Character Creation Part 4: Trait Selection

Each player must choose at least one positive Trait and one negative Trait for their character. You may choose up to two of each, but for each positive Trait you choose, you must also choose a negative Trait and vice versa. Positive Traits can add additional bonuses to a Skill, offer a story-based perk such as an officer’s rank, and allow a myriad of other positive gameplay bonuses. Negative Traits can impose penalties on Tests or cause a number of other negative gameplay effects.
When choosing Traits, you can either pick one from the sample character sheets, choose one from the list below, or you can create one . The best Traits to choose, however, are those that fit with your character’s theme and backstory.
To create a Trait, choose whether you want it to be positive or negative. The maximum bonus a positive Trait can give to any one Skill, Attribute, or other effect is +1 . The maximum penalty a negative Trait can give to any one Skill, Attribute, or other effect is –1.
Positive Traits

• Alternate ID: You live two lives. You or the GM may use this positive Trait in the story at any time.
• Animal Empathy: Animals love you, and the feeling is mutual. +1 bonus to Tests involving animals.
• Attractive: People find you pleasing to the eye . +1 bonus to CHA-based Tests where physical appearance matters.
• Citizenship: Citizens look favorably on other citizens. +1 bonus to CHA-based Tests involving citizens from your faction.
• Combat Sense: You are keenly aware of your surroundings in combat. Choose when you take your Narration in the turn order without needing to spend a Plot Point.
• Connections: You know some folks with access to info, wealth, equipment, or specific people. +1 bonus for CHA-based Tests when interacting with your connections.
• Equipped: You’ve got access to a larger stockpile of equipment than others. Choose 1 additional Weapon OR 2 additional Inventory items during character creation. (This Trait cannot be purchased with XP.)
• G-Tolerance: Your body is well adapted to working in situations of high or low gravity. Ignore any situational modifiers for Tests involving high-gravity maneuvers or zero-gravity situations.
• Good Hearing: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, you can hear it . +1 bonus to Perception Tests involving hearing.
• Good Reputation: People know you and tend to say good things about you. +1 bonus to CHA-based Tests involving someone who knows your character.
• Good Vision: Your eyes are so sharp you can spot a ghillie-suited sniper in the middle of a forest—at night. +1 bonus to Perception Tests involving vision.
• Pain Resistance: You can take a punch and not even feel it. Ignore the first wound modifier on both Damage Tracks.
• Poison Resistance: Your body has developed a tolerance for toxins. Reduce by 2 any Condition Monitor damage caused by the effects of a toxic substance.
• Prosthetic: You lost a digit or limb at some point in your life, but medical science came to the rescue. Must also take the Lost Limb Trait. When the prosthetic is worn, it cancels the effect of Lost Limb.
• Rank: You’ve climbed high enough up the chain of command to command your own unit. Prerequisite for the rank of Captain (or equivalent) and higher. This Trait requires GM approval, as there are a finite number of Company officer Slots.
• Sixth Sense: You have a bad feeling about this… +1 bonus to Perception Tests to avoid being surprised or ambushed.
• Tech Empathy: You were born with an innate understanding of machines and technology. +1 bonus for any non-combat Tests directly involving technology.
• Thick-Skinned: High and low temperatures don’t bother you the way they affect others. Ignore any situational modifiers related to extreme heat or extreme cold.
• Toughness: You’ve got skin like cured leather, and your bones are like steel. Subtract 1 from all Physical and Fatigue Damage you receive. (Damage to Armor pips is not reduced.)
• Wealthy: You either won the lottery or were born into a well-to-do family. +1 Hardware Points to spend during character creation. (This Trait cannot be purchased with XP.)

Negative Traits

• Animal Antipathy: Animals hate you, and the feeling is mutual. –1 penalty to Tests involving animals.
• Bad Reputation: People know you and tend to say bad things about you. –1 penalty to CHA-based Tests involving someone who knows your character.
• Bloodmark: You’ve got a bounty on your head, for one reason or another. The GM may use this negative Trait in the story at any time.
• Combat Paralysis: Whether due to anxiety or full-blown PTSD, you freeze in combat every single time . Always take the last Narration in a round, regardless of Plot Point usage.
• Compulsion: Some addiction or impulse motivates you. –1 penalty on Tests to resist your compulsion.
• Dark Secret: You’ve got some deep, dark secret that would destroy you, should it be revealed. –1 modifier to Tests for trying to keep your secret hidden.
• Dependents: You’ve got a family or someone else who actively depends on you. The GM may use this negative Trait in the story at any time.
• Enemy: Someone is out to get you, either to ruin you, kill you, or perhaps even both. The GM may make your nemesis appear at any time to complicate your life.
• Glass Jaw: You never quite learned how to roll with the punches. Add 1 to all Physical and Fatigue Damage you receive.
• Gremlins: You and technology do not get along. –1 penalty to any non-combat Tests directly involving technology.
• Illiterate: You never learned how to read. –2 penalty to Tests involving written material.
• In for Life: You belong to a shadowy organization, a crime syndicate, or a secret society. The GM may use this negative Trait in the story at any time.
• Introvert: You are a wallflower, the exact opposite of the life of the party. –1 penalty to CHA-related Tests.
• Lost Limb: You are missing a limb or a digit either from birth or due to injury and do not have a prosthetic fitted. –4 penalty to Tests involving use of the affected appendage. The Prosthetic Trait cancels this penalty when the prosthetic is worn.
• Poor: You either grew up in modest means or have fallen on hard times. Start with 1 Weapon, 2 Inventory items, and half ( Round down, minimum 1) of your starting Hardware Points, regardless of your chosen experience level.
• Poor Hearing: If a tree falls in a forest, you probably won’t hear it even if you’re standing right next to it. –1 penalty to Perception Tests involving hearing.
• Poor Vision: You should probably get your eyes checked. –1 penalty to Perception Tests involving vision.
• Thin-Skinned: Your body is more susceptible to the effects of high and low temperatures. Double any modifiers related to performing actions in extreme heat or extreme cold.
• TDS—Transit Disorientation Syndrome: Some people’s systems are not cut out for the rigors of hyperspace travel, which causes severe disorientation and other detrimental symptoms. –2penalty to all Tests taken within 20 minutes after a hyperspace jump (GM’s discretion).
• Unattractive: You have a face only a mother could love. –1 penalty to CHA-based Tests where physical appearance matters.
• Unlucky: You ticked off the gods of fate somehow. Whenever you spend a point of EDG to reroll, any 6s rolled on the reroll are counted as 1s instead.