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'''[[VERS]] -> [[Book I - Player Rules]] -> {{PAGENAME}}'''
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Now that we have an in depth understanding of who the character is, what they believe, and how they act, all we need to do is assign ranks to the mechanical features of the character. This section of character creation can be a bit more challenging as it involves more math and keeping track of Character Point expenditures. That said, players more used to other roleplaying games may find themselves more at home here.
== Power Source ==
In some genres, like superheroes or fantasy, the character will need to define a Power Source where their abilities, powers, magic, and the like come from. For instance, our paladin character would have a power source of “Divinity” or “Faith” because all of their special abilities would relate to that in some way. This is both a roleplaying aide and a mechanical benefit to the character.
On the roleplaying side it informs how society perceives his gifts and also how he understands them. Thus a character whose abilities come from a deity revered by the local populace would be seen as an exemplar and be much beloved. A character whose abilities came from alien genetic tampering may be seen as unnatural and even hated by certain groups. These characters would also, perhaps, have their own attitudes and notions related to this, such as the paladin being more “holier-than-thou” or perhaps extremely compassionate, depending on the player’s desires, or the character with spliced genes might feel very conscious about their powers and try to hide them.
From a mechanical side, this allows other abilities to target certain types of power sources, such as magic that only affects Negative Energy creatures or weapons that only affect those with mutant DNA. This will be touched on more in the Abilities section, but you can think of power source as similar to an Ability’s Property.
Some common power sources are magic, technology, divinity, training, psychic, alien, mutant, and martial arts.
== Power Level ==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
! colspan="5" style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#445016; border-width: 0; color:#ffffff;" | Power Level and Character Creation
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | PL
| style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Attribute
| style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Skill
| style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | General
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Examples
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 0
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 5
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 5
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 0
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Typical NPC
|-
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 1
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 10
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 7
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 0
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Teenage PCs, Adventuring NPCs
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 2
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 15
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 10
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 5
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Novice PC
|-
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 3
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 20
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 10
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 7
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Standard PC, Important NPC
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 4
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 25
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 13
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0 | 10
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Veteran PC, Teen Superhero
|-
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 5
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 30
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 15
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 15
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Low Level Superhero, Legendary NPC
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 6
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 35
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 20
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 25
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Superhero, Mythic NPC
|-
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 7
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 40
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 25
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7;border-width: 0;" | 35
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Veteran Superhero
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 8
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 45
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 30
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 50
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" |
|-
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | 9
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | 50
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | 35
| style="text-align: center; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | 65
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" |
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 10
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 55
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 40
| style="background-color:#ffffff; text-align: center; border-width: 0;" | 80
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Practically a deity
|}
VERS is a free form system, which means that it does not use a class or level structure to build characters. Instead, every player can create exactly the character they want to play. This freedom comes at a price, however, and balancing characters to make sure that no one has a boring mess with no relevant skills or an overpowered, scene stealing munchkin is difficult, especially to inexperienced players and GMs.
To help with this, the GM needs to determine the Power Level of the game she wants to run. Power level is a method of somewhat constraining the experience of the characters so that the GM can more easily tune the opposition to be appropriate to their skill. Unlike levels in some other rpg systems, however, that is all these power levels do, they provide a suggestion of how powerful the character should be.
A character's Attributes and Skills combined should have less than or equal ranks to twice the power level, while Abilities should equal or have fewer ranks than the base power level. In other words, a power level of 3 means that the combined ranks of a skill and its connected attribute should be no more than 6, while an ability for that character should have no more than 3 ranks. These are just guidelines and it is ultimately up to the GM to approve any character build, built to respect power level or not.
Most VERS games start out at a Power Level of 3, but those wishing to make younger characters going on their first adventures should build characters at Power Level 2, while veterans with a long history should build at Power Level 4. In the chart below the columns for "starting ranks" for both attributes and skills are indicating the total number of ranks that can be distributed at that PL at character creation, while general is an amount of CP that can be spent on advantages, and abilities, or even on more ranks of attributes and skills, if desired. Also note that the following chart is for basic games. Some settings, such as a super-heroic setting or high fantasy, which use many more abilities and advantages, may have different guidelines like doubling the general CP.
