If you haven’t already,
download and open your SPU Character Sheet.
Level & Experience
Start at Level 1. Whenever you “level up”, manually increase this number.
Your character’s Status is in blue, which means it’s automatically updated for you. When it’s time to level up, it will display “Level Up!” here. This also shows you when your character is active, unconscious, or dead.
Total Exp keeps track of your total, lifetime earned experience points. Manually add any new experience to this total.
Level Up tells you how many total experience points you need to reach your next level. Once you reach or exceed this number, you’ll be ready to level up!
Note: As you gain experience, even before you level up, you’ll notice you gain some free Character Points (explained later). Any time you have any points available, you are free to apply them. See the “Character Points” section for more information.
Basic Info
Type in your character’s Name, Age, Sex, Height, and Weight. It can be anything you want.
Next, select a Race and Class for your character. Use this website to browse through a list of example races and classes. Each provides unique benefits or special rules for your character. If you don’t see a race or class that you want, you can create your own. If your custom race/class has unique benefits or special rules, make sure to get your Story Master’s approval first. If there’s no special benefits/rules, you can write in any race or class you want.
You also have the option to be an Elemental character. See the elemental magic page for more information. If you want to be Elemental character, select one Element from the drop-down menu. Otherwise, select “None”.
Leave Other blank for now. That’s saved for special purposes, such as having dual races or classes, or other unique cases.
Physical Description
Now’s your character to describe what your character looks like — physical appearance, costume, tattoos, claws, tail, scars, ethereal glow, anything you want! Let your imagination run wild.
Fame/Reputation
Your character can get a reputation for being a hero or villain, regardless of what you actually are. Every time you help someone, add 1 Good point. Every time you hurt someone, add 1 Evil point.
The general public will respond to you differently, based on how many Good or Evil fame points you’ve accumulated. Word gets around. Even people who’ve never met you before will anticipate your good or evil actions, decide whether or not to trust you, and cheer your name or run in terror whenever you approach, all based on your fame.
Note: To get fame points, at least one person in the general public must be aware that you did it. If someone else looks and sounds like you, their actions can affect your fame. Likewise, if no one sees you do your deed, or if you look like someone else when you do it, you won’t get any fame for it.
There’s 3 levels of fame. With each progressive level, the public’s response will become more pronounced, extreme, and noticeable. Influence, for better or worse, also grows exponentially with these levels.
| 1. Hero (requires more Good fame than Evil fame) |
1. Villain (requires more Evil fame than Good fame) |
| 2. Super Hero (requires 10x more Good fame than Evil fame) |
2. Super Villain (requires 10x more Evil fame than Good fame) |
| 3. Legendary Hero (requires 50x more Good fame than Evil fame, minimum 1,000 Good fame) |
3. Legendary Villain (requires 50x more Evil fame than Good fame, minimum 1,000 Evil fame) |
Public Perception will automatically reveal your current fame status.
Character Points
Your character has several stats, skills, and misc options, all of which draw from your total Character Points.
You get 100 points per level, plus 20% of your total lifetime experience points. Any time you have any points available, you can use and apply them. This way, you can still make small improvements and upgrades to your character, even before leveling up.
Tips:
- Character Points are placed under the “points” column.
- Permanent bonuses or penalties (received from races, classes, and specials) go under the “bonus” column.
- Temporary damage (that can be healed) and other temporary buffs/debuffs go under the “+/-” column.
- Use negative numbers for damage, debuffs, and penalties.
Stats
This part is really important. How you spend your Characters Points here can mean the difference between life and death for your character.
Health
Health is your character’s physical health and life. It works just like “HP” in most RPGs. In this game, as long as your Health is “0” or higher, you’re still conscious and alive, able to speak and take actions. As soon as your Health goes to -1 or lower, you’re unconscious and can’t do anything – except maybe snore loudly or drool on yourself.
If your Health is lower than -100% of your normal total, your character dies. For example, if your Health is normally at 50 points when full, you’d need to have -51 Health or worse to die. As long as you’re at -100% Health or higher (towards the positive end of the spectrum), you’re still alive and can be revived.
Remember, your Status under the “Level & Experience” section also tells you how your character’s doing.
You regain consciousness after combat has ended, after 8 hours have passed, or once someone/something heals your Health back up to “0” or higher – whichever comes first. If you regain consciousness simply because combat is over or enough time has passed, your Health remains the same (a negative number), but you’re “awake” and able to take actions again. You’re just seriously wounded and need healing fast – if you take any new Health damage, it’ll not only put you deeper into the negative, but knock you unconscious again.
You have 100 points to spend any way you like at Level 1. But as tempting as it might be, don’t put them all into Health. We recommend you put at least 20 into Health, though. That will survive most attacks from other Level 1 opponents. But this is your character – put as many or as few points wherever you like.
Power
Power is only important if you plan on having super powers. Later, we’ll show you have to create and customize your very own super power. Powers need Power points. The more points you have, the better and greater powers you can have.
These points must be shared among all your super powers. So you can have one awesome power that uses all of your Power points, or several not-quite-as-awesome powers that share the points between them. You decide. But at Level 1, we recommend starting with just one super power, and investing all of your available Powers points into it. (Note: Normally at Level 1, you can only have one super power anyway. But certain classes, races, and specials allow you to have more starting powers.)
