Building Races, Classes, and Conditions

Every archetype in A&E is built from the same three-Feature grammar. Master it once and you can author a species, a profession, or a curse.

Races: The Biological Foundation

9 Base Stats (pool of 63, average 7.00): distribute 63 points across STR, MOB, END (Body), INT, WIS, WIT (Mind), RLV, CNF, RSN (Spirit). Humans have 7 in all nine. If a race drops a stat low (4–5), consider giving them a T3 Racial Feature that covers their signature way of overcoming that weakness.

Sex Modifiers (+1 to 3 stats): choose 3 Base Stats to receive +1 for males and 3 for females — unless a subrace features unique sexual dimorphism (e.g., matriarchal dark elves).

Size (height in meters): define average male and female height ranges. 1.5 m is the baseline divisor for Size / 1.5 (or 1.5 / Size when small stature is advantageous).

3 Racial Features (with free 50% Skill Cap bonus): 1 Primary Feature from the base race + 2 Secondary Features from the subrace. All Racial Features automatically receive a free Racial Skill Bonus equal to 50% of the character's Skill Cap.

Half-Breeds (Race → Subrace: SecondRace): use the Primary Race's Base Stats and Size (nudged slightly toward the Second Race), and take [Primary Race Primary Feature] + [1 chosen Subrace Secondary Feature] + [Second Race Primary Feature].

Mitigations (exception, not the rule): only assign narrative Resistances or Vulnerabilities where essential to physiology. Remember the 2:1 Vulnerability Rule: a Vulnerability is twice as punishing as a Resistance is helpful.

Worked example: the sample Human — 7s across the board, T4 Improvisational Versatility as its primary, with Frontierborn and Cosmopolitan subraces demonstrating T2/T0 and T1 features respectively.

Classes: The Training Engine

Classes never modify Base Stats or Size. They grant 3 Class Features: 1 Primary Feature from the base class + 2 Secondary Features from the subclass. A subclass may optionally replace the base class's Primary Feature if it fundamentally changes how the character fights or operates.

Directors may allow players to custom-build a class or subclass using the exact same 3-Feature structure. Worked example: the sample Warrior — primary Weapons Discipline [T2], with Duelist (Precision Striking, Evasive Footwork) and Guardian (Guardian's Interposition, Rallying Presence) subclasses, all T1.

Conditions: Lineages and Transformations

Conditions are transformative states or templates — vampirism, lycanthropy, lichdom, planar-touched — that behave like an overlay on top of Race:

• Net-0 Base Stat Shift: apply significant positive and negative modifiers that sum to 0 (e.g., +3 STR, +3 MOB, +2 CNF | −2 END, −4 RSN, −2 WIS — the sample Vampirism).
• Bonus Racial Feature(s) & Mitigations: grant 1 or more active features (which receive the 50% Skill Cap bonus) balanced by thematic Mitigations — such as Vampirism's True Vulnerability to Direct Sunlight paired with Major Resistance to physical trauma.

Features: The Shared Grammar

Every Feature obeys the Three Golden Rules: domains of action (never button presses), strictly active ("Applies When: Actively..."), never narrower than T0 (~1-in-72 actions). Rate breadth T0–T5, and use the Constraint Slider — an external focus or dependency buys up to 2 Tiers of faster scaling — only when the Director can narratively challenge, suppress, or take the constraint away.

Build your archetypes as files in /A&E Universal System/Races/, /A&E Universal System/Classes/, /A&E Universal System/Conditions/, and /A&E Universal System/Features/, and characters simply reference them — the sheet computes everything else.