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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

A Nature is a short archetype: a core drive, or a way of engaging with the world, written on the character sheet. Playing to it at a dramatically appropriate moment during play earns a Fate Token.

Pick one of these, or write your own.

Starter Natures

Nature Drive Earning a Fate Token
Analyst You read the manual. All of it, including the safety pages, for the thing everybody else already plugged in and started using. You have been right about this often enough that it has stopped being funny. Take a Fate Token when you stop everyone to work out how the thing actually works, and the delay costs you the opening you had
Avenger You remember the name. It has been years and you could still spell it, still pick the face out of a crowd, still say exactly what was done and in what order. Take a Fate Token when you go after the person who earned it instead of the thing that would have helped, and it makes everything harder
Caregiver You carry plasters. Actual plasters, in your actual bag, along with paracetamol and a spare charger and a bottle of water that is not for you. Somebody always needs one and you have stopped pretending to be surprised. Take a Fate Token when you stop to look after somebody while the clock is running, and it costs you the window
Charmer You have been let into places you had no business being, by people who could not explain afterwards why they opened the door. Nobody has ever described you as pushy. Take a Fate Token when you turn somebody hostile into somebody helpful on nothing but conversation, somewhere force would have been quicker
Competitor You have turned a walk to the shop into a race. Against yourself. And won, and felt good about it, and told nobody. Take a Fate Token when you push past what the job actually needed because somebody was keeping score, or might have been
Daredevil There is a video of you. Several people have asked you to take it down. You have watched it more times than any of them. Take a Fate Token when you take the option with the drop, the speed or the odds, and the safe one was sitting right there
Diplomat Two people who cannot stand each other have both told you their side. Neither of them knows you spoke to the other one. You are still holding both. Take a Fate Token when you talk two sides down instead of picking one, and picking one would have been faster
Enforcer You keep a note of what people owe. Not on your phone. On paper, somewhere, in handwriting that is not quite your normal handwriting. Take a Fate Token when you make somebody answer for a broken word, at a moment when letting it go would have cost you nothing
Fixer You know a guy. You knew a guy before anybody had finished saying what the problem was. Your phone is mostly numbers with no names attached to them. Take a Fate Token when you solve it with a favour, a name or an angle, in a room where everybody else had already reached for something heavier
Ghost You have never been tagged in a photograph. You have checked. You check about once a month and you do not think that is strange. Take a Fate Token when you choose to go unseen or unrecorded, and being known would have got it done quicker
Guardian You sit facing the door. You found the exits before you sat down, and you already know which of the people at this table would not make it to one. Take a Fate Token when you hold your ground over something you have claimed, and moving would have been the sensible thing to do
Idealist You still sign the petitions. You know the numbers. You have read the same article about how little it changes, twice, and you signed one this morning. Take a Fate Token when you take the principled option out loud, in front of people who had already reached for the cynical one
Judge You have ended a dinner party. You were right, which did not help, and you would say it again, which is the part people find difficult. Take a Fate Token when you name what somebody did, to their face, when saying nothing would have cost you nothing
Leader When it goes quiet and everybody looks at each other, they end up looking at you. You have never worked out when that started. Take a Fate Token when you make the call nobody wanted to make, and then stand in front of what it costs
Loner You have moved a sofa up a flight of stairs by yourself. It took four hours. Three people would have come if you had called, and you did not call. Take a Fate Token when you turn down help or peel off from the group, and doing it together would obviously have worked better
Mentor Somebody still has your old notes. You copied them out neater before you handed them over, and you have never mentioned that to anyone. Take a Fate Token when you stand back so somebody else takes the lesson, the lead or the credit, on a job you could have done faster yourself
Opportunist You have made money out of a very bad week that was happening to somebody else. You did not cause it. You would like that on the record. Take a Fate Token when you turn somebody’s disaster into your own advantage while it is still going on
Perfectionist You have rewritten a text message four times before sending it. It was three sentences long. You are aware of how that sounds and it did not change anything. Take a Fate Token when you refuse to hand over a result everybody else had already accepted, and the delay hurts
Protector You walk on the traffic side. You do it without noticing, you do it for everybody, and you have done it for people you do not like. Take a Fate Token when you take the hit, the risk or the loss that was coming for somebody who could not have taken it
Rebel You have read a sign, understood it completely, and done the other thing. Not for a reason. The sign was the reason. Take a Fate Token when you break a rule specifically because somebody with authority gave it, and following it would have been easier
Showman You have an entrance. You have practised it. You have a second one for when the first would be too much, and you have used that one considerably less. Take a Fate Token when you make it a performance, at the cost of your cover, your subtlety, or a perfectly good plan
Skeptic You have looked something up in front of the person who told you. They did not enjoy it. You have done it again since, to somebody else. Take a Fate Token when you refuse the easy explanation and go and look, while everybody else is relieved and moving on
Survivor You have eaten worse and slept somewhere worse, and you would do both again tomorrow without making a thing of it. Take a Fate Token when you take the ugly, practical option in front of people who would much rather you took the proud one
Trickster You have got into a building with a clipboard and a confident walk. Nobody stopped you. Somebody held a door. Take a Fate Token when you get it done with a lie, a misdirection or a bit, when walking in and asking would have worked
True Believer There is one thing you will not do. Everybody who knows you knows what it is, and two of them have tested it. Take a Fate Token when you keep to the code at the exact moment breaking it would have solved everything
Wanderer Everything you own fits in the car. You have checked recently, which probably tells you something about where your head is. Take a Fate Token when you walk away from a place, a group or a claim that had started to look permanent

