Assets
Assets define anything and everything that a character can leverage to help them overcome challenges.
Last updated
Assets define anything and everything that a character can leverage to help them overcome challenges.
Last updated
Assets are the foundation of a character's abilities in the game world. Assets provide narrative permission, allowing characters to perform specific actions during gameplay. To shoot somebody, you need to have a gun and some training in how to use it. To pick a lock, you would need a suitable tool and something in your background that lets you acquire knowledge about locks. Every asset is rated using dice steps D4 through to D12. An asset's dice rating measures its quality and utility and how much it helps the character succeed at tasks.
The game system does not provide any pre-defined lists for choosing character assets. Players build their characters by defining assets that reflect the identity of their characters.
As in real life, who you know, what you know, who you are, and what you have all contribute to helping you accomplish your goals. Assets can include any of the following types:
HERITAGE: Heritage includes ethnicity, ancestry, and cultural influences. It mirrors a character's historical background and upbringing, indicating their origins. A character's heritage can reveal unique genetic characteristics, knowledge specific to their culture, particular skills, or unique cultural practices and beliefs.
SKILL SET: Skill sets encompass a wide range of related knowledge, skills, and abilities that necessitate learning and training. These sets can represent professions like Lawyer, Doctor, or Engineer, academic disciplines such as Biology, Medicine, or Political Science, trades like Carpentry or Blacksmithing, and self-taught roles including Coaching, Survivalism, or Hunting.
AFFILIATION: A formal or informal connection between a character and a group, organization, or faction. This could include memberships, alliances, and business or employment relationships that influence the game world. Affiliations offer access to information, support, or privileges in certain situations. For example, a character might be affiliated with a guild, a political group, or a secret society.
DISTINCTIVE TRAIT: Traits that make the character stand out and can exert influence in the game world. A unique personality trait such as a barbarian who uses their rage to give them martial prowess or a charismatic leader who can inspire others. A character may have an inherent physical trait such as a high intelligence or uncommon physical size or strength.
GEAR: Weapons, armor, tools and toolkits, and technologies that can be worn or carried by a character. Gear can optionally include companions or access to equipment.
When adding assets to a character sheet, it's useful to employ tags—short descriptive words or phrases—that encapsulate details pertinent to the asset. Tags capture the nuances of an asset's quality and utility as its dice rating improves. In the provided example, the common attributes for each asset are delineated, and enhancements are denoted with a "+" sign.
Assets are the basis for the game systems dice system. When acting, players can choose up to three assets from a character to help them succeed. An easy test to see if a particular asset is a good fit for a character is to envision how it would contribute to performing actions during gameplay.
TOOLKITS
Gear items can include toolkits. A toolkit is a collection of related small items combined for a single purpose that is impractical to track and manage individually. For example, a Botanist might require a variety of vials, reagents, and other tools or materials to collect and test samples. A player can define a Botanist's Kit to include all the relevant items as a single gear item.
UNUSUAL ASSET TYPES
If a player has an idea for an asset that does not match one of the common types listed above, it should be discussed with the group and approved by the game host.
Assets are rated using polyhedral dice from D4 to D12. An asset's dice rating represents its innate qualities and overall utility. For example, the qualities of a sword might include the strength of its steel, the sharpness of its edge, and its balance. As the dice rating for the asset improves, it implies the item's innate qualities are better and help a character succeed.
| RATING | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
D4 | Common (average and unremarkable) |
D6 | Good |
D8 | Superior |
D10 | Very Good |
D12 | Excellent |
Assets rated at Common (D4) are considered average, unremarkable, and essentially free to characters. To increase the rating for an asset, players must invest experience points during character creation or upgrade the rating of assets through gameplay rewards.
MUNDANE ASSETS
Mundane assets are assumed to be available and shared by all characters within the game setting. This can include general knowledge, fundamental skills, clothing, and other relatively low-cost items easily acquired in the game world. Mundane assets do not need to be tracked on character sheets, and players can assume their characters have these assets during gameplay.
Signature Moves are a character’s go-to combination of assets that they frequently use to tackle common challenges or showcase their unique skills. When creating a new character, players should think about how assets will work together to form these distinctive combinations. For example, a Knight could combine assets for combat training, a sword, and a shield to create a Signature Move called "Sword and Board" that would be used for both attack and defend actions during gameplay.
POWER COMBOS
Signature Moves can be combined with Features to create Power Combos. Power Combos can help distinguish your character by enhancing the impact of a Signature Move to make it unique, powerful, and distinctive, or by chaining together multiple Signature Moves to create powerful maneuvers.
For additional guidance, see Combos under the Powers section of the Toolkit.
The game system prioritizes simplicity, eschewing detailed rules for specific asset types and traits. Boosting an asset's dice rating directly increases its effectiveness. For added detail, one can introduce ranks that delineate the enhancement of an asset's quality and utility with each increase in its dice rating.
Ranks are used to attach custom rules to the dice rating progression for a specific asset or asset type. For example, improving the dice rating for a career skill set might represent learning new specializations through additional training or experience. For a magical item, ranks might unlock new capabilities at higher dice ratings.
Ranks are a versatile mechanic that can be applied to many different types of assets. The following are some examples of how ranks can be used.
RARITY/COST: Ranks can define an increasing rarity and associated cost increase. For example, magical artifacts with a higher rank may unlock special powers or abilities.
EFFECT: Ranks can be used to define specific mechanical or narrative effects for a type of asset. For example, body armor could be described as light, medium, and heavy. Each rank might provide specific drawbacks and benefits for each rank.
SENIORITY: Ranks can be used to define specific narrative benefits for a character's seniority within a hierarchy. A position of authority like the employment level in an organization might unlock access to additional corporate resources like information, equipment, or control of other employees.
STATUS: A rank can present some permanent status within the game world. Higher ranks might unlock specific credit levels or grant a bonus for acquiring resources within the game setting or influencing non-player characters.
To define a ranking, identify a type of asset and create a table outlining the specific qualities and utility for each dice rating step.
