Dec 2, 2016 7:19 pm
Character Creations
It is recommended that you develop who the character is before you begin spending poits to determine what the character can do. This is more of a story driven game. We want to tell stories about characters, not tell stories about powers. Try to make them real people, then give them amazing abilities.
A starting character gets 21 points to spend on Attributes. Any points not spent on Attributes may be transferred to starting Skill points
Attributes
Attributes govern all of your characters Mundane action. The minimum to be a fully functioning human is 3. Each Attribute starts with 3 points. 7 is the general adult human average. The absolute human maximum, unaided by training(i.e. Skills), mechanical devices, or performance enhancing drugs is 15. The number for your Attributes sets your base Target Number for actions involving that Attribute, before skills and other factors are applied.
Brawn - A measure of one’s personal strength. This attribute is used anytime muscle power is needed. Lifting, running, swimming, and melee combat are some examples of what this Attribute covers.
Coordination - A measure of physical flexibility. This attribute is used when finesse is needed. Balancing, dancing, and shooting are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Reason - A measure of cerebral power. This attribute is used when brain power is needed. Memorization, recall, and puzzle solving are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Instinct - A measure of cerebral flexibility. This attribute is used when a quick wit is needed. Being charming or deceptive are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Stress and Wound Threshold: A character’s health is governed by two numbers. Stress and Wound Threshold.
Stress - A character has an amount of stress equal to the average of their Attributes. Add together all your points in Attributes and and divide by 4. This tells you how many points of stress you have. Remainders are rounded like you were taught in basic math. X.4 and lower is rounded down, X.5 and higher is rounded up.
Wound Threshold - A character has a Wound Threshold equal to their Brawn Attribute. A character’s Wound Threshold dictates how much damage they can take before damage spills over into the next Stress point. For example, Dave has a Wound Threshold of 8. He is attacked by a demon and takes 10 points of damage (ouch! A big hit.) This damage is over his Wound Threshold. He fills one Stress point with 8 damage, the remaining 2 spills over into the next stress point. Dave now has two Wounds, one at 8 and one at 2. Healing damage is covered below in Stress and Wound Recovery.
Skills
A starting character gets 7 Skill points. Each point is an individual skill. You can only have 2 point in a given skill starting out. Any points leftover (including leftover Attribute points) may be transferred to starting Powers.
Skills are areas of training your character has focused on in their lives. They are not the end all of what your character can do, they are what your character is best at. Skills are fairly freeform, nearly anything can be a skill as long the player and GM agree on it’s scope.
GMs should approve Skills based on balance. You want a skill to be focused, but not so specific that it can never be used, or so general that it can be used in every action. For example, Athletics is far to general, but Running, Swimming or Free Climbing are skills that an Athletic person might practice and be focused on. An example of a skill that is too specific might be 18th century painting, so perhaps a slightly broader Art History would better serve a character wanting an academic background.
Skills are also divorced from specific Attributes. Certain skills might be more useful when certain Attributes are being used, but they can apply in other situations. One example is Archery. Typically this is a skill that would be used with the Coordination Attribute. However, if someone is investigating a murder and the murder weapon happened to be an arrow, then that investigator’s knowledge of Archery might help them use Reason to figure out where the killer was when the victim was killed.
Powers
A starting character gets 10 points in powers, plus any leftover and transferred from Skills.
Powers are the psychic gifts available to players to find and combat the malevolent forces that seem to be feeding off of mankind. There are a number of available abilities that can be found (HERE). This section covers the general rules.
Powers are purchased just like attributes. Points spent on powers wet the TN to use those powers in actions. Some Powers are used in place of Attributes, while others might provide a bonus to actions taken on future turns. See individual Power descriptions for details.
As a general rule, Powers only affect one target by default. A player may take a -3 to their Target number to affect an additional target that is close by. This reduction is cumulative for each additional target.
Starting characters may have a maximum of three individual powers with a starting maximum of 10 in those powers.
Burn Points
If you have any remaining points that you cannot or do not wish to spend they become Burn Points. Burn Points can be spent during play to increase your TN before the roll. Additional Burn Points are earned when you take Wound Damage.
