TRAITS

Traits measure a character's attributes, skills, knowledge, and ability.

Below is a list of traits. It is not exhaustive - it focuses on adventuring traits, leaving others to the imagination of players.

The Master should feel free to add or drop traits to make the list fit their campaign world. Players who wish to have an unlisted trait should propose the new trait to The Master.

Acrobatics Animals Archery Athletics Burglary Climbing Command	Concealment Constitution Craftsmanship Deception Defense Defiance Fighting	Healing Mysticism Perception Quickness Riding Scholarship Searching	Sorcery Stealth Strength Survival Throwing Trading Willpower

This skill allows one to perform flips, cartwheels, rolls, and tumbles. A high level may let one swing on trapezes and walk tightropes. It can also be used to lessen the damage taken from a fall.

This skill is used to train animals to perform work or tricks and to effectively handle such domesticated creatures. It can also be used, at higher levels, to befriend wild animals. A master can even calm enraged beasts.

This is the ability to use missile weapons such as bows and crossbows.

This skill allows one to run, swim, and jump.

Most characters can run ten spaces per action. Each level of this skill gives the character an additional space. It also allows one to swim faster than others, though the rate is halved. Athletics is rolled to determine the progress of a race or chase, with each point of Dos being one space of distance gained or lost.

Leaping over obstacles or chasms requires a roll against a challenge level set by The Master.

This is a favorite skill of thieves and spies. It is used to gain unauthorized access to places.

Burglary lets one pick locks, whether ordinary keyed locks or fancier combination or puzzle locks.

It also allows one to set or disarm small traps. This can be used to protect a locked chest with a poison dart, to protect a hallway with a cocked crossbow, or to protect a door with a levered scythe - or to disarm any such protections set by others.

Last but not least, the character knows how to force doors or shutters quickly and quietly.

This covers a wide range of activity, from trees to cliffs to castle walls. The more difficult the surface (the less friction and handholds), the higher the challenge level.

A failed roll usually means no progress, but a spectacular failure could mean a fall.

This trait represents ego, charisma, and presence. A character with a high Command is a stunning person; he moves armies with a word, she crumbles nations with a glance.

Command determines the amount of supernatural energy a sorcerer can channel.

Concealment is the art of hiding things, whether in a room or on one's person. Those trying to find the hidden objects will have to make Searching rolls greater than the Concealment roll.

Constitution is health and toughness. It lets the character resist injury and disease.

This is the ability to make and repair useful items. One can build build a house, carve some arrows, or make minor repairs to damaged weapons and armor. It is a broad trait.

Master craftsmen can create works of great beauty and utility. The Master may rule that a character must specialize in a particular field (such as blacksmithing, woodworking, etc) in order to realize this level of quality. Specialization trades breadth for depth.

This is the gambler's skill. A deceiver can craft disguises, filch keys, pick pockets, forge documents, and tell bold-faced lies. This trait can also be used to perform minor "magic" tricks via sleight of hand.

This is the art of avoiding harm by blocking and dodging.

This trait represents the ability to resist mental attacks (sorcery). It is the mental equivalent of the Defense trait.

It doesn't matter whether an assault is aimed directly at the character or at everything in the general area. A Defiant character does not move - he focuses his concentration to prevent hostile sorcery from harming him.

Any sorcery can be resisted, no matter how large or powerful. The defender need only roll higher with Defiance than the attacker does with Sorcery.

If a spell is of continuing duration, the Defiance roll must be made every round.

Defiance is not supernatural, nor is not limited to those who practice sorcery. Anything with a mind can defy its effects.

This is the art of doing harm in close combat.

This is the skill of primitive medicine. A character can bind wounds, set bones, and move companions without doing further harm.

This skill also grants the possessor knowledge of useful plants and herbs that can be made into salves to speed healing, prevent infections, fight off diseases, or cure poisons.

Finally, a talented healer can perform primitive surgery such as lancing boils or amputating limbs.

This is a catchall for supernatural abilities used to learn the unknown. A mystic may hear the whispers of spirits, read the future in the stars, or simply know things without reason.

Mysticism allows one to know whether a person, place, or thing is supernatural - and, if so, what that nature might be. This is a passive power, a sixth sense. It serves the same purpose with regard to sorcery and the spirit world as the Perception trait serves in the physical world.

If sorcery is used anywhere near a mystic, The Master should have the player roll Mysticism to see if the character senses it. More powerful spells are "louder" and "brighter," so The Master should subtract one point from the challenge level for each level of energy in the spell.

Note that this check is made the moment that any supernatural energy is channeled. A sorcerer who is trying to cast an enormous spell may take several hours to do so, during which time the amount of energy in the spell grows steadily. Any mystics in the area should get regular trait checks to see if they notice.

Mysticism also allows one to sense the presence of nearby disembodied spirits and to communicate with them on a primal level. A mystic does not receive coherent thoughts from ghosts, only urges, feelings, and desires.

Finally, Mysticism can be used by The Master as a plot device. He can allow a character to sense danger, receive visions of the future, or anything else that adds to the game.

This trait represents both the quality of one's natural senses and general alertness. This important trait can prevent one - and one's friends - from being taken by surprise by stealth or guile.

