Remember that you can spend any points you have not spent on skills to buy Positive traits. You can also get up to 8 points back by taking Negative traits, although these points can only be spent on other Positive traits. If you wish to take more Negative traits (for the fun or challenge), please consult the GMs first.
Unless specifically stated you can only take each Trait once.
You have a specialisation in one of your skills. This must be a narrow area of specific expertise - when operating within this area your skill counts as one level higher.
You may take this trait once for each skill.
Examples:
Weaponmaster: Against Wyrms, In the Desert, Bodyguarding
Master of Shadows: Opening Vaults, In a Poleis, Picking Pockets
Dungeoneer: Spotting Traps, Ancient Tombs, Ruined Temples
Strategist: Ambushes, Against Kirlsa raiders, Naval battles
Ranger: Navigating Ice Floes, Predicting Storms, Tracking Animals
Researcher: Codebreaking, Spyhunting, Ancient Myths
Healer: Curing Poisons, Creating Poisons, Battlefield Surgery
Craftsman: Shields, Jewellery, Prosthetics
Organiser: Trade Deals, Supply Lines, Civic Projects
Diplomat: Impersonation, Rousing Speeches, Offering Bribes
You are able to make use of the Archive.
You are able to create works of art using either the Craftsman or Diplomat skills.
You may take this trait up to 3 times
You are lucky. Each point of Good Fortune will benefit you twice over the course of the game. There are a myriad of possible effects including helping you succeed where you might otherwise fail, moderating the severity of a misfortune you have encountered, or providing you with extra goodies.
You have a special doohickey, well it's special to you anyhow. Perhaps it's your father's sword or the family's ancestral banner; maybe it's the lucky charm your sweetheart gave you when you first parted. In any case it is of personal value to you quite aside from any utility it may possess.
Relics may be Enchanted and are granted limited plot protection.
You've got your hands on something genuinely magical. Tell us what you want and we'll tell you if it's feasible and how many points it will cost.
Examples:
You are unwell, tell us how. Your condition may be curable by a healer, but doing so will always require some sort of extended effort.
You have a vulnerable spot that others could exploit. This may be a physical weakness - you can't protect against attacks to your feet. Alternately it could be a phobia - you're terrified of fire, or even a social weakness - you'd fold if anyone threatened your kids.
You may take this trait up to 3 times
Your luck stinks. Every point of Bad Luck will mean at least two occasions where things go worse for you than they should. Additionally in any situation where things hang in the balance your misfortune is likely to manifest.
Once per game, at a time decided by the GMs, you make the mistake of proclaiming “What could possibly go wrong?” At which point it does. It will be big, it will be important and it will cause you to fail dramatically with resulting Consequences…
Expect to suffer either a calamitous setback to your plans or permanent injury and loss.
Either you or an ancestor offended a spirit and now you are labouring under some sort of curse. Tell us what your curse is and any circumstances of the curse's origin your character is aware of.
The only way to get rid of a curse is to appease the spirit who created it.
These meetings are where the great heroes of the land come together to discuss how to defend their people, so what the hell are you doing here? Somehow the leaders of your race have mistaken you for a big goddam hero - perhaps you've trained all your life with a blade and got lucky in a fight against a hero of renown, who had a cold, and you were spotted by the general of the army who was sat at the back of the stands. Behind a pillar. And it was night.
In mechanical terms your skills are treated as one rank lower than the normal cost indicates. Below is a table to help you at character generation.
| Rank | Effective Rank | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | - |
Note: This is not a cost effective trait. Think hard about taking it, as you will be much less powerful than other PCs.
Someone close to you, either in your family or among your closest friends has recently died. This may have been blamed on you, or had been your fault, or has personally affected you in a great way.
Tell us who it was and what happened!
You have occasional blackouts. There may be specific circumstances that tend to trigger them or they may happen apparently randomly. Let us know the details and we'll decide what's going on with you.
A large proportion of your past is a mystery to you. We will decide who you were, what you did and how your memories were lost.
You have some clout with your people. Influence lets you get your hands on national resources - whether it's access to a library, a workshop full of artisans or a division of the army.
Perhaps you hold official rank, or maybe you've just got a lot of friends in the right places.
At 1pt, you have the ear of your Caste leaders; with a little bit of effort you can utilise your caste resources to further your goals.
At 2pts, you are pretty important in your Caste; you can normally get the use of your Caste resources. You are also sufficiently important in your race that with a bit of effort you can get help from the other Castes.
At 3pts, you are very high up in your Caste; potentially the Caste leader depending on other people's character concepts. Short of your Race's leader issuing direct orders, you are free to do as you see fit with your resources, and call in favours from the other Castes with a small amount of effort.
