Rulebook: A Thousand Miles of Dust

Character Creation

Your character needs a name. You will also need to select a single Nature, which will give your character a few additional points to begin with.

Quick Start Guide

Choose a Nature.

Add 6, 4, and 3 points to your Attributes

Add 12, 9, and 5 points to your Abilities (max of 3 points per ability)

Adjust your Attributes and Abilities based off of your Nature.

Spend your 12 Free Points

  • 5 FP per Attribute point
  • 2 FP per Ability point (these can be up to 4 or 5)
  • 1 FP per Adrenaline point (you start with 3 Adrenaline points)
  • 1 FP per special weapon/armor (check with DM for details)

Assign Specialties to Abilities and Attributes above 4

You have 3 types of Attributes: Physical, Social, and Mental. They all start with 1 point each. Of these three Attribute types, choose one and assign 6 points to them in any way you choose (for example, if you chose Social you could put 2 points in Charisma, Manipulation, and Presence for a score of 3 in each). Then do the same for the other two Attribute types, using 4 and 3 points for them. Then assign any points from your Nature and you’re done.

Example: Chuggins wants to make a sneaky, tinkerer type of character. He chooses Metal as his Nature. He chooses Mental as his primary attribute, assigning it 6 points, plus the one he gets from Metal for a total of 7 points. He puts 3 points into Intelligence, 2 into Perception, and 2 into Wits for scores of 4, 3, and 3 respectively. Next he assigns Physical as his secondary attribute, so he gets 5 points (4 + 1 for Metal Nature) to spend; he makes his stats Strength 4, Dexterity 1, Stamina 3. Finally, he takes Social and puts his 3 points evenly into Charisma, Manipulation, and Presence.

You have 3 types of Abilities: Talents, Skills, and Knowledge’s. As with Attributes, choose a column of abilities and assign it 12, 9, and 5 points. You do not start with an automatic point in Abilities, beyond whatever your nature grants you.

Adrenaline has both a maximum and current value. All characters start with 3 Max Adrenaline – mark these off as circles on the character sheet. As you roll doubles during the game, you will earn Adrenaline points; the points you should mark as lines through the squares.

Adrenaline can be spent before you make a roll to give yourself 1 automatic success. If you have 6 or more Adrenaline points, then you can spend 2 points to get 2 automatic successes on the next roll. If you botch a roll that you used Adrenaline with, then you lose a permanent Adrenaline point!

Natures – Flesh, Metal, and Violence***

And Sand (Survival Nature) Combustion (Science Nature) and

Flesh: Flesh is the nature that is most closely tied with humanity. It is a good choice for medics, mediators, traders, leaders, and scientists.

  • Flesh grants one additional Health level above “Healthy”
  • +1 Medicine
  • +1 to any Knowledge
  • +1 to any Mental Attribute

Combustion: Combustion is the nature aligned with chemistry and fire. It is a good choice for scientists, engineers,

  • Combustion allows you to ignore 1 die worth of penalties from wounds
  • +1 Engineering
  • +1 to any Skill
  • +1 to any Mental Attribute

Sand: Sand is the nature of those attuned to the living desert below them. It is a good choice for survivalists,

  • Sand grants
  • +1 Survival
  • +1 to any Physical Attribute
  • +1 to any Mental Attribute

Metal: Metal is the nature of creators and protectors. This is the nature that is possessed by drivers, mechanics, engineers, guardians, and smiths.

  • Metal allows you to ignore 1 die worth of penalties from wounds
  • +1 Repair
  • +1 to any Mental Attribute
  • +1 to any Physical Attribute

Violence: Violence is the nature of the Flat itself, a force to drive danger away. It is the nature of warriors, hunters, and soldiers.

  • Violence characters start with 5 Adrenaline instead of 3.
  • +1 Brawl
  • +1 to any Physical Attribute
  • +1 to any Talent

Bone: Bone is the nature of history, a reminder of those past. It is the nature of craftsmen, merchants, and wise elders.

  • Bone characters start with 2 Flatland Lore
  • +1 Alertness
  • +1 to any Personal Attribute
  • +1 to any Talent

FREE POINTS

After you have assigned your Attributes and Abilities, you can spend your Free points. You get 12 Free points to spend, and here’s how to spend them:

  • 5 FP per Attribute point
  • 2 FP per Ability point (these can be up to 4 or 5)
  • 1 FP per Adrenaline point (you start with 3 Adrenaline points)
  • 1 FP per special weapon/armor (check with DM for details)

Special armor and weapons must be cleared by the DM; since weapons and armor can be fleeting things on the Flat, it is recommended that you spend point improving your character rather than spending all your points on weaponry! It is assumed that your character as least has access to a weapon that will do Strength +1 damage at any time, so there is no cost associated with that.

1 FB can buy you the following type of equipment:

Start with a melee weapon that does Strength +2 Damage3FP
Start with a melee weapon that does Strength +3 Damage6FP
Start with a Strength +1 weapon with some special feature: Extended reach, flaming, mechanical,etc*1FP
Weapon is somehow intrinsic to your character (Fake limb, grafted on, plated underneath the skin)+4FP
Pistol, with 4 ammo (extra ammo is 1FP per 2)1FP
Rifle or shotgun, with 2 ammo (extra ammo is 1FP per 1)1FP
Special weapons/armor bought with Free Points

Merits and Flaws

Here are merits and flaws (eventually!)

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