Allocating Traits

Character creation in Fudge assumes the players will design their characters, rather than leaving attributes and other traits to chance. The GM may allow randomly determined traits if she desires a suggested method is given in Random Character Creation.

There are no mandatory traits in Fudge. The GM should inform the players which traits she expects to be most important, and the players may suggest others to the GM for her approval. The GM may even make a template, if desired a collection of traits she deems important (with room for customization) and let the players define the level of each trait. See Section 6.12, Templates.

When a character is created, the player should define as many character traits as he finds necessary which may or may not coincide with a GM-determined list. If a player adds an attribute the GM deems unnecessary, the GM may treat that attribute as simply a description of the character. She may require a roll against a different attribute than the player has in mind, and the player must abide by her decision.

As an example, a certain GM decides she wants characters to have a general Dexterity attribute. A player takes Good Dexterity for his PC, but wants to show that the character is better at whole body dexterity than at manual dexterity. So he writes: Great Agility and Fair Manual Dexterity. However, the GM can ignore these distinctions, and simply require a Dexterity roll, since that is the trait she has chosen. (She can average the PC chosen levels, or simply select one of them.) Of course, she can also allow him to roll on the attributes he has created.

In Fudge, a character with a trait at Fair will succeed at ordinary tasks 62% of the time there is usually no need to create a superstar. In fact, Great is just that: Great! Superb should be reserved for the occasional trait in which your character is the best he’s ever met.

Any trait that is not defined at character creation will be at a default level:

For attributes: Fair.

For most skills: Poor (easier skills are at Mediocre, while harder ones are at Terrible). A skill default means untrained, or close to it. However, it is possible to take a skill at Terrible (below the default level for most skills), which implies an ineptitude worse than untrained.

For most gifts, supernormal powers and certain GM-defined skills: Non-Existent. (That is, the default is non-existent. The trait itself exists in some character, somewhere.)

Each player should expect the GM to modify his character after creation it’s the nature of the game. The GM should expect to review each character before play. It would, in fact, be best if the characters were made in the presence of the GM so she can answer questions during the process.