The Five Stats and the Story

The game runs on five traits and one sentence. This chapter is about how those live in a Character file.

The five traits

Characters have five traits, ranked 1 to 9:

• GUTS — how tough and strong you are; how slowly you die when bitten.
• NERVE — reflexes and coordination; what you roll to dodge snakes.
• COOL — how likely you are to flip out; tested whenever you meet an unexpected snake.
• WITS — you're a smart motherfucker, aren't you? Too bad you're on a plane full of snakes.
• CHARM — works better on people than it does on snakes.

Players distribute 25 points among them, minimum 1, maximum 9. The full rule lives in the Player's Handbook; this manual is about making files that fit it.

The file, as built

The Character file type matches the game, not a generic template. The fields are:

• traits — the five traits, stored as guts, nerve, cool, wits, and charm. Numbers only, 1–9, and they should add up to 25. A passenger with 25 points and one sentence of story is complete.
• story — the only required field beyond the name. One sentence explaining what you're doing on this plane. It cannot use words you'd find in an SAT vocabulary prep book or in a Proust novel.
• inventory — what they have on the plane with them. Keep it light (see Equipment That Earns Its Space).
• description, personality, notes — optional color. Use them to make the passenger fun to play; never build a rule on them.

The Story test

"Snuck onto the plane to pitch my script to a producer" — GOOD.

"Escorting a witness to testify in a federal trial" — GOOD.

"Flying to a Hawaiian retreat to seek succor from the ennui that is my existence" — BAD.

The Story is the SnakeMaster's engine. It tells them what to endanger and how to keep you moving. If the Story doesn't fit in one sentence, it doesn't fit in this game.

A good passenger

The starter project ships with three: Marco Delgado (snuck aboard to pitch his script), Priya Nair (escorting a federal witness), and Charlie Okafor (honeymooner, scared of flying, holding a golf club). Each is a name, five numbers, one sentence, maybe an item. Model your passengers on them — and make the Stories collide.