Characteristics

The characteristics of your Character have a powerful impact on what they do and how they do it. This Optional Rule exists to represent some aspects of a Character in combat encounters that would usually be relegated solely to role playing. It helps grant your Characters some more uniqueness that may be lost by solely focusing on their combat capabilities in character creation.

Characteristics are split into Benefits and Drawbacks, the former being positive Traits that help the Character, while the latter are negative Traits that may limit the Character’s capabilities.

Dynamic. It is HIGHLY encouraged to make your own Dynamic Characteristics. The ones presented here are merely to help inspire ideas.

Gaining Characteristics. At Character Creation, you may gain up to 3 Benefits. For each Benefit you gain, gain a Drawback. Every so often, your Character may undergo a large bout of character development and change accordingly. Upon reaching such a point, you may spend 3 Karma Points to remove a Drawback or gain a Benefit.

Characteristic Limit. No Character can possess more than 3 Benefits.

Benefits

True Hero: You are a paragon of light standing against the darkness.
-[Passive]: If your Z-Soul is Good or Pure Good, increase your Damage Reduction and Wound Rolls against Characters with a Z-Soul of Evil or Pure Evil by 1(T) and 2(T) respectively.
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: If you knock an Opponent who has a Z-Soul of Evil or Pure Evil through a Health Threshold or Defeat them, enter the Superior State until the end of your next turn.

Preferred Prey: You are especially focused on defeating members of a specific race.
-[Passive]: Upon gaining this Benefit, select a Race. Increase all of your Combat Rolls against Characters of that Race by 1(bT).
-[Triggered/Threshold, 1/Encounter]: If an Opponent of your selected Race knocks you through a Health Threshold with one of their Attacking Maneuvers, you may enter the Surging State until the end of your next turn. If you do, you must target that Opponent for the effects of the Surging State.

Fearless: You are unshakable, standing tall even when everyone else cowers in fear.
-[Passive]: While you’re suffering from the Shaken Combat Condition, increase your Wound rolls by 3(T) against the Opponent that caused the Combat Condition.
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: If you would have the Shaken Combat Condition inflicted on you, instead suffer the Compelled Combat Condition for the same duration against that Opponent.

Determined: You never give up, and you never surrender.
-[Passive]: Increase the Dice Score of your Steadfast Checks by 1.
-[1/Encounter]: As an Instant Maneuver, you may ignore the effects of all Combat Conditions (except Oblivious) and Health Threshold Penalties until the end of your turn.
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: When using the Signature Technique Maneuver, increase the Wound Roll of that Attacking Maneuver by 1d6(T) for each Health Threshold you’re below that you are not suffering the effects of the Health Threshold Penalties for.

Overwhelming Confidence: You are convinced of your own abilities, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
-[Passive]: While you are in the Superior State, increase your Soak by 2(bT).
-[Passive]: Increase the Dice Category of the Greater Dice granted by the Superior State by 1 Category.
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: If you would gain a Combat Condition (except Oblivious) while in the Superior State, you do not gain that Combat Condition.

Calm Confidence: You are more than aware that you have more power than necessary to succeed.
-[Passive]: While you have a stack of Holding Back, reduce the Ki Point Cost of all Maneuvers by 1(bT).
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: If you remove all of your Holding Back stacks, use the Power Up Maneuver or Transformation Maneuver as an Out-of-Sequence Maneuver.

Battle Hungry: You’re always on the search to have fun against a strong opponent.
-[Triggered/Start of Combat Encounter, 1/Encounter]: Set your Initiative to 1 higher than the highest or 1 lower than the lowest Initiative in the Combat Encounter until the end of the Combat Encounter. This does not influence your Initiative Value.
-[Passive]: Increase the Natural Result of all dice rolls made to resist an effect that would inflict the Shaken Combat Condition on you by 1.
-[Triggered/Power, 1/Round]: If an Opponent in the Combat Encounter possesses a higher Power Level than you, you may choose one Combat Roll; increase it by an additional 1(T) until the start of your next turn.

Targeted Obsession: You have one particular person that you’d die for.
-[Permanent, Ruling] At Character Creation, choose one Character. That Character is now your “Obsession”.
-[Passive]: While your Obsession is in your Melee Range, increase your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).
-[Triggered]: If your Obsession is knocked through a Health Threshold by an Opponent’s Attacking Maneuver, you may enter the Compelled Combat Condition against that Opponent until the end of your next turn to make a Basic Attack Maneuver against that Opponent as an Out-of-Sequence Maneuver.

