Character Creation

The process for starting to roleplay in The Nexus is quick and easy and requires no approval, however following these steps is mandatory. There are only a few steps to follow so let's get started!

1. Pick your Faction

Pick the faction you would like to represent.

2. Choose your Skills

Add skills to your character to make them unique.

3. Understand Combat

Familiarize yourself with the fun and simple combat system.

4. Character Introduction

Tell everyone how great your character is.

Pick Your Faction

Before you can begin playing you will need to define your initial faction affiliation. Your initial faction affiliation determines unique skills that you will have access to as well as combat modifiers. As roleplay progresses you may change your faction affiliation, however you will still only have access to the skills and modifiers associated with your initial faction affiliation. For an explanation of each faction please see the section of the website on factions. This section will reference mechanics in the combat system, so please refer to that section below for more details. Unless otherwise specified each character starts with 200 credits. All players can gain skills to a maximum of 4 skills.

Skill slots define which type of skills can be obtained. A skill slot that is specific to a faction must contain a skill specific to that faction. The skills that you can take need to fit your faction's skill composition.

For example a player with the Military faction might choose to start with Stims and Scope as their starting 2 skills. This consumed one wildcard slot for Stims and one Military slot for Scope. The next skill that they gain could be Focus, consuming their last Military slot. The last skill that they earn can come from any faction, including their own. For this example let's say that they choose Hacking. Since the player started with Armor for free and it doesn't count toward their skill slots they now have the maximum amount of skills that they can earn: Scope, Focus, Stims, Hacking and Armor.

Another example Free Europa's skill slot composition is 2 Free Europa skill slots, 2 wildcard. That means that a Free Europa player cannot end with 4 Military skills. At least 2 of their 4 total skills will need to be Free Europa-faction skills. Players are free to fill their slots in whatever order that they like, however. So a Free Europa player can start with Armor and Heal if they wish, but then the next two skills they take need to be Free Europa-faction skills.

AI/Synthetic characters: You select a faction just like everyone else. As far as game mechanics are concerned you are identical to human characters in your selected faction. You have no special skills or stats.

Note about crafting: Only Free Europa and Colonists can craft items, however all players can craft additional skill slots.

Colonists - As generalists you have access to a wide range of skill types and you receive moderate bonuses to each of your stats in combat.

+4 to melee / +3 to ranged attack rolls
+2 to melee Difficulty Check (DC)
Start with 4 max Hit Points (HP)
Start with 2 skills
Can purchase goods -- $250 each - $50 x Rank (At rank 2 goods cost $200 credits)
Can craft items
1 Colonist skill slot, 1 general skill slot, 2 wildcard.

Free Europa - Insurrectionists that specialize in hit-and-run tactics and have access to some specialized skills.

+4 to melee / +3 ranged attack rolls
+2 to melee DC
+5 to initiative order (+10 at rank 3, +13 at rank 4)
Start with Hacking (does not count toward skill maximum, also +2 at rank 2, +5 at rank 4)
Start with 4 max HP
Start with 2 skills
Can craft items
2 Free Europa skill slots, 2 wildcard

Corporate - Access to great wealth is your primary advantage, though you do have access to specialized skills. However you receive significant penalties for combat.

-2 to melee / -3 to ranged attack rolls
-1 to melee/ranged DC
Can sell Resources, Mods, and Trade ($50 each)
Start with 4 max HP
Start with 2 skills
You start with 1000 credits
1 Corporate skill slot, 3 wildcard.

Military - You specialize in combat and so receive significant combat bonuses.

+5 to melee / +4 to ranged attack rolls
+2 to melee/ranged DC
Start with Armor (does not count toward skill maximum).
Can fine/arrest players (see #arrests-fines)
Can purchase goods -- $250 each ($150 each at rank 3)
Start with 4 max Hit Points (HP) (+1 Max HP at rank 2)
Start with 2 skills (in addition to Armor)
2 Military skill slots, 2 wildcard

Players can fill their skill slots in any order. Meaning a Military player could fill one of their military slots and one of their wildcard slots to start which would leave them two potential slots in the future, one military and one wildcard.

For example:

A corporate player could start with Research and Bodyguard.

A colonist could start with Parkour and Hacking.

A free europa player could start with Hacking (which they get for free), Parkour and Professions Skill - Modification Engineering.

A military player could start with Armor (which they get for free), Focus, and Ensnare.

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Choose your SKills

Depending on your faction you can pick skills from the lists below. There are two types of skills; general skills which are available to all players of all factions, and specialized skills which are only available to a given faction. You do not automatically get all of the specialized skills of your faction, you must select them and they contribute to your quota. Unless otherwise noted you can only take each skill once.

