Character Sheets

**Character Sheets** hold a character's stats, abilities, and inventory. They hold all of the information about a character which will be necessary during play.

## Character Sheet Examples

* Alan Harkness/Cogent
* Jon Marconi/Cogent
* The Black Knight/Cogent

## Attributes

Characters begin with 3 attribute points to distribute between **STR**, **REF**, and **INT**. These attributes each have their own benefits:

* **Strength** grants characters more injury slots, allowing them to sustain more injuries before going down. Strength also grants access to the strength attribute abilities just underneath it. These are some of the strongest in the game, turning a character into a physical powerhouse.
* **Reflex** grants characters the ability to more reliably go first in Cogent's fluid turn order. All turns in Cogent battles take place simultaneously, but some actions have to take place before others. High reflex characters get to go first and pre-empt the actions of others with lower reflexes, inserting their actions on top of theirs. Reflex attribute abilities just underneath the attribute stress mobility, agility, and the ability to get the first strike.
* **Intellect** grants 1 point of extra Energy and grants 3 more skill points to use during character creation per point invested in Intellect. Energy is used as a resource by special abilities during combat, so having more energy allows a character to use more special abilities. The extra energy and skill points are great for all character archetypes, making Intellect a secondary attribute of choice. Intellect attribute abilities just underneath the attribute emphasize utility, planning, and group play.

Over the course of the game, characters cannot gain more attribute points. Attribute points are set in stone. They make a statement about a character, their personality, and the way they think, move, and fight. Investing in one attribute necessarily means foregoing the benefits of other attributes.

If the player so chooses, they may crimp one of their attributes in order to gain an extra attribute point. They do so by crossing out the box furthest to the left like so:

Characters gain the opposite of the benefit of a crimped attribute. Characters with crimped intellect lose 1 energy. Characters with crimped strength lose 1 injury slot.

### Attribute abilities

Attribute abilities are useful abilities and effects located just under each attribute. Putting points into an attribute grants access to that attribute's abilities.

## Size

Size refers to a character’s stature and bulk. There are three sizes:

* **Small** characters gain +1 to Stealth and Acrobatics and -1 Minor Injury Slot.
* **Medium** characters gain +1 to Athletics.
* **Large** characters gain +1 to Grapple and Will, -1 to Stealth.

## Skills

Characters begin with 30 skill points to distribute between all available skills and proficiencies. 3 more skill points may be gained with every attribute point invested in **INT**.

Additional skill points may be gained by crimping select skills, putting in a -1 in the attribute. Every crimped skill yields 1 skill point and the character must make rolls involving that skill with a -1 die penalty. Characters gain skill levels every time they critically hit (get all victories) or critically fail (get all failures) with that skill. Skill points can also be gained by spending shop credit at the Contribution Rewards shop.

## Weapon Proficiencies

Proficiencies are skills which unlock the full potential of classes of weapons. Each point invested in a proficiency unlocks 20% of the weapon’s dice bonus, up to 100% when the character masters the weapon.

Weapon proficiencies must refer to specific weapons belonging to a particular culture and tradition. For example: Elven Longblade is a good weapon proficiency, while Sword is too broad; American Assault Rifle is a good weapon proficiency, while Rifle is too broad.

If a character picks up a weapon *within the same category* as an existing proficiency, they may begin that proficiency at half their existing proficiency. So for example, if a Karian marine proficient (5/5) in Karian assault rifles picks up an assault rifle made by another faction, she will be able to use that weapon at half proficiency (2/5) and will be able to proceed getting a hang of the weapon from there.

Characters gain proficiency every time they critically hit (get all victories) or critically fail (get all failures) with that proficiency.

## Other Proficiencies

A great number of other proficiencies can be learned through various skills, such as Piloting, Learning, and Linguistics.

## Energy

Energy **◈◈◈◈**

Energy represents the physical and mental resources which a character has at their disposal in an encounter. Abilities of various kinds cost energy. Energy is regained when a character has time to catch their breath after an encounter.

## Injuries and the Injury Table

 Medium
 Fatal

Combat in this version of Cogent proceeds in a tactical round-by-round style of combat where characters may take one action and make one movement on their turn. An action is any act which a character could conceivably do in a few seconds, such as knocking over a table, swinging from a chandelier, or discharging or reloading their weapon.

Some actions taken in combat constitute a direct attack on an opponent which can result in injury. In these cases, a character will make an attack roll using their weapon's dice against an appropriate defensive skill or proficiency. The skill or proficiency used will vary situationally based on what is happening in-character and what weapons are being used. A comprehensive explanation can be found on the page explaining combat.

When a character scores 1 or above the number of wins rolled by the defender, they injure their opponent. How badly is determined by how many wins they have over their opponent. This is known in cogent as **Victory Level**.

The higher the victory level which the attacking player achieved over their opponent, the more control they have over the situation and what happens to the opposing character. See the following table for a breakdown of how this works:

If the attacker scores an equal or lesser number of victories, nothing happens. The defender has successfully defended themselves.

Every character has a limited number of injuries they can sustain. The average character may suffer 4 minor injuries, 2 medium injuries, and 1 serious injury and still be capable of fighting. If the character receives a 5th minor injury after receiving 4, they will go into the downed state and will be forced to make saving throws.

However, there is no interaction between the different kinds of injuries. Characters  who received 3 minor injuries may still receive two medium and a serious injury and still be standing. It is only if they exceed the number of injuries in their row that a character goes down.