Making a Character
You need four things before your first scene: a species, a type, a backstory, and a name you'd answer to on a bad night.
Step 1 — Choose your species
Your species is what you are — your biology, your base stats, your stat caps, your natural abilities, and whether you have a power pool at all.
| Species | Who they are | Power pool |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline Human | Unmodified humanity. Skill, equipment, and tactics; stat caps at 20. The only beings who can pilot Frames. | None |
| Beastkin | Animal-humanoids — fur, fangs, tails, beast form. Stronger caps in physical stats. | None |
| Halfkin | Mostly human with subtle animal traits. Passes in human society. | None |
| Mutant | Human-descended, mutated genes granting extraordinary powers. No stat caps — they grow without limit. | Stamina |
| Nano-Enhanced | Nanomachines fused into the body. Powerful, adaptable, EMP-vulnerable until they fuse fully. | Stamina |
| Splice | A baseline being with animal DNA spliced in. The only path that can reduce a stat's growth. | None |
| Demon | Extradimensional beings of immense power. Evolve through stages: Demon → Arch Demon → Demon Lord. | Mana |
| Angel | Celestial beings of divine origin. Evolve through stages: Angel → Archangel → Seraphim. | Mana |
| Android | Synthetic humanoids. Never tire, absorb energy attacks, and suppress mutant/nano/magic power on contact. | Energy |
| Artificial Intelligence | A digital consciousness with no body. Only Intelligence grows — without limit. Controls bodies and networks. | Energy |
Some species are always enhanced (Mutant, Nano-Enhanced, Splice) and some are born as what they are (Demon, Angel, Android, AI). Others — Human, Beastkin, Halfkin — choose whether to stay baseline or take a modification.
Step 2 — Choose your type
Your type is what's been done to you. Think of it as your progression path: it sets your stat growth per level, your level cap, and which abilities you can fuel.
| Type | What it does | Fuels |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Nothing done to you. The absence of the other types — it never mixes. | — |
| Mutant | +2 to every stat per level, +2 more in your power stats. Removes stat caps. | Stamina |
| Nano-Enhanced | Growth focused on CON, then STR/DEX. Removes stat caps. | Stamina |
| Splice | Adds or subtracts growth per animal spliced. | — |
| Cyborg | No growth bonus — cybernetic implants (equipment) push you past the caps. | Energy |
Mutant, Nano-Enhanced, Splice, and Cyborg stack — a Human Mutant Nano is a real thing, and all the bonuses add. Your character sheet records the combination in characterTypes. Your name always reads [Species] [Type]: Human Mutant, Beastkin Cyborg, Human Splice. Demons and Angels skip types entirely — their progression stages replace them.
Step 3 — Write the person
Your backstory is not flavor text; it is mechanical. It sets:
- Base stats — start from your species' baseline (all 8s, roughly; Demons and Angels start higher), adjusted for who you've been and what you've survived.
- Starting skills — 4 to 8 skills rated 1–25, drawn from your history. A former soldier has Combat skills; a street kid has Stealth and Survival.
- Starting credits — from your life, not your power. An Omega-level mutant living in a rundown pod with empty pockets is completely valid. Power doesn't pay rent.
- Starting gear — modest Tier 1–2 equipment. One hard rule: if you're a Cyborg, you must start with a Power Cell equipped or in your inventory. Without one, every implant shuts down.
Step 4 — The table does the rest
The GM sets your Health Tier (0–3: how tough your build is), computes your derived stats (HP, resources, speed, perception), records your racial and type abilities, and builds your sheet — with every resource at maximum. You start at full power, ready for your first scene.
If you're stuck, start from the species that excites you most, then ask: what was done to me, and what did it cost? The answer to that second question is usually your character.