Character Creation

When you have decided on what kind of character you would like to create. You can record all your character stats and information to the character sheet provided: Metaforce Character Sheet (Template) This Google-Sheets version of the Character Sheet can auto-calculate various stats based on the Attributes, Level and starting parameters given. For more information on what each field and section means, see Character Sheet. Default Values As a Game Master, you can set up characters however you like for your game setting. This is a list of defaults if you are unsure: Attribute Default Value Description HPLV 6 Health Point multiplier for characters. Treated like a Hitdie in traditional games. MPLV 3 Meta Point multiplier for characters so they can use Meta-Abilities. Base Body 5 Character starts with an amount of Body Core. Base Reflex 5 Character starts with an amount of Reflex Core. Base Mind 5 Character starts with an amount of Mind Core. Attribute Setup To create a character foundation you start with their Attribute Points and Tiers. Depending on your game settings, some of these steps may be changed or skipped. This is a breakdown of the typical Attribute setup. Step 1: Racial-Adjustments A character's species and/or genetic base can serve physiological and cultural adjustments to Attribute tiers and base scores. Because each species can vary, this step is very dependant on what is written on the Racial information of each species. Typically, a character's race will set the base Attribute tiers they possess, some races will include a choice or two for variation but otherwise one member of the species will be similarly capable as the next. Aside from set Tiers, some choices may allow Tiers to be adjusted up or down (+1, -1), Tiers that are not set are default to Tier 1. When a limit is set (T3, T4...etc), it means a Tier shift can't be raised above the Tier number shown (T4 means a Tier can't be raised higher than 4 this way). If the game or character doesn’t support/use racial adjustments, this step can be skipped. Example Races / Adjustments Race Adjustments Human Tier 3 in one Attribute, and a choice between Tier 2 in three attributes, or Tier 3 and Tier 2 in any two Attributes. Elf Tier 3 in Perception and Agility, Tier 2 in Charisma or Intellect. Dwarf Tier 3 in Endurance and Strength, Tier 2 in Perception or Intellect. Halfling Tier 3 in Agility and Perception, Tier 2 in Charisma and any other Attribute. Orc Tier 3 in Strength and Endurance, Tier 2 in Charisma or Perception, and Tier 0 in Intellect. Step 2: Pick a Core Value Ask the player: "Which of the Core Values do you want your character to specialise in? Body, Reflex, or Mind?" The choice made will grant a +1 Tier to the Attributes that give +1 to that Core, and +1 Attribute point for any Attribute that can improve that core (even by half). A player may opt to exchange one Tier upgrade from their primary Attributes and reassign it to any other Attribute of that Core. (Exchange Endurance from a Body choice, to Agility or Charisma.) A character can't have an Attribute tier higher than 5 at, or before first level. Tiers 6 and above must be attained either through Training or a special circumstance given by the Game-Master. By default, these are the choices and their effect on this question: • Body: Gain +1 Tier to Strength and Endurance, then +1 point to Strength, Endurance, Agility and Charisma. • Reflex: Gain +1 Tier to Agility and Perception, then +1 point to Strength, Agility, Perception, and Intellect. • Mind: Gain +1 Tier to Intellect and Charisma, then +1 point to Endurance, Perception, Intellect and Charisma. If the character or scenario doesn't use or support racial adjustments: Then the player can choose two Core Values and stack the benefits of each to create a build. The first choice gains double the amount compared to the second choice. These tiers can stack. "A character who doesn't get any racial adjustments due to the game they're involved in picks Mind, then Reflex as their Core values. Since Mind is the primary Core, they gain +2 Tiers in Intellect and Charisma, then +2 Attribute points in Endurance, Perception, Intellect and Charisma. Whereas Reflex is added normally at +1 Tiers to Agility and Perception, +1 Attribute points to Strength, Agility, Perception and Intellect. This character can opt to reassign a Tier of Agility to Intellect, allowing them to achieve Tier 4 Intellect." Step 3: First Level At first level only, the character receives Attribute points equal to half (rounded down) their Attribute tiers respectively. So if a character with Tier 1 Strength, Tier 2 Agility and Tier 5 Intellect were to be created, they would receive nothing in Strength, 1 point in Agility and 2 in Intellect. Then, to finish, the character gains benefits as if they had increased their Level to 1. They get to assign an Attribute point immediately to any score they want, they gain a Training point and stats are updated to the new level. If the character acquires anything at 1st level, they gain it now. Arcs & Progressions Characters may have multiple progression tracks known as an Arc. These can be compared to mechanics such as Classes, or unlocks for one's species and/or role. Arcs are often Level dependant and grant benefits after reaching each new level. If an Arc grants a Metaphor, it's rank and components may be restricted to that which is described in the Arc, although if it does, it means it will often scale as the character levels. A character will get one or two Arcs if present, examples being: ♦ Species Arc: An Arc that revolves around the species/race of the character. ♦ Archetype Arc: A character of a particular Archetype will gain new abilities/powers based on their role/class. Metaphors granted by an Arc may not count towards the character's Starting Metaphor Arrays, depending on the game settings. If they do, they'll generally determine the Primary Metaphors granted. If they don't, they are given freely in combination with other Metaphors. Starting Metaphor Arrays Primary Metaphors Normally, each character starts with a Primary +4 and +3 Metaphor, meaning one can create a Metaphor with a +4 Ability score, and then they receive a +3 Metaphor for another ability/power/skill. These Metaphors gain special exceptions to the Metaphor softcap rule. The +4 Metaphor has a softcap of 10 and the +3 has a softcap of 8. In addition, these Metaphors also start with a number of Metaphor components equal to their rank, or combine ranks to singular components. "A character decides they want their +4 Metaphor