Other character stuff - occupation, drive, personality, flaws, ties
It is recommended that you develop who the character is before you begin spending poits to determine what the character can do. This is more of a story driven game. We want to tell stories about characters, not tell stories about powers. Try to make them real people, then give them amazing abilities.
A starting character gets 21 points to spend on Attributes. Any points not spent on Attributes may be transferred to starting Skill points
Attributes
Attributes govern all of your characters Mundane action. The minimum to be a fully functioning human is 3. Each Attribute starts with 3 points. 7 is the general adult human average. The absolute human maximum, unaided by training(i.e. Skills), mechanical devices, or performance enhancing drugs is 15. The number for your Attributes sets your base Target Number for actions involving that Attribute, before skills and other factors are applied.
Brawn - A measure of one’s personal strength. This attribute is used anytime muscle power is needed. Lifting, running, swimming, and melee combat are some examples of what this Attribute covers.
Coordination - A measure of physical flexibility. This attribute is used when finesse is needed. Balancing, dancing, and shooting are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Reason - A measure of cerebral power. This attribute is used when brain power is needed. Memorization, recall, and puzzle solving are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Instinct - A measure of cerebral flexibility. This attribute is used when a quick wit is needed. Being charming or deceptive are some examples of what this attribute covers.
Stress and Wound Threshold: A character’s health is governed by two numbers. Stress and Wound Threshold.
Stress - A character has an amount of stress equal to the average of their Attributes. Add together all your points in Attributes and and divide by 4. This tells you how many points of stress you have. Remainders are rounded like you were taught in basic math. X.4 and lower is rounded down, X.5 and higher is rounded up.
Wound Threshold - A character has a Wound Threshold equal to their Brawn Attribute. A character’s Wound Threshold dictates how much damage they can take before damage spills over into the next Stress point. For example, Dave has a Wound Threshold of 8. He is attacked by a demon and takes 10 points of damage (ouch! A big hit.) This damage is over his Wound Threshold. He fills one Stress point with 8 damage, the remaining 2 spills over into the next stress point. Dave now has two Wounds, one at 8 and one at 2. Healing damage is covered below in Stress and Wound Recovery.
Skills
A starting character gets 7 Skill points. Each point is an individual skill. You can only have 2 point in a given skill starting out. Any points leftover (including leftover Attribute points) may be transferred to starting Powers.
Skills are areas of training your character has focused on in their lives. They are not the end all of what your character can do, they are what your character is best at. Skills are fairly freeform, nearly anything can be a skill as long the player and GM agree on it’s scope.
GMs should approve Skills based on balance. You want a skill to be focused, but not so specific that it can never be used, or so general that it can be used in every action. For example, Athletics is far to general, but Running, Swimming or Free Climbing are skills that an Athletic person might practice and be focused on. An example of a skill that is too specific might be 18th century painting, so perhaps a slightly broader Art History would better serve a character wanting an academic background.
Skills are also divorced from specific Attributes. Certain skills might be more useful when certain Attributes are being used, but they can apply in other situations. One example is Archery. Typically this is a skill that would be used with the Coordination Attribute. However, if someone is investigating a murder and the murder weapon happened to be an arrow, then that investigator’s knowledge of Archery might help them use Reason to figure out where the killer was when the victim was killed.
Powers
A starting character gets 10 points in powers, plus any leftover and transferred from Skills.
Powers are the psychic gifts available to players to find and combat the malevolent forces that seem to be feeding off of mankind. There are a number of available abilities that can be found (HERE). This section covers the general rules.
Powers are purchased just like attributes. Points spent on powers wet the TN to use those powers in actions. Some Powers are used in place of Attributes, while others might provide a bonus to actions taken on future turns. See individual Power descriptions for details.
As a general rule, Powers only affect one target by default. A player may take a -3 to their Target number to affect an additional target that is close by. This reduction is cumulative for each additional target.
Starting characters may have a maximum of three individual powers with a starting maximum of 10 in those powers.
Burn Points
If you have any remaining points that you cannot or do not wish to spend they become Burn Points. Burn Points can be spent during play to increase your TN before the roll. Additional Burn Points are earned when you take Wound Damage.
Other character stuff - occupation, drive, personality, flaws, ties