These two traits represent the play style you would prefer to experience during the game and you MUST select one of them. Your choice will be included on your public biography.

This trait indicates your willingness to live and die in the harsh world of Disjunction. PCs can attempt to murder you personally, have you assassinated or replaced with a doppelgänger. Equally you will be vulnerable to GM generated plots against your life (which will generally be the result of a -3 trait), though in these cases you will always receive a warning before anything life threatening happens.

This trait represents your desire for other PCs and the GMs not to try and kill you during the game, both are expected to respect it. If taken you cannot select any -3 traits and you must not put yourself in situations that are likely to be lethally dangerous to yourself or others. If you do have this trait and enter into violent conflict with another player you will always lose but escape to live another day. This trait is incompatible with being a Sorcerer.

These traits represent the fundamental types of power that exist in the world of Disjunction; Magical, Temporal and Personal and are the most important aspect of a character. They are not mutually exclusive and characters may have both a profession and be influential, though Sorcerers are much more limited in this regard.

Levels 1-5: 2CP per level

This trait represents how powerful you are in your particular circle at the start of a game. It is very dynamic and can increase or decrease during the game depending on your actions and the state of the world at the time.

When you buy influence it is assumed that which you influence is loyal to you, however, this doesn't mean you necessarily have the skills to use it efficiently. So while a 5th level Influence (army) might well be willing to die for you, their warlord, unless you have some Talent (Warlord) they will die for you very quickly. Hence mixtures of Influence and Talent are important, of course you can always look for another player with the talent to direct your resources.

Influence can represent a great many things, for example; for a General it might represent the size of their army & fortress, for a politician it can represent the influence they wield at court or their spy network, for a cult leader or churchman it may represent the size of their congregation and for a merchant it can represent their trade network.

As a rough guide: at level 1 this trait represents nothing more than influence over a handful of loyal followers; hired thugs, friends at court, members of your tribe or a single shop in a city. At level 3 it can represent considerable personal political, cultural, military or economic influence for example; a mercenary company, a faction at court, a devoted congregation of cultists or a network of trade caravans). At level 5 this trait represents the height of temporal power representing the influence of a Warlord, Ruler of a City-state, Crime Lord or Messiah (one of them anyway) and allows for control of armies, kingdoms or monopoly over a particular resource.

Sorcerers cannot take this trait at any level at game start. Members of the Church may take this trait to a maximum of Level 4. Watchers are also limited to influence 4 at game start. Members of the city may take influence to a maximum of 3. Only the Unaligned may take this trait at any level at game start.

Anyone can work to increase their influence during downtime.

Levels 1-5: 2CP per level

You are accomplished in some area of human endeavour; and have the skills and know-how gained from either natural talent or experience and study. Talent can be in any mundane discipline; from Duellist, to Flower-arranger or Town Planner. You are not necessarily limited to buying a single Talent either. Perhaps you are both a deadly warrior and yet capable of creating bouquets of transcendental beauty to lay on the corpses of your vanquished foes that you bury in your new built down-town cemetery.

As a rough guide: at level 1 you would have a working knowledge of the discipline, at level 3 would be a talented practitioner and at level 5 you would be among the greatest masters of the discipline to have ever lived.

A talented individual is assumed to have a skill set associated with that profession. So a General would be assumed to have associated mastery of strategy, leadership and administration and an horological engineer assumed to be skilled at research, construction and science.

Note that broader Talents will sacrifice some specialisation in those skills that a more specific talent might grant. For example someone with Talent(Thief) can climb walls, lurk in the shadows and crack safes; someone with Talent(Safe Cracker) might not be able to sneak around so well but will be far better at cracking safes. How specific your Talent is will be of particular importance when you come up against another player in a test of skill; in the above example, in a safe-cracking competition, the player with Talent(Safe Cracker) would triumph.

This trait can be taken multiple times for different professions at varying levels.

One Level: 10CP

You are a Sorcerer one of those individuals who, for unknown reasons, is able to shape reality with their will and your power has just awoken.

As you grew up you always knew that there was something unusual about yourself; things happened around you and you found that you constantly had to concentrate to stop them causing havoc. This enduring struggle has left you with few other skills and talents but now that your power has awoken the forces of magic are yours to command and to control.

If taken this trait severely limits what other primary traits you may take and to what level you may raise them. However you gain access to the power of Sorcery. You must also take the Might is Right trait if you want to play a Sorcerer.