Strong Partnership: You and another person are so strongly bonded, you’re inseparable.
-[Passive, Ruling]: Upon gaining this Benefit, select another Character. They become known as your “Partner”. If they also selected you as their Partner, increase your Morale and Cognitive Saves by 1(bT) while you are both in the same Combat Encounter.
-[Passive]: Your Partner cannot become your target for the Compelled Combat Condition.
-[Passive]: While your Partner is on a Square adjacent to you, increase your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).

Friendly: You’re a really amiable person and you get along with everyone.
-[Passive]: Increase the Natural Result of all Skill Checks that use your Personality Score by 1.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Damage you receive from Attacking Maneuvers by 2(bT).

Search for Glory: You constantly look for recognition, trying to prove yourself the best.
-[Passive]: For each Character you target with an Attacking Maneuver that possesses an AoE, increase its Wound Roll by 1(bT).
-[Triggered, 1/Encounter]: If you knock a Character through a Health Threshold with one of your Attacking Maneuvers, enter the Superior State until the end of your next turn.

Independent: You don’t need any help; you can handle everything by yourself.
-[Passive]: While you have no Allies in a Combat Encounter, increase your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).
-[Triggered, 1/Round]: If you (and no other Characters) are targeted by an Attacking Maneuver, increase your Soak Value and Defense Value by 2(bT) for the duration of that Attacking Maneuver.

Drawbacks

Poor Vision: Your vision is, frankly, lacking in some way.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Natural Result of your Perception Skill Checks by 2.
-[Passive]: Reduce your Strike Rolls by 2(bT) if you are not wearing the Eyeglasses Accessory as the Intended Character. While in a Transformation that has an Attribute Modifier Bonus (IN), reduce this Strike Penalty by 1/2 (rounded up) of that Transformation’s Attribute Modifier Bonus (IN).

Pacifist: You seek to avoid inflicting harm to others, even your enemies.
-[Passive]: While you are above the Injured Health Threshold, reduce the number of Actions you gain each Combat Round by 1.
-[Triggered]: If an Ally is Defeated by an Opponent’s Attacking Maneuver, that Opponent becomes Unforgivable. While you possess an Unforgivable Opponent, you cannot target other Opponents with Attacking Maneuvers (unless they possess an AoE that includes the Unforgivable Opponent as one of its targets) but you may ignore the first effect of Pacifist.

Skill Issue: You aren’t very skilled, relying primarily on brute force to get by.
-[Passive]: Reduce the amount of Technique Points you gain from Skill Improvement by 5 and reduce the amount of Skill Ranks by 1.

Loner: At your strongest when you work alone, your so-called Allies only prevent you from going all-out.
-[Passive]: While you have Allies in a Combat Encounter, reduce your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).

Easily Staggered: Often taken off-guard by powerful blows, you are left quaking in your boots when an opponent shows you up.
-[Automatic/Threshold]: If you are knocked through a Health Threshold by an Opponent’s Attacking Maneuver and fail your Steadfast Check for that Health Threshold, gain the Shaken Combat Condition against that Opponent until the end of your next turn.

Moron: Your extraordinary lack of intelligence leaves others baffled.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Natural Result of your Skill Checks by 1.
-[Automatic, 1/Encounter]: If you roll a Natural Result of 1 on a Skill Check, all of your Allies in the Combat Encounter gain the Prone Combat Condition.

Arrogant: Your pride doesn’t allow you to accurately gauge the strength of those you deem lower than yourself until it’s too late.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Dice Score of your Steadfast Checks by 1.
-[Passive]: You cannot use the Clairvoyance effect for the Search Maneuver.
-[Automatic, 1/Encounter]: When an Opponent uses the Transformation Maneuver to enter a Transformation with a higher Tier of Power Requirement than your Transformation with the highest Tier of Power Requirement, you gain the Shaken Combat Condition until the end of your next turn.

Prolong the Pain: Rather than ending a fight quickly, you prefer to play with your food.
-[Passive]: The maximum amount you can Ki Wager on Attacking Maneuvers is 0. Increase this amount by 1/3 (rounded up) of your Max Capacity for each Health Threshold you are below.
-[Passive]: Opponents’ usage of the Combat Recovery Maneuver does not trigger the Exploit Maneuver for you.

Overly Talkative: You talk. A lot. Whether it be a long, villainous monologue or an impassioned speech about righteousness and justice, you spend more time talking than fighting.
-[Automatic]: At the start of combat, receive a penalty of 2(bT) to your Combat Rolls.
-[Triggered, 2/Encounter]: If you use the Combat Recovery Maneuver while an Opponent is within 8 Squares of you, lower the penalty of the first effect of Overly Talkative by 1(bT).

