Chapter 4: Descriptors

The first part of your character sentence "I am an adjective noun who verbs" is the descriptor. It's the adjective part of the sentence. It's the most general, easily encapsulated means of describing any character - Resilient, Cautious, Strong, and so on.

Choose one of the descriptors in this chapter for your character. You can pick any descriptor you wish regardless of your type or focus (if any). Descriptors offer a one-time package of characteristics, usually training in one skill and a boost to one of your stat Pools.

Your descriptor influences how your character reacts to each new situation and challenge. For instance, the differences between a Cautious Ranger and a Brash Ranger are considerable, as are the differences between a Charming Starpilot and a Skeptical Starpilot.

Your descriptor matters most when you're a beginning character. The mechanical benefits that come from your descriptor will eventually be overshadowed by the growing importance of your type and focus (assuming you're not playing a game strictly set in the real world). However, the influence of your descriptor will remain at least somewhat important throughout your character's life.

Descriptor List

Appealing

You're attractive to others, but perhaps more important, you are likeable and charismatic. You've got that "special something" that draws others to you. You often know just the right thing to say to make someone laugh, put them at ease, or spur them to action. People like you, want to help you, and want to be your friend.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Bookish

You've spent most of your life in sedentary pursuits - reading books, watching the stars, writing poetry, and so on - rather than active ones. You're well-versed in all manner of academia or other intellectual pursuits. You're not necessarily weak or feeble (although this is a good descriptor for characters who are elderly), but you have no experience in more physical activities.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in one knowledge skill such as history, religious lore, identifying, mathematics, or similar

Brash

You're a self-assertive sort, confident in your abilities, energetic, and perhaps a bit irreverent toward ideas that you don't agree with. Some people call you bold and brave, but those you've put in their place might call you puffed up and arrogant. Whatever. It's not in your nature to care what other people think about you, unless those people are your friends or family. Even someone as brash as you knows that friends sometimes have to come first.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in hacking or initiative

Calm

You're steady and not easily excited when facing stress or adversity. You try to focus on an inner stillness so you can react thoughtfully rather than impulsively. Likewise, your presence can ground others around who see your unruffled disposition and listen to your patient advice.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Cautious

You don't charge into new situations without due consideration. You're afraid of what will happen if you don't carefully study the particulars of a new job, opportunity, or investigation. Those burdened with less vigilance than you might call you timid, but you suspect bravery is just another word for foolhardiness.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in perception

Chaotic

Danger doesn't mean much to you, mainly because you don't think much about repercussions. In fact, you enjoy sowing surprises, just to see what will happen. The more unexpected the result, the happier you are. Sometimes you are particularly manic, and for the sake of your companions, you restrain yourself from taking actions that you know will lead to disaster.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in initiative

Charming

You're a smooth talker and a charmer. Whether through seemingly supernatural means or just a way with words, you can convince others to do as you wish. Most likely, you're physically attractive or at least highly charismatic, and others enjoy listening to your voice. You probably pay attention to your appearance, keeping yourself well groomed. You make friends easily. You play up the personality facet of your Intellect stat; intelligence is not your strong suit. You're personable.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Clever

You're quick-witted, thinking well on your feet. You understand people, so you can fool them but are rarely fooled. Because you easily see things for what they are, you get the lay of the land swiftly, size up threats and allies, and assess situations with accuracy. Perhaps you're physically attractive, maybe you use your wit to overcome any physical or mental imperfections, or perhaps you have turned your mind to compromising digital devices because you're just that clever.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in deception, hacking, persuasion, or recognizing motive

Compassionate

Helping others is your calling. It's why you're here. Others delight in your outgoing and charitable nature, and you delight in their happiness. You're at your best when you're aiding others, whether by treating their injuries, helping them with a task, or putting the best face on a bad situation for the sake of morale.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in healing

Creative

Maybe you have a notebook where you write down ideas so you can develop them later. Perhaps you email yourself ideas that strike you out of the blue so you can sort them in an electronic document. Or maybe you just sit down, stare at the blank page or screen, and, by indomitable force of will, produce something from nothing. However your gift works, you're creative - you write, compose, sculpt, design, direct, code, or otherwise create narratives that enthrall other people with your vision.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in performance or publishing

