This chapter contains all the information you'll need to create human characters, including character traits and trait levels, and some different ways to allocate them.

For non-human characters - or characters with supernormal abilities (magic, etc.) - you will also need to read the Magic System before your characters will be complete.

• 1.1 Character Creation Terms
• 1.2 FUDGE Trait Levels
• 1.3 Character Traits
  • 1.31 Attributes
    • 1.311 Qualities
  • 1.32 Skills
    • 1.321 Combat skills
  • 1.33 Gifts
  • 1.34 Faults
  • 1.36 Fudge Points
• 1.4 Allocating Traits
• 1.5 Subjective Character Creation
• 1.6 Objective Character Creation
  • 1.61 Attributes
    • 1.611 Qualities
  • 1.62 Skills
    • 1.621 Skill Descriptions
  • 1.63 Gifts & Faults
  • 1.64 Trading Traits
• 1.7 Uncommitted Traits
• 1.9 Minimizing Abuse

1.1 Character Creation Terms

Trait: anything that describes a character. A trait can be an attribute, skill, inherited gift, fault, supernormal power, or any other feature that describes a character. The GM is the ultimate authority on what is an attribute and what is a skill, gift, etc.

Level: most traits are described by one of seven adjectives. These seven descriptive words represent *levels* a trait may be at. In addition, the Objective Character Creation method grants the playerfree levels, and demands he keep track of them. In this case, one level is required to raise a trait to the next better adjective.

Attribute: any trait that *everyone* in the game world has, in some degree or other. See Section 1.31, Attributes, for a sample list of attributes. On a scale of Terrible ... Fair ...Superb, the average human will have an attribute at Fair.

Skill: any trait that isn't an attribute, but can be improved through practice. The default for an unlisted skill is usually Poor, though that can vary up or down a little.

Gift: any trait that isn't an attribute or skill, but is something positive for the character. Some GMs will define a certain trait as a gift, while others will define the same trait as an attribute. In general, if the trait doesn't easily fit the Terrible ... Fair... Superb scale, it's probably a gift.

Fault: any trait that limits a character's actions, or earns him a bad reaction from other people.

1.2 FUDGE Trait Levels

FUDGE uses ordinary words to describe various traits of a character. The following terms of a seven-level sequence are suggested (from best to worst):

Superb
Great
Good
Fair
Mediocre
Poor
Terrible

There is an additional level that can be used in FUDGE, but is not listed above: Legendary, which is beyond Superb. Those with Legendary Strength, for example, are in the 99.9th percentile, and their names can be found in any book of world records.

1.3 Character Traits

1.31 Attributes

Strength: Muscle power
Coordination: hand-eye coordination. Used for throwing, catching, handling of small objects
Agility: whole body dexterity. Used for balancing, jumping
Perception: The abiliy to notice the unusual and avoid walking into doors
Reasoning: Logic and academic ability
Reflexes: A combination of physical and mental reaction speed
Je ne sais quois: That hard-to-define but indispensible personality stat.

In addition, there are two other attributes, which are listed separately. Points of these attributes may be temporarily spent to put extra effort into actions, or may be temporarily lost due to exhaustion. These two traits only are on a 14-point scale, as follows. This is to allow a greater flexibility in the spending of points than would be possible with only seven:

Superb +
Superb
Great +
Great
Good +
Good
Fair +
Fair
Mediocre +
Mediocre
Poor +
Poor
Terrible +
Terrible

Stamina: Physical resiliance
Willpower: Mental toughness

1.311 Qualities

Magic: Important for wizards
Dream: Dream-weavers
Essence (of specific deity): Required for priests.

A human character with a Quality is an exception to the norm. Therefor the default Quality is Non-Existant. Anyone may take a Quality, which should be appropriate to their character concept. Possessing a Quality makes a character more susceptible to magic of that quality, but more resistant to magic of the opposite quality. Possesing one of the elemental Qualities (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, Death) will affect the shape taken by travellers to the elemental planes.

1.32 Skills

The following ares of skills are available in Anna's Fantasy FUDGE. These are rather broad catagories, which will hopefully keep the character sheets uncluttered. (See character generation for further details.) This list may seem a little strange, because I have biased it towards 'adventuring' skills. If you want another skill for your character, please suggest it to your GM.

