Character Creation

Basic Information | Character Creation | Gaining a Level

This page assumes its readers have a basic understanding of tabletop roleplaying, and do not need an explanation of its most common elements. If such is not the case, far better pages exist than this one for explaining the fundamental tenants of the craft. This section will concentrate only on basic concepts found in the Spherus roleplaying system.

Ability Stats: The characteristics of a Spherusian can be described using six ability statistics that generally range from two to one hundred. These stats increase as the character gains levels, in a manner dependant mostly on their race and the choices of the player in question. These six abilities yield certain advantages in combat and other situations. In addition, many of the more powerful combat skills require a character to test certain relevant stats. These ability stats are described below.

  1. Strength (STR)
    This stat measures a character's physical strength, and can manifest itself as burly bulk or sinewy muscles, and is useful for everything from carrying, lifting and bending to melee combat.
    1. +1 To-Hit for every 10 Strength.
    2. +1 to Damage for every 5 Strength.
  2. Dexterity (DEX)
    Dexterity characterises the ever-elusive 'hand-eye coordination', and basically describes the speed and precision of a character's hands, and the effectiveness of their fine motor controls.
    1. +1 To-Hit with melee attacks for every 10 Dexterity.
    2. +1 To-Hit with firearms and ranged weapons for every 5 Dexterity.
  3. Agility (AGI)
    Agility indicates a character's fleetness-of-foot, and their general reflexes. Characters with high agility tend to be very flexible and fast, and better able to dodge blows because of it. This also makes them better at seizing initiative when such proves necessary.
    1. +1 to AC for every 5 Agility.
    2. -1 to Speed for every 20 Agility.
  4. Health (HLTH)
    A character with higher health will tend to have a more robust constitution, and better able to endure the pain and punishment that is the daily bread of any roleplaying protagonist.
    1. +1 Hitpoint per level for every 10 Health.
  5. Willpower (WILL)
    A measure of a character's determination and mental focus, willpower is also extremely important for psychic acuity and the like.
    1. +1 Psipoint per level for every 10 Willpower.
  6. Intelligence (INT)
    This stat measures a character's intellect and their mental prowess. It can also be seen as an indication of craftiness or cunning.
    1. +1 Non-Weapon skill for every 10 Intelligence.
    2. +1 To-Hit with psychic attacks for every 10 Intelligence.

Skillpoints: These points denote a character's combat abilities, and can be put into any of the six conventional skills, in addition to special skills negotiated by the player and the GM. Note that certain races have skill penalties with certain combat disciplines, giving the character a -2 to-hit with all skills from that discipline for each penalty point. Skillpoints can be allocated to reduce the penalty. The conventional combat skills are listed below.

  1. Armor
    Anyone can buy a suit of armor, but learning to fight effectively while so encumbered requires that users be proficient in this skill.
    1. Makes characters wearing armor much harder to hit.
    2. Armor can be expensive.
  2. Art
    The martial arts of Spherus, a school of unarmed fighting techniques that combine physical prowess with mental aptitude.
    1. Slow advancement, but great potential.
    2. Many debilitating effects.
  3. Defense
    Training this skill makes the character more adept at avoiding, blocking or nullifying attacks used against them.
    1. An all-purpose defense against conventional combat skills.
    2. Most effective against combat skills in which the character is also skilled.
  4. Firearms
    The use of guns and other heavy firearms coexist with hand to hand fighting techniques in the galaxy of Spherus, though not without acrimony.
    1. Great initial damage, but a significant monetary investment.
    2. Damage increases very slowly with skill, but remains extremely reliable.
  5. Healing
    By concentrating psychic energies, some characters are able to heal themselves or their allies.
    1. Spend psi-points to restore hitpoints.
    2. Flexible enough to work in many different situations.
  6. Psi-Xaquel
    Psychics and other extraordinary mental powers are an accepted part of the Spherus society, and can be twisted into deadly attacks when brough forth into the heat of battle.
    1. Useful secondary abilities such as flight.
    2. Extremely powerful but risky techniques that can be very taxing.
  7. Street Brawl
    A down and dirty fighting style that has been cultivated on the mean streets of the galaxy's largest urban centers. Anything goes in this no-holds-barred form of unarmed combat.
    1. Strong initial damage with absolutely no cost.
    2. Very weak upper limit.
  8. Weapons
    Warriors of Spherus have been known to brandish many sorts of weapons, ranging from swords to cyber-spears.
    1. Good initial attacks, fairly low cost.
    2. Potential for accuracy and power, but little versatility.

Hitpoints (HP): As in most roleplaying games, a character's hitpoints indicates the amount of damage they can sustain before being rendered comatose. The amount of HP a character gains per level is dependent on their race and their Health.

Psipoints (PP): Psipoints measure a character's psychic energy, and are reduced whenever they perform a mentally taxing technique. The amount of PP a character gains per level is dependent on their race and their Willpower.

Armor Class (AC): Armor Class is an Abstract Class that measures a character's abiltiy to avoid being struck by their foe. This can manifest itself in several ways, including the warrior's abiltiy to dodge attacks or the robustness of their armor. A character's AC is determined by their Agility, Armor and their skill in Defense.

Non-Weapon Skills (NWS): This is a formalization of Non-Combat skills possessed by a character. Every race except Terrorians start with skill in Literacy, whereas all but Warchons start with skill in the Galactic language. In addition, a first level character has three slots to spend on Non-Weapon skills. The number of NWS they possess goes up based on their Intelligence.

Experience (XP): Characters gain experience as they adventure in the Galaxy of Spherus. A warrior can gain levels once they receive sufficient experience. The exact amount needed is determined by the character's race.


Character Creation

  1. Select a race.
  2. Roll initial stats.
  3. Roll initial hitpoints, counting any Hlth bonus.
  4. Roll initial psipoints, counting any Will bonus.
  5. Assign combat skillpoints.
  6. Choose initial three Non-Weapon skills, counting possile Int bonus.
  7. Roll for initial money and purchase any necessary equipment.

Gaining a Level

  1. Increase all stats by their base amount.
  2. Distribute all available bonus points into stats.
  3. Roll for additional hitpoints, counting any Hlth bonus.
  4. Roll for additional psipoints, counting any Will bonus.
  5. Assign new combat skillpoints.
  6. Select new Non-Weapon skills, if necessary.


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