Empathic

Other people are open books to you. You may have a knack for reading a person's tells, those subtle movements that convey an individual's mood and disposition. Or you may receive information in a more direct way, feeling a person's emotions as if they were tangible things, sensations that lightly brush against your mind. Your gift for empathy helps you navigate social situations and control them to avoid misunderstandings and prevent useless conflicts from erupting.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in recognizing motive

Fast

You're fleet of foot. Because you're quick, you can accomplish tasks more rapidly than others can. You're not just quick on your feet, however - you're quick with your hands, and you think and react quickly. You even talk quickly.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in initiative

Gloomy

You suspect that fate is, if not actively leading you to a terrible end, at least determined to show you the world's underbelly through a series of unfortunate events. Maybe you alone feel targeted, or maybe it's the entire world. It's easier to expect the worst and be surprised when things don't turn out terribly than the other way around.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed or Might Pool
• Trained in recognizing motive

Graceful

You have a perfect sense of balance, moving and speaking with grace and beauty. You're quick, lithe, flexible, and dexterous. Your body is perfectly suited to dance, and you use that advantage in combat to dodge blows. You might wear garments that enhance your agile movement and sense of style.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in gymnastics

Guarded

You conceal your true nature behind a mask and are loath to let anyone see who you really are. Protecting yourself, physically and emotionally, is what you care about most, and you prefer to keep everyone else at a safe distance. You may be suspicious of everyone you meet, expecting the worst from people so you won't be surprised when they prove you right. Or you might just be a bit reserved, careful about letting people through your gruff exterior to the person you really are.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in deception or recognizing motive

Honorable

You are trustworthy, fair, and forthright. You try to do what is right, to help others, and to treat them well. Lying and cheating are no way to get ahead - these things are for the weak, the lazy, or the despicable. You probably spend a lot of time thinking about your personal honor, how best to maintain it, and how to defend it if challenged. In combat, you are straightforward and offer quarter to any foe.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Inquisitive

The world is vast and mysterious, with wonders and secrets to keep you amazed for several lifetimes. You feel the tugging on your heart, the call to explore the wreckage of past civilizations, to discover new peoples, new places, and whatever bizarre wonders you might find along the way. However, as strongly as you feel the pull to roam the world, you know there is danger aplenty, and you take precautions to ensure that you are prepared for any eventuality. Research, preparation, and readiness will help you live long enough to see everything you want to see and do everything you want to do.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in identifying or gathering information

Intelligent

You're quite smart. Your memory is sharp, and you easily grasp concepts that others might struggle with. This aptitude doesn't necessarily mean that you've had years of formal education, but you have learned a great deal in your life, primarily because you pick things up quickly and retain so much.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in one knowledge skill such as history, religious lore, identifying, mathematics, or similar

Intuitive

You are often tickled by a sense of knowing what someone will say, how they will react, or how events might unfold. Maybe you have a mutant sense, maybe you can see a few moments ahead through time, or maybe you're just good at reading people and extrapolating a situation. Whatever the case, many who look into your eyes immediately glance away, as if afraid of what you might see in their expression.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in recognizing motive or gathering information

Jovial

You're cheerful, friendly, and outgoing. You put others at ease with a big smile and a joke, possibly one at your own expense, though lightly ribbing your companions who can take it is also one of your favorite pastimes. Sometimes people say you never take anything seriously. That's not true, of course, but you have learned that to dwell on the bad too long quickly robs the world of joy. You've always got a new joke in your back pocket because you collect them like some people collect bottles of wine.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in performance

Kind

It's always been easy for you to see things from the point of view of other people. That ability has made you sympathetic to what they really want or need. From your perspective, you're just applying the old proverb that "it's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar," but others see your behavior as kindness. Of course, being kind takes time, and yours is limited. You've learned that a small fraction of people don't deserve your time or kindness - true sadists, narcissists, and similar folk will only waste your energy. So you deal with them swiftly, saving your kindness for those who deserve it and can benefit from your attention.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Mechanical