Combat skills are more detailed and listed separately.

• Animal Handling
• Artifice: locks, traps and other mechanical devices
• Covert skills: Breaking & Entering, Forgery, Pickpocketing, Poisoning, Shadowing, Sleight of Hand, etc.
• Education: Details of a formal education vary by area, but in general, medieval universities did not specialise, so one skill provides general knowledge of history, theology, geography, basic natural sciences, mathematics, the local 'academic' language (usually Elvish) and astrology. Specialities may be chosen if the skill is Good or better.
• Empathy: good listener, making friends,
• Etiquette: nobility, diplomacy
• Gaming: card and dice games,
• Languages
• Medical: trained doctor, country wisewoman, animal doctor
• Negotiation: bargaining,
• Performing Arts: acting (disguise, accents, blending in to a scene) juggling, acrobatics
• Persuasion: fast-talk, flattery, seduction, also intimidation
• Riding: horse riding
• Streetwise: street urchin, law enforcement
• Trade/Craft: armourer, smith, mason, weaver, tailor, potter etc
• Visual Arts: painting, drawing, sculpting
• Waterwise: sailing, fishing, navigation
• Woodswise: foraging, camping, nature lore, hunting

1.321 Combat Skills

• Single weapon
• Sword and shield
• Double-handed sword
• Florentine (two swords)

• Axe and shield
• Double-handed axe

• Stabbing polearm
• Slashing polearm

• Quaterstaff

• Flail

• Bows
• Crossbows
• Thrown weapons

• Horseback polearm
• Horseback sword
• Horseback bow

• Unarmed fighting

1.33 Gifts

Attractive; Animal Empathy; Beautiful speaking voice; Combat Reflexes; Danger Sense; Extraordinary Speed; Healthy Constitution; Hight pain threshold; Keen senses; Leadership; Never forgets a name/face/whatever; Night Vision; Perfect Timing; Peripheral Vision; Rapid Healing; Scale; Single-minded (+1 to any lengthy task); Strong Will

Absolute Direction; Always keeps his cool; Ambidextrous; Blessed (allows minor Divine magic - see below); Contacts in governemt/army/ priesthood/nobility; Knowledge of a minor alchemical magic; Patron; Pick up languges; Reputation as Hero; Swimming

Rank; Status; Wealth; Legacy (may be land, equipment, or money)

1.34 Faults

Some sample faults:

Absent-Minded; Addiction; Ambitious; Amorous heartbreaker; Bloodlust; Bravery indistinguishable from foolhardiness; Can't resist having the last word; Code of Ethics limits actions; Code of Honor; Compulsive Behavior; Coward; Curious; Finicky; Easily Distractible; Enemy; Fanatic patriot; Full of bluff and bluster and machismo; Garrulous; Getting old; Glutton; Goes Berserk if Wounded; Gossip; Greedy; Gullible; Humanitarian (helps the needy for no pay); Idealist - not grounded in reality; Indecisive; Intolerant; Jealous of Anyone Getting More Attention; Lazy; Loyal to Companions; Low pain threshold; Melancholy; Must obey senior officers; Nosy; Obsession; Outlaw; Overconfident; Owes favors; Phobias; Poor; Practical Joker; Quick- Tempered; Quixotic; Self-defense Pacifist; Socially awkward; Soft- hearted; Stubborn; Quick to take offense; Unlucky; Vain; Violent when enraged; Vow; Worry Wart; Zealous behavior; etc.

1.36 Fudge Points

NOTE: These are completely optional in Anna's Fantasy FUDGE. I've included them because they are a fundamental part of the FUDGE system.

1) Spending a Fudge Point may accomplish an Unopposed action automatically and with panache - good for impressing members of the appropriate sex, and possibly avoiding injury in the case of dangerous actions. The GM may veto this use of Fudge Points for actions with a Difficulty Level of Beyond Superb. This does not apply to Opposed actions such as combat.

2) A player may spend one Fudge Point to alter a die roll one level, up or down as desired. The die roll can be either one the player makes, or one the GM makes that directly concerns the player's character.

