Character Creation

Playtest Character Sheet

Character Creation

Background

Write Three Aspects

Who were you before, who are you now, how have you survived?

• Aspects are descriptors that define the most iconic details of your character’s life and skills.
• Your Aspects are a combination of a Background, an Archetype, and a Trait.

The following table contains example Aspects, along with suggested skills and flaws.
Pick Three Aspects, one from each category.

An Aspect can be almost anything. It’s encouraged to mix and match, re-name, re-style, and work with the GM to create something that fits your vision

Write Three to Six Flaws

Flaws are details that can be invoked (either by yourself, or the GM) to hinder you.

• When a Flaw is invoked during a Check, you add 1 Threat Die MINUS, making the check more difficult.
• When a Flaw impedes you in this way, you restore a single Action Point.
  
• Each Flaw can only be invoked once per-job. It can still impact the fiction, but it won’t apply MINUS or restore Action Points. Action Points can be spent to avoid harm and take control of the action.
• The more Flaws you have, the more likely they are to cause your character trouble, however, more Flaws means more opportunities to restore Action Points.

Pick Three to Six Flaws from the table above, or make up your own
You should have one or two for each Aspect.

Skills and Expertise

Assign Points to Skills

Skills represent broad areas of knowledge.

• Your choice of Skills should be relevant to your Aspects.
• Skills are rated from 0 - 4. Skills cannot go above +3 at Character Creation.
• When making a Check, you roll Advantage Dice (AD PLUS) equal to your Skill.
• Skills can be improved later using Advancements.

You have 8 points in total.
Spread these between each of the three categories:
Physical, Education, and Talents

You must assign at least 2 points per category.

Use your Aspects to guide you. Skills cannot go above +3 at Character Creation.

Assign Points to the Physical Skills below:

Assign Points to the Education Skills below:

Assign Points to the Talents below:

• GM Advice: For more/less competent characters, consider adjusting the total number of points to spend up or down.

Write Four Expertise

Expertise represent narrow, specialist areas of knowledge.

• Like Skills, Expertise should be relevant to your Aspects.
• Each Expertise should be unique. You cannot list the same Expertise twice, even across multiple different skills.
• New Expertise can be acquired later using Advancements.
• Each Skill can have at most 3 Expertise. These can be swapped out during Downtime.
• When making a Check, each relevant Expertise grants +1 Advantage Die PLUS.
• You can use multiple Expertise in a single Check, as long as they’re attached to the same Skill being used.
  
  • If you have a relevant Expertise attached to a different Skill, you can make a case for how you apply it in a different context.
    The GM has final say about whether or not it is appropriate.
  • The tables above include examples where an Expertise might be relevant to multiple skills, such as Intimidate (Fighting, Influence), or Sneak (Mobility, Subterfuge), judge appropriateness based on the context in which the Expertise is being used.

• GM Advice: For for more competent characters, consider adjusting the total number of starting Expertise to 6.

Pick Four Expertise from the examples in the previous section, or make up your own.
Write them in the space next to relevant skills.

Other Statistics

Starting Health

• Characters can take a maximum of 3 different Level 2 Wounds.
  This can be increased later via Augmentation.
• Characters can take a maximum of 2 different Traumas before becoming Lost or Dying.
  This can be increased later via Augmentation.

See Wounds & Trauma for more information.

Maximum Action Points

• Characters have a maximum of 3 Action Points, which refresh during Downtime.
  This can be increased later via Advancements.

See Downtime & Advancement for more information.

Pick Starting Gear

Characters start with an amount of gear and augmentations; useful belongings acquired in their lives up to this point.

Basic Information

Loadout

Gear Slots represented with: (◆) indicate how bulky an item is.

• Before a job begins, Characters pick a Loadout between Light (Max 3 ◆‘s worth of items), and Heavy (Max 6 ◆‘s worth of items), and declare any Heavy (◆◆◆) Items.
  You don’t need to worry about this now.
• A character’s loadout implies how geared-up an Character appears to observers.
  The heavier your loadout, the more obviously ready for action you appear.

Features

Gear and Augmentations have Features. Details that define what actions they allow, and any specific advantages and disadvantages they may have.

• Some actions are Enabled by gear.
  Meaning, the use of this gear allows you to do something you previously couldn’t.
  There is no PLUS/MINUS added for these.
• Some gear have Advantages
  Advantages might add Advantage Dice PLUS to relevant checks, or provide some other benefit.
• Likewise, some gear may have Disadvantages.
  Disadvantages might reduce a Skill, add Threat Dice MINUS to relevant checks, or be purely fictional problems, (E.g. Slow, Low-Range, Noisy, etc.).
• Some pieces of gear have limited uses.
  This could be a limited duration (E.g. up to an hour), limited uses per-job (recovered during Downtime), or are consumed on use (E.g. Grenades, Drugs).
• Features and Advantages are only applied when they become relevant.
  For example, the Survival Kit’s +1PLUS to Survival checks only applies when attempting something specific to the kit.
• Items and Augmentations can also be upgraded with Mods.
  Mods can add features, remove disadvantages, and further individualise Gear.
  Mods are not available during Character Creation, and must be acquired through play.