GENERAL SKILLS

Hacking - Allows a character to roll with a DC to steal technology or money from another character, or to learn about past hacking exploits. A single hacking attempt can only be for a single purpose and therefore a character could not steal money and technology with a single, successful hacking roll. The purpose must be declared to the defender prior to the hacking roll. You must have IC knowledge of the target character. You may only roll once against a target character per in a 72 hours. After failing any Hacking roll you may not may make any additional Hacking roll attempts for 72 hours. All hacking activities occur in the #hacking discord channel. If you are rank 2 Free Europa you get a +2 bonus to your roll. At rank 4 Free Europa you gain +5.
- Roll against a 10 DC after applying any modifiers. The DC for stealing tech is 15.
- Any hacking attempts made against you raise your DC +5
- A successful roll of 10 or greater results in 50 stolen credits that the character must forfeit if possible. A successful roll of greater than 15 (without modifiers) results in 100 stolen credits.
- An unsuccessful roll of less than 10 results in the character learning about the attack. An unsuccessful roll of 5 or less (without modifiers) results in the victim learning the identity of the hacker.
- Successful rolls aimed at stealing tech always steal one tech regardless of the value. Successful rolls to learn about past hacking exploits force the victim to surrender IC knowledge about their last three (3) successful hacking attacks including the identity of the victim and what was stolen.
Charisma - Characters can learn information about other characters. The two characters must be in the same scene together and must be interacting. The character utilizing Charisma will roll against a 12 DC. Only one piece of information is surrendered on a successful roll. The information that is surrendered is always determined by the defending player. The information surrendered should be information that the other character does not yet know. The information surrendered does not need to be true but should be true according to what the defending character believes or knows at the time.
- On a successful roll of 12 or higher the character using Charisma learns one minor detail about the other character. This could be that character's favorite kind of meal, color, or what kind of clothes they like.
- On a successful roll of 15 or higher the character using Charisma learns one detail that the other character would not normally surrender. This could be a spicy rumor about a peer, an embarrassing memory, or a guilty admission.
- On a successful roll of 18 or higher the character using Charisma learns one secret that the other character holds.
- On an unsuccessful roll the player may not attempt to use Charisma again for the rest of the scene.
Heal - can be used once per day to restore one (1) HP to a character. This can be used on yourself. This can be used as an action within combat. This can be used to temporarily raise the maximum HP of a character for 24 hours by one (1) HP. This effect does not stack. There is no game mechanism that allows a character to be more than one (1) HP over their faction maximum at any given time. This skill cannot be used to raise a player's HP from 0 during combat.
Luck - For combat rolls of 1 or 2 these values instead become 20 and 19 respectively. This includes attack rolls, skills that are used in combat (like Parkour), and initiative. This does not include skills used outside of combat like Hacking. This does apply to ST scenes.
Scavenge - Every 72 hours you can make a roll to scavenge the Nexus. This could be something you find wandering around, it could be something your stole, or it might represent legal salvage. This roll is performed in the #scavenge discord channel. You can not take both Scavenge and Wealth, you may only take one of these two skills.
- On a roll of 1-5 you earn 2 Mods
- On a roll of 6-10 you earn 2 Resources
- On a roll of 11-15 you earn 2 Trade
- On a roll of 16-20 you earn $150 credits.

SPECIALIZED SKILLS

Skills shown here can only be selected by characters that chose the associated faction during the previous step in character creation. Skills are shown with designations of Colonist, Free Europa, Military, and Corpo to designate whether each faction can take the specialized skill. Many specialized skills allow members of multiple factions to select the skill.

