Characters

ForeSight (1986), pp. 13–28 — a best-effort cleanup of the machine-extracted original; expect residual OCR noise. Compare with the source PDF. About this restoration.

[2.0] CHARACTERS

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

[2.0] Characters

Designer's Notes: the character is the most important object in a role-playing setting; like a television program or a motion picture, a role-playing adventure generally deals with the interactions of central characters (the protagonists - in this case the player characters) and their environment, including not only natural hazards and dire beasts, but other (perhaps non-human) characters (the supporting caste of allies, antagonists, and bystanders - the non-player characters). The rules in this section deal with the creation of both player and non-player characters.

[2.1] Character Generation

Designer's Notes: The Player Character (or PC) is the most important product of a role-playing system. The following rules enable you to generate a (human) character for the FS system cold, ie. without any knowledge of the other rules. Of course knowledge of the other rules helps.

Procedure: A PC in FS is generated using the following procedure. A copy of the FS character sheet is necessary. [Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Step 1: Determine the character's social and ethnic background (this may be done by rolling D100 and consulting the tables provided, or choosing from among the items on the tables), and record these in the appropriate slots on the character sheet; eye colour, hair colour, complexion (by this I mean skin colour), hair texture, height, and frame (build), should be chosen by the player in accordance with his/her general intent for that character's makeup.

Handedness should be determined randomly as follows: roll D10 - a result of 1 indicates an ambidextrous character (such a character has no off" hand); a 2 or 3 indicates a left-handed character (the character's right hand is considered off"); a 4-10 indicates right handedness.

The character's sex should be decided by the player some time during this step.

The character's inherent abilities and limitations should now be determined by rolling D100 (perhaps, if so indicated, more than once) and consulting the appropriate table. The results of this should be recorded in the appropriate slot on the character sheet.

Social Background — roll D100 for Social Background:

YFE is Years of Free Education. Initial funds are determined by multiplying the figure under SVU by the years of education the character passed, and then by his/her (Age - 14). The result is his/her initial funds in SVU.

Some comments on this stage. Remember that a character should be rationalised in terms of his/her sex, ethnic background, social background, and so forth. How is it that a character of wealthy permanent background has familiarity with a great many gravities, temperatures, and environments? Perhaps he/she came from a planet beyond the Federation, with a monarchy, and worked with explorers from the Royal Planetological Society. If so, then what other skills did the character need to engage in such work?

If you feel unable to cope with a character's background, then by all means roll or choose a different one. The GM may object to a surfeit of Abandoned waifs, and members of Corporate Dynasties however.

Of course this all applies at an even more basic level: a character with West African background shouldn't have blue eyes and blonde hair (unless the GM has stated that in 2073 West Africa was flooded with European refugees after the Soviet invasion... ).

Ethnic Background — roll D100 for Ethnic Background:

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Step 2: The character's inherent attributes are now determined. This may be done in one of two ways:

[i] Set each of the attributes to five (5) and distribute thirty-two (32) additional points among them so that they fall within the range of five to twelve (5-12) inclusive. The resultant values are the inherent attributes possessed by the character.

[ii] Roll D6+4 for, and set that value beside, each attribute, then distribute a further fifteen (15) points among them so that they fall within the range five to twelve (5-12) inclusive - without lowering the value of any attribute. As above, these are the inherent values.

Step 3: determine the character's initial age. As this will determine the extent of the character's abilities to a considerable degree, the GameMaster (GM) has considerable discretion here. For a character of relative inexperience, the starting age should be D6+14 years; a character of moderate ability and experience should be D10+19 years old; a character of greater experience should be D10+29 years old (or older still, especially in a Known Space based setting, for example). Designer's Note: there is no reason for a GM not to have characters of widely varying capability in his/her campaign ( perhaps to counteract relative experience of players if desired).

Step 4: The number of generation points (henceforth GPs) available to further develop that character should be determined and noted (on scrap paper). A character has two sources of GPs: social background (the number of GPs received therefrom is indicated on the same table used to determine a character's social background), and age (see table below).

For characters older than 57, +2 per year beyond 57.

Note that a character's abilities may deteriorate owing to aging effects (no rules for these are provided).

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Step 5: The initial values for Gravity, Temperature, and Environment, familiarity are decided by the player. One slot under each heading is chosen to be three (3). This may not be EX(treme) gravity, V(ery) C(old) or V(ery) H(ot) temperature, or S(u)B(merged) environment. The values directly above, below, to the left, and to the right, of these threes (where they exist) are made one (1); all others are made zero. Note that for these purposes the B(arre)N column of the environmental familiarity display is considered to be to the right of the IC(e) column, and likewise IC is left of BN. A player choosing to place his/her character's environment 3 in BR(oken) BN would put ones in UN BN, BR lV, and BR IC.