If you do chose to be a Sorcerer please tell us what your Aesthetic is and how it manifests.

These traits are a way to personalise your character and manifest important parts of their background and current circumstances. Unless otherwise noted all these traits may be taken only once.

Two Levels: 1 & 2CP
Restricted to: The City

For centuries the City has been the greatest centre of advances in science and engineering and many are the wonders of gears and springs that have been produced in its workshops and foundries. Rivalling even the creations of Sorcerers in their variety and usefulness the artefacts of the City are highly prized and are guarded very closely by its inhabitants for the Lord Protector and the Guilds do not look kindly on those who share their secrets with the outside world. Horological Artefacts are in general better then their non-horological equivalents.

For 1CP the artefact is a minor work of horological engineering; a clockwork sword to rip apart you foes, an Orrery that can track the movement of the celestial bodies or an incredibly complex lock.

For 2CP the artefact is a unique work of horology created by a true master of the craft and can be virtually anything you can imagine. A spring driven horse, a grafted metallic hand of spinning gears or a clockwork key capable of aligning with any lock are all possible as are many more wondrous things.

One Level: 0CP
Restricted to: The Watchers, Non-Sorcerers

The Disjunction speaks to many people in many ways: to some its truth is heard in the scream of those unmade, to others it prophesies in the rumble of the fracturing earth or the roar or the umbral storms and to some inspiration is to be found deep in the heart of the darkness where all things become as nought. However they experience the Disjunction some people are affected by it deeply; never escaping its influence in wakefulness or sleep, its voice murmuring continually in their mind, or so they believe. What it may whisper is never clear and certainly not always helpful but those who feel it claim to have seen glimpses of what was and what may be whirling within the infinite void.

Characters who possess the Void Theoria will periodically feel the influence of the Disjunction within their mind, being shown whatever truth or lies it may wish to reveal.

One Level: 1CP
Restricted to: The Unaligned

Outside the influence of the major factions the remnants of the world are a harsh and chaotic place where only the quick, skilled or lucky can survive from day to day. Either you were born with a knack for survival or your life in the wastelands have taught you the required resilience. Either way you are a survivor; adapted to living in harsh environments, coping with deprivation and with a knack for getting out of tricky situations.

One Level: 2CP
Restricted to: The Church, Non-Sorcerers

The Trinity are dead, their power broken and their priests stripped of their connection to the divine. Yet into that emptiness something else has flowed, a power borne of faith without purpose yet still a power and one strong enough to confront those who threw down the Gods.

If taken this trait gives you access to the power of Fideism and its ability to oppose and even suppress the power of Sorcerers. You start the game with knowledge of the Devotion of the Initiate.

One Level: -3CP
Restricted to: Sorcerers

The power of Will flows from deep within your subconscious; formed by your desires, dreams, fears and nightmares, making your Sorcery powerful but unpredictable. For so great is the sway of your subconscious that sometimes it can reach past your concious mind and bypass your control altering the World around you in ways you did not intend or on a scale you would have never knowingly attempted.

In practice you will irregularly lose control of your power and either your magic will do something totally unexpected or be twisted in some unplanned way. The results will normally be spectacularly unpleasant for everyone involved and especially so for the Sorcerer.

These optional traits are restricted to those with Influence

Levels: -1 to -3 CP
Restricted to: The Church, The Unaligned

Everyone is affected by the Disjunction for it is nothing less than the end of the world. Infrastructure, people and supplies are constantly being consumed by it and the effects of this are felt by even the most powerful.

Different levels of this trait represent your holdings' proximity to the Edge at game start.

-3: The Disjunction is already upon you and you are barely prepared for it. You must take immediate and drastic action or you will lose everything you and your people possess.
-2: The Disjunction is less than a year and a half away from your territory.
-1: Though the majority of your holdings are near the 'centre' of the world there are a group of your followers out near the rim who will need help returning to the fold.

Members of the City may not take this trait since the city is a defined distance from the rim of the world. Watcher settlements are already nomadic and so are relatively immune to the movement of the Disjunction.

One Level: -2CP

Those who follow you either have problems or are problems. Maybe your people refuse to move from their ancestral lands in the face of oblivion or perhaps the prospect of the end has driven many of them insane. Either way it's going to take some hard work to keep them out of harm's way.

