Incorporeal Attributes
Actors that are incorporeal inhabit the world—and therefor the game—in ways that are different from the more typical biological actors. Player characters may encounter incorporeal actors in various ways, depending on the nature of the game world. An incorporeal actor might represent a ghost or spirit, or an AI or other software agent. In some expansions, rules may allow players to play incorporeal characters.
Because their existence is inherently less physical, the attributes that describe them are different.
Core Attributes for Incorporeal Actors
Presence (PRS)
A measure of degree to which the incorporeal actor's presence is concrete and passively perceptible.
Responsiveness (RSP)
A measure of an incorporeal actor's mental speed in response to stimulus.
Smarts (SMR)
A measure of intelligence, memory, awareness, & other mental capabilities.
Sociability (SOC)
A measure of personality, presence, & other social capabilities.
Derived Attributes for Incorporeal Actors
Action Dice (AD)
Action Dice (AD) provide a tangible measure of an actor's ability to take action.
AD = 3 + RSP
Connectedness (CN)
Connectedness (CN) measures the actor's social affinity and their ability to make and maintain social connections.
CN = SOC + AbsoluteValue(REP)
Movement (MV)
Movement (MV) provides the distance in meters per AD that an actor can move during Fast Action.
MV = (RSP × 5)m/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 Dice. AD increases with a higher Prowess. 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 Prowess goes up, overall movement speed per 5-second turn increases. We can see this in action in the following table:
| 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.
Reputation (REP)
An actor’s Reputation (REP) influences how they integrate into their society and how individuals interact with them.
Reputation is initially derived from the actor's Sociability, plus or minus any refinement dice the player chooses to allocate. If the player chooses to reduce their reputation at character creation time, the number of dice subtracted from its value are added to their allocatable refinement dice. The Reputation attribute cannot be increased above 5 or decreased below -5. Reputation may also be affected by an actor's archetype.
REP = SOC [+/- Alloc]
Unlike other derived attributes, Reputation exists on a scale from -5 to 5 and its derivation formula is only used at character creation time. Thereafter, adjustment to an actor's reputation is made by the GM during gameplay independently of the actor's attributes and based solely on their actions.
Social response to Reputation is context-dependent. An actor with a positive reputation will tend to receive positive reactions from NPCs who also have positive or neutral reputations. An actor with a negative reputation will tend to receive negative reactions from NPCs who have positive reputations, but may receive positive reactions from other NPCs with negative reputations. It's also important to recognize that not every character will benefit from the highest possible reputation. Having an especially high (or low) reputation will certainly open various doors for the character, but characters with more extreme reputations are also more constrained in their actions and are more carefully scrutinized than those with a more neutral reputation.
Some mechanics may reference the magnitude of an actor's Reputation, or its absolute value. This means using the numerical value of the reputation without the positive or negative sign. Both a Reputation of -3 and 3 have an absolute value of 3.
Skillfulness (SK)
Skillfulness (SK) indicates an actor’s maximum number of skills that can be allocated with refinement dice.
SK = SMR × 5