02.00 Character Generation

Version 3.0

In order to play the game you’ll need to create a character. Before you get out the pencil, first think about your character. What do you want to be able to do with this character? What kind of person is he or she? What is their background and motivations?

Concept

The Concept is the general term that identifies the character, Usually this is the character’s profession or role in society. Examples: Gruff Bounty Hunter, Demon Worshiper, Kind Wizard or Street Cop. Try not to use more than a couple of words as a concept but it is important to have something that defines the type of character you are playing.

Attributes

Attributes are referenced in two ways: Dice and Die Code (sometimes called Attribute Level). The Dice is the complete value of the Attribute. For example a Strength of 3D, or a Dexterity of 2D+1. The Die Code is the number in front of the D. From the previous examples a Strength Dice Code of 3 or a Dexterity Dice Code of 2.

Natural Attributes

Natural attributes are those that all character have a use – the Physical and Mental measures of their character. This is to differentiate from Extranormal Attributes and Willpower.

Physical Attributes

Agility

Measure of balance, limberness, quickness, and full–body motor abilities. It is also a measure of hand–eye coordination and fine motor abilities.

Stamina

Measure of ability to resist damage, fatigue and disease.

Strength

Measure of physical power, muscle and ability to cause physical damage with their bare hands.

Mental Attributes

Intellect

Measure of knowledge, strength of memory and ability to learn.

Perception

Measure of mental quickness and attention to detail.

Presence

Measure of emotional strength, physical attractiveness, and personality.

Passive Values

Some Attributes and skills have a Passive Value which is equal to the number in front of the “D” in the opponent’s attribute or skill (minimum 1). This is the default difficulty for Opposed Tests against this value.

Derived Attributes

Willpower

[Perception + Presence] / 2 (Round Down)

Measure of mental defense. Will Power is based on Perception and Presence. Willpower is generally used to resist interaction attempts and mentally damaging attacks. Characters may generally use it instead of stamina to resist fatigue, sleep, and unconsciousness, though there may be some situations the GM restricts its substitution.

The GM can also use willpower to determine the reactions of players’ and GM’s characters to each other and to their surroundings. The more the GM believes that the character should be at ease or frightened, the greater the difficulty. Use the descriptions of standard difficulties to determine the level. This passive application of willpower is not an action.

In general, the resistance difficulty for any Extranormal mind effect or interaction skill equals the Passive value of the target’s Willpower. The target cannot actively resist unless he knows that a Extranormal or interaction skill is being used on him by another character.

If the GM decides that the target suspects but does not know for certain that someone is attempting to influence him, the GM may allow the character to take an action earlier than his turn in the round and roll his Willpower as a Opposed Test against the active Extranormal or interaction. Should the character decide to actively defend against mental intrusion or personal interaction, he may devote all of his actions for the round to that task and roll his Willpower adding +10 to get the Opposed Test.

However the interaction resistance difficulty is determined, GM may further modify the number as the situation warrants (such as stress, surprise, or character relationship).

Extranormal

[Presence + Intellect] / 2 (Round Down)

Measure of a character’s extraordinary abilities, which could include psionics, magic, or other Extranormal talents. Extranormal is based on Presence and Intellect. It is often listed with its type ie. Extranormal: Magic or Extranormal: Psionics. Characters almost never have more than one Extranormal attribute. Some settings may require a minimum Presence or Intellect to have access to one’s Extranormal ability.

Calculating Derived Attributes

Willpower and Extranormal attributes are calculated in the following way. Take two Mental Attributes associated to the Derived Attribute and add them together (including pips). After converting any pips converting to Ds, drop the remining pips. Then take the average of the two numbers in front of the D, rounding down. The final number represents the number of dice he has in that particular Derived Attribute. The only way these values increase is when the associated Mental Attribute goes up.

For example if the character has a 2D Presence and a 3D+1 Intellect, adding them together gets 5D+1. Dropping the +1, the average is 2 after rounding down. This makes the characters Extranormal Attribute 2D.

Another example has another character with a 2D+2 Perception and a 3D+1 Presence. The total is 6D (2D+3D is 5 and 1 pip + 2 pips is 1D), giving him a total Willpower of 3D.

Toughness

Toughness is the characters natural ability to absorb damage. Each time the character takes damage, it’s one of the values subtracted from damage taken. If the player has no armor or special abilities, he or she will at least have a Toughness. This is a Calculated Attribute. Take the characters Strength Dice Code, multiply it by 4. This is the characters Default Toughness. Armor Values are rolled and added to this.

Spending a Fate Point allows the character to use his Strength Roll as Toughness, only if he rolls higher than his Default Toughness.