One Level: -3CP

You may have influence but only by proxy for you are the steward of one more powerful than yourself. They have publicly given you control of their resources as reward for your faithful service, a state of affairs that will be widely known, but its quite clear that they have the real power and can take back what they have bestowed if they are displeased.

If taken this trait indicates that the resources you control are owned by someone else who will periodically give you orders that they expect to carried out. Should you displease them or fail to carry out your duties they may reduce the resources they make available to you and if you really annoy them they may take them away entirely. Please tell us whose vassal you are and the nature of your service.

One Level: 1CP

For whatever reason, you are publicly and privately believed to be a member of a particular faction, whereas, in fact, you belong to another group altogether. Perhaps you are an Exarch-Infiltrator, charged with spying on Watcher cults, or a spy for the Lord Protector aping allegiance to the Church, whilst filing secret reports on their activities.

In practice you will have access to two faction briefs, your own, and the faction's you are infiltrating. You will publicly be thought to belong to the faction you are infiltrating however, and should you be found out, you will lose access to the extra brief (and quite possibly your life). You cannot gain access to any of the unique abilities of the faction you are infiltrating.

One Level: 2CP

You have favour in a high place, a person of skill or influence who may be willing to help you out from time to time. They're not beholden to you but perhaps they owe you a debt or simply like you enough to lend aid every now and again.

A Patron can be asked for help with tasks you might not have the skills or influence to achieve yourself. Their benevolence is not boundless however and the amount of aid they are willing to provide and the number of times they will agree to provide it will depend on how taxing the assistance you request is.

Levels: 0, 1 or 2CP

During the war between the Sorcerers and the Trinity the land was battered with the most terrible and destructive of magics as each side sought to tear the other from existence. The fallout from these sorceries left distortions in the fabric of reality that had a lasting impact on those who were exposed to them and their descendants. This trait represents a fundamental change to your nature brought on by exposure to magic. At its lowest level the change is purely cosmetic; you have blue skin, burning eyes or a glowing scar. At the 1st level it represents some minor change to your biology; perhaps a resilience to extremes of temperature or preternatural reflexes. At the 2nd level the deviation from human is even more pronounced with effects; perhaps you have a limited immunity to to fire, the ability to see in the dark, breath underwater or perhaps you're 8 feet tall and inhumanly strong.

Since the Disjunction any trace of magic has been met with distrust by many in what's left of the world and though the church may not kill you on sight if you appear too “magical” they certainly won't be friendly. If your supernatural traits are particularly marked they may well influence how people in general respond to you.

Levels: 1 or 2CP

Magic is not a substance that can be permanently bound into things, it is the manifestation of the will of a Sorcerer. Hence a flaming sword can only remain aflame while a Sorcerer wills it to. Because of this magic items are tied inextricably to the magic user who created them and as such are incredibly rare and seldom outside the possession of a Sorcerer or their immediate allies.

For 1CP the Artefact can represent an item created by true master of the craft at the very pinnacle of human ability, such as a near perfectly balanced sword or a compass of surpassing accuracy.

For 2CP the Artefact has a magical origin having been willed into existence by a Sorcerer at some time. It cannot possess any “active” magic, such as a flaming blade, however it can be composed of a material with unnatural properties, such as a crystal sword with an impossibly sharp edge or a bell that sounds an alien note.

Levels: 1 or 2CP

You have an animal companion whose training and abilities can be extremely useful in certain situations if employed correctly.

For 1CP your pet can be a thoroughbred and possess the pinnacle of mundane training e.g. a homing pigeon that flies fast and sure or a horse that won't shy even in the heart of a battle.

For 2CP your pet is a Legerim variety originating from one of the areas devastated during the war against the Gods. The distortions in reality these events caused have lead it to possess some limited supernatural abilities or be of a species subtly different from those normally encountered. Perhaps it is a horse with a good head for numbers, or a silver raven that, though it can't talk, can scout out an area and report back with words like “bandits” or “trap”.

One Level: 2CP

There's something about you, whether it's your winning smile or swarthy moustache that just makes people like you. As a result, anything they say about you comes off in a positive light, no matter what it is: destroyed a town? they were probably evil cannibals; murdered a noble? he was most probably a corrupt official; caught eating babies? It's ok, they were almost past their consume by date.

This affects any news item about you: all the negative stuff gets played down and all (if any) positive is emphasised. Incompatible with Reviled.