3) A player may spend one Fudge Point to declare that wounds aren't as bad as they first looked. This reduces the intensity of each wound by one or two levels (a Hurt result becomes a Scratch, for example, or even a Very Hurt becomes a Scratch). Or it can mean that any one wound (or more), regardless of level, is just a Scratch. This latter option may cost more than one Fudge point. The GM can restrict this to outside of combat time.

4) A player may spend one (or more) Fudge Points to get an automatic +4 result, without having to roll the dice. This use *is* available in Opposed actions, if allowed.

5) For appropriately legendary games, a GM-set number of Fudge Points can be spent to ensure a favorable coincidence. (This is always subject to GM veto, of course.) For example, if the PCs are in a maximum security prison, perhaps one of the guards turns out to be the cousin of one of the PCs - and lets them escape! Or the captain of the fishing boat rescuing the PCs turns out to be someone who owes a favor to one of them, and is willing to take them out of his way to help them out . . . And so on.

1.4 Allocating Traits

When a character is created, the player should define as many character traits as he finds necessary - which may or may not coincide with a GM-determined list. If a player adds an attribute the GM deems unnecessary, the GM may treat that attribute as simply a *description* of the character. She may require a roll against a different attribute than the player has in mind, and the player must abide by her decision.

As an example, a certain GM decides she wants characters to have a general Dexterity attribute. A player takes Good Dexterity for his PC, but wants to show that the character is better at whole body dexterity than at manual dexterity. So he writes: Great Agility and Fair Manual Dexterity. However, the GM can ignore these distinctions, and simply require a Dexterity roll, since that is the trait she has chosen. (She can average the PC-chosen levels, or simply select one of them.) Of course, she can also allow him to roll on the attributes he has created.

In FUDGE, a character with a trait at Fair will succeed at ordinary tasks 62% of the time - there is usually no need to create a superstar. In fact, Great is just that: great! Superb should be reserved for the occasional trait in which your character is the best he's ever met.

Any trait that is not defined at character creation will be at a default level:

• For attributes: Fair.

• For most skills: Poor (easier skills are at Mediocre, while harder ones are at Terrible). A skill default means untrained, or close to it. However, it is possible to take a skill at Terrible (below the default level for most skills), which implies an ineptitude worse than untrained.

• For most gifts, supernormal powers and certain GM-defined skills: Non-Existent. (That is, the *default* is non-existent. The trait itself exists in *some* character, somewhere.)

• Each player should expect the GM to modify his character after creation - it's the nature of the game. The GM should expect to review each character before play. It would, in fact, be best if the characters were made in the presence of the GM so she can answer questions during the process.

1.5 Subjective Character Creation

It may be easiest, though, if the GM supplies a template of attributes she'll be using.

The GM may also tell the player in advance that his character can be Superb in a certain number of attributes, Great in so many others, and Good in yet another group. For example, in an epic-style game with eight attributes, the GM allows one Superb attribute, two Greats, and three Goods. In a more realistic game, this is one Superb, one Great, and two Goods.

This can apply to skills, too: one Superb skill, two Great skills, and six Good skills is a respectable number for a realistic campaign, while two Superbs, three Greats, and ten Goods is quite generous, even in a highly cinematic game.

The GM may also simply limit the number of skills a character can take at character creation: 10, 15, or 20 are possible choices.

Gifts and faults can be restricted this way, also. For example, a GM allows a character to have two gifts, but he must take at least three faults. Taking another fault allows another gift, or another skill at Great, and so on.

These limitations help the player define the focus of the character a bit better: what is his best trait (what can he do best)?

A simple "two lower for one higher" trait-conversion mechanic can also be used. If the GM allows one Superb attribute, for example, the player may forego that and take two attributes at Great, instead. The converse may also be allowed: a player may swap two skills at Good to get one at Great.

Example: a player wants a Jack-of-all-trades character, and the GM has limits of one Superb skill, two Great skills and six Good skills. The player trades the one Superb skill limit for two Great skills: he can now take four skills at Great. However, he trades all four Great skills in order to have eight more Good skills. His character can now have 14 skills at Good, but none at any higher levels.

