Character Creation
Every character is built in the same 15-step sequence, broad concept down to concrete numbers. Follow the steps in order - later steps depend on choices made earlier. New to the terminology? Check the Glossary first.
1. Name
Give your character a name. Purely cosmetic - no mechanical weight, doesn’t interact with any other step.
2. Concept
Write a few words capturing who this character is - not a full backstory, just a phrase you could say out loud to describe them at a glance (“burned-out paramedic who won’t stop running toward danger,” “ex-soldier turned bodyguard with a temper”). Nothing mechanical yet, but it’s the seed for step 3 (Nature) and step 11 (Flaws).
3. Nature
Pick one of the starter Natures or write your own using the 4-point guide there. Playing to your Nature at a dramatically appropriate moment during play earns a Fate Token.
4. Attributes
Every character has five Attributes, each one a broad measure of natural capability tied to a classical element. Every Attribute starts at 1 for free, and you have 20 points to spend raising any of them, up to a maximum of 10 at creation - no Attribute can go higher than that right now, no matter how you split the points. A flat spread and a heavily concentrated build are both valid; nothing forces an even split.
| Attribute | Description | Splits into |
|---|---|---|
| Earth | Raw physical power and endurance - how strong you are, how hard you hit, how much punishment your body shrugs off. | Soak / Potence |
| Air | Agility, adaptability, and sharpness of mind - how fast you react, how well you keep pace with a changing situation, how clearly you think under pressure. | Initiative / Psyche |
| Fire | Drive and aggression - how hard you push, how much force of will and personality you bring to a confrontation, verbal or physical. | Ferocity / Presence |
| Water | Perception and empathy - how attuned you are to the world and the people in it, and how much you can endure before you’re worn down. | Stamina / Health |
| Moira | Fate, destiny, and the supernatural - the part of you touched by forces bigger than the mundane world, governing luck, combat instinct, and your connection to whatever is otherworldly about you. | Atropos / Klotho |
5. Sub-Stat Division
Each Attribute you raised in step 4 generates a pool of points equal to its own rating - an Attribute of 7 gives you 7 points to divide between its two sub-stats, however you like. Not an even split; you choose where the emphasis goes.
| Attribute | Sub-stat | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Earth | Soak | Resists Physical damage - the wall an attacker’s dice have to beat to hurt you. |
| Earth | Potence | Raw strength - carrying capacity, forcing/breaking things, contested strength. |
| Air | Initiative | Turn order in combat. |
| Air | Psyche | Resists Mental attacks, and sets how many dice you roll when making one. |
| Fire | Ferocity | Boosts a Physical attack die when you spend Ki to push a strike. |
| Fire | Presence | Resists Social attacks, and sets how many dice you roll when making one. |
| Water | Stamina | Caps how many Fate Tokens you can spend per Scene; also your endurance against non-combat exhaustion. |
| Water | Health | Feeds your Health Levels (how many hits you can take). |
| Moira | Atropos | Feeds Defense (how hard you are to hit). |
| Moira | Klotho | Ki Regeneration rate and your Lucky Number. |
6. Descriptors
For every point you spent in step 5, you get one Descriptor - a short, one or two-word adjective capturing a specific flavor of that sub-stat for this character (3 points in Soak might yield Hardy, Weathered, Unyielding - three distinct ways you shrug off harm, not three copies of the same idea). Free, no separate cost, and fixed once chosen. Descriptors are core traits: there’s no way to buy an extra one beyond what a sub-stat’s points earn - if you want a broader spread, raise the sub-stat instead.
Every Skill defaults to an Attribute/Element (see step 7). Descriptors matter beyond flavor: they’re what you point to when challenging a Skill’s default in play (“I’m using Fire here instead of the default, because I’m being Brutal about it”), grounding the argument in an established character fact instead of improvising one on the spot.
