Players and Guides both need Characters, and here is where your journey begins. The Character is your alter ego during a game, akin to how an actor embodies an improv role. You have the freedom to base them on yourself, favorite fictional figures, or entirely original ideas. METTLE Core defaults to a roughly modern setting and this influences the options found below. Character sheets are available online or at the end of this book.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Step 1: Name
- Step 2: Appearance
- Step 3: Attributes
- Step 4: Backstories
- Step 5: Resources
- Experience
- Example Character
Step 1: Name
This can be a tough choice unless you have a Dickensian knack for clever names. A solid idea is to go with something audacious and easy to pronounce. This also helps others at your table remember it. If you get stuck, come back to it later. There is space at the end for pronouns to reflect sex and/or gender.
Examples: Sathington Willoughby, Kreeton, Jeremiah Harper Esquire, Dr. Asphodel (she/her), Puddin’ Tame, etc.
Step 2: Appearance
What others see when they meet the character. These are Adventurers so make them stand out! Look to this section later when you need to introduce them to others in-game. Appearances are freeform but try to include their apparent age, gender, and an unusual trait to help them stand out. When playing someone with different features than yourself, do so with care and respect.
Examples: a clean-cut androgynous youth with a long red nose; a filthy man in a trench coat with a shuffling gait; a woman of a certain age showing only a crooked smile under the outsized brim of a floral hat.
Invent, choose, or roll on the table below to snap you out of any pesky creative paralysis. These distinctive features give you just enough to work with. Be creative and make them sing on your character sheet! To use a d66 table, roll one six-sided die and then another. For example, if you roll a 6 and a 2, go to the distinctive feature in the row for “6, 2.”
| d66 | Distinctive Feature |
|---|---|
| 1,1 | Bestial (leonine, mousy, bird-like…) |
| 1,2 | Birthmark (animal-shaped, patchy…) |
| 1,3 | Cheeks (sunken, ruddy, puffed…) |
| 1,4 | Chin (cleft, pointy, broad…) |
| 1,5 | Complexion (freckles, acne, smooth, ruddy …) |
| 1,6 | Ears (pointed, cauliflower, huge…) |
| 2,1 | Eye color (vivid blue, dichromatic, tiger…) |
| 2,2 | Eye shape (close-set, piercing, wide…) |
| 2,3 | Eyebrows (patchy, fierce, bushy, none…) |
| 2,4 | Face (wide, narrow, oval, heart-shaped…) |
| 2,5 | Facial hair (mustache, goatee, lip fuzz…) |
| 2,6 | Filthy (bad breath, unwashed, greasy…) |
| 3,1 | Forehead (sweaty, broad, furrowed…) |
| 3,2 | Gaudy (polka dots, pastels, paisley….) |
| 3,3 | Growth (horn, hump, tumor…) |
| 3,4 | Habit (superstition, nervous tic…) |
| 3,5 | Hair color (blue, white, red…) |
| 3,6 | Hair style (pompadour, bald, frizzy…) |
| 4,1 | Hands (extra finger, webbed, huge…) |
| 4,2 | Laugh (snorts, honks, comforting…) |
| 4,3 | Makeup (luxurious, clownish, fierce…) |
| 4,4 | Mole (beauty mark, distracting…) |
| 4,5 | Motto (exclamation, meme, curse…) |
| 4,6 | Mouth (wide, full, luscious, pursed…) |
| 5,1 | Neck (long, crooked, stubby…) |
| 5,2 | Noise (creaky, silent, belching…) |
| 5,3 | Nose (aquiline, flat, long, red…) |
| 5,4 | Odor (floral, body, ozone, garbage…) |
| 5,5 | Piercing (eyebrow, nose, tongue…) |
| 5,6 | Scar (facial burns, old wounds…) |
| 6,1 | Style (Sporty, punk, business, Boho…) |
| 6,2 | Tattoo (artistic, tribal, prison…) |
| 6,3 | Teeth (missing, gap, filed to a point…) |
| 6,4 | Trinket (lucky hat, jewelry, stuffed animal…) |
| 6,5 | Unkempt (poorly fit clothes, messy hair…) |
| 6,6 | Voice (gruff, flat, high-pitched…) |
Step 3: Attributes
These are your character’s CONCEPT, FRAME, MOTIVE, NATURE, and POISE pools. Attributes lend them substance within the rules of the game. The more dice there are in an Attribute Pool, the better they are at things related to it. Attributes range from 1 to 6 for starting characters, with a 3 being average. Highly experienced adventurers may exceed those bounds at the Guide’s discretion.
