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.

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:

Parameter	Recommended Value	Description
Base HP	10	Starting amount of Hit Points for a Medium character. (Check Size or character Race for different values, same with HPLV.)
HPLV	4	Extra Hit Points given for each Level and Body point.
Base MP	12	Starting amount of Meta Points.
MPLV	3	Extra Meta-points given for each level.
Base Body	5	Starting amount of Body Core value, may be affected by character creation options.
Base Reflex	5	Starting amount of Reflex Core value, may be affected by character creation options.
Base Mind	5	Starting amount of Mind Core value, may be affected by character creation options.

Attribute Setup

To create a character foundation you start with their Attribute Points. 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 scores. Because each species can vary, this step is very dependant on what is written on the Racial information of each species.

Other attribute-based bonuses and features will be present, but the most relevant one here are the Attribute Points given. +1s and +2s are common with species who are naturally keen in these areas. Negative scores are also possible.

If the game or character doesn’t support/use racial adjustments, this step can be skipped.

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 player's choice will determine their starting Attribute point allocations, this stacks with points gained from the character's race/species. The character always gains +1 to their primary core Attributes. They then get three Attribute points to distribute to any Attributes affected by the Core value.

Core Value Allocations are as follows:
Core Value	Primary Attributes (Mandatory +1s)	All affected Attributes (Three +1s to any Attributes shown)
Body	Strength & Endurance	Strength, Endurance, Agility, and/or Charisma
Reflex	Agility & Perception	Strength, Agility, Perception, and/or Intellect
Mind	Intellect & Charisma	Endurance, Perception, Intellect, and/or Charisma.

If the character or scenario doesn't use or support racial adjustments, then increase the mandatory +1 values to +2s.

A player can opt to move one Primary Attribute +1 to another Attribute (even a secondary attribute), but they must have at least one primary attribute intact. i.e. Choosing Body as a Core can let you swap out Strength or Endurance for Agility or Charisma, but not both.

Step 3: Level up to First Level

Just like with any level up, the character gains an Attribute point they can assign to any Attribute, even if it raises it higher than their level. Then to finish, the character gains benefits as if they had increased their Level to 1. 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.

Starting Metaphor Arrays

Primary Metaphors
Normally, each character starts with a +4 and +3 Metaphor, meaning one can create a Metaphor with a +4 Rank, and another Metaphor at +3 Rank. 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 array of +2, +2, +2, +1 is given to players to fill out their other skills and abilities. These denote the ranks of each Metaphor and like before, they start with a number of Metaphor Component ranks of equal value.

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.

Calculating Derived Stats

After figuring out a character's Attributes, several stats can be calculated. These are Hit Points (HP), Meta-points (MP), and the defense stats Deflection and Evasion.

HP and MP
A character's Max HP is calculated by adding base HP to the sum of
HPLV * (Level + Body).
If the character's Size is greater than 1, then multiply their HP and Max HP by their Size-Rating.

A character's Max MP is calculated by adding their base MP to the sum of
MPLV * Level.
No core value directly affects Max MP, but you can spend experience to increase it by one and fully restore missing MP in the process (if allowed by the GM).

Deflection and Evasion
A character's Evasion is simply their Reflex core value.
A character's Deflection is simply their Body core value.

Although regardless of a character's slowness, Evasion can never be less than 6, as 6 is considered the necessary accuracy to hit anything that can defend itself. Immobilised or Incapacitated creatures will have an Evasion of 0.
 
Deflection can never be less than their Evasion, and if a character's Deflection is more than 10 points higher than its Evasion, their Evasion becomes Deflection - 10. Some protective equipment and armours can decrease this value to raise Evasion sooner and higher. 

Post-Creation

After a character has been created at level one and their Traits, Attributes, and Metaphors are completed, the character should now be in a playable state. Shown below are some progression systems you should be aware of as your character gains Experience and eventually gains new character Levels.

