The Characater Sheet #

Stats #

There are only three stats in M.A.S.O - Body, Nerves, and Wit. The baseline of all of these is zero, with each point granting a bonus on rolls associated with it. These are fairly self explanatory and but a cursory explanation follows:

Body: Represents feats of strength and endurance.
Nerves: Represents feats of precision and reflexes.
Wit: Represents feats of mental and interpersonal nature.

Traits #

Traits are where the character modifications come from in M.A.S.O. You’ll note that Body, Nerves and Wit are pretty limited in what they describe. They are also numerically limited. Traits are characteristics that grant situational modifiers that better describe what a character’s capabilities are. Traits should be characterful and represent a character’s experience - they can describe any situation, inside or outside of combat. There are positive traits, trade-off traits and negative traits. A positive trait grants +1 to rolls on subjects mentioned in the trait. A trade-off grants +1 to some rolls and -1 to others. A negative trait grants -1 to rolls on subjects mentioned in the trait. Trade-off traits are generally only granted on character creation or by the GM for situations and behaviours as they see fit.

On character generation, a player normally gets 1 positive trait, and a trade-off trait. (This beta presents a series of backgrounds and careers to help shape this.)

A trade-off trait has equal positives and negatives. A player may also “purchase” more positive traits by also taking negative ones. This is capped at 3 for character generation but otherwise, no cap exists. Negative traits can be taken on level up, or inflicted by the GM at any time (granting a positive trait on next level up)

Hit Points #

Hit points are defined your Body stat - namely 5 x your Body (minimum of 10). Once a player’s hit points are depleted, they take an injury and their hit points reset.

Injuries #

A player has 2 injuries available to them to start. These are only used in combat and are mitigated by hit points. Even if you get into a bar fight, you will not take an injury. I mean, unless you escalate the situation.

Gaining injuries is under development.

Wounds #

A Wound is a permanent Injury. If you gain as many wounds as your max Injuries, you dead, son. See more in Damage.

Curses #

Sometimes, when you gaze into the Abyss, it gazes back. And sometimes it punches you in the face. See more in Damage.

Ability Points #

On level up, characters gain 3 Ability Points (AP). AP is spent to improve Stats and Traits on level-up.

Levelling Up #

Levelling Up Stats #

Levelling up usually happens at the beginning or end of a given mission or encounter, as indicated by the GM. Players receive 3 AP on every level up, but may have accumulated more AP between level ups due to negative traits, Curses, etc.

The cost to increase Stats increases logarithmically. For the purposes of this run, consider Stats capped at 5, though the GM could be convinced to go beyond. For comparison, an Olympian is probably a 7. In the greater M.A.S.O ruleset, anything 8 or higher is considered Peak Human and usually requires genetic modification to accomplish.

Levelling Up Traits #

Traits are where the character modifications come from in M.A.S.O. You’ll note that Body, Nerves and Wit are pretty limited in what they describe. They are also numerically limited. Traits are characteristics that grant situational modifiers that better describe what a character’s capabilities are. Traits should be characterful and represent a character’s experience - they can describe any situation, inside or outside of combat. There are positive traits, trade-off traits and negative traits. A positive trait grants +1 to rolls on subjects mentioned in the trait. A trade-off grants +1 to some rolls and -1 to others. A negative trait grants -1 to rolls on subjects mentioned in the trait. Trade-off traits are generally only granted on character creation or by the GM for situations and behaviours as they see fit.

On character generation, a player normally gets 1 positive trait, and a trade-off trait. (This beta presents a series of backgrounds and careers to help shape this.)

A trade-off trait has equal positives and negatives. A player may also “purchase” more positive traits by also taking negative ones. This is capped at 3 for character generation but otherwise, no cap exists. Negative traits can be taken on level up, or inflicted by the GM at any time (granting a positive trait on next level up)

You may also improve individual traits on level up. Positive traits improve as is obvious, negative traits go further into the negative (thereby granting another )

Traits can be levelled up at the following costs:

Traits bonuses are capped at +5 for now - the intended experience is that players create new, intersecting traits to build complex interactions.