Each Attribute may also bear a Descriptor; a word or phrase fleshing out what the Attribute covers. This defined scope is vital for the CONCEPT Attribute and useful for the others. Having the right Descriptor for a task may even let you just assume success. Players may leave Descriptors blank at creation and discover them as they play.
Starting characters are well above average, with room to grow. You can make more or less “heroic” characters by changing the number of points they start with. Choose a starting array or buy Attributes freestyle. Both methods are equivalent.
Array method: this gives a set starting array of [5, 4, 3, 3, 2]. Put each of the array numbers into each Attribute in any order.
Freestyle method: take 22 points to spend between Attributes, as in the table below. The highest costs double, and one cannot put more than half of their points in a single Attribute.
| Pool | Rating | Highest | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | Poor | 2 | 1 |
| 2D | Low | 4 | 2 |
| 3D | Average | 6 | 3 |
| 4D | High | 8 | 4 |
| 5D | Great | 10 | 5 |
| 6D | Amazing | 12 | 6 |
Attribute pools can improve later with experience points. Gain these by recounting memorable events from the last adventure.
Circumstances or equipment may change an Attribute pool. In this case, put the modified pool in parentheses to the right. For example, “POISE 4(5)”. Use the original unaltered pool for calculating Experience, Backstories, and Mettle.
Unusual settings may introduce entirely new Attributes for things like cybernetics, magic, superpowers, and martial arts.
CONCEPT
This is the Adventurer’s calling in life, and the size of their dice pool tells you how good they are at it. CONCEPT is special because it can replace other Attributes if higher and better suited for the task. For example, a Royal Fencing Instructor could use their CONCEPT instead of NATURE when wielding a light sword. This is only for the active side of a Check. CONCEPT cannot swap in for the passive Difficulty.
Guides often grant free information or automatic success with the right CONCEPT Descriptor. For example, a Professor of Ancient History or Greek Citizen would know plenty about the Parthenon, while those with less relevant Descriptors are stuck with making Checks.
Assume that characters are generally competent and may use their CONCEPT pool even for tasks unrelated to their Descriptor, at up to double Difficulty. For example, a very skilled Carpenter could try to pilot a plane at double Difficulty but would face less Difficulty patching its wing. A relevant Backstory can bypass the added Difficulty.
Example Descriptors: cat burglar, astromech pilot, village blacksmith, unemployed librarian, time-traveling lunatic, courtier, etc.
FRAME
Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes. The pool reflects the physical power of the character: their might, vigor, and vitality. As such, FRAME helps bear burdens as well as dish out and take damage in combat. The Descriptor should include their body type or build and even their species if non-human.
FRAME is an unusual Attribute because it is not subject to Checks and scales with size, especially for large animals or monsters. In these cases, note the modified value in parentheses as usual.
Example Descriptors: medium, tall and lanky, short, chunky, average build, athletic, pot-bellied, lanky, plump, stout, sprightly, etc.
MOTIVE
An interesting character is fueled by a goal that drives their actions and keeps them going even when things seem hopeless. MOTIVE forms part of the Mettle score, enables one to Rally back into action when overwhelmed, improves Mettle Surges related to it, and alerts them to the wiles of stealthy or manipulative foes. A strong motive may be unhealthy for a normal person, but adventurers often harbor overwhelming drives and passions. If the MOTIVE is ever fulfilled, the adventurer may retire or take on a new mission in life.
Example Descriptors: Avenge my master, bring justice to the oppressed, consume great quantities, escape from the oubliette, kill vampires, etc.
NATURE
This pool embodies sheer force of personality. Most Social and Combat Checks default to this pool, both mere expressions of the fire that burns within their heart. Characters are more complex than this, so view the Descriptor for NATURE as only the tip of their personal iceberg.
A high pool can drastically alter the effect of this Descriptor! The masked vigilante and the cranky teenager may both be Sullen, but only one of them makes it look good.
Example Descriptors: Sullen, earnest, mellow, intense, friendly, feisty, high self-esteem, manipulative, affable, strange, pensive, etc.
POISE
An adventurer’s bearing is often the first thing to catch the eye. For an enemy, it may be the last! Check this for coordinated Actions like dancing, dodging, climbing, swimming, and sneaking. In combat, everyone is avoiding attacks as best they can, so this forms the “passive” Difficulty for others to strike them. The Descriptor should reveal how they strut upon the world’s stage.
Example Descriptors: Smooth & graceful, lightning reflexes, clumsy, walks with a limp, stiff-legged gait, fast-paced, takes it slow.