A character may also be allocated two of the following skills at level one for no cost: Running, Swimming, Dancing, Climbing, Charisma, Gambling, Groundcraft, Watercraft, Aircraft, Personal Flyer, Riding, Jumping, any sporting skill, and Throwing.

Step 6: The player may now spend his/her character's generation points in order to improve the character's abilities. This may be done as follows:

[i] An ability or limitation may be removed by expending 20 GPs

Abilities and Limitations Table

Phobias: (fears of things) these require a (EF 7) WP roll to resist in the face of appropriate stimuli. If a phobia is received more than once, then the EF of this WP roll is reduced by two for each extra time the phobia was received.

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

[ii] The value of a trained attribute (initially equal to its inherent value) may be improved by one point by expending 10 GPs. The value of a trained attribute may never exceed its original (ie. inherent) value by more than four (4).

[iii] A skill which the character does not have may be acquired at level one by expending 5 x Exp (of Skill) GPs. Note that a skill requiring an attribute not possessed by a character may not itself be acquired by that character. Eg. a dolphin, having no DX attribute, may not acquire the handgun skill, nor any other DX reliant skill. Also, a human (or, unless otherwise stated, nonhuman) character acquires, for nothing, the skills printed onto the character sheet (ie. fatigue, pain resistance, etc.) at level one.

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

[iv] The level at which a character possesses a skill may be increased by one by spending Exp (of skill) GPs. Note that a skill may never be possessed by a character at a level greater than the greatest value (possessed by the character) of an attribute in that skill's formula, multiplied by that skill's limit, plus two (2). Eg. the formula for handgun skill is (DX+PC)I2, and its limit is 1, so that the highest level at which a character may possess the handgun skill equals the higher of his/her (trained) DX and PC values times 1, plus 2.

[v] The value of a gravity or temperature familiarity may be increased by one by expending 5 GPs. These values may never exceed three (3).

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

[vi] The value of an environment familiarity may be increased by one by expending 2 GPs. These values may never exceed three (3).

[vii] An additional year of education may be purchased for 20 GPs. No more than (Age-12) extra years of education may be purchased by this method.

Step 7: The number of years of (part-time) education the character may have had is determined. This is equal to the character's age (in years) minus eighteen, plus the character's years of free education (indicated on the Social Background table), plus any extra purchased via [vii] above (or zero, if this is higher).

The character then receives his/her education as follows: choose a field (of knowledge) which will not take longer to (attempt to) acquire than the character's (remaining) years of part-time education (NB: a field may have other prerequisites which must be met to acquire it), subtract the number of years required to learn the field from the character's (remaining) years of part-time education, and roll D100. If the result is less than or equal to the character's IN x the field's EF the character acquires it (record the name of the field under Fields of Experience). Failure means that the field was not acquired (record it under Fields of Knowledge with an lOp beside it), but subsequent attempts to learn it will take half as long as normal. Repeat the process until no more fields are desired, or the character has "spent" all his/her years of education.

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Step 8: The character's Inclinations should be determined (preferably in a non-random manner) by the player. Traits should be accorded values from five (not at all the thing on the left, which is to say probably very much the thing on the right) to sixteen (very much the thing on the left). Eg. Aggressive 13 Passive indicates a relatively aggressive character, ie. a character who is inclined to (physical, intellectual, or whatever) aggression. Interests is a list of the character's hobbies, eg. a character might have an interest in philately. Loyalties is a list of a character's loyalties (if any) in descending order of precedence, eg. a character who was loyal to her consort before herself might well be inclined to die that she might save him (or possibly her). Ambitions, Likes, Dislikes, and Quirks, are filled in likewise.

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Step 9: The character's Speed, Threshold Fatigue, Carrying Capacity, and Unarmed Combat Damage Class should be filled in. Threshold fatigue is determined as per the formula on the sheet, the others via tables or formulae provided here.

Speed = (AG+PC)15 - 5 (rounded up) + G

Unarmed Combat Damage Class (UCDC)

Carrying Capacity

Note: * Laden is not on the character sheet; ** Adjustment owing to encumbrance.

Step 10: The character's initial wealth should be calculated (one method of doing this is provided on the Social Background table.

His/her skill PCSs should be calculated; the PCS possessed by a character in a skill she/he possesses at level one or more is equal to its formula (with the values of the character's trained attributes substituted into it) plus the level the character possesses it (the skill) at, rounding fractions off. Incidentally, all of these things should be recorded in the obvious places on the character sheet I told you to have, as playing from memory is more difficult.