to have two Components at +2 instead of having four at +1. This is allowed because they combined Component ranks together to enhance one of their remaining choices." Secondary Metaphors An additional (+2, +2, +2, +1) array is given to players to fill out their other skills and abilities. This array is created to offer the greatest number of skills and abilities at the start. Like with any starting Metaphors, each of these secondary Metaphors start with a number of Metaphor components equal to its rank, and any Metaphor of +2 or higher can combine components to enhance a remaining one. Secondary Metaphors also gain an exception to the softcap rule, they can be enhanced to a softcap of 6. All other Metaphors gained after creation are subject to the |Attribute Tier softcaps. Players may choose a different array with more potent Metaphor values in exchange for variety. Other arrays they can choose include: • (+3, +2, +1) for a more rounded distribution of Metaphors, or • (+4) for 'master of one' style of gameplay. Post-Creation After a character has been created at level one and their Metaphors written up, they should now be playable in game. Below are ways to continue progressing a character's build after creation. Character Levels Character levels can be used by some mechanics for scaling powers and abilities, and serve as requirements for others. Levels can only be gained incrementally, so a level 1 character must ascend to level 2 before they can ascend to level 3, and so on. The default amount of experience required to level up varies by game, but it should be equal to the character’s starting attribute amount. This increases after every level, based on the XP per Level-up parameter set by the Game-Master. Raising a character's level will increase their Maximum HP and MP (Half of HPLV and all of MPLV), a number of Attribute points they can add to their Attributes, more Attribute-Training Opportunities (ATOs) and may unlock features on any of their Progressions. Rules on applying Attribute points When adding multiple Attribute points granted by a level, you can't add two points to the same attribute, you can, however, raise attributes higher than the character's level this way. Training Points A character gains a Training Point (TP) at creation and another one for every Level-up, these can be used in conjunction with Experience points improve characters further. Spending experience on these improvements does count towards a character's next level. ♦ Increase Attribute: By spending Experience and a Training Point, a character can improve one Attribute by +1, up to their level. Experience cost is treated as if they were improving a Metaphor rank. ♦ Learn Metaphor: Same as above, a character can gain a new Metaphor for any skill, power or ability they could realistically obtain. The cost is one Training Point, plus the number of Metaphors the character owns plus one in Experience. The created Metaphor starts at +1 with a +1 Metaphor component installed for free. "A character wants to learn a new Metaphor, they already have six Metaphors learned. They need to spend a Training Point plus 7 experience if they want to learn a seventh Metaphor. This Metaphor manifests at +1 and comes with one component at +1. ♦ Raise Attribute Tier: A character can permanently increase one Attribute's tier to the next highest one. Tier increases are treated the same as Attributes in that you can't raise the Tier to be higher than the character's own level. The experience cost is equal to the Target Attribute Tier number, and the Training Point cost is equal to the Target Attribute Tier number. "A character wants to improve their Tier 1 Strength Attribute to Tier 2. But to do this, they must have at least +1 in their Strength bonus (as a Tier 2 should), then they need to spend 2 Training Points and Experience to complete the transaction." Alternate Progression Metaphors can be created and improved in the ways described above Although Metaphors can be granted and improved more naturally by doing various tasks and roleplay. Examples like practising and training during their downtime, being trained by someone who knows the skill/ability, or reading training materials like books. When making Training checks, the maximum number of attempts is equal to the user's level. If they fail to achieve the TN within the attempt limit, the user must start over again. When it comes to learning a new Metaphor, the character must succeed a Progress check of TN 10 each day, if they succeed they learn the Metaphor at +1 with no components. If they fail, half the result is saved and the character can try again the next day. When it comes to improving a Metaphor to the next rank, the TN is 10 times the rank the character is training for (+2 = TN20). Failed attempts save half the result for future attempts. Training Save If a character is on their final attempt and fails to meet the necessary TN to learn/improve the Metaphor. They can spend a number of experience points equal to the difference to 'Save' the training attempt to learn/improve the Metaphor. This Save can only be performed on the final attempt when the result would fail. Improving Attributes and Tiers When permitted by the GM, characters can also naturally train to raise their Attributes to new heights. Unlike Metaphors, training for Attributes or their Tiers has no time or attempt limit, instead the requires TN to trigger the change is drastically higher than a Metaphor. Furthermore, a character can't train an Attribute or Tier to be higher than their level, so this should be only undertaken once a character has achieved enough levels. Training to improve an Attribute point requires a Progress check of 25 times the target Attribute value. So if one wishes to improve Strength to 2, it will require completing a Progress check of TN50. If Training involves raising an Attribute tier, this requires a Progress check of 50 times the target Attribute tier. Raising a Charisma tier to 6 will require beating a TN of 300. Training Decay Training of any kind requires a character to focus on their training on consecutive days, days off are permitted for a healthy life balance but repeatedly skipping training days during an attempt will eventually decay the progress made until it is reset. A character can skip one day of training at a time with no penalty. For every day after they don't resume training a Meta-dice is rolled and subtracted from the character's current progress towards their goal. This Meta-dice starts at md4 and grows one dice step at a time until it reaches md12.