Defining your Character 1e

# Table of Contents

Concept

Motivations

Ego vs. Morph

Character Stats

Initiative (Init)

Speed (Spd)

Durability (Dur)

Wound Threshold (WT)

Death Rating (DR)

Lucidity (Luc)

Trauma Threshold (TT)

Insanity Rating (IR)

Moxie

Damage Bonus

Character Skills

Aptitudes

Specializations

Character Traits

Character Morph

Aptitude Maximums

In order to gauge and quantify what your character is merely good at and what they excel in—or what they are clueless about and suck at—Eclipse Phase uses a number of measurement factors: stats, skills, traits, and morphs. Each of these characteristics is recorded and tracked on your character’s record sheet.

## Concept

Your character concept defines who you are in the Eclipse Phase universe. You’re not just a run-of-the-mill plebeian with a boring and mundane life, you’re a participant in a post-apocalyptic transhuman future who gets caught up in intrigue, terrible danger, unspeakable horrors, and scrambling for survival. Much like a character in an adventure, drama, or horror story, you are a person to whom interesting things happen—or if not, you make them happen. This means your character needs a distinct personality and sense of identity. At the very least, you should be able to sum up your character concept in a single sentence, such as “cantankerous neotenic renegade archaeologist with anger management issues” or “thrill-seeking social animal who is dangerously obsessed with conspiracy theories and mysteries.” If it helps, you can always borrow ideas from characters you’ve seen in movies or books, modifying them to fit your tastes.

Your character’s concept will likely be influenced by two important factors: background and faction. Your background denotes the circumstances under which your character was raised, while your faction indicates the post-Fall grouping to which you most recently held ties and allegiances. Both of these play a role in character creation.

## Motivations

The clash of ideologies and memes is a core component of Eclipse Phase, and so every character has three motivations—personal memes that dominate the character’s interests and pursuits. These memes may be as abstract as ideologies the character adheres to or supports—for example, social anarchism, Islamic jihad, or bioconservatism—or they may be as concrete as specific outcomes the character desires, such as revealing a certain hypercorp’s corruption, obtaining massive personal wealth, or winning victories for uplifted rights. A motivation may also be framed in opposition to something; for example, anti-capitalism or anti-pod-citizenship, or staying out of jail. In essence, these are ideas that motivate the character to do the things they do. Motivation is best noted as a term or short phrase on the character sheet, marked with a + (in favor of) or – (opposed to). Players are encouraged to develop their own distinct motivations for their characters, in cooperation with the gamemaster.

In game terms, motivation is used to help define the character’s personality and influence their actions for roleplaying purposes. It also serves to regain Moxie points and earn Rez Points for character advancement.

Motivational goals may be short-term or long-term, and may in fact change for a character over time. Short-term goals are more immediately obtainable objectives or short-lived interests, and these goals are likely to change once achieved. Even so, they should reflect intentions that will take more than one game session to reach, possibly covering weeks or months. These short-term goals may in fact tie directly into the gamemaster’s current storyline. Examples include conducting a full analysis of an alien artifact, completing a research project, or living life as an uplifted dog for a while. Long-term goals reflect deeply rooted beliefs or tasks that require major efforts and time (possibly lifelong) to achieve. For example, finding the lost backup of a sibling missing since the Fall, overthrowing an autocratic regime, or making first contact with a new alien species. For purposes of awarding Moxie or Rez Points, long-term goals are best broken down into obtainable chunks. Someone whose goal is to track down the murderer who killed their parents when they were a child, for example, can be considered to achieve that goal every time they discover some evidence that brings them a little closer to solving the puzzle.

## Ego vs. Morph

Eclipse Phase’s setting dictates that a distinction must be made between a character’s ego (their ingrained self, their personality, and inherent traits that perpetuate in continuity) and their morph (their ephemeral physical—and sometimes virtual—form). A character’s morph may die while the character’s ego lives on (assuming appropriate backup measures have been taken), transplanted into a new morph. Morphs are expendable, but your character’s ego represents the ongoing, continuous life path of your character’s mind, personality, memories, knowledge, and so forth. This continuity may be interrupted by an unexpected death (depending on how recent the backup was made), or by forking, but it represents the totality of the character’s mental state and experiences.

