is very good with a gun, the super muscular dude that is dangerous with a machete, etc...), whereas 'courier' is such a simple job that most people would be able to do it regardless their previous knowledge or physical aptitude; a character with that kind of background can plausibly have a very large combination of different personalities and skillsets that would still make sense to some degree. On the other hand, a captain is by definition someone that is supposed to have leadership skills and be a people person, so if you want to roleplay as a something like an aloof hacker, shy techie or schizoid gunman you are already somewhat in contradiction with the background the game picked for you.
I understand why you - without even superficially checking the game deeper - would assume so.
But the thing is, you are a 'captain' only on paper.
You have 0 experience. Nobody on the crew knows you, nobody respects you because this is your first day on the job and you've been "shoved in". You have an influential family that wanted you to be the captain however your own aspirations are left open. In fact, the 3 default game presets give you a hint of how diverse your character can be:
Anyone could have been in your place, anyone could have been the captain here. And this is not just in the lore, this situation is reflected in the game.
And, before you say, "how would you even become captain without needed skills", I have an answer. You can - optionally - decide to "remember" your exam in Space Academy and this short episode shows how your character which can - potentially - not even speak to strangers or, who has zero charm - can pass the exam and become a captain. This playable episode is full of options to complete the exam in various ways - either by being competent or by cheating, using sneak, speech or whatever you can conjure in an open-ended manner.
Haven't you met people that have graduated best universities in the world but are incompetent as a brick?
Here, you may be a competent captain or an incompetent asocial creep, this is simply a situation your custom character is thrown into without consent.
> name
Sure, that's a valid criticism. It is not important to me but if players think it is, it makes sense. That's what the EA is all about.
> gender
Those are stereotypes. N - does not mean that you are not a "man", or that you are not a "woman". It means that you don't fit the "stereotypical image of a man or woman".
This is for NPCs to define how they see you. Women are charming, men are strong, if you don't agree, N.
Gameplay wise N gives you some variance. Some women would not talk to a macho man about their woman problems, however, N is not really regarded as a "man" so, you can have the same dialog options as another woman. On the other hand, at the same time, some "men" may consider you a "bro" even if you've chosen N.
For example "incel" type of character would be N, if this helps.