[2.2] Skills

The following skills are available in ForeSight. Where their applications are not obvious, I include a brief explanatory note. Also see [3.0] Resolution.

Confidence: This represents a character's ability to convince people that they have their own reasons for doing something the character wants them to do.

Diagnose: This skill is used to diagnose malfunctions in, and design, items whose technical details are known to the character.

Disguise: A character's ability to assume the appearance of a general type of, or specific, person. A disguise takes from a few minutes to several hours to assume, given adequate materials. A disguise is penetrated on an EF-QR (of disguise) Empathy roll. A character may also conceal his/her demeanor. emotions, etc. with Disguise skill, with similar chances of penetration.

Empathy: A character's ability to gauge people's demeanors, feelings, general intentions, etc., from (usually) non-verbal data. Empathy requires a QR3 or better for success.

EVA (Exoskeleton): This represents a character's ability to work in protective attire.

Implement: This represents a character's ability to apply his/her theoretical knowledge to a set of data, or some situation.

Navigation: This represents a character's ability to find his/her way about unaided.

Pickpocket: A pickpocket is noticed by a victim if he/she is able to make an EF - QR (of Pickpocket attempt) Scan roll (or Search, if the victim was forewarned).

Recall: This represents a character's ability to recall relevant information quickly, and accurately.

Repair: This represents a character's ability to dissect, assemble, and shape objects.

Scan: A character's ability to notice significant irregularities in his/her environment. Scan generally fails on a QR 4. Humans incur a -1 to -4 modifier (-2 is typical) to Scan tasks performed in Poor light or darkness.

Search: A character's ability to find something for which he/she is deliberately looking. Humans incur a -1 to -4 modifier (-2 is typical) to Search tasks performed in poor light or darkness.

Starship Functions: This represents a character's skill with starship control systems and computers.

Stealth: A character's ability to avoid attention. A character who tries to sneak past, or hide from, someone is detected if that person makes an EF - QR (of Stealth roll) Scan roll (Search if the person was actively searching for the character).

Survival: A character's ability to find food, water, and shelter in which to sleep, in the wilderness. A character in the wilderness regains no fatigue from sleep unless he/she makes a successful Survival roll after sleeping, or has a companion do so for him/her.

Teaching: A character's ability to impart other's with his/her knowledge/experience. If the character from whom one is learning some knowledge or skill fails his/her teaching roll, then the attempt may do no better than the equivalent of a QR7, in the former case, and the time, but not any experience points, is wasted, in the latter. A character may alter the teaching time, as per Resolution [3.0], as the teacher, but not as the student. A character may only teach others skills and knowledge he/she possesses (at greater proficiency than his/her students, if applicable).

Designer's Notes: The abbreviations used in this chart are game-terms which have explicit meanings in the game, their intuitive meanings are less obvious, and hence are explained here. Terms like "roll", "QR", "EF", and "±N modifier" are explained in the Resolution rules [3.0].

Formula: a character's base competence in a skill in terms of his/her attributes.

Exp: this is a skill's experience value, reflecting how difficult the skill is to hone. There is some bias here against violent skills.

BEF: the base ease factor of a skill determines how difficult a task involving the skill is to complete. Note that natural aptitudes and talents do not simply alter the BEF of a skill for that character, but the EF of all tasks attempted with that skill. A character who does not possess a skill is considered to have his/her BEF in it reduced by two, should he/she attempt a task requiring it.

Limit: 1 indicates a skill where talent is as important as experience; 1.5 indicates a skill where experience outweighs talent. A character may not possess a skill at a level higher than the highest of the attributes he/she has which appear in the skill's formula, multiplied by its limit, plus two (rounded off),

• denotes a skill which should, in general, have any tasks involving it resolved secretly by the GM. Some skills in the game allow characters to obtain these results from the GM, and, naturally, any observable effects of these skills should be described by the GM.

t Cha (in a formula) denotes the character's Charisma skill level (0 if Charisma not possessed by the character); this skill level is treated as an attribute for purposes of level limits.

PCS: a character's primary chance of success in a skill represents his/her competence in that skill. It is equal to the sum of the skill's formula (as a function of the character's attributes) and the level the character possesses in it. A character who does not possess a skill calculates his/her PCS as though his/her level in the skill is zero.

(Optional) Tasks involving A G (Agility), eg. those requiring the use of a skill with AG in its formula, incur the same modifiers (to their ease factors) as does the performing character's speed (ie. the Encumbrance and Armour related speed penalties). Eg. a character whose speed was reduced by two for being laden, and wearing kevlar on all limbs (while not having any EVA skill), would incur a -2 modifier to Running, Jumping, Acrobatics, Dancing, Unarmed Combat, and so forth, as well as to his/her speed.