In the Subjective Character Creation system, it is easy to use both broad and narrow skill groups, as appropriate for the character. In these cases, a broad skill group is assumed to contain the phrase, "except as listed otherwise."

For example, a player wishes to play the science officer of a starship. He decides this character has spent so much time studying the sciences, that he's weak in most physical skills. So on his character sheet he could simply write:

Physical Skills: Poor

He also decides that his character's profession would take him out of the ship in vacuum quite a bit, to examine things. So he'd have to be somewhat skilled at zero-G maneuvering. So he then adds:

Zero-G Maneuvering: Good

Even though this is a physical skill, it is not at Poor because he specifically listed it as an exception to the broad category.

When the character write-up is done, the player and GM meet and discuss the character. If the GM feels the character is too potent for the campaign she has in mind, she may ask the player to reduce the character's power - see Section 1.9, Minimizing Abuse.

The GM may also need to suggest areas that she sees as being too weak - perhaps she has a game situation in mind that will test a trait the player didn't think of. Gentle hints, such as "Does he have any social skills?" can help the player through the weak spots. Of course, if there are multiple players, other PCs can compensate for an individual PC's weaknesses. In this case, the question to the whole group is then, "Does *anyone* have any social skills?"

Instead of the player writing up the character in terms of traits and levels, he can simply write out a prose description of his character. This requires the GM to translate everything into traits and appropriate levels, but that's not hard to do if the description is well written. This method actually produces some of the best characters.

1.6 Objective Character Creation

In this system, all traits start at default level. The GM then allows a number of free levels the players may use to raise selected traits to higher levels. Players may then lower certain traits in order to raise others even further. Finally, a player may opt to trade some levels of one trait type (such as attributes) for another (skills, for example). The whole process insures that no single character will dominate every aspect of play.

Background

• Academic: historian, alchemist, clerk, secretary
• Craft: smith, mason, weaver, tailor, potter
• Performing Arts: music, theater, storytelling, jester, dance, acrobat
• Skilled: sailor, soldier, farmer, miner, lawyer, merchant, trader, priest
• Unskilled: labourer, begger, servant

1.61 Attributes

+3 Superb
+2 Great
+1 Good
0 Fair
-1 Mediocre
-2 Poor
-3 Terrible

Example:
A player may raise his Strength attribute (which is Fair by default) to Good by spending one free attribute level. He could then spend another free level to raise Strength again to Great. This would exhaust his free levels if there were only four attributes - but he would have one more if there were six attributes, and eight more free levels if there were 20 attributes.

When the free attribute levels have been exhausted, an attribute can be raised further by lowering another attribute an equal amount. (See Trading Traits.) From the previous example, Strength can be raised one more level (to Superb) if the player lowers the character's Charm to Mediocre to compensate for the increase in Strength.

1.611 Qualities

Magic: Important for wizards
Dream: Dream-weavers
Essence (of specific deity): Required for priests.

For the purposes of character creation, Qualties are Attributes with a default level of Non-existant. Attribute points must be spent to raise the Quality. Restrictions may apply to the level of Qualities which may be purchased at character creation.

1.62 Skills

For Extremely Broad Skill Groups: 15 levels.
For Moderately Broad Skill Groups: 30 levels.
For Specific Skills: 40 to 60 levels.]

In Anna's Fantasy FUDGE there are 20 free skill levels which may be used to raise any skill. This has not been playtested to any extent.

Most skills have a default value of Poor unless the player raises or lowers them - see Allocating Traits.

Certain skills have a default of non-existent. These would include Languages, Karate, Nuclear Physics, or Knowledge of Aztec Rituals, which must be studied to be known at all. When a character studies such a skill (puts a level into it at character creation, or experience points later in the game), the level he gets it at depends on how hard it is to learn. Putting one level into learning the Spanish language, for example, would get it at Mediocre, since it's of average difficulty to learn. Nuclear Physics, on the other hand, might only be Poor or even Terrible with only one level put into it. It would take four levels just to get such a skill at Fair, for example.