Perception is used to detect subtle things that may go unheard or unseen and things that are obvious but may go unnoticed. It may allow one to notice that someone is wearing the wrong clothes, behaving strangely, etc. It is used to see through lies and disguises.

This trait represents muscle speed, reflexes, and reaction time. It determines who goes first during a round of conflict.

This is the skill of using an animal (usually a horse) for transport. Normal travel does not require riding rolls - the skill is used for tricks, leaps, and mounted combat.

This is a catchall for academic skills. It represents knowledge of subjects such as astronomy, cartography, geography, heraldry, history, languages, philosophy, politics, and religion. It also lets the character write with flourish, using proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and perhaps stylistic calligraphy.

Master scholars and sages are highly prized by their patrons, and a visit to one can be expensive. Many choose to specialize in one of the above subjects, trading breadth for depth (as with Craftsmanship).

This is the skill of finding hidden things.

Sorcery gives mortals godlike powers. One can create force at a distance, cause things to burst into flame, read a person's thoughts, relieve someone of suffering, or open gateways to alien worlds - all with but a thought.

Sorcery cannot be learned; it's a gift. For those with the gift, this skill measures both knowledge and ability. For those without, it measures only knowledge.

See the Gifts and Sorcery chapters for more.

This is the art of silence and invisibility. To move unseen requires shadow, the darker the better. Dark clothing and soft shoes help.

Stealth is also used to follow someone through a crowd without the subject knowing. It relies upon the shadower being inconspicuous in dress and behavior - if everyone in town wears white clothing, someone will notice a black-cloaked figure following them no matter what the shadowing roll.

This measures how much raw power one can exert. It is used to lift and carry great loads or to move heavy objects. It adds to damage in combat.

This table gives the amount of weight that different Strength levels can lift:

Strength	Lift (lbs)
-2	50
-1	75
0	100
1	150
2	200
3	300
4	400
5	600
6	800
7	1200
8	1600
9	2400
10	3200
L	2 * Lift(L - 2)

Survival

This is the ability to survive in the wild with minimal equipment and supplies. A master of the wilderness can live indefinitely with nothing more than a good knife and warm clothes. Additional items, such as a bow and arrow for hunting, make life easier.

This skill also lets a character discover and follow tracks. Some creatures are easier to track than others. Different types of terrain increase or lessen the challenge. Some, like rivers or solid rock, are impossible to track through - the only hope is to pick up the trail on the other side of the obstacle.

Finally, Survival gives the ability to determine location and heading by the heavens. Master navigators may even have a sixth sense about the time of day and the direction they are facing.

This is the skill of throwing and catching objects. It covers hitting a target with hurled objects (rocks, knives, axes, spears) and the use of slings. A high trait level allows one to juggle rags, balls, and such. Skilled jugglers can use more impressive items such as knives and swords, but this can get ugly if a roll is badly failed. Multiple jugglers can work in tandem for a splendid show.

The simplest thrown attack is a good-sized rock. This does the base strength damage of the attacker (like a punch, only farther). Larger rocks add more damage, but have less range.

This skill allows one to appraise the value of items. It is used for everything from earthenware pots to rare works of art. Exotic objects are more difficult to appraise. The better the roll, the closer the appraisal is to the real value.

Trading also represents knowledge of markets. Skilled traders can tell where markets will be by the layout of a town. They can also locate black markets and information peddlers.

Willpower is mental fortitude. Courage, patience, and self-control are facets of will. It allows one to resist interrogation, torture, and fear. It lessens the effect of harmful sorcery.

Cost

The point cost of a trait is based on the level. The higher the trait, the more difficult it is to improve.

A trait level of zero is human average. A character with a level 2 trait is an apprentice in that trait; level 6 is a journeyman; level 10 is a master.

Average persons have zero levels in most traits and four to six in those related to their work. Talented individuals may have levels of ten or greater.

The amount of points required to achieve a particular level is given by the following chart and formula:

Trait level	cost
0	0
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	6
6	8
7	12
8	16
9	24
10	32
11	48
12	64
L	2 * cost(L - 2)

Thus: to give a new character an Archery level of 6 requires 8 character points. To later raise that same character's Archery to 7 will cost 4 experience points (12 for level 7, minus the 8 already spent to reach level 6).

Fractions are rounded down.

Trait levels are open-ended; there is no cap on ability except the cost in experience points.

In addition to their Traits, characters have three damage metrics:

STAMINA measures how much punishment one can take before falling unconscious. A character with zero Stamina is barely conscious; a person in this state has -10 to all trait rolls. If Stamina falls below zero, the character is knocked out.

HEALTH measures physical illness and injury. If Health falls to zero, the victim is incapacitated and will die without assistance. If Health falls below zero, the character is dead.

SANITY measures mental illness and injury. If Sanity falls to zero, the character becomes a raving lunatic who acts at random. If Sanity falls below zero, the character is catatonic - the body lives, but the mind is is gone forever.

A character's maximum Stamina is limited by its current Health and Sanity. If either is damaged, the maximum Stamina is equal to whichever is lower. Example: a character who has taken 5 points of physical damage and 9 points of mental will have Health 15 and Sanity 11; that character's maximum Stamina is 11 until Sanity is recovered. If Sanity is healed but Health is not, the character's maximum Stamina will be 15.

Human beings - and similar species - have twenty points of Stamina, Health, and Sanity.