Making Your Mark

A guide to creating your unique Cutie Mark

At some point in their lives, most Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns experience a magical moment and a symbol unique to that pony manifests on their flank. These colorful icons, called Cutie Marks, embody a pony’s special interests and talents. Gaining a Cutie Mark is considered a rite of passage for fillies and colts; a message from the universe about their destiny leading them on their first steps towards adulthood.

At level 1 (unless they are still considered a foal) Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn PCs gain a Cutie Mark Perk. This is more than just a new ability; your Cutie Mark is an important part of your character, representing anything from their lineage, personality, or what they hold dear. The design of your character’s Cutie Mark is entirely up to you. There is space on the character sheet for your Cutie Mark illustration,

On top of tying into who your pony is, there are game benefits to having a Cutie Mark.Your Cutie Mark connects you to the magical energies of destiny and the universe, manifesting when you discover a unique gift or interest that ties you to your greater purpose. For your Cutie Mark Perk, you should pick a Skill that you think your character would be talented at, such as an Influence Skill. Whenever you take an action that is covered by your Cutie Mark Perk Skill you gain a Skill die upshift (↑1) on the test.

Alternatively, the Game Master might rule that everyone should pick a Skill Specialization instead of a Skill for their Cutie Mark Perk. This means the bonus only applies when the Specialization is used, not just the Skill. This makes the ability more particular and makes sure two characters can pick the same Skill and still be different.

Advanced Rule – Abstract Cutie Marks: Even the complete list of Skills and Specializations doesn’t cover every possible destiny and trait a pony character could have. You might want to be talented at Baking, or even something highly specific like ‘cheering up animals who are your friends’ it might even be something very weird like ‘I’m good with moths’. In such a case you get the bonus shift (↑1) to any action that Cutie Mark might apply to. So if you were attuned to moths, any action to catch one, fight one, or even dance with one would get the bonus, regardless of the Skill involved.

With abstract Cutie Marks it is tempting to try and pick as broad a range as possible, but you cannot pick an area potentially wider than a Skill. So you can’t pick ‘fighting’ when there are several different Skills covering combat. Your Game Master has the last word (the very last word) on whether a Cutie Mark is too powerful or non-specific for the game. But you shouldn’t be picking a Cutie Mark for the power it offers or as a way to ‘win’. Your Cutie Mark says something about who your pony is. Smaller and more specific talents and abilities tend to make their personality a lot clearer. Being good at Magic might be cool, but being good at mending broken toys makes your character stand out.

But, and this is a big but, the Game Master always gets to decide if your Cutie Mark is acceptable in the game, and when it applies to a Skill Test. Their decision is final. You are welcome to ask if your Cutie Mark might apply to a Skill Test, and offer a good reason. But if the Game Master doesn’t agree then it cannot apply and the argument is over. Having said that, the Game Master should be mindful of how often the Cutie Mark has been used and if the player is just trying to play their character rather than get a spurious bonus.

If you want to pick an abstract Cutie Mark here are some ideas (you can also draw inspiration from your favorite characters in the series). We’ve listed 20 so you can roll a d20 if you can’t decide: Animal Friendship, Baking, Book-keeping, Building Houses, Cheering Up Others, Cleaning, Fashion, Growing Flowers, Hard Stares, Keeping Time, Nursing, Party Planning, Photography, Solving Mysteries, Sport (a particular one), Style and Grooming, Surprises, Swordfighting, Teaching, Tracking.