Creating a character in 10acity Lite is quick, simple and straight forward. There are no classes to choose, so you can build the type of character that you would like without restrictions.
The classless tag system gives a lot of freedom to create the type of character that you want to play, but can also cause a little decision paralysis as it takes away the guardrails of class based systems. So, here are some ideas and thoughts to keep in mind as you create your character:
There is no wrong or bad choices. The system is designed to make your characters good at their chosen tags. It is recommended to speak to your narrator before creating your character to determine the type of story you will be part of. If it is a combat story, then having no combat tags would hinder your character. If it is a mostly skills based story, then being dedicated to combat would not be very useful. If it is a balanced story then perhaps a mixture of both types of tags would make the best well rounded character.
Don't be discouraged if you can't do everything you want right away. You gain can purchase additional tags as you gain character points. The system is designed with the understanding that you might not know your character very well at first, but as you play, you have the chance to purchase additional tags and equipment that best reflects your character. For experienced players that want to start characters a little more established, the Narrator may want to consider starting characters with additional tags and wealth points for purchasing equipment.
Character sheets can be as simple as a few things written down on a sheet or in a chat/message channel. All you need to track for your characters are Name, Description, Properties, Stress Hitpoints, Luck Points, and tags.
For example:
Name: Vexia ManifessNAME: This is the name in which your character will be known.
DESCRIPTION: These are the descriptive properties of your character such as species, height, weight, build, hair, eyes, body configuration (biped, quadruped, insectoid, serpentine, etc.). What you enter here will come into play narratively when a character’s size and appearance would affect the situation or story. Guidelines are that you should try to keep the character at a size that would fit a single space (1-3 meters / 3-10 feet tall), and if you have additional limbs you will still need an ability to use them, you will select this further below in the Abilities section.
Size: Choose a size that fits within 1 space
(1-3 meters / 3-10 feet tall) and an appropriate weight.
Body Configuration:
Cosmetic Details:
Languages:
If your game uses specific languages, the base amount of languages you know is equal to your Intelligence Attribute Dice. You also know 1 additional language for every point you have in the Society skill.
And of course anything else that you and the Narrator agree on for the description and truths of your character. Any special abilities that your character would have from their appearance (wings, claws, tail, etc.) will be handled by purchasing special abilities in the Special Ability section of character creation.
If you can’t find a Tag that fits your character, you can always modify and existing one or create one (with the approval of the Narrator). The list of Tags here is just a baseline of options, but only scratches the surface of what is possible in the 10acity Lite System. So don’t feel restricted, if there is something you’re looking for but can’t quite find, it’s time to alter or create a new one. Take a look at some of the existing Tags for guidelines, then try your hand at altering or building your own. Show it to the Narrator and they may want to alter it a little more on their own based on their own knowledge of the system or their campaign, but once you agree you have a shiny new Tag that is all your own.
Every adventure, mission, chapter, etc. is called an expedition. Performing expeditions gives rewards in the form of character points for character growth and wealth points for special equipment. A Narrator sets these rewards for each expedition. If multiple expeditions are available (mission boards, bounty hunts, etc.) each one can have different rewards. A short basic straight forward expedition would award 1 character point and 1 wealth point. While harder or more complex expeditions could offer multiple character and wealth points, but would be much more risky and difficult to accomplish.
Character points can be spent to enhance your character. Wealth points can be used to buy special equipment.
Character Enhancements:
Stress Hitpoints: All characters start with 10 stress hitpoints. This represents the little scratches, bumps, bruises, and strains that a character receives during action and resets after taking a short rest. If a character takes damage, they lose stress hitpoints. Once they run out of stress hitpoints they can either fall unconscious or choose to take a wound point in order to reset their hitpoints back to full. Stress hitpoints can be healed during scenes, but wounds are severe injuries and take multiple days, weeks, or even months to recover.
At the end of a scene, stress hitpoints automatically reset with a brief rest. Wounds do not and will persist until the character has the time to rest and be treated.
Tag Wounds: If a character takes a point of wound, they cross off one of their tags. The wound is now interfering with their ability to use that tag and they cannot receive any bonus d10's when taking actions. The narrative description being that they were wounded in such a way that prevents it (can't fight as well with my injured arm, can't run as fast with my injured leg, can't concentrate through my throbbing head to use my magic, the engineer is having trouble thinking after taking that hit to the head, etc.). The tag will become available again later once they recover from their wounds. If a character does not have any more tags to cross off, then they cannot take any more wounds and must fall unconscious when they run out of hitpoints.
Luck Points: When you are able to roll more than one d10, you open up the option to rolling doubles. When you roll doubles of greater than 1 on any of your d10's it means that luck was on your side during that action and you gain a luck point that you can use at any time for the scene. You can gain and spend an unlimited amount of luck points during any scene, but they all expire at the end of the scene. The opposite is true if you roll double 1's, it means luck was against you and the action not only fails, it fails hard.
The Narrator will assign starting wealth points and can use the following list to purchase your equipment.