Representing a Character

Characters

Characters are represented by the following:

• Aptitudes, which represent a character's fundamental mental abilities.
  • Each Aptitude has a rating between 1 and 40, representing your character’s ability with that aptitude.
  • Cognition (COG): your characters ability to analyze, reason and plan.
  • Coordination (COO): your character's ability to manage their posture and balance, and their reaction speed.
  • Intuition (INT): your character’s ability to master “unwritten rules” and pick up on subconscious queues.
  • Savvy (SAV): your character’s ability to manage social situations.
  • Somatics (SOM): your character’s ability to manage your body.
  • Willpower (WIL): your character’s self-discipline.
• A race, which represents your character's species. Your race gives you:
  • Durability and Strength scores,
  • aptitude bonuses,
  • senses and movement modes,
  • a size, and
  • special characteristics, like a Gnoll’s thick hide or a Shifter’s ability to change shape.
• A background, which represent where your character is from.
  • provides you with ranks in skills, and sometimes other benefits.
• Ranks in skills, which represent the things your character has learned to do.
• Dots in languages
• Features, including Traits, Powers, and Classes
  • Traits represent quirks your character has, like being ambidextrous
  • Powers represent special abilities that your character has, like a special sword maneuver that your character is good at, or the magical ability to manifest a ball of fire
  • Classes represent associations your characters has, which usually either represent some organization that you can call on for aide, or allow you “break a rule” in an interesting way.
• Wealth, Wealth Dots and Items, which represents your characters financial resources and possessions.
• Luck and Luck Points
• Motivations and Milestones
• Vital Statistics, including Derived Statistics that are determined based on the character's other statistics and attributes:
  • Durability and Strength scores
  • Wound Threhsold (WT): DUR ÷ 5
  • Death Rating (DR): DUR × 2
  • Lucidity (LUC): WIL × 2
  • Trauma Threshold (TT): LUC ÷ 5
  • Insanity Rating (IR): LUC × 2
  • Initiative Scores (INIT)
    • Different kinds of initiative order can have different initiative scores.
    • Your combat initiative is (INT + COO) ÷ 5
  • Damage Bonus (DB): (SOM + STR) ÷ 10
  • Carrying Capacity: STR ÷ 5

Some limits always apply. Characters may not have:

• more than 70 ranks in a skill
• an aptitude higher than 40
• more than 10 Luck
• more than 50 DUR or STR

Aptitudes

We use the following five aptitudes in Renaissance:

• Cognition (COG): a character's ability to analyze, reason and plan.
• Coordination (COO): a character's ability to manage their posture and balance, their ability to get their body into different configurations, and their reflexes.
• Intuition (INT): a character’s ability to pick up on patterns, to master “unwritten rules”, and to pick up on subconscious queues.
• Savvy (SAV): a character’s ability to manage social situations.
• Somatics (SOM): a character’s ability to manage their body.
• Willpower (WIL): a character’s self-discipline.

Each aptitude has a rating between 1 and 40, with 15 being considered average.

Some characters don't have ratings in certain aptitudes; a formless creature, for example, might not have a SOM score. Characters don't have a rating in a certain aptitude will have a dash ("-") listed for that aptitude in their description.

Some affects may raise or lower a character's aptitudes. If an effect lowers an aptitude to 0, that will generally incapacitate a character; for example, lowering a character's COG to 0 might render them unconscious or irrational, while a lowering a character's SOM or COO to 0 might paralyze them.

Race

A character's race represents what species they are; are they a Drake, a Gnoll, a Human, or something else?

Different races have different physical abilities. A character's race will generally also provide:

• their Durability (DUR) and Strength (STR) scores,
• bonuses to specific aptitudes,
• senses and movement modes,
• their size, and
• special characteristics and abilities.

Note that race and culture are separate, with race only representing those characteristics that are biologically innate, like claws or a keen sense of smell.

Background

A character's background represents a character's culture — whether one they where raised in, or one that they have adopted.

Backgrounds will generally provide ranks in skills common to a specific culture; some may also include common items, traits, or other benefits.

Features

Characters can also have traits, powers, and classes (which we sometimes collectively refer to as a character's features).

• Traits represent quirks your character has, like being ambidextrous
• Powers represent special abilities that your character has, like a special sword maneuver that your character is good at, or the magical ability to manifest a ball of fire
• Classes represent associations your characters has, which usually either represent some organization that you can call on for aide, or allow you “break a rule” in an interesting way.

Wealth and Possessions

Wealth, Wealth Dots, and Items represent your characters financial resources and possessions.

Motivations and Milestones

Motivations and milestones represent a character's fundamental goals and guiding beliefs, and the significant events that have shaped them.

Vital Statistics and Derived Statistics

Characters also have a number of vital statistics, many of which are derived from their aptitudes and other statistics (making them derived statistics).

Note that, when your aptitudes or statistics change, any of the other statistics derived from them also change. So, for example, if something changes your SOM, your damage bonus will also change.

Minor NPCs

NPCs, especially minor NPCs, may be missing some of these attributes. In particular:

• Minor NPCs don't have luck or luck points.
• NPCs often don't have backgrounds.
• Minor NPCs often don't have wealth dots (but they can have items and trade goods).
• Minor NPCs often don't have motivations or milestones.

"Global" Limits

Some limits always apply; we call these "global limits".

Characters may not have:

• more than 70 ranks in a skill
• an aptitude higher than 40
• more than 10 Luck
• more than 50 DUR or STR

If an effect would increase a statistic past its global limit, any excess is wasted.