Wealth - Roll a die once every 72 hours. If you are Corporate you multiply the base of the dice by your Rank (For Rank 2 you would roll 1d40 instead of 1d20). They divide that number by 2 and then multiply that number by 50 to receive that number of credits. This is their allowance and represents money that has been added to their corporate holdings. Credits will often be used for faction goals, ST scenes or for purchasing special game elements. The source of this wealth could be anything-- it could be from stocks, or it could be tied to your corporate profession, etc. You cannot take both scavenge and Wealth, you may only take one of these two skills. Corporate
Hacking 2 - To take this skill you must have taken the General Skill Hacking. This skill gives you a +5 when rolling for Hacking attempts. Free Europa
Research - every 72 hours you may attempt to produce a new technology. For Corporate players, for each Rank above level 1 add 2 to your roll. Technology will have impacts to the story as it progresses. In some cases this skill will be necessary for ST scenes or for faction goals. A roll of 15 DC or higher is considered a success. Technology can be exchanged for 500 credits. All research is done in the #research discord channel. If you fail your Research roll in a week you may pay 500 credits to use Research again. You can do this multiple times until you roll a success. Corporate
Parkour - You may take this as an action during combat. Roll against 10 DC. On a success you may escape combat at the start of your next round as long as you remain above 0 HP. Free Europa
Stims - As a cost to use this skill, reduce your HP by 1. If you are still above 0 HP after paying this cost then take two additional turns. This still counts as part of a single round. You cannot use Stims twice in a single round of combat (you cannot use a stim as one of the actions given to you by Stim). You also cannot use the Stim skill as one of the additional actions given to you by the Stim Item and vice versa. Colonist, Free Europa
Ensnare - You may take this as an action during combat. Roll against 15 DC. On a success you may skip a target's next turn, that person's escape counter also resets to 0. Military
Brawling - You may take this as an action during combat. Choose a target that is melee and force them to remain melee for their next turn. You may make a melee attack against a target. You must be in Melee mode to use this skill. Colonist, Military
Professional Skills - each of these are skills that will have impacts to the story as it progresses. In some cases these skills will be necessary for Story Teller (ST) scenes or for faction goals. Every 72 hours this skill can be used to produce 5 goods of a type which can then be exchanged with other players for credits. Each character can take a maximum of one Professional Skill. Colonist, Free Europa
- Resources - produces raw materials. Thematically this would be mined ore, fuel, basic building components, etc. You might be someone that trades in these materials as a merchant or you might be someone that physically acquires the materials yourself.
- Modification Engineering - creates mod components which can be used to allow people to alter their appearance or to give them additional functions. You might be someone that actually creates the components or you might be involved in the medical procedure to install them.
- Trading - this is a catch-all for all other professions. You might take this if you are a dancer, or a food vendor, or you might actually participate in trade as a pilot or merchant.
Focus - You may take this as an action during combat. For the rest of this combat you add +2 to melee and ranged attack rolls that you make. Military
Scope - For ranged combat rolls 18, 19, and 20 (without modifiers) cause 2 damage instead of 1. Military
Tactics - after rolling initiative you may choose to begin combat in Ranged rather than Melee. Military, Free Europa
Bodyguard - when rolling initiative for combat you summon an NPC bodyguard. This NPC does not participate in combat, instead at the beginning of each of that player's turns the player can choose to activate the NPC without spending an action. If the NPC is activated the player cannot be targeted this round. This includes attacks and skills, the only exception being Heal which can be used to target the player. The NPC cannot be targeted. At the start of the next round the NPC is consumed. There is no game mechanic which can be used to allow a Bodyguard to be summoned twice in the same combat. Corporate
Sabotage - Roll against a 15 DC. If you are successful you cause the target to lose 500 credits. If you are unsuccessful the victim learns of the attempt, and you may not perform another sabotage roll for 72 hours. If you roll less than 10 your identity is revealed to the attacker. This will be used for some faction goals and ST scenes. All sabotage occurs in the #sabotage discord channel. Free Europa
Armor - gives +3 DC for ranged and melee. Military
Combat Training - you may start with only one type of combat training. Military
- Close Quarters Combat Training - Gives +3 to melee attack rolls. For Military at Rank 4 this is +4.
- Gun Range Training - Gives +2 to ranged attack rolls. For Military at Rank 4 this is +3.

Note: Skills like sabotage, hacking and (sometimes) charisma when used can be seen as an attack and can and will cause retaliation by other players.

ITEMS

For the most part Items work just like Skills. These are consumables that you can craft or they can be rewards for Faction Goals or Story Teller (ST) events. These can be sold to other players for credits. Colonists and Free Europa players can craft these items using the crafting menu in the HUD.

Medkit - when consumed this uses the Heal skill on the player. The same restriction applies to medkits as it does to heal-- you can only use a Medkit once per 24 hour period. You cannot use the skill Heal and use a Medkit in the same 24 hour window.
- Crafting: requires 1 resources and 2 trade.
Smoke Grenade - when consumed this uses the Parkour skill.
- Crafting: requires 2 resources and 2 trade.
Stims - when consumed this uses the Stim skill.
- Crafting: requires 1 mod, 1 resource, and 1 trade.

Additional Skill Slots

Every player starts with 2 skill slots. Over time players can earn the required resources needed to craft additional skill slots. They can add skill slots in this way to a maximum of 4 skill slots total (this does not include Armor for Military or Hacking for Free Europa). Any player can craft a skill slot from the crafting menu.

Additional Skill Slot - this gives you an additional skill slot. You start with 2 and can add to a maximum of 4.
- Crafting: requires 3 mod, 2 trade, 2 resources and $1500 credits.

