Dead Labor: Character Creation v0.2

So this is a process, and I'm going to probably iterate on the rules quite a bit.

Promises of freedom are as common as there are city lights.

Dead Labor: Character Creation

Player characters in Dead Labor have three core attributes:

BODY        MIND        CREDIT

Your BODY affects your physical abilities, how strong and nimble you are.

Your MIND affects your mental abilities, how easily you can navigate cyberspace or resist occult interference.

Your CREDIT affects your social abilities, how easily you can negotiate with corps, suits, and merchants.

To find your character's attributes, roll 1d6 or choose a row and take the entire row.

If your character would attempt something dangerous, your SANGUINE TALLYCOUNTER (or ST) will tell you which attribute is most relevant. Roll 2d6 and add that attribute to the total. On a result of 7 or above, you succeed. On a result of 9 or below, there are negative consequences.

Your character starts with any mundane, inexpensive items that would fit them. The most dangerous weapon they can normally start with is a knife, and the most powerful computer they can normally start with is a flip phone.

Choose an Archetype for your character. You gain everything associated with that archetype.

Archetype: Deckwielder

If it beeps, you can tell it what to do.

You start with a cyberdeck. It is portable and can connect to cyberspace so long as it isn't being actively blocked.

While using your cyberdeck, you can roll with MIND to attempt to tell one nearby electronic device a short command that it will obey to the best of it's ability. Potential consequences: tripped alarms, infected cyberdeck

Archetype: Bruiser

Someone's got to do the heavy lifting.

If you roll with BODY with the intent of dealing physical harm to a person or object, you succeed on a 6 or above instead of a 7. You still face consequences on a 9 or below.

You have an additional "2" slot on your injury track (So you'd fill up slot 1, slot 2A, slot 2B, slot 3, then die). Only count the first slot 2 while determining injury-related penalties.

Archetype: "Expert" of the Odd

You read about something like this once. Too bad the author died before completion.

When observing a new kind of supernatural creature, you can tell the group one weakness of that type of creature you've learned in your studies. Roll with MIND. On a success, the information is accurate enough. On a failure, it is soon proven wildly off. Potential consequences: the creature has (imperfect) countermeasures for the weakness

When confronting a foe, you may reveal a trap you could have conceivably set previously. Roll with MIND. On a success, the trap works and your foe grants you an opportunity. Potential consequences: Someone else is caught in the trap, setting the trap brought the wrong kind of attention.

Archetype: Half-Dead

Half human, half...

You start affiliated with a corp. They like you, even if you don't like them.

When you ask the night air for help, roll with CREDIT. On a success, your affiliated corp helps you out. Potential consequences: It's time to start paying them back for these favors, an ally here is an enemy of the corp

Gain a +1 on rolls to spite your affiliated corp.

Archetype: Cat

No one noticed the fourth member of the group.

When you roll with BODY to get in somewhere you're not supposed to and fail, you may turn it into a success by having the ST grant your character an injury.

The first time you would die, you may come back in at a later scene, revealing that you somehow escaped the clutches of death. This does not work if your body has been destroyed beyond all plausibility. Any other time that you would die you may roll with BODY with a -2 penalty to do the same. Potential consequences: You came back with a debt, someone hates you for surviving

Archetype: Fixer

Everyone needs a fix of one kind or another.

When you roll with CREDIT to obtain something off the black market and fail, you may state a piece of gossip that you heard. It's true.

At any time, you may roll with CREDIT to attempt to produce a small item of your choice that you had hidden earlier, either on your body or in the environment (You can't repeat this roll for the same item). Potential consequences: Someone found it (potentially why the roll fails), someone saw you retrieve it

Injuries

Each player character has an injury track with three slots labeled 1, 2, and 3. If a player character would be injured by negative consequences, then the ST should give them a minor injury (such as "Winded" or "Shaken") and the player should write this down in slot 1. If slot 1 is full, the ST gives them a more serious injury (such as "Heavily Bruised" or "Frightened") to put in slot 2. If slot 2 is filled, they get a yet more serious injury (such as "Broken Left Arm" or "Cursed") and puts it in slot 3. If all three slots are filled and the character is to receive an injury, they die by the end of the scene.

Any action that would be negatively affected by any injury on a character's injury track grants a penalty to it's roll equal to the total number of filled slots on that character's injury track.

When a character has a few minutes to collect themselves, they clear slot 1. When a character can sleep without keeping an eye open, they clear slot 2. When a character receives professional medical help, clear all slots.

Non-player characters have from 0 to 3 injury slots (the more slots they have, the more durable). If they have 0 slots remaining they may be taken out (lethally or merely subdued) with one successful roll (or without a roll should such an action be riskless), if the aggressing player so chooses. Otherwise it acts much the same as a player character's injury track, with the number of filled slots instead granting a bonus to any player characters rolls that take advantage of an injury.