== Attributes ==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; font-weight:bold; background-color:#445016; color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Attribute Matrix
|-
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" |
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Mental
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Physical
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Social
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; border-width: 0;" | Power
| style="border-width: 0;" | Logic
| style="border-width: 0;" | Strength
| style="border-width: 0;" | Presence
|-
| style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Finesse
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Intuition
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Agility
| style="background-color:#bec8b7; border-width: 0;" | Charisma
|-
| style="background-color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold; border-width: 0;" | Resistance
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Resolve
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Stamina
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width: 0;" | Composure
|}
Attributes are the most basic building block of any character and represent the inborn aptitude a character has without regard to what the character may have learned throughout her life. Altogether there are nine attributes which are split into a three by three matrix based on whether they are physical, mental, or social (the columns) or whether they represent power, finesse, or resistance in those categories (the rows).
=== Increasing Attributes ===
Attributes start at 0 at character creation, which is the human average. A character can "sell off" ranks of attributes in order to go into negatives if they want, which grants them additional ranks to work with.
The range of 1 to 2 ranks would be considered above average. These would be the people who stand out to us as good workers or always on top of their tasks. They tend to gravitate toward key positions in life because they are the best equipped to handle them. With few exceptions, most of the important NPCs in the world have attributes in this range.
The range of 3 to 4 represents paragons of talent far in excess of the average and would be used for someone who stood out as an exemplar even in their respective fields. Attributes in this range are mostly reserved for player characters and major enemy characters. If any NPC characters have attributes in this range they are considered among the best of the best.
A 5 is the pinnacle of natural human potential, a legend among legends and likely considered the greatest of a generation. Think Einstein and Newton here. Not just great physicists but ones that single handedly changed our fundamental views of the world. The world only has a few people of rank 5 in it at any one time. Rank 5 and above is entirely the realm of the player characters.
When progressing a character after character creation, each rank costs progressively more than the last, with rank 1 costing 3 CP, rank 2 costing 6 CP, etc. A shorthand way to describe this progression as “3 x new rank” or “three times new rank”. Purchasing the natural maximum for the setting (typically the fifth rank) or above costs twice as much per rank (6 x new rank).
=== Mental Attributes ===
[[Mental Attributes]] are the first group of attributes, and  they describe how a character’s mind works. How fast can she do complex arithmetic? How easily can she solve intricate puzzles? How much trouble does she have ignoring distractions?
=== Physical Attributes ===
[[Physical Attributes]] determine how a character interacts with the physics of the world. Can she pick up that object? How does she move? How long can she hold her breath?
=== Social Attributes ===
[[Social Attributes]] describe the details of how a character interacts with others. Does he command attention wherever he goes? Does she have a way of engendering confidence and trust to those she speaks to? Is he hard to embarrass or slow to anger?
=== Figured Attributes ===
Some attributes are independent and describe a unique facet of an individual while other attributes describe qualities that are functions of other qualities. VERS refers to these as [[Figured Attributes]], and their ranks are not determined by purchase but by calculating them based on the character’s ranks in her core attributes.
=== Other Attributes ===
While neither purchased directly, nor figured from other attributes, [[Size]] is simply set based on guidelines for the setting and genre.
== Skills ==
If attributes are the character’s inborn talents, then Skills are the development and specialization of those talents. Each skill is based on an attribute, although these are not set in stone. While Deception is normally based on Charisma, the GM may decide that in a particular interaction Intuition may be better, such as a phony psychic trying to pass off clever observations as legitimate messages from a dead relative.
Skill ranks range from 0-5 like attributes. However, unlike attributes, a character cannot have a negative rank in a skill. You either know it or you don’t. A 0 ranked skill is unknown to the character, although the character may attempt the skill untrained (just using the attribute) at a -2 penalty. A single rank is equivalent to a student or hobbyist understanding, while ranks 2 to 3 represent the professional range where a character could make a living with that skill. A character with 4 ranks in a skill is considered amazing, and would likely have national or even international fame. A character with a skill ranked 5 would be a legend with fame renowned throughout world and with a legacy that will outlast their own lives.
