Characters ---------- Characters are usually the player avatars, the protagonists of the story. Level ~~~~~ .. _level: Characters begin at level 1. They will increase in Levels as they gain more :hoverxref:`Experience `. Resistance and HP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. _heartpoints: Characters have a number of **Heart Points** (HP) equal to **10 + Level**. Receiving “damage” reduces that amount of HP. When their HP reaches 0 or less, they are defeated. .. admonition:: What does HP represent? The **Heart Points** of a character are an abstract measure of their resistance, willpower, durability, or ability to stay in play with agency to alter the world around them. When HP reaches 0 or less, that character loses that ability. Narratively it could mean different things: being taken out, physically drained, socially depleted, unconscious, or even dead, depending on the context of the current scene. The GM usually telegraphs the outcome of an action in case of failure. When "death" is on the table, the GM should warn it clearly so that the player can correct course or risk their chances knowingly. .. _damageandconditions: Damage and Conditions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. figure:: /_static/images/rpg-image-14.jpg art © `Marco Checchetto `_ When a character is the target of a :hoverxref:`Negative Effect `, their player can choose between losing *Heart Points* (HP) or taking a :hoverxref:`Condition `: - **Effect 5 or less**: lose that amount of HP, or receive a *Mild* (-1) Condition. - **Effect between 6 and 10**: lose that amount of HP, or receive a *Moderate* (-3) Condition. - **Effect 11 or more**: lose that amount of HP, or receive a *Severe* (-5) Condition. .. _recovery: Recovery ~~~~~~~~ characters recover HP at a rate of 1 per hour, or 2 per hour if resting properly (a good night’s sleep, a safe place, etc). :hoverxref:`Conditions ` recover diegetically, meaning that the character needs to take action to “heal” that condition in a proper way… and it takes time, defined by the GM depending on the nature and the severity of the Condition: *Mild* ones could be removed after treatment and a single scene; *Severe* ones could take months of in-game time. Some Conditions could be super-transient, for example, a ``Grappled (Moderate, -3)`` Condition could be easily removed if the character takes action to stop being held by an enemy. Experience ~~~~~~~~~~ .. _experience: Each adventure or mission successfully completed gives the characters 1 Experience Point (XP). When a character reaches XP equal to their current Level, they :hoverxref:`Level Up ` and set their XP back to 0. Level Up ~~~~~~~~ .. _levelup: When you level up, you gain a new :hoverxref:`Bonus `, provided you can justify its acquisition in the fiction, or Improve an existing Bonus (*Minor* -> *Moderate* -> *Major*), as long as it makes sense and you can explain how that happens. Also remember that since your max :hoverxref:`HP ` is 10 + Level, it increases by 1. .. admonition:: Which Bonuses to Improve Some Bonuses are good candidates to be improved to the next rank―for instance, a player could easily explain that their character trains a :hoverxref:`skill ` in their free time, raising it from *Adept (+1)* to *Expert (+3)*. Other Bonuses wouldn’t make much sense to be improved; for instance, if a character has a ``Mundane Sword (+1)``, how would they explain evolving it to ``Masterwork Sword (+3)``? Maybe they can find an excuse (a blacksmith improves the quality, or they discover that the sword is actually an important heirloom) but this has to have some semblance of logic, and the GM has final word on what is acceptable or what’s too much of a stretch. Sample Characters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. list-table:: :widths: 50, 50 * - .. container:: character1 | **Nanoc the barbarian** | Level 1 - HP 11 | ``Adept Swordmaster (+1)`` | ``Masterwork Longsword (+3)`` | ``Adept Survivalist (+1)`` - .. container:: character2 | **Greyhound the thief** | Level 1 - HP 11 | ``Lockpicking Expert (+3)`` | ``Mundane Dagger (+1)`` | ``Pickpocket Adept (+1)``