CHARACTER CREATION

Xero Sum Engine offers three methods to create a character: Backstory Generation, customizing a Paradigm, or picking a Pregenerated Character (Pregen).

BACKSTORY GENERATIONTo develop their character, players get 20 Character Development Points (CDP) to allocate during different periods of a character’s life and flesh out how they became who they are.
At no point during Backstory Generation may a character raise an attribute beyond 3 (Exceptional) or a skill beyond 3 (Professional).
Players should write 1-2 sentences about what happened to their character during each step and how it affected them so that, when combined, these sentences capture their backstory. 

 

Download Character Sheet v0.6

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STEP XERO: WHO ARE THEY?

Players should define as much of their character concept as possible before a game starts, including basic details such as name, age, height, and weight.
They should also pick 3 thematic words that describe this character. 

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STEP ONE: WHERE THEY GREW UP

This covers the first 10-15 years of a character's life. 
Players spend 1 CDP on raising a RAPID Range attribute from 0 (Untrained) to 1 (Good). 
They also spend 2 CDP on skills. They may spend both points on raising any 1 skill from 0 (Untrained) to +2 (Journeyman) or any 2 skills from 0 (Untrained) to +1 (Beginner). 
If they take a skill marked with an asterisk (such as Mechanic* or Medicine*), this moves the skill from -3 (Inept) to +1 (Beginner).

 

STEP TW0: WHAT THEY LEARNED

This step covers the educational stage of a character's life, and players spend 1 CDP on raising a RAPID Range attribute and 3 CDP on skills. 
They may not raise a skill above +2 (Journeyman) during this step.

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STEP THREE: WHAT THEY LIKED TO DO

This reflects skills learned when doing the things that their characters do in their spare time. Players get 1 CDP to spend on raising a RAPID Range attribute and 3 CDP on skills.
They may not raise skills above +2 (Journeyman) during this step. 

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STEP FOUR: HOW THEY MADE MONEY

This step reflects what a character does for work or to make money, and what this has taught them.
During this step, players get 2 CDP to spend on raising RAPID Range attributes and 4 CDP to spend on raising skills. 
Players can raise attributes to +3 (Exceptional) and skills to +3 (Professional) during this step.
XSE has a set of Professions that combine thematically similar vocational skills. Players can either choose a Profession and spend CDP on the skills associated with that profession or simply spend the CDP on skills they feel best match their character concept. 
Games built on this SRD may have custom Professions to match the setting.

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TABLE 8: PROFESSIONS & VOCATIONAL SKILLS

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STEP FIVE: WHAT THEY LEARNED AFTER

During this step, players get 3 CDP to spend on skills to round out and finalize their character concept. 
They cannot raise attributes beyond +3 (Exceptional) or skills beyond +3 (Professional) during this step.

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STEP SIX: WHAT DRIVES THEM

Players should choose both a Complication and Motivation that drives them, or they can roll 2d6 and consult Table 6: Complications and Table 7: Motivations.

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TABLE 6: COMPLICATIONS

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TABLE 7: MOTIVATIONS

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STEP SEVEN: SECONDARY STATS

Characters all have a series of Secondary Statistics that affect gameplay and are derived from their attributes.

TABLE 5: SECONDARY STATS

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STEP EIGHT: WHAT THEY HAVE

Characters start with both a primary and secondary weapon picked from Tables 16 -19 (see 07. Weapons & Equipment on page xx). 
Each weapon comes with 1d3 reloads of ammunition. 
Characters also get 1 item from Table 20: Equipment on page xx and an incidental item that has no combat value but provides some use or helps flesh out their personality. 

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STEP NINE: FINAL FLAVOR

Players should review their character and add or tweak any details before the game begins. Does this character match the concept you had in mind? Do the three descriptive words still make sense?

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CHARACTER SHEET

Download Character Sheet v0.6

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CHARACTER EVOLUTION

At the end of each game session, the Game Master has the discretion to award 2 or more CDP that the players can spend on improving their characters’ attributes or skills. 
Learning a new skill requires the investment of 1 Skill CDP to get to level 1.
Raising an existing skill requires paying CDP corresponding to the total of the current level and the level the skill is being raised to. Therefore, taking a skill from level 1 to 2 requires 3 CDP, from 2 to 3 requires 5 CDP, and from 3 to 4 requires 7 CDP. 
Increasing a RAPID Range attribute costs 3x the CDP per level being raised. This means that raising an attribute from 1 to 2 requires 6 CDP, from 2 to 3 requires 9 CDP, and from 3 to 4 requires 12 CDP.. 

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PARADIGMS

Paradigms represent a trope, stereotype, or role within a group, and each comes predefined with the attributes and a skill set to match the concept. 
 

To start, players just select a Paradigm, give it a name, provide a 3-word description, and choose a Complication and Motivation.
 

Paradigms have their RAPID Range, skills and Secondary Stats defined, and a player can make adjustments at the GMs discretion. 

A full list of Paradigms can be found in Appendix C: Paradigms.

 

PREGENS

The Xero Sum Engine comes with multiple Pregenerated Characters, or Pregens, that are available for download. 

The Pregens come with pre-defined RAPID Range Attributes, Skills, Complications, Motivations, and Secondary Stats, along with a semi-complete Backstory that provides an easy starting point while allowing plenty of room for customization.

These Pregens have pre-defined RAPID Range Attributes, Skills, Complications, Motivations, and Secondary Stats, alongside a semi-complete backstory that leaves room for customization. 

The library of Pregens is available at xerosumgames.com/pregens.