You may take this trait multiple times
This provides access to the same sort of resources as Influence, but in this case they're yours and no-one else's. The advantages to this are twofold - firstly you're never going to be denied access to what you need by someone higher up the chain, secondly it's harder for people to find out what you're up to. However the magnitude of your holdings is considerably less than what influence can bring to the table, a force of a few hundred soldiers opposed to that of a few thousand. Also while influence allows you to draw on a whole range of resources available to your race, personal holdings is limited to a single resource eg. an army, a large research library etc.
You have a friend or relation who is capable in some particular area. They could be your childhood friend who always watches your back, or your father who constantly looks out for opportunities for you to better your lot. It could even be a faithful pet of some sort.
There are some limitations - firstly your ally is never as useful as another PC would be. Secondly your ally has their own agenda and will expect you to help them as often as they help you.
You have a small army of intelligence agents working for you. Unfortunately they are either utterly talentless or intensely unfortunate; either way when you send them out into the big wide world they normally come back in pieces.
Every turn you may specify an area of interest in your Housekeeping section and your agents will endeavour to investigate. They will normally return with some information of use, even if it's only in the manner of their unfortunate demise.
There's something you do that is liable to cause you problems. This could be mild but public, like drinking or gambling, or more private but considerably more severe, like hunting the other races for sport or cannibalism.
You have a friend or relation who is capable in one particular area and that area is 'causing you trouble'. Perhaps they are incapable of walking down the street without being kidnapped, or perhaps they look just like you and have a penchant for adultery. Either way you're going to be spending some of your time cleaning up their mess.
You have someone to whom you owe service.
At -1pt you're just paying back an old debt - helping out a couple of times should clear the issue.
At -2pts the obligation is an ongoing one and you can expect to be called upon fairly regularly.
At -3pts you will be regularly called upon to do nasty things for a nasty person. Worse still they have some sort of hold over you that would make revealing your relationship extremely dangerous.
You have a powerful opponent that wishes to prevail over you. There are two flavours of this trait:
Your opponent is a member of the allied races and you have an established rivalry - perhaps you both compete for the same ultimate prize or maybe they just want to publicly demonstrate their superiority.
Alternatively you have an enemy who operates outside of the social contract - maybe they're a criminal or perhaps they're some sort of spirit or monster with a grudge. Either way you are more free to openly act against them, but they won't hold back in trying to arrange a sticky end for you.
You have some dirty laundry that would cause you serious trouble if it were ever aired. Tell us what your secret is and how its discovery would hurt you.
You have developed a technique that lets you expand beyond the normal range of your Magic. Pick a Specialisation in a skill not associated with your Magic branch - you are able to use your magic when that specialisation applies.
For Example:
You have the ability to work your Race's magic into an item. See the Enchantment page for more details.
Your magic isn't actually any more effective than everyone else's but you have a knack for making it look impressive. This can be useful for bluffing about your Phenomenal Cosmic Power or for drawing a lot of hostile attention to yourself in a hurry.
Your parents were of different Races. As a result you lack any form of magical ability. Additionally you face considerable social difficulties as you may be regarded with distaste or pity.
Chimera can inherit physical features from either parent and can potentially grow up as a member of either society although they will almost certainly be an outcast whatever race they ostensibly call their own.
This flaw has two features: firstly you use your magic often even when it's unnecessary. Secondly your use of magic lacks a certain… finesse. Perhaps you're a Kirlsa who always summons the wrong creature, or maybe you're a Teklo with a tendency to trip over your tongue; whatever the case your use of magic tends to end with comic hijinks.
Something about you is deeply compelling to Sprites. They like to follow you around and get as close to you as possible; invariably they will show up at an awkward moment, interrupting your speech, revealing your hiding place or setting your clothes on fire.
The ship you call home has something special about it. Perhaps it is the fastest ship, or the most advanced warship in the War Fleet. Tell us what is special about your ship.
The Eastern Sea is a big place, and throughout it are dotted uninhabited islands. Since the region is so remote, you are one of the few people who has charted these waters, and so are much better at navigating here, and in turn much more able to find areas of significance.
The ship on which you make your home is falling apart. If you don't find a way to get it repaired soon, it will surely sink.
Sail far enough East and a new constellation comes into view. You have tried to meditate on it, much as you might on one of the other constellations. This was not a good plan.
You have spent time taming an animal and they now follow you, obey your commands and generally help you out how they can. Describe the animal and what they do for you - size and ability will affect the cost of this trait.
For 1pt, you have some small but useful creature such as a ferret or hawk.
For 2pts, you have a well-trained beast, able to follow your orders easily and capable of defending you - this could be a wolf or lion for example.