Some aspects of your character—particularly skills, along with some stats and traits—belong to your character’s ego, which means they stay with them throughout the character’s development. Some stats and traits, however, are determined by morph, as noted, and so will change if your character leaves one body and takes on another. Morphs may also affect other skills and stats, as detailed in the morph description. It is important that you keep ego- and morph-derived characteristics straight, especially when updating your character’s record sheet.

## Character Stats

Your character’s stats measure several characteristics that are important to game play: Initiative, Speed, Durability, Wound Threshold, Lucidity, Trauma Threshold, and Moxie. Some of these stats are inherent to your character’s ego, others are influenced or determined by morph.

**Ego Stats**

* Initiative
* Lucidity
* Trauma Threshold
* Insanity Rating
* Moxie

**Morph Stats**

* Speed
* Durability
* Wound Threshold
* Death Rating
* Damage Bonus

### Initiative (Init)

Your character’s Initiative stat helps determine when they act in relation to other characters during the Action Turn. Your Initiative stat is equal to your character’s Intuition + Reflexes aptitudes divided by 5 (round up). Certain implants and other factors may modify this score.

**Example**

Lazaro’s Intuition is 15 and his Reﬂexes score is 20. That means his Initiative is 7 (15 + 20 = 35, 35 ÷ 5 = 7).

### Speed (Spd)

The Speed stat determines how often your character gets to act in an Action Turn. All characters start with a Speed stat of 1, meaning they act once per turn. Certain implants and other advantages may boost this up to a maximum of 4.

### Durability (Dur)

Durability is your morph’s physical health (or structural integrity in the case of synthetic shells, or system integrity in the case of infomorphs). It determines the amount of damage your morph can take before you are incapacitated or killed.

Durability is unlimited, though the range for baseline (unmodified) humans tends to fall between 20 and 60. Your Durability stat is determined by your morph.

### Wound Threshold (WT)

A Wound Threshold is used to determine if you receive a wound each time you take physical damage. The higher the Wound Threshold, the more resistant to serious injury you are. Wound Threshold is calculated by dividing Durability by 5 (rounding up).

### Death Rating (DR)

Death Rating is the total amount of damage your morph can take before it is killed or destroyed beyond repair. Death Rating is equal to DUR x 1.5 for biomorphs and DUR x 2 for synthmorphs.

**Example**

Tyska is sleeved in a run-of-the-mill splicer morph with a Durability of 30. That gives him a Wound Threshold of 6 (30 ÷ 5) and a Death Rating of 45 (30 × 1.5). If Tyska acquired an implant that boosted his Durability by +10 to 40, his Wound Threshold would be 8 (40 ÷ 5) and his Death Rating would be 60 (40 × 1.5).

### Lucidity (Luc)

Lucidity is similar to Durability, except that it measures mental health and state of mind rather than physical well-being. Your Lucidity determines how much stress (mental damage) you can take before you are incapacitated or driven insane. Lucidity is unlimited, but generally ranges from 20 to 60 for baseline unmodified humans. Lucidity is determined by your Willpower aptitude x 2.

### Trauma Threshold (TT)

The Trauma Threshold determines if you suffer a trauma (mental wound) each time you take stress. A higher Trauma Threshold means that your mental state is more resilient against experiences that might inflict psychiatric disorders or other serious mental instabilities. Trauma Threshold is calculated by dividing Lucidity by 5 (rounding up).

### Insanity Rating (IR)

Your Insanity Rating is the total amount of stress your mind can take before you go permanently insane and are lost for good. Insanity Rating equals LUC x 2.

**Example**

Cole’s Willpower is 16. That makes his Lucidity stat 32 (16 × 2), his Trauma Threshold 7 (32 ÷ 5, rounded up), and his Insanity Rating 64 (32 × 2)

### Moxie

Moxie represents your character’s inherent talent at facing down challenges and overcoming obstacles with spirited fervor. More than just luck, Moxie is your character’s ability to run the edge and do what it takes, no matter the odds. Some people consider it the evolutionary trait that spurred humankind to pick up tools, expand our brains, and face the future head on, leaving other mammals in the dust. When the sky is falling, death is imminent, and no one can help you, Moxie is what saves the day.