For ease in character creation, use the following table:

Cost of Skills in Objective Character Creation

Level	Easy	Most	Hard	Very Hard
Terrible	-2	-1	0	1
Poor	-1	0	1	2
Mediocre	0	1	2	3
Fair	1	2	3	4
Good	2	3	4	5
Great	3	4	5	6
Superb	4	5	6	7

Easy = Cost of GM-Determined Easy Skills
Most = Cost of Average Skill
Hard = Cost of GM-Determined Hard Skills
VH = Cost of GM-Determined Very Hard Skills (usually related to Supernormal Powers)

Starting skills are limited. After spending points, no character can have more than one Superb skill, two Great skills, and six Good skills.

Once the free levels are used up, a skill must be dropped one level (from the default Poor to Terrible) to raise another skill one level. (See also Trading Traits.) All choices are subject to GM veto, of course.

1.621 Skill Descriptions

Once a skill is chosen and a value assigned, a single line describing how the character acquired that skill should be written underneath. For example:

Medical: Good.
Apprentice physician at the Duke's court.

or

Sword and shield: Fair
Trained to use a longsword in the village militia.

This serves several purposes. Firstly, it acts as an aid to character detailing and a reminder when role-playing the character. Secondly, it helps to GM in assigning any bonuses or penalities to actions. Thirdly, it allows an expansion of the skills system while keeping the basic categories few and simple. (See Character development for more info.)

If the GM is using broad groups, a player may raise a specific skill (such as Poker, for example, instead of general Gambling skill). A player would give his character a specific skill when the GM is using broad-based skill groups to fit a character concept. Do not expect the character to be equally adept with the other skills in the group. This would be true for Groo the Wanderer (TM), for instance, who would simply raise Sword skill, even if the GM is using the broad term Melee Weapons as a skill group. Groo would have, in fact, a Poor rating with all other Melee weapons, and this would accurately reflect the character.

1.63 Gifts & Faults

A player may gain extra trait levels by taking GM-approved faults at the following rate:

1 fault = 1 gift.
1 fault = 2 attribute levels.
1 fault = 6 skill levels.

However, the GM may rule that a particular fault is not serious enough to be worth two attribute levels, but may be worth one attribute level or three skill levels. On the other hand, severe faults may be worth more attribute levels.

1.64 Trading Traits

1 attribute level = 3 skill levels.
1 gift = 6 skill levels.
1 gift = 2 attribute levels.

Fudge Points cannot be traded without GM permission. (If tradable, each Fudge Point should be equal to one or two gifts.)

So a player with three free attribute levels and 30 free skill levels may trade three of his skill levels to get another free attribute level, or six skill levels to get another free gift.

1.7 Uncommitted Traits

Whether the character is created subjectively or objectively, each character has some free uncommitted traits (perhaps two or three). At some point in the game, a player will realize that he forgot something about the character that should have been mentioned. He may request to stop the action, and define a previously undefined trait, subject to the GM's approval. A sympathetic GM will allow this to happen even during combat time.

GM-set skill limits (such as one Superb, three Greats) are still in effect: if the character already has the maximum number of Superb skills allowed, he can't make an uncommitted trait a Superb skill.

1.9 Minimizing Abuse

Obviously, character creation in FUDGE can be abused. There are many ways to avoid this:

1) The GM can require that the character take another fault or two to balance the power. ("Okay I'll allow you to have all that . . .but you need a challenge. Take on another weakness: maybe some secret vice, or be unable to tell a believable lie, or anything that fits the character concept that I can use to test you now and then.")

2) She can simply veto any trait (or raised/lowered combination) she feels is abusive. ("I see you raised Battle-Axe in exchange for lowering Needlepoint. Hmmm.") This allows the GM to customize the power level of a game. For high-powered games, allow most anything; for less cinematic campaigns, make them trade equally useful trait for trait.

3) She can simply note the character weaknesses and introduce a situation into every adventure where at least one of them is significant to the mission. ("You'll be sent as an emissary to the Wanduzi tribe - they value fine Needlepoint work above all other skills, by the way . . .")

4) She can use the "disturbance in the force" technique of making sure that more powerful characters attract more serious problems. ("The bruiser enters the bar with a maniacal look in his eye. He scans the room for a few seconds, then begins to stare intently at you.")

Anna's Fantasy FUDGE