Writing Your Own

  1. One or two words - a label, not a paragraph. If it doesn’t fit on the character sheet in a glance, it’s too long.
  2. Write the Drive as one sentence - what you want or how you engage the world, not a backstory fact. “I lost my brother” is backstory; “I don’t let anyone else lose someone they can save” is a Nature.
  3. Make the trigger concrete and repeatable. If you’d have to ask the GM whether it applies, it’s too vague - a Nature should come up scene after scene, not once at the table.
  4. It doesn’t need to cost you anything the way a Flaw does, but the best ones occasionally do - a Showman blowing their cover for a dramatic entrance is playing to Nature and creating a problem, and that’s when it’s most fun.

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 hold (× 3, + 1) and how many counted spends you can make per Scene (+ 1); 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 touch at all - blade, word, or mind).
Moira Klotho Ki Regeneration rate and your Lucky Number.

Stamina does double duty on Fate Tokens: it caps how many the character can hold ((Stamina × 3) + 1) as well as how many counted spends they can make in a Scene (Stamina + 1) - see Holding Fate Tokens.

Health is worth a second look before you leave it at 0. Every character has 5 Health Levels before the sub-stat is counted, so dumping it doesn’t leave you helpless in a fight, but it does leave you short underneath it. The range below 0 mirrors the one above, so a character with 0 Health has 5 Health Levels and is dead at -5, where a character with 3 Health would last until -8. See Health Levels.

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 Fated, Untouchable, Uncanny, Ghostly, Warded, Veiled, Overlooked, Passed-Over, Unmarked, Inviolate, Unsevered, Thread-Bound, Unreachable, Spared, Unbroken
Klotho Lucky, Charmed, Serendipitous, Auspicious, Star-Touched, Timely, Quickening, Renewing, Replenishing, Rekindling, Brimming, Deep-Welled, Spring-Fed, Ever-Spinning, Unspent

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. Perception is always on the list, whatever else the GM changes: everyone notices things.

Every Skill you take, Everyman or otherwise, comes with a default Attribute/Element - see the Default Element column in the Skill 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.
Perception Noticing what is in front of you. Always on the list, in every campaign.
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 - Trained costs 1 point, Adept 2 in total, Expert 3, Master 4.

Tier What it does
Untrained Roll Difficulty alone - your Attribute doesn’t apply.
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 catastrophic 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. Every Flaw is Leveled 1 to 5, and its Level is the points it grants. 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

Gifts are priced per Level, not per pool point - a flat 4 Discretionary buys one Gift Level regardless of how many Limiters it carries, and a Gift Adder costs what its points are worth in Levels (a Lesser Adder is one Level, 4; a Greater is two, 8). Every other row on this table is per pool point: a Boon costs its own creation points times 2, an Attribute point costs 8, and so on.

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 Your strongest Element + 8

15. Finishing Touches

The character is ready to play.