[2.3] Fields of Knowledge

Designer's Notes: A field of knowledge represents a thorough grounding in the practical and theoretical principles of a subject, including sufficient knowledge to determine the need for, and make use of, specific higher order information in that field. Eg. a character with biology will not know the characteristics of every animal he/she encounters, but will know how to classify one he/she has seen, look it up, and understand and utilize the information retrieved.

The following fields of knowledge are available in FS, and are listed below with relevant game information. Time is the time normal time required (in years) to study and have a chance to acquire a field of knowledge. A character is said to have a number of years of education equal to the sum of the time values associated with the fields he/she possesses, no matter how long it actually took him/her to acquire

them. A field of knowledge is not necessarily accompanied by credentials. EF is the ease factor of the IN roll required to resolve the (attempted) acquisition of the field. Sz is a quantification of the relative size of any equipment usually used in conjunction with the field.

Fields of Knowledge

Sciences (NFM -3)

Humanities (NFM -3)

Technical Fields (NFM -3)

Unarmed Combat Technique (NFM -2)

Note: all characters having the unarmed combat skill are assumed to be able to perform normal unarmed attacks (kick, slap, punch, etc.); defensive allows the unarmed combatant to parry; lethal enables an unarmed character to perform a PM -1, DC +2 attack (normal or kick); see the combat rules, 4.0, for exotic and capture.

Dancing (NFM -2)

Note: all possessors of the dancing skill are assumed to be able to perform the current night-club/disco or whatever dances.

Search/Scan (NFM -2)

Musical Composition (NFM -3)

Musical Performance (NFM -3)

Literary Genres (NFM -3)

Artistic Composition (NFM -3)

Artistic Depiction (NFM -3)

Note: • requires physics as prerequisite; •• requires electronics as prerequisite; # requires appropriate instrument/equipment

[2.4] Fields of Familiarity

Procedure: a Field of Familiarity is a number (usually negative) reflecting the degree of familiarity a character has with a particular situation or item. A character is assumed to be familiar with any thing he/she possesses at the beginning of an "Adventure", and with any situation he/she has previously dealt with. When faced with a new situation or item to/with which a character wishes to apply a skill, the GM decides how foreign the situation or item is to the character and assigns an NFM (non-familiarity modifier, also referred to as familiarity) to it: -3 for very strange, to -1 for somewhat similar to something the character is familiar (ie. has familiarity zero or better) with. When in doubt, make the NFM -2.

There are three ways of improving an NFM: during play, a character may grow more familiar with a situation or item, and this is reflected by improving it by one (but never above zero), every time the character achieves a QR 1 or 2 in a task involving the situation or item; after a session where a character has been assigned an NFM, that NFM is removed, assuming the character is able to continue contact with the situation or item; experience may provide positive familiarity with a situation or item with which the character has been familiar with for over a year (see Experience, directly below).

Note that these last rules apply to familiarity with situations and items, not fields of knowledge. NFMs for fields of knowledge are handled differently in that they cannot be improved by die rolls, but only by expending experience points, see [2.5], [3.0].

Players may wish to record their familiarity with things in the space provided. Recording familiarity with possessions and the like is unnecessary, as it is assumed; but situations are less obvious.

Examples of situations and items requiring application of NFMs: a character must use a strange Aircar to make an escape, since the controls are unusual, but not entirely unfamiliar, an NFM -1 is assigned, which is nullified once the character achieves his/her first QR 1 or 2, or finishes the adventure and can study the machine at leisure; a character brought up in modern society lands on Darkover and is unused to strange and implicitly different social conventions, which can easily result in his/her causing considerable offense, the GM assigns an NFM -3 to the society, applying to all interactions (seduction, confidence, charisma, especially) and perhaps social studies, and so forth -again this can be ameliorated by good QRs, or out of game-time experimentation - but note that familiarity with Darkovan society in this case reflects figuring out how to avoid offending people, not an understanding of the society, which would be a field of knowledge on its own.

[2.5] Experience

Procedure: in most role-playing games there is some method by which a character's abilities may improve as a result of the training and experience obtained by that character. In ForeSight a character may be improved by expending experience points (as distinct from generation points). A character gains experience points by being played, the number thus gained depending on the duration and quality of play of the owning player.