You have a special talent with machines of all kinds, and you're adept at understanding and, if need be, repairing them. Perhaps you're a bit of an inventor, creating new machines from time to time. You get called "techie," "tech," "mech," "gear-head," "motor-head," or any of a number of other nicknames. Mechanics usually wear practical work clothes and carry around a lot of tools.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in engineering, heavy equipment operation, or systems operation

Mysterious

The dark figure lurking silently in the corner? That's you. No one really knows where you came from or what your motives are - you play things close to the vest. Your manner perplexes and confounds others, but that doesn't make you a poor friend or ally. You're just good at keeping things to yourself, moving about unseen, and concealing your presence and identity.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect or Speed Pool
• Trained in deception or stealth

Mystical

You think of yourself as mystical, attuned with the mysterious and the paranormal. Your true talents lie with the supernatural. You likely have experience with ancient lore, and you can sense and wield the supernatural - though whether that means "magic," "psychic phenomena," or something else is up to you (and probably up to those around you as well). Mystical characters often wear jewelry, such as a ring or an amulet, or have tattoos or other marks that show their interests.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in magic lore, psychic lore, or religious lore

Perceptive

You miss little. You pick out the small details in the world around you and are skilled at making deductions from the information you find. Your talents make you an exceptional sleuth or a talented scout.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in perception or recognizing motive

Resilient

You're tougher than most, which means you can take some punishment and come back for more. But if events do overtake you, you don't panic - you just concentrate on getting out of whatever's constraining you. Being resilient is at least partly about knowing how to get out of a bad situation.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in escaping

Rugged

You're a nature lover accustomed to living rough, pitting your wits against the elements. Most likely, you're a skilled hunter, gatherer, or naturalist. Years of living in the wild have left their mark with a worn countenance, wild hair, or scars. Your clothing is probably much less refined than the garments worn by city dwellers.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in animal care or outdoor survival

Skeptical

You have a questioning attitude regarding claims that are often taken for granted by others. You're not necessarily a "doubting Thomas" (a skeptic who refuses to believe anything without direct personal experience), but you've often benefited from questioning the statements, opinions, and received knowledge presented to you by others.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in identifying or recognizing motive

Stealthy

You're sneaky, slippery, and fast. These talents help you hide, move quietly, and stay unseen. It might be that you're wiry and small. What's more important is that you understand how to use shadows, cover, and distraction to remain unseen and unheard, and how to make movements fluid and deliberate. Whatever the case, your expertise gives you better odds when you wish to sneakily observe, infiltrate, or ambush. Or maybe just to attempt sleight of hand and relieve someone of their valuables.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Speed Pool
• Trained in stealth, pickpocketing, or lockpicking

Strong

You're extremely strong and physically powerful, and you use these qualities well, whether through violence, athletic feats of prowess, or enduring abuse. You probably have a brawny build and impressive muscles, though you might instead be strong and wiry.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in athletics

Strong-Willed

You're tough-minded, willful, and independent. No one can talk you into anything or change your mind when you don't want it changed. This quality doesn't necessarily make you smart, but it does make you a bastion of willpower and resolve. You likely dress and act with unique style and flair, not caring what others think.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Intellect Pool
• Trained in persuasion

Tough

You're strong and can take extra physical punishment - you keep going, shrugging off hurts and injuries that might slow or incapacitate a lesser person. You might have a large frame and a square jaw. Tough characters frequently have visible scars.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in athletics, healing, or outdoor survival

Virtuous

Doing the right thing is a way of life. You live by a code, and that code is something you attend to every day. Whenever you slip, you reproach yourself for your weakness and then get right back on track. Your code probably includes moderation, respect for others, cleanliness, and other characteristics that most people would agree are virtues, while you eschew their opposites: sloth, greed, gluttony, and so on.

You gain the following characteristics:

• +2 to your Might Pool
• Trained in recognizing motive