Chance Under Starlight was probably born in Frontier under the name Runs Under Starlight. At only a few months of age, his parents were killed by Saurons, his mother surviving just long enough to pass her child on to an Archipelagan couple, who would adopt him and give him the name Chance Hayford. This story and the scarf he was wrapped in are the only clues Chance has to his true origins. Years of searching Frontier for anyone recognising his birth name or scarf have produced nothing, and Chance's search has grown more half-hearted in recent times.

Chance's life is one long list of unlikely tragedies that he survived while those he loved were taken from him. When growing up, three classes he was part of were killed in various accidents that he always managed to walk away from. He and his fiancee, a peace-loving rogue Fomorii called Rhia, were thrown off a cliff by drunken McCuens, the cause of Chance's hatred for the clan. In mourning for his lover, Chance returned to the Hayford's home just in time to see the family be wiped out when Archipelago collided with Union. Blaming his "Luck Curse", Chance retreated to the wildest and most isolated parts of Frontier, where he remained mostly alone for over a decade, occasionally venturing out and daring to interact with society for brief periods. Recently, he has been seen in the company of the Brotherhood of the End Times, perhaps attracted to a group made up of people seperate from normal society as he feels he has been.

Chance's personality on the surface seems quite pleasant. He is cheerful and friendly, often giving affectionate nicknames to people he likes, whether they like it or not. He does have a morbid fixation about death, chirpily recalling suicide attempts that failed in unlikely ways, and does get angry easily when McCuens are present. He is very naive and seems a little slow, probably due to long periods isolated from other people, but is academically intelligent and well educated, with high mathematical skills and extensive experience in the field of Probability Theory. Unfortunately, some people who have gotten to know him have observed a darker side to Chance, periods of depression and mental instability, and a frightening habit of attacking his own body. In this state, Chance will rant about his hatred for the world, its people, and his own existance.