Overconfident Transformation: You are extremely confident in the power of your hidden transformation, to the point of relying on it to succeed.
-[Passive]: While in your Transformation with the Highest Tier of Power Requirement, gain 2 levels of the Power High Aspect. These levels can exceed the normal limit.
-[Passive]: While in your Transformation with the Highest Tier of Power Requirement, reduce the Dice Score of your Steadfast Checks by 1.
-[Passive]: While in your Transformation with the Highest Tier of Power Requirement, you gain the Arrogant Drawback.

Repugnant: You are physically repulsive to others for one reason or another.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Natural Result of all Skill Checks that use your Personality Score (except Intimidation) by 1.
-[Passive]: Allies within your Melee Range reduce their Dodge Rolls by 1(bT).

The Best Defense: In the heat of battle you deal with your opponents head on. The idea of ‘Defense’ is lost on you, why hold back when you could crush your enemies in mere moments?
-[Passive]: When using the Defend Maneuver, you must spend 3(bT) Ki Points to use any option other than Cross Counter.
-[Passive]: You must Ki Wager at least 3(bT) Ki Points on all Attacking Maneuvers. If you do not possess the Ki Points or Capacity to do so, you may spend your Life Points to meet this minimum requirement instead.

Cowardly: You are inherently afraid of pain, and when things don’t go your way, you don’t want to fight anymore.
-[Passive]: To use the Blockade Maneuver or the Intervene Maneuver, you must spend 1 Karma Point.
-[Automatic/Threshold]: If you were knocked through this Health Threshold by an Opponent’s Attacking Maneuver, gain the Shaken Combat Condition towards that Opponent until the end of the Combat Encounter or until you apply the effects of New Level of Power.

Hopelessly Naive: You are overly trusting and easily believe people, even when they are obviously lying.
-[Passive]: Reduce the Dice Score of your Intuition Skill Checks by 3.
-[Automatic]: If you knock an Opponent through a Health Threshold and they fail their Steadfast Check, make a Clash (Intuition vs Bluff). If you win, you become aware of if they intend to continue fighting or flee. If they win, you do not benefit from Bonus Momentum and cannot make an Attacking Maneuver against that Opponent until they make an Attacking Maneuver against you or an Ally, or use either the Energy Charge Maneuver, Power Up Maneuver, or Transformation Maneuver.

Hit Me!: You stand confidently in the path of your opponents’ attacks.
-[Passive]: Reduce your Dodge Rolls by 1(bT).
-[Passive]: When using the Defend Maneuver, you must spend 3(bT) Ki Points to use any option other than Direct Hit.
-[Automatic]: If you are hit by an Attacking Maneuver that knocks you through 2+ Health Thresholds, gain two stacks of the Broken Combat Condition until the end of your next turn.

Blinded by Fury: You are easily enraged, and often lose yourself in your fury.
-[Passive]: If you can choose any effect that refers to the Raging State for any effects, you must. Additionally, any Triggered effects that could allow you to enter the Raging State become Automatic.
-[Automatic/Raging]: When you enter the Raging State, all Transformations you possess gain 2 levels of the Rampaging Aspect and you apply the effects of the first level of the Rampaging Aspect even if you are not in a Transformation. This effect occurs until you leave the Raging State.
-[Automatic/Threshold]: If you fail the Steadfast Check for this Health Threshold, enter the Raging State until the end of your next turn.

Stalled Start: You hold back your power to test the waters with your opponents.
-[Passive]: During the first three Combat Rounds of each Combat Encounter, you cannot enter a Transformation with a Tier of Power Requirement equal to or 1 lower than your base Tier of Power.
-[Passive]: You cannot lose your stacks of Holding Back until after the third Combat Round of each Combat Encounter.

Focused Research: You hyper-focus on a single individual, learning all about them you can, including how to destroy them.
-[Passive]: While you are not benefiting from the Investigation effects of the Analysis Maneuver, reduce your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).
-[Triggered]: If you target an Opponent with the Investigation effect of the Analysis Maneuver, you gain the Compelled Combat Condition against that Opponent until the end of your next turn.

Easily Distracted: When you see an opening, you can’t help yourself but to take it.
-[Automatic]: If you can use the Exploit Maneuver, you must. If you possess no Counter Actions, you must convert a Standard Action into a Counter Action to use your Exploit Maneuver when it is provoked.

Thrill Seeker: You only fight your hardest against strong enemies; everyone else bores you.
-[Passive]: If none of your Opponents have a higher Tier of Power than you, reduce your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).
-[Passive]: If you are above the Bruised Health Threshold, reduce your Combat Rolls by 1(bT).