Cogent:Create a New Character

## Attributes

Characters begin with 3 attribute points to distribute between **STR**, **REF**, and **INT**.

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 lose a die (-1d2) when making a roll which involves a crimped attribute.

## Size

Small characters gain +2 to Stealth and Acrobatics and -1 Minor Injury Slot.

Medium characters gain +2 to Athletics.

Large characters gain +2 to Grapple and Will, -1 to Stealth.

## Skills

Characters begin with 12 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, shading in the box furthest to the left just like attributes. Every crimped skill yields 1 skill point and the character must make rolls involving that skill with a -1 die penalty. They may also be gained by earning character levels on Aoshtai Wiki. Every character level which a character gains provides 1 skill point.

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

## 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. Unlike skills, however, proficiencies just involve the base die and the dice given by the weapon. No attributes are added to the number of dice rolled.

Weapon proficiencies are named by the players and approved by the DM. However, they 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 (see weapons), 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

 *The DM should work together with the player to outline the limitations of a character’s abilities. It is encouraged that magic be thought of as a flexible problem-solving tool with many applications in and out of combat, not just as a restrictive list of spells.*
*For example, it would make sense that a magic user with the pyromancy proficiency could manipulate fire in big ways and small ways, and to come up with creative ways to use fire to solve puzzles. Whether such attempts work is probably going to come down to a skill check involving the proficiency at a certain Challenge Level set by the DM.*

Players may create proficiencies which cover skills, equipment, or abilities which are not covered in the character sheet’s skills section. Psionic and magical abilities fall into this category. When proficiencies are used this way, they may be used like skills both in and out of combat. They are always rolled with all three stats added together.

Magical abilities count as proficiencies. In these cases, entire fields or types of magic (GM’s discretion) may be included in a single proficiency (fantasy example: pyromancy, telemancy, conjuration, illusion magic).

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

## Specializations

Specializations are advanced proficiencies which can be unlocked once your character hits 5 points in a skill or proficiency. All subsequent points earned or added to that skill go into specializations, which represent your character's growing specialization in one aspect of that skill or proficiency. These specializations add extra dice when a character is making rolls involving those activities. Specializations must be narrow, for example: Survival: Planetary Tracking, Computers: Hacking, or Construction: Apartments.

When rolling skill checks involving that aspect of the skill, the character may roll with their specialization.

The template to add a specialization to a character sheet, under the "Proficiencies" section, is:

```
{{ Cogent 0.7 Specialization
}}

```

## Injuries and the Injury Table

 Medium
 Fatal

Combat in this version of Cogent proceeds in a tactical round-by-round style of combat (see “Combat actions”) where characters may take one action on their turn. A combat action is any action which a character could conceivably do in a few seconds, such as moving behind cover, knocking over a table, swinging from a chandelier, or discharging 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 (1 base die + attributes + weapon proficiency or skill) against their opponent’s defense (1 base die + attributes + skill or proficiency). The skill or proficiency used will vary situationally based on what is happening in-character, at the discretion of the DM.

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:

 1 over
 2 over
* ***Disarm the opponent –*** robs the opponent of use of their weapon. It clatters on the ground out of reach. Not available to ranged weapons.
* ***Bypass Reach Weapon*** *–* Enters melee range against an opponent with a reach weapon, rendering the reach weapon ineffective. Not available to ranged weapons.
 3 over
* ***Trip the opponent or drag them to the ground*** *–* the opponent falls prone, giving them **-4 dice** on their defense rolls so long as they are on the ground exposed. They must spend one action to get back on their feet and suffer a movement penalty.
 4 over
* ***Dismember the opponent’s arm, leg, or extremity*** – which also gives a serious injury to the opponent and robs them of the use of the weapon which they are holding in that hand. Not available to ranged weapons.
 5+ over
* *May select any outcome higher on the table*

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. A 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.