Make Your Protagonist

Once the setting is established, now is the time to create your Protagonist. Your Protagonist is described by some fixed traits:

• Name: the name should be iconic and consistent with the tone and setting of the story
• Concept: A concise description of the character's profession, background, and abilities. The best are adjective-name pairings, like "Venturous Smuggler" or "Child Prodigy".
• Skills (x2): abilities not necessarily character-specific but not characteristics common to all. "Smart" is not a skill, "Engine Whisperer" is.
• Frailty: something that could potentially get in the way of the character, either physically, mentally, or socially.
• Gear (x2): particular equipment supplied to the character in coherence with the setting. Everyday items are taken for granted and do not fall under this trait.
• Goal: the long-term objective.
• Motive: what drives the pursuit of the goal.
• Nemesis: a person or organization that hinders the protagonist. It can emerge during the first game sessions, it may or may or not be the direct antagonist of the story, ready to appear to make life even more difficult
• Luck: The measure of a character's ability to avoid ill fortune or an inauspicious outcome. It applies only in Conflicts and automatically recharges when they end. Luck starts and caps at 6.

Example

Zahra Nakajima Witty Street Cat. Streetwise, Nimble, Merciful.
Knife, Low O2 Supplement.
She wants to obtain unknown technology to save her planet from atmosphere collapse.
Nemesis: The Naturalist Order
Luck: 6

Everything is a Character!

In Loner Non-Playing Characters (NPCs), Foes, Organizations, Monsters, and even relevant objects like vehicles are characters too!

• Living Character follow the same rules of generation as the Protagonist.
• Non-Living Characters, instead, do not have a goal, a motive, nor a nemesis.

Example

The Century Skylark Spacecraft in bad shape. Hyperjump Drive, Camouflage Circuits, Midlife Courier.
Shields, Turrets.
Luck: 6.

Descriptive Tags

Tags are descriptive words or phrases that could be identify anything in the game world. They fall roughly into the following categories:

• Character Traits: as seen above, they describe a character's skills and flaws, their goal and motive.
• Details: features of an environment or scene that might change as a result of an action.
• Conditions: are physical, mental or social effects that impact the way a character behaves or attempts actions.

Tags determine if there are sufficient prerequisites in the scene for Advantage or Disadvantage. They are qualitative representations. They are not quantitative measures.

Before the Adventure

You can start directly to play your adventure, but it may be worthwhile to make an extra effort. By defining your Protagonist's Nemesis you have already identified an NPC! Write down their sheet and keep it aside. Think about whether your Protagonist has allies or friends and throw down their sheets as well. Jot down these NPCs in a list, which you will consult when they need to be recalled as a result of a Twist. Also, it might be useful to jot down interesting Locations that serve as settings for your Protagonist and keep a list of major Events that happen during the game.