Thinking up good Descriptors for Attributes can be challenging. Use the table below if you need inspiration or just want to let Chance decide. Reword and expand to fit your idea of the character, if needed.
| d66 | CONCEPT | MOTIVE | NATURE | POISE | FRAME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,1 | Acrobat | Achieve | Aloof | Brutish | Athletic |
| 1,2 | Artist | Afflict | Blunt | Casual | Burly |
| 1,3 | Assassin | Atone | Cheerful | Creaky | Burly |
| 1,4 | Athlete | Avenge | Cryptic | Drowsy | Chunky |
| 1,5 | Boxer | Conceal | Curious | Feral | Curvy |
| 1,6 | Burglar | Conquer | Daring | Fidgety | Gaunt |
| 2,1 | Butler | Control | Eager | Formal | Giant |
| 2,2 | Celebrity | Create | Elegant | Frantic | Healthy |
| 2,3 | Clown | Desire | Erratic | Gentle | Husky |
| 2,4 | Cowboy | Destroy | Fearful | Graceful | Imposing |
| 2,5 | Criminal | Devote | Friendly | Hasty | Lanky |
| 2,6 | Detective | Endure | Gloomy | Jerky | Leggy |
| 3,1 | Dilettante | Enforce | Intense | Jittery | Medium |
| 3,2 | Doctor | Enjoy | Kindly | Leaning | Petite |
| 3,3 | Drifter | Enrich | Loyal | Lively | Plump |
| 3,4 | Driver | Escape | Mellow | Looming | Portly |
| 3,5 | Engineer | Explore | Mirthful | Loose | Robust |
| 3,6 | Explorer | Honor | Perky | Perky | Rugged |
| 4,1 | Fencer | Imitate | Polite | Quivering | Shapely |
| 4,2 | Gambler | Impress | Proud | Regal | Short |
| 4,3 | Hacker | Learn | Quaint | Relaxed | Slender |
| 4,4 | Laborer | Obtain | Quiet | Shaky | Slight |
| 4,5 | Martial artist | Outwit | Reckless | Shifting | Squat |
| 4,6 | Mercenary | Praise | Saucy | Shuffling | Stocky |
| 5,1 | Occultist | Promise | Serious | Slinky | Stout |
| 5,2 | Pilot | Protect | Shifty | Slouching | Stubby |
| 5,3 | Royalty | Pursue | Shy | Sluggish | Stunted |
| 5,4 | Sailor | Recruit | Sincere | Smooth | Svelte |
| 5,5 | Scholar | Redeem | Sinister | Steady | Tall |
| 5,6 | Scientist | Rescue | Stoic | Stiff | Thick |
| 6,1 | Socialite | Reveal | Stubborn | Stilted | Thickset |
| 6,2 | Soldier | Revive | Suave | Swaggering | Thin |
| 6,3 | Spy | Serve | Uncouth | Tense | Trim |
| 6,4 | Student | Steal | Uplifting | Tranquil | Waifish |
| 6,5 | Vagrant | Survive | Weird | Waddling | Wide |
| 6,6 | Vigilante | Uplift | Zealous | Wiggly | Wiry |
Step 4: Backstories
These short phrases broaden the character by giving them a history and the skills to go with it. Each character may have as many Backstories as their highest unmodified Attribute, usually 5 for a starting adventurer. These can be good or bad experiences, virtues, vices, likes, dislikes, etc. Their main advantage is they serve as extra CONCEPTs. When making a CONCEPT Check for something it doesn’t cover, they can forego the usual double Difficulty by calling on a related Backstory instead. Backstories are not as focused as CONCEPTs and may face Difficulty raises.
One Backstory must describe their native language and culture. Language-granting Backstories include the name of a place, with the language in parentheses. For example, Raised on the mean streets of New York (English) or Pampered Sicilian Nobility (Italian). Check language-granting Backstories for cultural knowledge or local flavor.
Players may hold off on choosing all their Backstories until they know the setting better. A good rule of thumb is to spend about half of the Backstories on creation. Some like to wait until they need one, and then take it during play to have had it all along. If the highest Attribute increases later, they may also take another Backstory.
Example: Poor farm boy from Ohio, Cheated his way into an Ivy-league school, Led a jailbreak from Alcatraz, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Trying to learn Mandarin, extensive collection of lewd figurines, etc.
Invent your own or use the table below for inspiration. Two or three good Backstories are plenty to start with. More so than other tables in character creation, it is vital to flesh these out and make them your own. Try to intertwine Backstories with Contacts and MOTIVE!