The Moxie stat is rated between 1 and 10, as purchased during character creation (and perhaps raised later). In game play, Moxie is used to influence the odds in your favor. Every game session, your character begins with a number of Moxie points equal to their Moxie stat. Moxie points may be spent for any of the following effects:

* The character may ignore all negative modifiers that apply to a test. The Moxie point must be spent *before* dice are rolled.
* The character may flip-flop a d100 roll result. For example, an 83 would become a 38.
* The character may upgrade a success, making it a critical success, as if they rolled doubles. The character must succeed in the test before they spend the Moxie point.
* The character may ignore a critical failure, treating it as a regular failure instead.
* The character may go first in an Action Phase
* Further uses of Moxie are explained at What Does Moxie Do?Only 1 point of Moxie may be spent on a single roll.

Moxie points will fluctuate during gameplay, as they are spent and sometimes regained.

**Regaining Moxie:** At the gamemaster’s discretion, Moxie points may be refreshed up to the character’s full Moxie stat any time the character rests for a significant period. Moxie points may also be regained if the character achieves a personal goal, as determined by their Motivation. The gamemaster determines how much Moxie is regained in proportion to the goal achieved.

**Example**

Audrey has a difﬁcult Piloting: Aircraft roll to make. Her skill is 61, but she’s facing a lot of modiﬁers (–30), and if she fails she’s in big trouble. She could spend a point of Moxie before the test to ignore the modifiers, but she decides to take her chances against the target number of 31. Unfortunately, she rolls an 82. Luckily, she can spend a Moxie point to ﬂip-ﬂop that roll and make it a 28—a success!

### Damage Bonus

The Damage Bonus stat quantifies how much extra oomph your character is able to give their melee and thrown weapons attacks. Damage Bonus is determined by dividing your Somatics aptitude (see below) by 10 and rounding down.

## Character Skills

Skills represent your character’s talents. Skills are broken down into aptitudes (ingrained abilities that everyone has) and learned skills (abilities and knowledge picked up over time). Skills determine the target number used for tests.

### Aptitudes

Aptitudes are the core skills that every character has by default. They are the foundation on which learned skills are built. Aptitudes are purchased during character creation and rate between 1 and 30, with 10 being average for a baseline unmodified human. They represent the ingrained characteristics and talents that your character has developed from birth and stick with you even when you change morphs—though some morphs may modify your aptitude ratings.

Each learned skill is linked to an aptitude. If a character doesn’t have the skill necessary for a test, they may default to the aptitude instead.

There are 7 aptitudes in Eclipse Phase:

* **Cognition (COG)** is your aptitude for problem-solving, logical analysis, and understanding. It also includes memory and recall.
* **Coordination (COO)** is your skill at integrating the actions of different parts of your morph to produce smooth, successful movements. It includes manual dexterity, fine motor control, nimbleness, and balance.
* **Intuition (INT)** is your skill at following your gut instincts and evaluating on the fly. It includes physical awareness, cleverness, and cunning.
* **Reflexes (REF)** is your skill at acting quickly. This encompasses your reaction time, your gut-level response, and your ability to think fast.
* **Savvy (SAV)** is your mental adaptability, social intuition, and proficiency for interacting with others. It includes social awareness and manipulation.
* **Somatics (SOM)** is your skill at pushing your morph to the best of its physical ability, including the fundamental utilization of the morph’s strength, endurance, and sustained positioning and motion.
* **Willpower (WIL)** is your skill for self-control, your ability to command your own destiny.

**Learned Skills**

Learned skills encompass a wide range of specialties and education, from combat training to negotiating to astrophysics (for a complete skill list, look here).

Learned skills range in rating from 1 to 99, with an average proficiency being 50. Each learned skill is linked to an aptitude, which represents the underlying competency in which the skill is based. When a learned skill is purchased (either during character generation or advancement), it is bought starting at the rating of the linked aptitude and then raised from there. If the linked aptitude is raised or modified, all skills built off it are modified appropriately as well.