One Level: 1CP

Your actions have made you loved or feared and your reputation for heroism or villainy precedes you wherever you go. People will respond to your presence with either admiration or fear but either way they are more likely to do things for you and not ask difficult questions.

Note that a reputation can occasionally be inconvenient if you're attempting to be surreptitious.

One Level: 1CP

Knowledge is power of a sort and can be an extremely valuable commodity if employed correctly. You have knowledge; perhaps heretical, perhaps dangerous but whatever its nature it's useful and others may want it.

You can give us an idea about what sort of special information you might have access to but essentially the GMs will decide what valuable bit of information (i.e. true) you will start the game with.

Two Levels: 1 or 2CP

For 1CP you have a place of safety you can run to when things go wrong or you just need some peace and quiet. It can only hold a few people but it is very well hidden and while you are secreted within it you are exceptionally difficult to track down; ideal for thieves or other shady characters.

For 2CP your base is mobile, you tell us how.

A secret base can also be represented with the Influence trait. This trait represents a base entirely for personal use.

One Level: 1CP (can be taken multiple times)

You are inordinately lucky and things just seem to work out well for you sometimes, mostly in small ways but still meaningful ones.

One Level: -3CP

There is something out there that is anathema to you. Something that, though it might not be able to kill you outright, can reduce you to a quivering wreck if used against you at the right moment. This can be virtually anything as long as it is not controlled by you, and other people (with considerable effort) can find out about it. It could be an allergy to mushrooms, Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia or a a verbal trigger implanted in your subconscious by your shadowy masters. Due to the nature of magic it cannot be a particular enchanted item; so no “Swords of the Chosen One” however it could be fear of a particular sword, such as the one that killed your father.

One Level: -3CP

Someone out there hates you, despises you, the very thought of you causes them to scream in fury. They will do anything to get you, to stop you and to destroy you utterly by striking when you least suspect it. The root of their hatred may be part of your history or perhaps they're just a lone psychopath who has chosen you as their victim. Whatever the reason they pose a real threat to you.

Please tell us who your Arch-nemesis is and why they want to destroy you. Please note that your Arch-nemesis is very dangerous and will happily scheme with other PCs or NPCs to bring about your fall. They will not hesitate to kill you should the opportunity arise and they will always possess a level of power similar to your own.

One Level: -3CP

The Universe can be a cruel place and sometimes even the best laid plans can fall to the whim of luck or happenstance. However just sometimes actions can fail in ways that are not merely unlucky but that are perversely appropriate. Perhaps this is some remaining cosmic joke of the Trinity or perhaps something fundamental to the nature of human endeavour but whatever the reason those who fall prey to it are unlikely to mistake it for anything else.

The Appalling Irony trait will only hit once and in a randomly decided turn. It will transcend common bad luck in that not only will the action go horribly wrong but it will go wrong in a way that is, well, appallingly ironic.

Levels: -2 or -3CP

You are a slave to forces greater than yourself, a pawn in a diabolical scheme, a cog in the machine. This trait represents someone or some group that has power over you and directs your actions towards long-term or short-term goals. The control over you is not necessarily consensual and your hidden master must have some means of control over you e.g. an imprisoned relative, knowledge of some terrible secret from your past or the antidote.

If you select this trait you must describe what goals your hidden master wants to work towards, why and what gives them their control over you. The levels represent the amount of work your hidden master expects of you and the consequences if you fail to do it.

One Level: -2CP

In some way you are touched by the Disjunction and it calls to you. Maybe when the Trinity fell and the Disjunction first began you bore witness to the first things and people to be consumed, or perhaps, as a child you saw your entire family taken by it. Whatever the reason the Disjunction is a a lode-stone for you even when you are far, far away from its darkness and it whispers in your waking dreams.

So powerful is this pull that sometimes you will simply not be able to resist its call and will wander in a daze to the very edge of the Disjunction, forsaking all other things, there to gaze into eternity.

One Level: -2CP

Your mind is flawed in some way. You are capable of rational thought and speech but something deep within you is not quite right and you constantly struggle to suppress the urges of madness. In times of stress however its just possible that your control may slip letting the demons within loose, the consequences are likely to range from embarrassing to the monstrous.

This trait can have two effects; either your perception of events will be flawed in some serious way (e.g. misinterpreting the glamorous princess as a reptilian monster) or you may lose control of your actions for a brief period as your derangement surfaces (e.g. slaying the princess and attempting to awaken the reptilian monster with loves true kiss).