The basic award of experience in FS is 75 experience points (or EPs) per four or five hour session of play per character. This amount may be modified at the GM's discretion along the following lines: competent, productive play should receive higher awards, but not more than an extra 25 bar in exceptional circumstances, while a similar amount should be deducted for incompetent, unproductive play. Similarly adjustments for superior and inferior role-play should be made, on the basis of whether the character's actions befitted his/her stated persona. The upshot of this is that a character will receive 25 to 125 experience points per five or so hours of play. [Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

A character receives any experience points due him/her only when the GM feels that the "adventure" the character is currently involved in has drawn to a close, or at least a sufficient respite from the action is available to him/her. There are certain limitations placed upon the expenditure of EPs based on this delineation of adventures; a continuous, and less arbitrary system is in the works for ForeScene.

Experience points may not be transferred between characters, of course.

Also see Teaching skill under Skills [2.2].

Expending Experience Points. The following are methods of expending experience points to improve abilities. If a time requirement in days is stated, then four hours out of each (sidereal) day are required; any monetary requirement is subject to negotiation with the GM (and his/her NPCs) and other PCs if necessary.

Acquire Skill at level 1: Exp (of skill) x 5 EPs, 14 days, instructor required (probably Exp (of skill) x 500 SVU cost); Exp (of skill) x 7 EPs, 28 days, appropriate references (Exp (of skill) x 100 SVU); Exp (of skill) x 10 EPs, 56 days.

Raise Skill Level from n-1 to n (may only be performed once per skill "between adventures"): Exp (of skill) x n EPs.

Raise Temperature or Gravity Familiarity from n-1 to n (must have dwelt in such climes recently, and may only be performed once "between adventures"): n"2 x 5 EPs.

Raise Environment Familiarity from n-1 to n (must have dwelt in such climes recently, and may only be performed once per familiarity "between adventures"): n"2 x 2 EPs.

Raise Trained Attribute Value from n-1 to n: n x 20 EPs, 28 days.

Raise NFM (may only be performed once per field "between adventures"): from -3 to -2, 2 EPs; from -2 to -1, 10 EPs; from -1 to 0, 20 EPs.

Acquire Long Term Familiarity With Item (allows a character to treat one item which he/she has been using for at least one year as though it has a PM one better than before (eg. +1 becomes +2). A character may at most possess a number of such items equal to his/her IN): 40 EPs.

Acquiring Fields of Knowledge

As well as improving the skills and familiarities of their characters, players will also wish to expand the fields of knowledge possessed by their characters, ie. gain fields of knowledge in addition to those acquired in character generation [2.1]. For a character to acquire a field of knowledge he/she need expend no experience points, but must instead devote about four hours per day for the time specified for that field (adjusted, perhaps, if the character has an exceptional memory, or has previously failed to acquire the field being studied); a character may thus go about his/her normal business while studying no more than one field.

At the end of the stipulated time the player owning the character makes an IN roll at the EF listed for the field. The QR of the roll determines whether or not the character has successfully gained that Field of Knowledge and also the NFM (non-familiarity modifier) associated with that field for the character. The NFM is, assuming success, that listed for the field (a negative number) + 1 if a QR 2 was achieved, + 2 if a QR 1 was achieved (but not if it makes the NFM positive, in which case raise it to zero). A QR 7 indicates failure, but decreases the time required to acquire the field subsequently to half the normal time; while a QR 10 indicates nothing has been learnt, and does not affect subsequent attempts to acquire the field.

Note that this procedure does not correspond to that 'in character generation, and it is not recommended that it be used there.

Unlike NFMs for situations or items (Fields of Familiarity [2.4]), these modifiers may only be improved by experience point expenditure (see [2.5]), since entire fields of knowledge are considerably more complex than individual situations or items.

If a character wishes to use a field he/she has not finished studying (but has at least half completed), or has previously failed, the GM should assign a modifier equal to the field's NFM - (half the number of years required to learn the skill); Do not adjust this number for memory, etc..

Time spent in boring circumstances, eg. on spacecraft, should count double towards time spent studying fields, while time spent adventuring, and so forth, should not count at all. A character who takes time off to study should be able to learn one field twice as quickly (perhaps only if he/she makes a WP roll) or two fields concurrently.

[2.6] Fatigue

Designer's Notes: Although fatigue is a skill in FS it is treated differently to other skills, in some respects. As well having a PCS, a character has fatigue values: a character's Threshold Fatigue is a reflection of a character's ability to bounce back from exhaustion (if you want to be technical, the character's body's ability to convert over to glycogen-glucose consumption); the formula for this is on the character sheet, and its value should be filled in. A character's Reserve Fatigue measures his/her overall fitness, and training, and equals the sum of his/her threshold fatigue, and fatigue skill level. Finally, a character has a number of Fatigue Points (recorded under fatigue on the reverse side of the character sheet) equal to his/her fatigue PCS, this value is also referred to as Normal Fatigue.

[Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Various activities a character engages in will cost fatigue points, but a character may recover them in various ways as well.

Exercise costs fatigue points, the number depending on whether the character is unladen, laden, or burdened, and the severity of the exercise: a chart is provided below.

Climatic Adversity makes a character tired. In the top right hand corner of the box under each temperature bracket on a character sheet is a number (call it t). When living in such temperatures a character must make a Fatigue roll (as per usual: at

the adjusted BEF, using the Fatigue PCS) every t hours. The character loses QR (of Fatigue roll) fatigue points, and if this exceeds the character's remaining fatigue, he/she also increases his/her wound level by one.

Combat is tiring: every Mov., Evad., Mel. Attack, Opportunity Attack, Parry, or Dodge action costs half of one fatigue point to perform.

There are ways of regaining fatigue. A character who rests for five minutes or so has his/her fatigue restored to its threshold value. A character who eats a solid meal or naps for one hour has his/her fatigue restored to its reserve value.

And finally, a character who gets eight or more hours of sleep has his/her fatigue restored to its normal value (ie. his/her Fatigue PCS). To regain fatigue in the wilderness, a character must either make a Survival roll, or have a companion do so for him/her instead (this reflects finding shelter from the elements, and so forth).

A character's fatigue cannot drop below zero, and if one of the procedures above calls for such a drop, then fatigue is reduced to zero instead.

A character on zero fatigue suffers a -2 modifier to all task resolution attempts, UCDC, and to his/her speed. A character who has been reduced to zero fatigue since he/she last slept, but is not at zero fatigue, still incurs a -1 modifier to all task resolution attempts, UCDC, and to speed. The fact that this is the case should be noted in the character's fatigue box on the character sheet by writing a large -1 somewhere in it (erase/cross out this -1 when the character next gets some sleep).

Fatigue Loss From Exercise

Rate of Exercise (km/h):

Note: * these rates of fatigue loss are severe enough to warrant evaluation every few minutes.

Eg. A character with 16 fatigue points could stroll unladen for four hours without resting, but only run for thirty minutes (ignoring climate).

Final suggestions: a character who has not eaten in 2t hours, slept in WP+t hours, or drunk in t hours should incur penalties. If one of these things is true, then fatigue loss is increased by 50%; if two are true, then it is doubled; and if all are true, then it is tripled.

Any modifier a character is incurring to all activity as a result of wounds he/she has taken (eg. -2 for a medium wound) should affect the character's effective level of exercise; a -1 modifier would shift the effects of any activity one column to the left. Eg. strenuous activity by a character with a medium wound would achieve the same results as medium activity by the same person when healthy (strenuous gets shifted twice to the left).

[2.7] Psionics

Psionics in FS are presented for those who wish to use them, not as an integral part of the implied Game-World, but as a module which can be added to it painlessly. If you want to make psionics integral to the Game-World, either give them to everybody in some degree (eg. make them available to everybody, exactly like normal skills), or tie them to communications, faster than light travel, or some other all-pervasive aspect of the environment.

Normally, a player character has a psionic skill if and only if it is so indicated under abilities and limitations. The GM may discuss with the player which ones he/she can have, or send word down from the mountain. The Exp value of skills reflects the cost to improve them, not to acquire them. In some places psionic characters are persecuted by society (especially if it can detect them), so players may eliminate them by paying the cost for removing any other ability or limitation.

A psionic task succeeds or fails normally, but using a psionic skill always costs the psionic character fatigue equal to the QR of the attempt, and if a QR 10 was achieved, increases his/her wound level by one. If this cost exceeds the character's remaining fatigue, then the character automatically fails, and has his/her fatigue reduced to zero, or may take the excess fatigue loss as an increase in wound status, and die after the task is completed; a character can (deliberately) die this way.

Usually, the results of psionic tasks have a base duration, which determines how long the effects of the skill's application last. This duration may be doubled by expending additional fatigue equal to that lost in the attempt, tripled by spending twice that much, and so forth; but may not increase the duration to more than thirty times normal (this is a limitation on characters killing themselves, really).

Where applicable, tasks with targets more than 10km away suffer a -1 penalty, more than 100km away a further -1, etc., so that a task which affects a target 15000km away, suffers a net -4 penalty.

Remote Perception: The character may attempt to alter the spacial point of view of one. or more. of his/her senses. If he/she is well familiar with some reasonable route from his/her current location to the desired one. then he/she receives a + 1 modifier (it is okay if he/she would have to go through locked doors. or something. but not through mountains. etc.)

