How to Create A Character -- Summary

During STAR FRONTIERS games, players will want their characters to try doing many different things. It would be impossible to state rules covering every possibility. Instead, this section describes a very simple rule that can be used in almost any situation.

When a character tries to do something that is not covered by a specific rule, the referee should decide whether the action is something the character can do automatically or if there is a chance the character might fail. If the action is not something the character can do automatically, then the character must make an ability check. The referee decides which of the character's abilities is most important in performing the action. The player rolls d100 and, if the result is equal to or less than the ability score the referee chose, then the character succeeded at whatever he was trying to do.

EXAMPLE: A character who is alone in a room can easily pickup a gun from the floor. However, if he tries to grab the gun from the floor while being chased through the room, he could miss it or drop it. In this case, the character should make a Dexterity check to grab the gun.

Modifiers. The referee may decide an action is easier or harder than average because of an unusual situation. When this happens, the referee can tell the player to adjust his character's ability score by adding or subtracting a number, making the ability check easier or harder to pass. Most modifiers should not be more than plus or minus 30.

EXAMPLE: A group of characters is using a rope and spikes to climb a cliff. One of the upper characters knocks loose several rocks. The referee decides that the next character on the rope must make a Reaction Speed check to dodge the falling rocks. He also decides that, because the character is hanging on a rope, his Reaction Speed should be lowered by 20 for this ability check. The character's Reaction Speed is 55. Subtracting 20 gives him a modified Reaction Speed of 35. If the player rolls 35 or less on d100, the character avoids the rocks.

Secret Checks. If knowing the result of an ability check roll would tell a player something his character would not know, the referee should make the check secretly and tell the player only what his character sees, or what happens to the character.

EXAMPLE: A group of characters is traveling across an unexplored planet. Their Explorer was destroyed in a rockslide, and a group of native bandits stole most of their equipment. They need water, but the water in the pond they just found looks bright blue. One of the characters volunteers to taste it. The referee knows the water contains rnicroscopic plants that will make the character sick 20 hours after drinking the water, if the character fails a Stamina check. He rolls the check secretly, and the character fails. The referee tells the player, "The water tastes a little strange, but it doesn't seem to be affecting you at all." Twenty hours later, however, the character will become sick.

Ability Uses

All eight character abilities are listed below, along with typical actions that would require an ability check against that ability.

Strength. Strength determines a character's chance to break open doors, bend metal, shift heavy objects or anything else requiring brute force.

Stamina. A character's Stamina score is the number of points of damage the character can take before being killed. It is also the character's percent chance to resist the effects of poison, gas, drugs, disease, extreme heat or cold, starvation and fatigue.

Dexterity. A character's Dexterity score determines his base chance to hit in combat. It also is his percent chance to sense things by touch, throw or catch an object, keep his balance, jump into a moving vehicle or perform delicate actions like cutting a wire without touching any surrounding wires.

Reaction Speed. A character's Reaction Speed score is his percent chance to react quickly, to avoid falling rocks, to catch something he knocked over before it hits the floor, to jump away from a skimmer that is racing toward him, to grab an animal or to dive through a door before it slams shut.

Intuition. A character's Intuition score is his percent chance to notice small details or hidden objects, to sense an ambush or trap and, at the referee's discretion, to make sense out of seemingly unrelated or illogical facts. When a character pases an Intuition check, the referee should tell the player that he notices something unusual, and describe what the character sees (or hears, smells, feels or tastes). The player must decide what to do with this information. Referees should urge players to figure out puzzles on their own; Intuition checks should not be allowed until after the players have tried (and failed) to solve the puzzle themselves.

Logic. A character's Logic score is his percent chance to follow complicated instructions, to figure out the best way to do something he has never done before or use something he is not familiar with, and to make accurate predictions from facts. The referee should roll Logic checks secretly. If the character fails the check, the referee can tell him either that he does not understand whatever he was studying, or can give him false information. A character's Logic score can be modified by the complexity of the situation and the amount of time the character spends studying it. The referee should encourage players to draw their own conclusions from information; like Intuition, Logic checks should be a last resort.

Personality. Personality affects how likely a character is to get a friendly response from a stranger and how long he can hold someone#s attention. The referee should encourage players to role-play their attempts to use Personality and talk to NPCs.

EXAMPLE: Dreevale the Vrusk has just insulted a Gorlian thug by accidentally spilling a drink on him. The Gorlian is very mad. Dreevale decides to try talking his way out of the situation. "Oops, pardon me, my good fellow, how absolutely clumsy of me," the player says. "Here, let me buy you a drink and let's forget about it. Dreevale s Personality score is 40. The referee notes that the Gorlian is mad and wet and itching tor a fight. He tells Dreevale to subtract 20 from his score. Dreevale rolls 91, which is greater than his modified score of 20. The Gorlian punches Dreevale.

Leadership. A character's Leadership score reflects his ability to command with authority and have NPCs obey his/her orders. Leadership checks are needed only if a character orders an NPC to do something dangerous, or has mistreated the NPC. Under normal conditions NPCs who work for a character will always obey that character. If characters try to give orders to strangers, the referee must decide how likely the stranger is to obey.

Leadership also is used to bargain with NPCs. The referee should not let characters with high Leadership scores trade junk for valuable merchandise, but a successful Leadership check will get a better deal for the character, or convince reluctant NPCs to deal with the character. Characters can bargain for information as well as merchandise.

More information about the effect of Leadership on NPCs can be found in the rule section on NPCs.