Characters and the Eight Attributes
Every playable person, creature, or other actor that needs ongoing state can use the Character file type. The Character is the live record. It stores what is true for that individual now: current attributes, current durability, resources, learned skills, class history, equipment state, advancement, and other mutable facts. Shared definitions live in their own files and are referenced by the Character rather than copied into it.
The eight attributes
The common Character schema provides I.Q., M.E., M.A., P.S., P.P., P.E., P.B., and Spd. These fields are intentionally stable across Palladium Worlds because they are a useful common language. What the numbers mean mechanically is supplied by the active World.
Do not assume one universal generation method. A World may roll the attributes, assign them, modify them through species or class, use special exceptional-score rules, or apply title-specific procedures. Likewise, the bonuses attached to a high or low attribute belong to the active Attribute Rule Set. The Character sheet can display derived bonuses, but the derivation comes from World data rather than from a hard-coded Rifts table.
O.C.C., R.C.C., Species, and Alignment
O.C.C. and R.C.C. files are reusable class definitions. They can hold requirements, experience tables, granted training, skill choices, combat options, resource growth, powers, equipment expectations, and other progression information. Species files hold racial or species-level definitions that apply independently of occupation. Alignment is referenced separately so the Character can carry the moral or behavioral framework used by that World.
A Character may also keep class or career history. That matters when a World or conversion rule preserves earlier training, freezes an old advancement track, adds a second career, or distinguishes the active class from previous ones. The current World decides when such history has mechanical effect.
Definition versus state
This distinction is one of the most important rules in the Craft implementation. A Skill file describes what the skill is. The Character records that this individual knows it, when it was learned, and any personal proficiency state. An Equipment file describes a weapon or suit of armor. The Character records that this particular copy is carried, damaged, empty, loaded, or worn. A Hand-to-Hand Style defines a progression. The Character records which style is active and which level of it applies.
Never damage the shared armor definition because one hero was hit. Never change a shared Skill because one character received a temporary penalty. Never rewrite an O.C.C. because one character spent ammunition. Shared files are reusable rule definitions; live changes belong to the Character or another state file.
Optional pools
The Character can hold Hit Points, S.D.C., M.D.C., P.P.E., I.S.P., and other resources, but the presence of a field does not mean every World uses it. The Environment and Rules Profile say which pools matter. A World that does not use Mega-Damage should not suddenly start applying M.D.C. because the field exists. A non-psychic or non-magical World can leave I.S.P. or P.P.E. unused.
When you read a Character sheet, read it through the active World. The schema is broad so many Palladium games can share it; the World tells you which parts are live.
Class families
The core can represent O.C.C.s, R.C.C.s, and P.C.C.s. A World decides which class families it actually uses and supplies their requirements, advancement tables, skills, powers, and starting options. Do not assume a missing class family from another Palladium title applies.