One Level: -2CP

For some reason, your actions draw more attention than they should. This is fine for a mime or bard, but less so for a spy or assassin. Furthermore, these people tend to get caught up in whatever scheme you're currently working on, with usually at best mildly inconvenient results. Maybe someone gets their hand caught in your horological gears, or a fruit vendor happens to wheel his cart out in front of your high-speed chase.

Whatever you do, all you actions seem to have unpleasant ramifications for innocent bystanders, often with painful results.

Levels: -1 or -2CP

You have an awful secret that you have striven to keep secret from even those closest to you. If revealed it could be humiliating, lead to recriminations or used as blackmail material against you. At the -1 level, your character could survive the secret being revealed, at the cost of great embarrassment or temporary set-back. At the -2 level, your whole position is threatened if the secret ever got out.

If you select this trait you should tell us what your secret is and why your character desperately wants it to be kept under wraps.

One Level: -1CP

There's something about you, whether it's your shifty eyes or pointy teeth that just makes people dislike you. As a result, anything they say about you comes off in a negative light, no matter what it is: saved an orphanage from an arsonist? it was probably full of evil cannibals; fought back an enemy army armed with nothing but a toothpick? anyone else could have done it with fewer casualties; donating to charity? you did it for tax reasons and are probably an evil cannibal.

This affects any news item about you: all the positive stuff gets played down and all (if any) negative is emphasised or blown out of proportion. Some people even go so far as to spread outright lies about things you do. Incompatible with Hero of the People.

One Level: -1CP

You are handicapped in some way that makes life distinctly harder for you. Perhaps you are blind in one eye, have only one leg or suffer from arthritis. Whatever it is it occasionally hinders you day to day life and can interfere with your plans if it starts playing up.

One Level: -1CP

You have said or done the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place. Whether due to faux pas, crime or gross indecency you are hated within one of the factions and will be at best ignored and at worst attacked on sight by them. Being hated will essentially preclude you from dealing with NPCs from a faction without some serious effort on your part to make amends and, if you come into contact with agents of the faction, they may well attempt to make life difficult for you.

If you select this trait please tell us which faction hates you and why.

One Level: -1CP

You have an unsavoury habit that you indulge regularly and is likely to get you into trouble. Maybe you gamble with dangerous people, or perhaps you've a penchant for trysts in a church.

If you select the trait then tell us what your vice is and how you typically indulge it.

One Level: -1CP

You have a kid brother who is always getting into scrapes, or a best friend who has a way with the ladies… or rather, has a way with the ladies who are married to powerful and jealous men. Whatever and whoever it is, there is someone you care about in your life who just keeps on getting into trouble and who expects you to get them out of it.

Please tell us who your ally is, and feel free to let us know how they tend to inconvenience you. Alternatively, you can let the GMs make suggestions.

One Level: -1CP

You owe someone a favour, a big favour. Sometime in the past they did one for you with the implication that they'd expect reciprocation when the need arose in the future. You have no idea when they'll ask for your help but they will likely be very unhappy if you don't repay them when they ask.

If you select this trait you should tell us who you are indebted to and what they did for you in the past.

One Level: 0CP

You have in your possession a fragment of some greater whole. It looks to be very old and you have no idea where or from what it came. You might get a better idea if you found the other pieces.

One Level: 0CP

Torn away from you when the Disjunction descended upon your home or lost when the chaos of the Will War began someone close to you is missing. Perhaps a love long lost, a child or a wise old mentor; whoever they are they are lost to you at the present time.

One Level: 0xp

When the Trinity fell the weave of fate was sundered and the threads of destiny that bound mortals were forever broken. This severing left some people with fragmented strands of fate still clinging to them; old prophecies cut short, ancient swords left mouldering in dungeons and chosen ones unsure what they were chosen for. People who decide to can pursue these broken destinies for good or ill, though there is little way to tell what fate once had in store for them.

This trait is the equivalent of a +3 or -3CP trait. When taken the GMs will toss a coin to decide if it is a very good or very bad thing for your character. Please describe what form your unfulfilled destiny takes. eg. a old tablet of ancient writing with an ambiguous phrase inscribed upon it, a broken sword or a suspicious gold ring your uncle won in a riddle contest. You will have to actively pursue your destiny to feel its effects.