Base Class

Every character must choose from a Primary Class. They are the following:

Class	Primary Attribute
Rogue	Agility
Warrior	Strength
Scout	Stamina
Scholar	Intellect
Adept	Perception
Leader	Presence

Each Class has a Primary Attribute. This affects various things in Character Generation as well as Advancement. In advancement, a character can Multi-Class into another one to get a Secondary Attribute.

Creation Pool

Each Novice character receives 80 creation points to distribute among all the options. Players may only spend creation points as whole points, not as fractions.

One Attribute die equals four (4) creation points.
One Skill Rank equals one (1) creation point.
Three Skill Specialization Rank equal one (1) creation point.
Positive Traits (Advantages & Special Abilities) have their own costs associated with them. See the Character Options.

Other restrictions apply

Class Attributes have a minimum of 1D and a maximum of 4D.
Non-Class attributes can have a minimum 1D and a maximum 3D
The maximum starting number of Rank that may be added to any one Class skill or specialization of skill is 3.
The maximum starting number of Rank that may be added to any one Non Class skill or specialization of skill is 2.
Points must be spent on whole dice, though the purchased dice may be split and distributed in their category. For instance, if a player spends four creation points to get one Attribute die, the die may be split into three pips and divided among up to three Attributes, but no attribute pip may be traded in for a Skill Die.

Players of Human characters may add up to 10 additional creation points to their totals by taking an appropriate number of points in Negative Traits or Disadvantages. Non-Human species may have their own creation point totals, maximum number of points from Disadvantages, and starting Traits.

For worlds involving more Special Abilities, GMs should feel free to raise the number of starting creation points and the number of possible creation points received from Disadvantages.

Characters also receive the following aspects, like those created with defined limits:

Move: This equals 5, and 6 if they start the game with 3D in Strength or Stamina. There are 2 meter or 5 foot Spaces.
Strength Damage: Drop the pips from your character’s Strength or lifting score (including any Special Abilities or Disadvantages that affect the die code), divide the number by 2, and round up. This is the Strength Damage die code.
Funds: Funds and silver measure how much wealth your character can usually get at without too much trouble. All characters start with a base Funds die code of 3D. Look under “Funds” in this chapter for modifiers to this roll and how to convert this number to cash. The cash equivalent of Funds goes on the Silver line.

Character Options

Selecting Character Options

Traits (Advantages, Disadvantages, and Special Abilities) make the character more interesting, more (and less) effective, and more fun to roleplay (if you do it right). You know the story of your character – here’s what that story means.

Advantages are perks that the character has because of her status in society, the people she knows, or something in her background. They generally do not directly affect attributes or skills.

Disadvantages hamper the character in some way. They might affect her attributes or skills or they might mean trouble for her in certain situations. Both Advantages and Disadvantages make the character more rounded and more believable.

Special Abilities are those abilities that exceed the natural capabilities of a Human character. The character’s species, some sort of unique training, or a magical/super–science/cybernetic/other effect might explain their origin. They give the character a bonus to her attributes or skills, or they provide her with access to something that the average Human character can’t do.

Example: You decide to give your character a Special Ability that provides him with a +1 to one of three combat–related skill totals. If you don’t have any points to spend on Special Abilities, your character needs to have some kind of Disadvantage as well. The character might have to add 1 to the difficulty of all interaction–related skill totals, or you might include a totally unrelated Disadvantage (of comparative power) – like the character is afraid of the dark and has trouble acting when in the dark.

Costs at Character Creation

Each point in an Trait is worth one creation point per number. Advantages cost creation points, while Disadvantages give you creation points (or skill dice). Thus, a 1-point Advantage costs one point or die, while a 4-point Disadvantages gives you four points.

The cost of one rank of the Special Ability is included in parentheses. Some Special Abilities, such as Ambidextrous, do not lend themselves to being taken more than once. Players may also add Limitations to their Special Abilities, which reduce their effectiveness (and the cost) or Enhancements, which increase their effectiveness (and the cost); these are described at the end of this section.

In settings where characters with Special Abilities are common, additional ranks of each Special Ability cost one point per rank at character creation. In settings where characters with Special Abilities are uncommon, additional ranks of each Special Ability costs the value listed with the Special Ability.

When using templates or defined limits for attributes and skill dice, players may use skill dice or dice received from Disadvantages to get Advantages and Special Abilities. Players may use some of the points in their pool or points gained from Disadvantages to purchase Advantages and Special Abilities.

A maximum of 10 creation points worth of Disadvantages is recommended for any genre.

Using the Additional Creation Points

You may use creation points that you earn from giving your character Disadvantages to buy Advantages (at their point cost), more skill dice (at a rate of one creation point for each skill die), or more attribute dice (at a rate of four creation points for each attribute die).