Sample Descriptors, 15 examples per sub-stat - these are just starting points to help you fill in the blank, not a fixed list. Write your own instead if none of these fit:
| Sub-Stat | Sample Descriptors |
|---|---|
| Soak | Hardy, Rugged, Stoic, Weathered, Unyielding, Sturdy, Grizzled, Armored, Callused, Thick-Skinned, Leathery, Battle-Worn, Steeled, Resistant, Flinty |
| Potence | Brawny, Herculean, Mighty, Strapping, Muscular, Titanic, Forceful, Robust, Hulking, Sinewy, Vigorous, Burly, Formidable, Stout, Iron-Armed |
| Initiative | Alert, Reflexive, Twitchy, Vigilant, Quickened, Sharp-Eyed, Instinctive, Keen, Fleet, Snappy, Watchful, Attentive, Sharp, Nimble-Minded, Anticipatory |
| Psyche | Steadfast, Composed, Disciplined, Unshaken, Focused, Resolute, Headstrong, Serene, Level-Headed, Calm, Iron-Willed, Grounded, Unflappable, Determined, Clear-Headed |
| Ferocity | Brutal, Savage, Relentless, Feral, Merciless, Ruthless, Vicious, Predatory, Fierce, Aggressive, Bloodthirsty, Wrathful, Untamed, Cutthroat, Rabid |
| Presence | Magnetic, Commanding, Charismatic, Radiant, Imposing, Captivating, Dominant, Alluring, Striking, Charming, Bold, Regal, Magnificent, Unforgettable, Larger-Than-Life |
| Stamina | Indefatigable, Tireless, Enduring, Hardened, Persistent, Unflagging, Dogged, Steady, Untiring, Unwavering, Gritty, Marathon-Bodied, Long-Winded, Driven, Unrelenting |
| Health | Hale, Vital, Resilient, Stalwart, Ironclad, Unbreakable, Durable, Tenacious, Hearty, Sound, Thriving, Hard-to-Kill, Long-Lived, Wholesome, Sturdy-Framed |
| Atropos | Elusive, Untouchable, Evasive, Uncanny, Slippery, Precognitive, Nimble, Fated, Slick, Ghostly, Unpredictable, Quick-Footed, Uncatchable, Foresighted, Cat-Like |
| Klotho | Charmed, Lucky, Fortunate, Blessed, Favored, Serendipitous, Providential, Recharged, Fateful, Auspicious, Golden, Star-Touched, Bountiful, Effortless, Timely |
7. Skills
Every character gets the GM’s Everyman Skills for free, at Trained - the baseline competence any functional adult in the setting would have just from living in it. This is a suggested list for a modern-world base campaign; the GM sets it per campaign and can trim or extend it.
Every Skill you take, Everyman or otherwise, comes with a default Attribute/Element - see the Default Element column in the Premade Skills list, or set one when you write a custom Skill. A roll uses that default unless you challenge it with a Descriptor from step 6.
| Skill | Why it’s baseline |
|---|---|
| Athletics | Walking, running, carrying, climbing a fence. |
| Bureaucracy | Everyone’s filled out a form or dealt with an institution. |
| Computer Use | Basic literacy with phones, computers, everyday software. |
| Cooking | Feeding yourself beyond a microwave. |
| Driving | Most adults can operate a car. |
| Etiquette | Enough grasp of ordinary social norms to function in public and at work. |
| First Aid | Widely taught - bandaging a cut, basic CPR awareness. |
| Literacy | Reading and writing in your native language. |
| Persuasion | Everyday give-and-take - asking a favor, making a case, haggling a little. |
| Streetwise | A working sense of your own neighborhood/city - what’s safe, who’s who, where not to go. |
Beyond Everyman, you have a 15-point Skills Pool. Each training tier costs a flat 1 point, cumulative with every lower tier already climbed - reaching Trained costs 2 points total (Novice + Trained), Adept costs 3, Expert 4, Master 5.
| Tier | What it does |
|---|---|
| Untrained | Roll Difficulty alone - your Attribute doesn’t apply. |
| Novice | Attribute + Difficulty, with Disadvantage. |
| Trained | Attribute + Difficulty. |
| Adept | Attribute + Difficulty, with Advantage. |
| Expert | Same as Adept, plus critical success widens to a roll of 2 or 3. |
| Master | Same as Expert, plus a critical failure gets one reroll (can only downgrade to a normal failure, never turn into a success). |
This is a creation-time budget only - advancing further after play starts costs XP instead, priced separately.