Mind Merge: The character may engage in mind-to-mind dialogue with a willing subject. whom he/she must be touching. The GM should decide whether or not one can knowingly lie in such a situation (I think not. if you disagree. note it here!). Difficult concepts can quickly be transmitted. and characters mind-merged to one-another can use one anothers' knowledge. The merge can be broken by any participant at any time. Esoterically handy.

Project Mind: The character may project a five (reasonable. eg. not German) word message to 5-QR other characters. who will notice the message if they make an IN roll. The sender may elect to send it to the same recipient 5-QR times. or whatever. as long as no more than 5-QR "transmissions" occur. If the "duration" is extended. the sender may increase the length. or the number. of transmissions.

Telekinesis: The character may manipulate an object he/she can clearly see or feel (by Remote Perception. perhaps) as though he/she were holding it (ie. with his/her normal ST. DX. etc.).

Sense Emotion: The character may discern the subject's current mood (demeanor) and also detect concealed hostility. false friendliness. etc .. The duration is sufficient to cover most casual interaction resolutions. The skill may be used in place of Empathy throughout. and succeeds on a QR 4 where Empathy succeeds on a QR 3. This is not mind-reading.

Control Bodily Function: The character may heal mammals. using this skill in place of diagnose and repair and the appropriate medical field. using either cursory or diagnostic repair. and receives a +1 modifier when healing other people. and +2 when healing him/her self.

Dream Precognition: A character must roll against this skill during any period of sleep, and wakes up minus the appropriate quantity of fatigue. It he/she achieves a QR 1 or 2, then he/she has had an important dream. and the GM should give him/her some useful information; a QR 3 indicates the information received is useful. but cryptic; a QR 4 to 10 indicates that there is no useful information (QR 7. and 10 indicate nightmares: QR 10 dreams may be precognitive of potential disasters which must be averted).

Sixth Sense: This skill may work involuntarily. and cost nothing to use; in which case it gives a tingling sensation when a character has overlooked something potentially dangerous, or important (assuming it works. ie. is successful). The GM may decide it is an active skill (the character deliberately appeals to his/her higher faculties. ie. the player chooses to apply it. and performs the roll). instead. The latter gives more information. but not when you most need it. The GM makes the rolls in the former case.

Command Voice: The subject (who must be able to hear the character) must make an EF - QR WP roll or succumb do anything not directly suicidal that the character tells him/her to do. Using this skill in combat is a (one) pulse action.

Note: the same notes apply to psionic skills as apply to skills, see [2.2].

[2.8] Non-Player Characters

A non-player character (NPC) is a character not controlled by a player. ie .• in most cases. a character controlled by the GM. Such characters. by nature. will be far more numerous than player characters. while the GM is far less numerous than the players. This means more work for the GM. who already has to figure out how the entire Universe works! The solution is simple:

[i] Do not generate important NPCs the way PCs are generated. If this wasn't already obvious. the best way to generate an NPC is decide what attributes. skills. etc. such a character would possess. and give them to him/her. Finished. Don't bother about experience points for NPCs either. If they survive, and the PCs bump into them again, maybe they've gotten better at something, maybe they've been too busy.

[ii] Wing it. If the situation calls for a plumber, then he/she's probably pretty reasonable at plumbing (Diagnose PCS-15; Repair PCS-20; knows Construction). If he/she has to do anything else, then he/she's probably poor to fair at it (no skill, to PCS.10, say). Just remember the following: a PCS of 10 is not particularly good; PCS-15 is okay; PCS-20 is pretty good; and PCS-25 or better represents expertise. Most NPCs will not engage in physical labour (a lot of plumbing will be done by robots, I expect, these are covered in ForeScene), and will have low Pain Resistance and Fatigue (say 10), similarly they will avoid combat (again say 10), while they will have average capacities for other common skills (Empathy, Search, Scan, and perhaps some vehicle at 15). If an NPC does something for a living, give him/her 20, or perhaps 25, in it. Simple. Do not use these guidelines for all NPCs, just the vast majority.

Also: the stats of most NPCs, especially minor ones, are generally irrelevant, and generic values can be assumed. A number of generic NPCs are supplied for your convenience, each simply requires appropriate fields of knowledge.

[iii] NPCs are not as good as PCs, at least in general. Certainly powerful villains whom the PCs have sought long and hard, should be more than a match for a solitary PC, or at least possessed of wicked henchpersons, but by and large, NPCs, having less initiative, and drive, than PCs, will possess lesser capabilities. Bear this in mind.