When advancing the character with character points, the first skill rank costs 1 CP, which rank 2 costs 2 CP, etc. This progressive increase in costs is often referred to as “1 x new rank” or one times new rank. Again, this cost doubles at the natural maximum and above.
When looking through these skills keep in mind that VERS is a universal game. As such, certain settings may add skills or change how they work. In the interest of making the base game as generic as possible, skills suitable for modern, fantasy, and sci-fi settings are detailed in this chapter, along with details for how they may fit into your story or setting.
=== Background Skills ===
Certain character concepts may lend themselves to skills that will otherwise be of very limited usefulness, such as Profession (Weaver) for a young squire whose family were poor weavers before he got chosen to learn the way of chivalry. Since knights rarely need a weaving skill it does not make sense to pay for that with character points. If a skill is not going to come up during the course of the game (or only very rarely) then it is a background skill.
A character gets a number of free skill ranks at character creation equal to twice the sum of their Logic and Intuition for these background skills. Whether a skill is or isn’t considered a background skill is up to the GM, but the general rule of thumb is that if the skill is not going to be useful for advancing the plot on a regular basis and is being purchased mostly for roleplay purposes, then it should be considered background.
=== Synergy ===
Some skills work hand in hand with others. This is called synergy, and it is a one way path from Expertise (typically, although it could be another skill at the GM’s discretion) to other skills like Hacking. After all, having a background in the theories behind a job can greatly improve a character’s chances of understanding a problem and making the best solution. Synergy works by granting a +1 bonus on the rolled skill for every 2 ranks of Expertise. A single skill can get a bonus from multiple synergies and these are cumulative. These synergies are ultimately up to the GM, but most will be self evident.
=== Skills in Detail ===
The following [[Skills in Detail|descriptions]] detail the standard definitions and uses of each of the skills, as well as some ideas for more genre specific versions of some skills. The descriptions and uses are really just guidelines, however. GMs have final say on specific uses during game.
== Advantages ==
[[Advantages]] are a third type of characteristic, defining the little things that make a character unique and give them an edge. Some advantages represent intense training, while others simply represent quirks of personality or chances of nature, out of the control of the character and at the whims of fate. Regardless of the source, however, advantages represent a powerful tool in any character’s arsenal.
Take note that some advantages, primarily physical, are required to be purchased at character creation. This is not because of the cost but because the advantage in question is something intrinsic to the character, like their height, that they were either born with or they weren’t.
== Abilities ==
[[Abilities]] are the part of the character that make he or she unique, representing either special powers beyond the grasp of the average person, advanced or specialized weaponry, or even just the benefits of extreme training. While not all character’s need abilities, for many characters in most settings, the abilities are the most memorable or important part.
Like the rest of VERS, the abilities are generic. Generic means that abilities such as a damaging effect are not associated with how the attack harms the target, merely that they are and by how much. A fireball spell, an energy-powered punch, and a laser beam are all created with that same components. In this way, the same ability write-up could be recycled from character to character, just by changing the window dressing.
In many ways the ability sub-system is particularly suited to superhero games in which free rein is given to characters to create any power they can imagine. For other genres it is typically preferable to have players select from pre-created abilities, or even abilities made without these building blocks and using some other pricing scheme. For more information on this process, see the Optional Rules section.
Abilities are not inherently tied to attributes because they are able to be used in so many different ways. When creating ability it should be tied to an attribute based on how the overall ability works. For instance, attack abilities or other abilities that target other should be based on power attributes, while defensive abilities should be based on resistance attributes. Anything else should be tied to a finesse attribute. A few abilities cannot be tied to an attribute, and will be noted in its description. The EV for abilities are equal to attribute + ability rank, while abilities that target others would roll finesse attribute + ability rank to determine the success of the attack, and power attribute + ability rank to determine EV.
== Gear ==
[[Gear]] is one of the pillars of non-superhero games, and while everything that gear can do is possible with the existing Ability rules, the following optional system makes creating gear streamlined and simple at the cost of certain fringe case scenarios. Note that weapons need a functional range (grappling, close, or ranged), decided at creation. To create a weapon or other piece of gear simply add together all of the positive components and then subtract all the negative components. To see example gear please see the Appendices. Below are a list of costs and modifiers.
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Latest revision as of 08:14, 7 April 2021

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