For more information, see: Gear System

Tools of the Trade

All characters start with 3d6x100 ₩.

Then, pick one of the following configurations:

• A. An Item related to Trademarks + a mix of 3 Drugs/Grenades
• B. A Vehicle related to Trademarks.

As well as one of the following:

• A. A Melee Weapon or Light Sidearm + Security-Grade Armour
• B. A Heavy Sidearm, Rifle, or Shotgun.

Choose from the lists below, or work with the GM to create something more bespoke.

Get Wired

Augmentation

Augs are expensive, but enable you to surpass ordinary human limits.
You can think of them like “Stunts” or “Feats” from other systems.

• Characters start with 3 Aug Slots, and each Aug takes up 1 Slot.
  Each Augmentation places strain upon the body.
  You can’t go beyond this limit right now, but you can later using Advancements.
• Characters start with a choice of Common or Uncommon Augs.
  Some Augmentations are rarer than others. Rare Augs can be acquired during play.
• You can purchase, install and swap out Augs during Downtime.
  Your choices now don’t have to be permanent, just go with what seems cool.

Choose some starting Augmentations. Pick one of the following configurations:

• A. Two Common Augs
• B. One Uncommon Aug

Choose from the lists below, or work with the GM to create something unique.

Heavily Augmented Characters

For characters who’s background involves having a lot of Augmentations, discuss with the GM how to reconcile this discrepancy with the limited starting options.

For example:

• A former-corp agent may have been provided with expensive Augs, but they have since been remotely shut down by the company.
• A thug, wired up with chop-shop Augs would likely struggle with the ongoing maintenance required, leaving them to rust and fall into disrepair.

Un-Augmented Characters

For characters who prefer to remain pure and untainted by Augmentation, add two Mods to your chosen Starting Items/Weapon/Armour/Vehicle. Keeping up with the augmented competition wasn’t cheap.

Form Connections

Player Connections

Pick another player, and work together to add a detail about how you know each other.

Make something up, pick, or roll on the table below.
Write an Expertise, gained or honed in some way by that connection.
You can have as many narrative connections to other players as you want, but you only gain an Expertise for one of them.

Connection

NPC Connections

Contacts

You start play knowing one close Contact.

If you can’t think of anything, or want to get to the action quicker, leave this, and invent them at a convenient moment during play.

Give them a name, an occupation, as well as a detail about how you know them.
Make something up, or roll on the table below.

Rival

You also have a Rival, someone you may have wronged who hates your guts.

If you can’t think of anything, or want to get to the action quicker, leave this, and invent them at a convenient moment during play.

Give them a name, an occupation, and a detail about why they hate you.
Make something up, or roll on the table below.

If it makes sense, you may also be in Debt to your rival.
Roll 3d6×₩1,000. This could be cold hard cash, or favours equivalent to it.

Define a Drive

Determine a Drive or Motivation for your character.
What are you fighting for?

This could be a personal aspiration, a pressing obligation, or an impending threat.

• If you can’t decide right now, no worries!
• One will probably develop during play, when it does, talk about it, then write it down.

Choose, make one up, or roll 1d20 on the following table.
Then add your own details to flesh it out, and make it more specific.

If you are stuck for ideas, you can use this list for inspiration.

This can (and likely will) change over time, or once you start playing and your character’s situation changes, which is fine. Its main function is to let the GM know your Character’s ambitions so they can work it into scenarios.

Finishing Touches

Fleshing Out

Discuss these. If you have a cool idea already, great! Write it down!

If not, no worries, there’s no need to solidify these details now.
All of the following can be decided during play. Declare details when the situation calls for it.

What do you look like? What do you act like?
This can be a broad description, a general vibe of your look, behaviour and fashion choices.

Play to your Aspects and Flaws.

• What is the first thing people notice about you before you speak?
• Do you have a particular signature item of clothing, colour, or pattern?
• Do you have any openly visible scars, piercings or tattoos?
• Do you have a particular affectation, bad habit, or tic?
• Do you look to stand out, or blend in?

How did you end up in Wuhai? Establish a general idea for how and why your Character is in Wuhai.

These details help establish your character’s implied knowledge and insight about Wuhai and beyond, and the kind of groups they may have run into before.

Play to your Connections, Drive and your Aspects.

• Where were you born?
  Are they a Wuhai local? Are they a Migrant from another martian city? Are they a nomad from the Expanse?
• You could have been one of many unlucky souls sealed in a corporate Cryo Vault since The Exodus, recently woken up, with only hazy memories of Earth.
• Have they been here long?
• Do you have a favourite hang-out spot?
  Make one up and work with the GM to place it somewhere in the city.
• Where do they live? Do they have family here?
• Wuhai is hugely multi-cultural. What languages do they speak?