8. Boons
Spend your 10-point Boons Pool on Boons, priced at Trivial (1), Lesser (3), Greater (5), or Legendary (7). Boons are small, permanent perks - not combat-defining powers like Gifts, more the “useful edges” a character has (a contact, a knack, a minor talent). You can spend across multiple tiers as long as the total fits your 10 points. Any Boons Pool points left unspent convert 1:1 into Discretionary points (step 12) rather than being lost.
9. Resources
Spend your 6-point Resources Pool on Resources, a flat 1 point per level. Resources cover the material/logistical side of a character - money, gear, a base of operations, that kind of backing - distinct from Boons’ personal knacks and Gifts’ supernatural power.
Buying starting gear (see Weapons & Equipment) uses its own procedure - see Wealth at Character Creation and step 13, below. It comes after Discretionary Points (step 12) rather than here, since Discretionary points can raise Wealth itself, and creation-Wealth needs to be fully settled before gear shopping runs its math against it.
10. Gifts
Spend your 21-point Gifts Pool on Gifts - the supernatural powers a character can have. Each Gift Level costs a flat 3 points (a Gift bought to Level 3 costs 9 points total, to Level 5 costs 15). You can also unlock Adders (permanent, optional upgrades to a Gift you already have) for 3 points (Lesser) or 6 points (Greater), and take Limiters (permanent restrictions on one Gift) to knock 1 point off every Level of that Gift, stacking with no ceiling but never dropping a Level below 1 point. Because Limiters can leave the 21-point pool not dividing evenly, any Gifts Pool points left unspent convert into Discretionary points (step 12) at 2:1 rather than being lost.
11. Flaws
Taking a Flaw is optional. Each one you take lists its own point value - check the Flaw itself rather than a general formula. Those points feed directly into step 12 (Discretionary points), on top of whatever you get there for free. The GM sets a per-campaign cap on how many Discretionary points you can bank this way.
A Flaw with no real effect on play grants no points - if it doesn’t actually make anything harder for the character, it isn’t worth anything at creation.
12. Discretionary Points
Every character starts with 10 Discretionary points, flat, plus whatever you picked up from Flaws in step 11, any unspent Boons Pool points from step 8 (converted 1:1), and any unspent Gifts Pool points from step 10 (converted 2:1). These don’t convert 1:1 into every pool - spending them costs more the closer you get to raw supernatural power:
| Target | Discretionary points per point |
|---|---|
| Resources | 1 |
| Skills | 1 |
| Fate Tokens | 1 |
| Boons | 2 |
| Gifts | 4 |
| Attributes | 8 |
13. Equipment
Buy starting gear from the full Weapons & Equipment catalog, spending against your creation-Wealth - see Wealth at Character Creation for the full procedure (starting value, the Wealth Check, what happens on a failure). This step comes after Discretionary Points (step 12) rather than alongside Resources (step 9), since Discretionary points can raise the Wealth Resource itself, and creation-Wealth needs to be fully settled first.
14. Figured Characteristics
These aren’t purchased - they’re computed directly from the choices you already made in steps 4-10:
| Characteristic | Formula |
|---|---|
| Health Levels | 5 + Health |
| Poise | 5 + Presence |
| Sanity | 5 + Psyche |
| Defense | 10 - Atropos |
| Movement Rate | 5 + Air, in meters |
| Carrying Capacity | Potence² x 10 kg |
| Ki | Average of Soak, Initiative, Ferocity, Stamina, and Atropos, doubled |
15. Finishing Touches
- Starting Fate Tokens: every character begins play with 1, matching the flat daily regeneration rate - more can be bought with Discretionary points at step 12, 1:1.
- Anything else that falls outside the numbered steps above - final appearance/personality details building on your step 2 concept, and any last GM sign-off on the finished sheet.
The character is ready to play.