One Backstory must describe your native land and language. You won’t find those on the chart below - talk with your Guide instead.
| D66 | Background |
|---|---|
| 1,1 | Allied with a ragtag group of rebels… |
| 1,2 | Barely survived a disaster… |
| 1,3 | Betrayed by allies or superior… |
| 1,4 | Betrayed erstwhile allies or superior… |
| 1,5 | Curated a notable collection of… |
| 1,6 | Cut their sporting career short… |
| 2,1 | Ejected from the military… |
| 2,2 | Elected to public office… |
| 2,3 | Embroiled in a protest movement… |
| 2,4 | Failed to achieve their dream… |
| 2,5 | Formed a music band… |
| 2,6 | Fought as a soldier in the war… |
| 3,1 | Found oneself after years of isolation… |
| 3,2 | Inducted into a secret society… |
| 3,3 | Invented amazing gadgets… |
| 3,4 | Joined an expedition to a faraway land… |
| 3,5 | Learned a foreign language… |
| 3,6 | Lived a pampered and wealthy life… |
| 4,1 | Nearly lost it all to their vices… |
| 4,2 | Obsessed over trivia… |
| 4,3 | Ostracized for your heretical ideas… |
| 4,4 | Performed in a traveling circus… |
| 4,5 | Ran away from home… |
| 4,6 | Resigned after a great scandal… |
| 5,1 | Saved a life and changed your own… |
| 5,2 | Smuggled contraband for a living… |
| 5,3 | Spent some time in jail… |
| 5,4 | Started a business… |
| 5,5 | Stowed away on a passing ship… |
| 5,6 | Struggled in a great contest… |
| 6,1 | Survived on a deserted island… |
| 6,2 | Taught a valuable skill… |
| 6,3 | Took care of an ailing relative… |
| 6,4 | Lost something or someone precious… |
| 6,5 | Took something up as a hobby. |
| 6,6 | Whiled away their time with cards… |
Step 5: Resources
Outfitting your character is a terrific way to get to know them. What an adventurer has at hand impacts how they deal with the crazy situations they get into. Even intangibles like debts, favors, oaths, promises, burdens of guilt, memberships, rank, etc. belong here.
You need only specify important gear on the character sheet. When a character would reasonably have something else, be reasonable and assume they do. Even if they did not write it down, a scientist knows people at their lab, someone with a car has a spare tire, etc.
Credit
Money, funding, access, or abstract “pull.” The Guide assigns Credit based on the setting and circumstances. This is usually a 2 or 3 for most games. Credit can change during play as the wheel of fortune turns.
| Credit | Afford | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9 | Needy |
| 2 | $99 | Struggling |
| 3 | $999 | Comfortable |
| 4 | $9,999 | Prosperous |
| 5 | $99,999 | Affluent |
| 6 | $999,999 | Rich |
A character can afford items with up to as many digits in their price as their Credit. For example, with Credit of 3, one can gear up with items worth up to $999 (1-2 digits) each. If they want to buy something one Credit digit higher, they lose a digit of Credit temporarily. Lost Credit recovers between campaigns.
List discrete windfalls, suitcases full of cash, stolen piggybanks, or other treasures as separate items. This prevents them from affecting Credit and preserves the appeal of special loot.
Contacts
Choose up to as many helpful people or groups as their Credit and write them down in the Resources box. Call upon these for favors or advice. They can even step into the story to save the character in a pinch. As always, you can hold off choosing until later.
If a character abuses their Contacts, they may lose them. The only way to bring them back is to make amends or replace them. They may also fall back into good graces between campaigns, depending on how awful the character was to them.
Encumbrance
An adventurer can only carry so much, especially when returning from a lucrative outing. Each burdensome item counts as at least one Load, based on how many hands it would take an average person to carry. Ignore single small items like keys, wallets, daggers, etc. as zero Load.
One can easily carry Load equal to their FRAME. If they carry more than this, every Zone crossed takes up two Moves. If their Speed was higher than one Zone per move, lower it by one instead. If they try to carry over twice their FRAME, they are Incapacitated.
| Item | Load |
|---|---|
| Backpack, small & filled with gear. | 1 |
| Backpack, large & filled with gear. | 2 |
| Footlocker or chest | 3 |
| Bag of 1000 or so coins | 1 |
| Body, Medium (man-sized) | 4 |
| Body, Small (large dog, etc.) | 2 |
| Body, Large (Pony, etc.) | 8 |
The Load for carrying someone includes Load they have on them. This can be important when carrying a hurt ally, packing mounts, etc. Every point of Load penalizes Swim (Move) Checks regardless of FRAME.
