Characters as Actors
Characters are actors that are playable either by players or the GM. Characters have their capabilities and limitations described through attributes, abilities, and skills.
While most characters will typically be biological, depending on the particular setting in play, characters may be based on any of the three actor types: biological, construct, or incorporeal. The core and derived attributes that apply to an actor are determined by this actor type. Select the relevant actor type to show only the core and derived attributes that apply.
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Core Attributes
The core attributes below provide a general description of an actor’s capabilities.
Presence (PRS)
Describes the degree to which the actor's presence is concrete and passively perceptible.
Prowess (PRW)
Describes the actor's dexterity, agility, & other fine-motor physical capabilities.
Responsiveness (RSP)
Describes the actor's mental speed in response to stimulus
Smarts (SMR)
Describes the actor's intelligence, memory, awareness, & other mental capabilities.
Sociability (SOC)
Describes the actor's personality, presence, & other social capabilities.
Toughness (TUF)
Describes the actor's strength, toughness, damage resistance, & related physical capabilities.
Derived Attributes
In addition to the core attributes, actors also have derived attributes. As the name implies, these are derived from core attribute values using simple formulas. Below are the standard derived attributes, their descriptions, and default formulas or values.
For Other Species & Actor Types
Actors of different types and species may have different applicable formulas which will be defined in their stats blocks. If a species does not explicitly declare a formula for a derived attribute, use these formulas.
Action Dice (AD)
As described in Basics Action Dice provide a tangible measure of an actor's ability to take action.
Action Dice = 3 + PRW
Connectedness (CN)
Connectedness (CN) measures the actor's social affinity and their ability to make and maintain social connections.
Connectedness = 10 + SOC
In any game world, actors move among vast networks of strangers, friends, contacts, and acquaintances. Even when traveling, there’s always a chance to run into an acquaintance. Depending on its nature, that chance meeting could be a happy coincidence or uncomfortable encounter.
When characters move through small or large populations, try to track down a contact, or want to keep a low-profile, the GM may call for a connectedness test to see if the characters encounter someone they know:
CN → (10 - SOC)S
Depending on the reason for the test, the GM may choose to interpret the result in different ways. Is the character looking for a shady contact? Trying to avoid recognition? Randomly encountering a face from the past?
Another way this test can be used is to take the SM of the roll as an indication of the contact’s disposition towards the character. Since actors with higher SOC will more easily have high success margins, higher or lower margins can be taken to mean the contact is more or less well-disposed towards the actor.
Health Points (HP)
Health Points (HP) indicate the overall health of the actor. HP is lost if the actor receives damage or disease. If HP is reduced to 0, the actor risks death or destruction. HP can be regained only through medical treatment or repair.
Health Points = TUF × 5
Maximum Carry Weight (Max Carry)
An actor’s Maximum Carry Weight (Max Carry) is derived from their TUF attribute. This indicates the maximum amount of weight the character can consistently carry without incurring penalties to movement and agility.
Max Carry = TUF × 15
Overloading
While in practice, a human actor can lift an amount of weight up to TUF × 50 kg, any attempt to lift or carry weight more than twice the actor’s Max Carry will bind 1 action die to exhaustion per round the weight is lifted or carried. There is also a distinct difference between lifting a weight and carrying it for any significant amount of time.
Although an actor may carry weight in excess of their Max Carry, they incur a penalty of -1 PRW for every 20kg (or part thereof) over that limit. This penalty impacts all attributes derived from PRW, so an overburdened actor will have reduced action dice and not be able to move as quickly, attack, parry, or dodge as well, and will face limits on other PRW-based capabilities.
Movement (MV)
Movement (MV) provides the distance in meters per AD that an actor can move during Fast Action.
Movement = 7m/AD
It may seem counterintuitive at first that the Movement attribute doesn’t go up with higher PRW. But remember that the movement attribute does not measure meters per second. It measures meters per Action Die (AD). AD increases with a higher PRW. But more AD does not mean more time per round. All rounds are 5 seconds long. More AD means less time per action.
So even though MV doesn’t change in meters per AD as PRW goes up, overall movement speed per 5-second turn increases. We can see this in action in the following table:
Movement (MV) by AD, Second, & Round
| PRW | AD | AD/second | MV (human) | m/second | Max m/Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 0.8 | 7m/AD | 5.6 | 28 |
| 2 | 5 | 1.0 | 7m/AD | 7.0 | 35 |
| 3 | 6 | 1.2 | 7m/AD | 8.4 | 42 |
| 4 | 7 | 1.4 | 7m/AD | 9.8 | 49 |
| 5 | 8 | 1.6 | 7m/AD | 11.2 | 56 |
Based on these numbers, an actor with typical (2) PRW has a very respectable (for a novice) 100m sprint time of about 14.3 seconds, while one with a superior (5) PRW has an absolutely record-shattering time of just under 9 seconds.
This also means that while a faster actor might spend the same or more AD to move a similar distance as a slower actor, their movement is more efficient.
Holden has a typical PRW of 2, while Croy has trained themself to an elite PRW of 4. Suppose they both need to run 10m, take a shot with a handgun, and then run another 10m to cover. While Holden's first AD spent will get him most of the way, he must spend a second AD to get to 10m. Knowing that he has to run another 10m after the shot, he only has time for a quick pot-shot (1AD).
Croy's MV is the same as Holden (7m/AD), so they also spend 2AD to run the first 10m, but because they have a total of 8AD, that leaves them plenty of time to line up a good shot with 4AD (or even to spread those 4AD across multiple shots) before spending their last 2AD to run to cover.
Skillfulness (SK)
Skillfulness (SK) indicates an actor’s maximum number of skills that can be allocated with refinement dice.
Skillfulness = SMR × 5
Abilities & Skills
Abilities and skills describe the specific knowledge, capabilities, and actions an actor can apply in skill tests and Fast Action. An actor gains an ability or skill by allocating one or more dice to it during creation or advancement. Dice allocated in this way represent specific training and time spent in practice. Some abilities can also be gained by using objects that grant specific abilities.
In discussion of skills and abilities, allocated dice refers to any dice that have been allocated to the specific skill or ability, regardless of how they were allocated.
The sections on Abilities and Skills provide additional information about how these capabilities interact and contribute to dice pools.