For 3pts, you have been able to train a ferocious or rare creature to at least tolerate your presence and follow you wherever you go. You may have been able to break one of the Seawind Hawks or found one of the stealthy anacondas of Seraphol Forest.
You are exceptionally adept at telling stories which can be used not only to inspire and influence, but also to shape Becquerel society. With Influence you are able to use your race's resources and Diplomacy allows you to treat with and persuade others, however as a Storyweaver you can move the Becquerel as few others can, being a natural leaders of your people. You have no official position, no codified powers, but you may be able to affect the Becquerel in significant ways.
This trait will only ever affect Becquerel.
By whatever trait of creation, you are less able to feel and see the Skira. Although this does not prevent you using magic like the Chimera trait, you do not see and understand the world as other Becquerel and are in equal measures shunned and pitied. You cannot communicate well with other Becquerel and cannot identify the presence or absence of Skira.
At some point in the recent past you were unfortunately attacked by some creature you could not avoid (or foolishly stumbled into) and were barely able to survive. You had to expend great resources to heal yourself and prevent death and although you're back together now, there is a new clearing in the forest and you have aged some 50 years. This new-found frailty may manifest itself at inopportune moments (feel free to describe some of the effects).
Alternatively, you were able to get yourself to one of the Druids after the attack and although you are healed, you now owe a great deal of Skira to either the Druid or some other donor - it was no easy job putting you back together! Describe who you owe a life-debt to.
You have the ability to summon a particularly rare and showy or useful beast (e.g. A Sea Serpent). You will need to come up with how you captured this beast.
You are able to interpret the movement of the sands and whispers of the winds, which from time to time bring you useful information about intruders into the dessert or other goings on. Further, the sands will act to conceal you, giving a specialization to your Ranger skill when in the Kirsla homelands.
You have somehow managed to piss off an entire species. Somewhere along the line you have killed the wrong beast, and become spiritually marked in such a way that all members of that species will have it out for you. Summoned beasts of this type will only act on their hatred if otherwise unoccupied. Amount of negative points will vary depending on how much of a threat this is likely to present. This trait may also be acquired through in game action.
You have committed some dishonourable act and have been cast out from your tribe as a result. Your disgrace is well known among the other Kirsla.
Through talent or fortune you have managed to make a good impression on the Empress. This is exceptionally useful socially, particularly because it will allow you to speak privately with the Empress should you desire it.
Please Note: The Empress' favour is a fickle thing and can be easily lost if you are perceived to insult or fail her.
You have a greater insight into Chitha than most and are able to spot instances of beauty that would elude less cultured eyes. There are two benefits to this - firstly your observations may have material value, if you can obtain the object of beauty or immortalise it in art yourself. Secondly your recollection of the many wonders in the world can help in moments of psychological stress.
You expressed your disapproval of the social order at an inopportune moment and now someone important is aware of your tendencies. You're probably under observation and if someone obtains solid proof them you can expect a visit from the Imperial Chithana.
Sometime in the past you liberated a child of another Race from the horrors of living on the ground. Perhaps you took them into your own care or perhaps you were acting on behalf of a patron. If you take this flaw then either the child or their distraught parents are capable of becoming a serious thorn in your side.
You have had the good fortune to be born into a powerful family within the Teklo, providing you with a stable position of import within some part of Teklo Society. Perhaps you are a Senator, or an important Representative in your Polis' House of the People, or simply a senior Scholar in the bureaucracy.
Whatever your actual position, your family will work to ensure that it would take a great deal of effort to supplant you from it; the sort that is typically only expended after demonstrable and repeated incompetence.
This trait is usually most effectively combined with Influence but does not have to be.
You know the secret language of the Wordshapers, whose codes and ciphers cannot be broken, whose letters are so potent that paper will burn and stone crack, and only metal can bear its messages.
When you write in the secret language (acid-etched on to plates of steel), you can be sure that only those people for whom the message was written can read its contents.
It is extremely rare that a Teklo loses their True and Secret Name, but it is possible. Stolen by puissant acts of Wordsmithing (a crime treated no less seriously than murder), or taken by the wind as you spoke it quietly to the dark and tumbled away into the sky, you have no True and Secret Name and your very divinity is in doubt.
Your use of Wordsmithing, whilst not entirely removed will be severely weakened and all Teklo you meet will instinctively know that you are less than whole.
You will need to find your True and Secret Name again before you can hope to regain your true sacred nature.
Let the GMs know how you want to have lost your Name.
Your family have spent so long away from the light of day that you are particularly sensitive to sunlight. When you spend lots of time out in places where protection from the Sun is lacking, you find life much, much nastier. Plains, deserts and the open sea are all bad places to be.