Character Arcs

Characters may have multiple progression tracks known as Arcs. They can be progressed by levelling up, or by meeting certain conditions or goals. These can be compared to mechanics such as Character Classes, or unlocks for one's species and/or role.

Character Levels

Characters gain levels by spending Experience, which turns into Level Points. Having enough Level points allows the character to go through the Level-up process. Levels can only be gained incrementally, so a level 1 character must ascend to level 2 before they can ascend to level 3.

Gaining Max HP and MP

Raising a character's level will increase their Maximum HP and MP, the amount is determined by the character's HPLV and MPLV parameters. HP is affected by the Body Core Value as well, so Max HP may raise twice during a level-up. Max MP only increases through level-up and/or spending experience directly to increase it.

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 sometimes to improve characters further. Spending experience on these improvements does give Level-Points that count towards a character's next level.

The following options use TP and XP:
♦ Increase Attribute: For One Training-Point, plus some experience, you can improve a character's Attribute score by 1, though no Attribute can be higher than the character's level when improved this way. Experience cost is treated as if they were improving a Metaphor rank.

♦ Learn Metaphor: A character can immediately gain a Rank in a new Metaphor for any skill, power or ability they could realistically obtain. The cost is one Training Point, plus experience points equal to the the number of Metaphors obtained this way plus one.

The created Metaphor starts at +1 Rank with a +1 Metaphor component installed for free. If at least 6 XP was spent on this new Metaphor, it starts as a +2 Rank Metaphor with up to 2 Ranks of Metaphor components instead. And if at least 12 XP was spent, it starts with +3 Rank and 3 ranks of Metaphor components instead.

XP Spent	Metaphor Rank	Component Rank count
1	+1	1 Rank
6	+2	2 Ranks
12	+3	3 Ranks

Alternate Progression

Metaphors and Attributes can be created and improved in the ways described above. But these aspects can also be granted and improved more naturally by doing various tasks and roleplay in game. Examples like practising and training during their downtime, being trained by someone who knows the skill/ability, or reading training materials like books.

Training Checks
First the character must decide what they want to train up. Their Attributes or their Metaphor Ranks. For entirely new skills and abilities (Metaphors), the target-number is normally 10. The character can roll
d12 + Appropriate Attribute modifier

If they manage to meet or beat the TN in a single check, they will gain a +1 Rank Metaphor of that skill or ability. Each attempt is an in-game day dedicated to learning this new skill.

The Appropriate Attribute modifier is usually the Attribute that new skill/ability uses in its own checks. a Metaphor that is affected by Perception uses Perception to learn and improve.

For existing stats like Attributes and Metaphors they already know. The Target number to increase their rank is
10 * (Rank + 1)
Where the Rank is the character's current Attribute value or Metaphor rank.

Improving existing Attributes or Metaphors this way are made as Progress checks over the course of multiple in-game days. Except the roll uses the formula:
d12 + Attribute + Rank (+ Progress)

If the roll result fails to reach the target number, then half the result is saved and added to their Progress bonus. Add the character's Progress bonus to future rolls until they succeed. When a character succeeds in this way, they gain Level Points equal to the amount of experience needed to attain this rank otherwise.

Training Metaphors allows an attempt every day, however trying to raise a Metaphor rank to a value higher than the character's level will extend the attempt cooldown to once per week instead (or 5 days minimum depending on in-game calendars). Characters can train Metaphor Components as well as Metaphor ranks.

Improving Attributes
When permitted by the GM, characters can also naturally train to raise their Attributes to new heights. It follows the same rules as Metaphors except the 'Rank' is the character's current Attribute + 1. There is an additional cost of One Training Point needed to start Attribute training, and the Attribute chosen can't be raised higher than the character's own level. 

The Target number for gaining an Attribute is:
25 * (Attribute Rank + 1)

And the roll for these checks are:
d12 + Attribute (+ Progress)

Half of a failed roll is saved as a Progress Bonus and added to future attempts, it resets when the character succeeds. The character gains Level Points equal to the amount of experienced normally required to increase this Attribute otherwise upon success.