Rank

All players have a rank. Their rank starts at 1. Over time players can earn the required resources needed to buy higher ranks. They can raise their rank in this way to a maximum of 4. Any player can Buy Rank from the crafting menu.

Additional Rank - this gives you an additional rank. You start with 1 and can add to a maximum of 4.
- Crafting: requires 3 mod, 2 trade, 2 resources and $1500 credits.

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Understand Combat

Combat can be initiated during roleplay. Once combat is declared by a player in a scene, everyone in the post order automatically becomes part of the combat. No additional players can join the combat after it has started. Combat proceeds in rounds according to initiative order, with each player taking a turn. Once all players have either escaped, are at 0 HP, or the remaining players agree to end the combat the combat is then concluded. At the beginning of combat all players roll to determine initiative order. The player with the highest initiative roll goes first. Players begin in Melee unless a skill gives them the ability to choose.

Note: Unless otherwise specified all DC start at 10. All rolls are done with a d20. Also, if two effects would resolve at the same time during combat, they resolve in initiative order.

RANGED VS MELEE

Each player can be in Melee or Ranged mode at any point during combat. There are a few restrictions on attacks based on each player's mode:

A player in either mode may freely make Ranged attacks on any other player.
A player in Ranged mode may not make Melee attacks against any player.
A player in Melee mode may not make Melee attack rolls against a player that is in Ranged mode.

A player in Melee mode may attempt to move another from Ranged mode into Melee mode during their turn before they attack.

PLAYER'S TURN

At the beginning of a player's turn if they are at 0 HP they are skipped.
If the player has not attacked for two (2) consecutive rounds and they are not at 0 HP they may retreat from combat at this time. The Ensnare ability overrides this condition and resets the number of consecutive rounds to 0. A player that escapes from combat is removed from the turn order.
The player may freely move into Melee mode from Ranged mode at this time.
Strike - The player may attempt to cause another player to move from Ranged mode to Melee mode. The player rolls a dice against the defender's ranged DC. Do not apply attack modifiers for this roll. If the roll is equal to or higher than the defending player's ranged DC including defense modifiers then the player moves into Melee mode at this time. This check needs to pass even if the defending player wants to be moved into Melee mode.
The player takes one (1) of the following actions:
- A skill that can be taken as an action during combat.
- Evade - this gives the player +3 to their melee/ranged DC until the start of their next round.
- You may attack another player. Roll a die and add any attack modifiers that you may have. If you roll equal to or higher than the defender's DC after adding their modifiers you are successful and they lose one (1) HP.
- Use an item (Smoke Grenade, Medkit, Stims)
- Move to Ranged mode.

After combat is finished, defeated players can be treated as incapacitated. Defeated players can be captured or killed. Please respect other, reasonable player limits. If you would like clarification on this rule or adjudication please seek out an admin for help.

Once a player has successfully escaped from combat or survived that player can choose to leave the scene or to stay. Until the scene is concluded no other combat can occur.

Players can be conscious and alert when they are at 0 HP. Players at 0 HP cannot engage in combat. After 24 hours from their last combat players return to their maximum HP.

The HUD is shown below. To begin you click on the Nexus logo. From there you can create a new character or select one you've already made. Your credits show at the top. Below that is a shield or bow which toggles your ranged or melee mode. The button below that toggles combat on or off. Beneath that is how you can adjust your HP if that becomes necessary. Finally there is the dice button for executing most combat steps including skills.

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Character Introduction

Now that you've finished your character you will need to post your choices to the discord. In the #character-intros channel you should follow this template:

Name:

SL Legacy Name:

Faction:

Skills:

You should note that you can choose to include mods functional or aesthetic into your character's backstory and you can continue to shape your character with new mods in the future. However, mods should not bestow any game advantage to a player. You are encouraged to use mods to explain skills that your player possesses.

Note: In this setting AI/Synthetic beings are not always treated as well as their human counterparts. In many cases humans will be designated as AI/Synthetic by their peers if they have sufficient mods which can be seen to make them more machine than human. The same goes for unusual mods that set someone apart from their peers. This typically applies to features which make someone appear something other than human (for instance animal ears, a tail, etc.). This is not to discourage players from having a unique character appearance, far from it. But it should and will create interesting IC conflict. In some cases these differences will be cause for bounty hunters, poachers, or even ordinary citizens to capture, hurt, or in extreme cases kill characters that are viewed as extremely different from the norm. This obviously does not reflect OOC views of anybody, staff or players on the sim. We seek a diverse and creative player base, however conflict is necessary to produce an interesting story. If you have any questions about this part of the rules please seek out an admin.

That's it! You're done. Go ahead and roleplay.

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