Adventurers may drop bulky items such as backpacks or sacks to avoid encumbrance or distract pursuers. This is free but picking it back up is a Use Action.
- Carry Load up to FRAME without trouble.
- If Load is over FRAME, it takes two Moves to cross a Zone.
Experience
Characters in METTLE Core set out as highly competent adventurers but there is always room for improvement. This takes the form of earning Experience points (XP) to raise their Attribute pools. To earn XP, players recount the boldest and bravest events of the last session.
Getting XP
Hand out XP at the beginning of each game session after the first. Think of this as the “On the last episode of…” recap at the start of a TV show. First, the Guide chooses a player and asks something like:
“Tell us one of your favorite moments from the last game.”
Each player then gets a turn to talk about a memorable event or Highlight from the last game, netting them an XP. It can be something they did individually, as a group, or just something wild that happened. Even failures or bad ideas count if they were memorable. If they use something another player did, that player can still use it for their own turn. Others at the table can chip in if a player asks for help.
Give them two rounds of this for a medium-length game session, and three for a long one. This means typical XP awards are from one to three XP, depending on the length of the last session.
Examples: came up with a clever plan or idea, solved a mystery or puzzle, defeated a dangerous foe, good sport about a drastic failure, “went along” with a social Check, fulfilled their MOTIVE, etc.
If a player is bringing up highlights the rest of the table finds obnoxious, consider that XP are partly diagnostic. Finding out what a player thinks is worthy tells you how they want to play. Talk it over.
Players who miss a session can still get XP from the last one they attended, and a bonus XP for describing how they rejoined the party.
Spending XP
To raise the highest (unmodified) Attribute by one, spend twice its current level in XP. To raise any “lesser” Attribute by one, spend XP equal to the highest. If two or more of the highest Attributes are equal, the one you are raising counts as the highest.
You may spend XP during the actual game, especially during a tense conflict! This represents learning an opponent’s moves, growing from a rivalry, or lengthy training finally coming to fruition.
- Raise highest: XP = highest Attribute x 2
- Raise other: XP = highest Attribute
Example Character
Dana is making a new character for an upcoming game. Her Guide set it in an alternate Baltimore circa 1904, centering on mysteries with subtle plot-related supernatural elements – sort of a cross between Gangs of New York, Bloodborne, and True Detective.
Step 1 – Name: Viktor seems like a catchy name and a good play on words for a character meant to be a good fighter. He needs a last name too, but she decides to skip it for now.
Step 2 – Appearance Dana thinks it would be fun to play a sardonic H.R. Mencken type with a sword cane. She decides on a thin, well-dressed mature gentleman. Maybe suffering from an old leg injury? She writes “A crisply-attired gentleman with a telling limp in his right leg.”
Step 3 – Attributes: Dana decides to go with the array to keep things simple. She rolls “Gambler” as his CONCEPT, spices it up as “Itinerant Gambler,” and gives it 5D. She sees him as difficult to deal with, so she chooses “Competition” as his MOTIVE at 4D, and “Curmudgeon” as his NATURE at 3D. The low 2D goes in POISE to reflect his “old leg injury” – he is not as agile as he was before the accident. The other 3D goes in FRAME as he is “svelte but wiry.” His Mettle is nine; four from MOTIVE and five from his highest Attribute. She pauses for a second; Viktor honestly seems like a bit of a jerk, but also a lot of fun to play.
Armed with these details, she goes back to the Name step. She picks the last name “Alkaev” from a search of Russian family names.
Step 4 – Backstories: His highest Attribute (CONCEPT) is 5D, so he has up to five Backstories. Going right to his tragic past, he gets Master Fencer who Lost his Dream after a Leg Injury. Next, she gives him Struggling Baltimorean Bachelor (English), which fits in well with the setting. She also gives him Raised by Russian Immigrants (Russian) as his origin, which makes him conversant in the language. It may also be useful for cooking if it comes up! This leaves two Backstories she can reveal later.
Step 5 – Resources: Dana’s Guide assigns 2 (Struggling) for Credit based on Viktor’s situation. Dana decides he usually wears a brown suit and lives in a modest apartment. He carries an elegant sword cane, a pocket knife, a pocket watch & fob, and a deck of cards. He has two contacts for now: “Oleg” as someone he owes money to, and “Samuelson” as an old fencing rival. In keeping with his personality, these are somewhat hostile relationships, but this is fine: Oleg may help Viktor just to finally get his money back, and Samuelson out of a sense of professional guilt. She can work out his other Resources as needed.
