SYSTEM: Guideline to Character Profiles

Guideline to Character Profiles

TURPS is a freeform RPG with few hard and fast 'rules'; however, each character has a profile that gives important information on his or her characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. This breakdown of the profile information should explain anything that is unclear, as well as providing a useful template for players to create new characters.

Name, Age, Race, Profession and World of Origin are all pretty self-explanatory, as are the Weapons and Equipment sections, if any. Character traits are divided into three groups: Attributes, Skills, and Descriptors.

Attributes assess a character's general physical and mental capabilities. There are eight Attributes:

These attributes provide a brief summary of a character's physical, mental and social powers, and may be clarified or qualified in the Skills and Descriptors sections of the profile.

Unlike Attributes, Skills represent training that a character has received in a particular discipline. There are no universal Skill fields, and each character's combination is unique.
It should be noted that a character may be considered 'average' in a skill, yet still exceed other characters whose abilities might at first sight indicate that their skill level would be higher. If they have not yet learned the skill, their ability is merely latent. For example, a character whose grasp of local geography is merely 'average' will still be more knowledgeable than a more capable person who is unfamiliar with the area, though this may change over time.

Traits are assigned a level based on how good a character is in that particular field. In descending order, these levels are:

Most characteristics will fall within the middle three; above that indicates fearsome ability, and below it, an ineptitude that borders on the obscene. If a trait is legendary, then the character's skill and genius will be noised throughout the lands. If a character is a complete putz at something, he or she should do anything and everything to avoid putting it to the test. Yes, even that.

Unlike Attributes and Skills, Descriptors do not have an assigned level. This is because they cover intangible qualities that do not bear strict analysis. Much of a character's personality can be divined from the Descriptors section.

The character description details that character's physical characteristics, clothing and demeanour, as well as something of his or her life prior to the events of the RPG. Character history is a concise account of what the character has done in TURPS, and is the section most likely to be updated regularly. New traits will also be added and old ones adjusted as necessary. Each profile should therefore be regarded as a work in progress.

Special thanks go to Nathan Banks for designing the profile format.