Depending on your background and faction, you may receive some starting skills for free during character creation. Like aptitudes, learned skills stay with the character even when they change morphs, though certain morphs, implants, and other factors may sometimes modify your skill rating. If you lack a particular skill called for by a test, in most cases you can default to the linked aptitude for the test.

#### Specializations

Specializations represent an area of concentration and focus in a particular learned skill. A character who learns a specialization is one who not only grasps the basic tenets of that skill, but they have trained hard to excel in one particular aspect of that skill’s field.

Specializations apply a +10 modi� er when the character utilizes that skill in the area of specialization. Specializations may be purchased during character creation or advancement for any existing skill the character possesses with a rating of 30 or more. Only one specialization may be purchased for each skill. Specific possible specializations are noted under individual the skill descriptions.

**Example**

Toljek has Palming skill of 63 with a specialization in Pickpocketing. Whenever he uses Palming to pick someone’s pocket or otherwise steal from someone’s person, his target number is 73, but for all other uses of Palming the standard 63 applies.

## Character Traits

Traits include a range of inherent qualities and features that help define your character. Some traits are positive, in that they give your character a bonus to certain stats, skills, or tests, or otherwise give them an edge in certain situations. Others are negative, in that they impair your abilities or occasionally create a glitch in your plans. Some traits apply to a character’s ego, staying with them from body to body, while others only apply to a character’s morph. Traits are purchased during character generation. Positive traits cost customization points (CP), while negative traits give you extra CP to spend on other things. The maximum number of CP you may spend on traits is 50, while the maximum you may gain from negative traits is 50. In rare circumstances—and only with gamemaster approval—traits may be purchased, bought off, or inflicted during gameplay.

## Character Morph

In Eclipse Phase, your body is disposable. If your body gets old, sick, or too heavily damaged, you can digitize your consciousness and download it into a new body. The process isn’t cheap or easy, but it offers effective immortality—as long as you remember to back yourself up and don’t go insane. The term morph is used to describe any type of form your mind inhabits, whether it be a vat-grown clone sleeve, a synthetic robotic shell, a part-bio/part-flesh pod, or even the purely electronic software state of an infomorph.

You purchase your starting morph during character creation. This is likely the morph you were born with (assuming you were born), though it may simply be another morph you’ve moved onto. Physical looks aside, your morph has a large impact on your characteristics. Your morph determines certain physical stats, such as Durability and Wound Threshold, and it may also influence Initiative and Speed. Morphs may also modify some of your aptitudes and learned skills. Some morphs come pre-loaded with specific traits and implants, representing how it was crafted, and you can always bling yourself out with more implants if you choose. All of these factors are noted in the individual morph descriptions.

If you plan on switching your current morph to another during gameplay, you may first want to back yourself up. Backing up regularly is always a smart option in case you suffer an accidental or untimely death. Acquiring a new morph is not always easy, especially if you want it pre-loaded according to certain specifications. The full process is detailed under Resleeving.

## Aptitude Maximums

Every morph has an aptitude maximum, sometimes modifed by traits. This maximum represents the highest value at which the character may use that aptitude while inhabiting that morph, refecting an inherent limitation in some morphs. If a character’s aptitude (including any bonuses from that morph) exceeds the aptitude maximum of their morph, they must use it at the maximum value for the duration of the time they remain in that morph. This may also affect the skills linked to that aptitude, which must be modifed appropriately.

Some implants, gear, psi, and other factors may modify a character’s natural aptitudes. These augmented values may exceed a morph’s aptitude maximums, as they represent external factors boosting the morph’s ability. No aptitude, however, augmented or not, may ever exceed a value of 40. Innate ability only takes a person so far—after that point, actual skill is what counts.

**Example**

Eva has a Cognition aptitude of 25. She is unfortunately forced to sleeve into a ﬂat morph with an aptitude maximum of 20. For the duration of the period she inhabits that morph, her Cognition is reduced to 20, which also impacts all of her COG-linked skills, reducing them by 5.