If an NPC is to be generated, the way a PC is, then give him/her base values of 3 in all attributes except AP (which remains 5). Otherwise generate the character as per normal (roll D6+2 rather than D6+4 if the semi-random method is desired). This system may be used by players who wish to generate their characters' spouses, siblings, etc. (subject to GM intervention: "Why does your husband have such a high Handguns skill, while you claim he works as a pharmacist?").

Apart from that, less space should be required to list an NPC's capabilities than a PC's, so a (more compact) NPC record is provided.

[2.9] Merits, Demerits, and Notoriety (Optional)

If a character works for somebody, or is involved in some form of pecking order, then it is a good idea for the GM to keep some numerical record of his/her situation. In ForeSight a character's status in a hierarchy can be kept track of via merit points (MPs, if you like abbreviations). When a character is seen to perform some (contextually) meritorious act, he/she will gain merit points, and if he/she is seen to perform some unmeritorious act, he or she will lose merit points (or gain demerits). Note that inaction may, in some cases, constitute either a meritorious or (more probably) an unmeritorious one.

Example: a character who is a law enforcement officer might gain MPs for preventing an armed hold-up, successfully resolving a hostage situation, or rescuing a drowning person from a river; he/she might lose MPs for not attempting to do any of the above in appropriate circumstances, or displaying incompetence or poor judgement in an attempt to do one of the above, or using unconventional and unsanctioned methods to do any of the above (especially if he/she fails).

Merit points are in general non-transferable: one's MPs gained as a policeman count for nothing if one becomes a spaceship pilot, but some proportion of one's merit points might be convertable to a related field: a paramedic might retain half of his/her merit points if he/she became a fire-fighter (and if he/she returned to being a paramedic, he/she could have the higher of his/her previous merit as a paramedic, and half his/her merit as a fire-fighter).

Merit points may accord a character benefits in terms of position and promotion, salary, choice of assignment, privileges, respect, medals, and/or trust (placed in him/her by his/her employer, and/or colleagues).

As a guideline, merit point totals accord the following ranks:

Guidelines for Merit Point Awards. A character should be accorded merit points only for successful and constructive performance. An act within the line of duty, but beyond normal expectations, should be accorded 1 to 5 merit points. Eg. a policeman is expected to deal with a small scale hostage situation, but to resolve it without casualties or major mobilisation would be worth merit points.

An act within the line of duty, but beyond any expectation, should be accorded 6 to 20 merit points. Situations of this sort would occur most often when unforeseen events cause a character's superiors to knowingly allocate insufficient resources to a task, and the task is successfully performed anyway; and when there is more to an assignement than first appeared. Eg. a squad is assigned to seize an undefended village which turns out to be defended by a platoon of veteran troops, and nevertheless prevails; or a mathematics student sits a first year exam in which his/her lecturers have placed a "Great Unsolved Problem" as a joke, and he/she solves it without realising the joke.

Some actions will be more impressive than these, and should accord even greater totals. Remember, however, that the important part in determining awards is how difficult or clever the task was perceived by a character's peers/superiors to be, rather than how difficult or clever the task actually was; if the task seemed impossible to a character's superiors, and the character performed it easily, his/her superiors may still accord vast MPs to him/her (if he/she reports how easy the task was, and this is not taken as false modesty, then that's his/her problem, but then so is being found out). [Illustration in the original (the character sheet / a figure) — see the source-PDF page link above. Historical; a replacement is planned.]

Notoriety

Notoriety is a special case of MPs. A character gains notoriety for being believed (by law-enforcement agencies, the mass media, and/or the public) to have performed criminal acts. A character loses notoriety points for serving the prison sentences, or whatever, accorded to people who commit the crimes the character is seen to have perpetrated. Each point of notoriety is roughly equal to a year's imprisonment in today's terms, although how this works out will vary from place to place (eg. some places today put people in prison longer for harmless sexual eccentricity than for violent rape).

A given crime will accord notoriety points (NPs if you prefer) to the character suspected of having performed it roughly equal in number to the number of years of imprisonment a person today would expect to serve if tried for a similar offence in some contemporary western nation. Eg. 20 NPs for second degree murder, 5-10 NPs for armed robbery, 0.1 NPs for parking/traffic violations. A crime whose NP total is less than one twentieth of a character's existing notoriety will not contribute to his/her notoriety (eg. a character with notoriety ~2 no longer acquires notoriety for parking violations).

A character's notoriety rank (see above) determines who is after him/her, and how badly they want him/her, and also, perhaps, the size of the reward for information leading to his/her arrest. Role-playing a character in a prison is likely to be pretty dull (unless, for some reason, the authorities allow him/her to roam free on some "prison planet").

The above are examples, of course, and may not apply in specific instances, but I expect you get the idea.