After you level up, you’ll have more points and can upgrade your current power or add new ones.
Note: Any stat can be damaged. If your Power stat is damaged, your total Power will be temporarily lowered. If one of your powers requires more Power points than you now have (even though, previously, you had enough to create it), you won’t be able to use that power until your total Power increases to match or exceed the “Power Required” for that power.
For example, you have a super speed power that requires 50 Power. If your Power stat is damaged and is reduced to 49 points, you won’t be able to use your super speed power. But once your total Power stat is back up to 50 or higher, you can use super speed again.
At Level 1, we recommend putting at least 50 points into Power, if you plan on using super powers.
Resistance
Resistance is a powerful little stat that’s worth investing in. It can save you from unwanted grief and problems. It helps you “resist” the unwanted effects of powers, magic, and other non-physical things.
For example, an evil villain is trying to mind control you. You can attempt to resist that power with this stat. Or suppose someone’s trying to teleport you somewhere against your will. Or you’re being transformed into an animal. Or sent back in time. Or whatever. Any undesirable effect of a power (excluding damage to stats) can be resisted.
However, your attacker can try to resist your resistance. It quickly becomes a battle of will and power. Both attacker and defender roll a D20, add their individual Resistance points, and whoever has the higher total wins.
If they win, the power works as intended, and you just have to deal with it. But if you win, you successfully resist or shrug off the power’s unwanted effects. And even though their power failed against you, it still counts as one of their daily uses. Powers can only be used a limited number of times per day.
Resistance doesn’t block or prevent damage; only unwanted effects and other uses of powers. So it can stop someone from reading your mind or levitating you off the ground, but it can’t stop a sword from piercing your skin.
How many points should you invest here? That depends. Are you expecting your enemies to attack you with normal weapons and powers (just intended to cause damage), or are you dealing with psychics, shape-shifters, teleporters, and a variety of other people who will do not nice things to you, without actually hurting you? Resistance can save you from being turned into a vampire, werewolf, or zombie after one bites you. So in a zombie apocalypse, it’s a handy stat. But if you’re fighting a highly-trained and heavily-armed team of super soldiers, Resistance probably won’t do you any good.
Also, remember that Resistance is merely a bonus to a D20 roll. So, technically, if you’re lucky, you might not need this stat anyway. As long as your roll + Resistance is higher than your opponent’s roll + Resistance, you still win – even if your Resistance is “0”.
Self-Healing
Here’s another powerful but optional stat. Self-Healing automatically heals one of your stats, every turn. You must decide which stat it heals when you first create your character. Most people choose “Health”, because it can literally save your life. But you can choose any other stat as well. It’s all in how you want to play your strategy.
However many total points you have in Self-Healing, that’s how many points it heals, every turn, for your chosen stat. It only heals that stat up to 100%, though. Self-Healing cannot buff any stat above its normal total.
Many players will leave this blank – you don’t have to put points in every stat. Technically, you don’t even need to put any points into Health either, although it’s not recommended. If you’ve got a powerful healer in your party, save these points for something else. But it never hurts to put at least a few points in here. An optional 10% of your total Health is a good recommendation. So if your Health is “20”, put “2” points into Self-Healing.
Skills/Aptitudes
These also use your Character Points, but function very differently than your regular stats. They determine your character’s natural strengths, talents, expertise, knowledge, skills, and training in any particular area of life.
There are eight of these stats, all broad categories for a wide variety of possibilities.
They come into play whenever there’s a test, challenge, or skill check of any kind. There’s a million different possibilities. We’ll cover a few samples below.
Whenever one of these “checks” arises, you will roll a D20. Add the value of the relevant stat to get your total. Just like with “Resistance”, these stats are bonuses to your D20 roll. They also help shape and define your character. For example, if your character is very physically strong and fast, you’d put extra points into “Physical”; if your character is super smart and highly-educated, put extra points into “Mental”. Let’s look at some more specific examples…
Physical
strength, speed, endurance, stamina
Ideal for characters who rely on physical strength, speed, stamina, endurance, agility, reflex, and so on. Having a higher Physical improves your odds of winning a wrestling match, grabbing and holding someone captive, balancing on a tightrope, running a marathon, recovering from illness, holding your breath underwater longer, appearing muscular/physically fit, etc.
Mental
intelligence, knowledge, perception, memory
Ideal for characters who rely on their mind, creativity, and knowledge. Having a higher Mental improves your odds for solving complex problems or puzzles, hacking computers, learning new languages, observing subtle differences, finding clues, remembering important information, beating someone at chess, reasoning with others, etc.
Emotional
courage, creativity, empathy, ability to inspire others
Ideal for characters who are strong at heart, fearless, empathetic, inspirational, leaders, artists, and more. Having a higher Emotional improves your odds for creating an artistic masterpiece, inspiring troops into battle, standing tall against fearsome monsters while everyone else runs away screaming, empathizing with how others feel, connecting with animals, etc.
Spiritual
intuition, luck, willpower, magic aptitude
Ideal for characters who regularly interact with the supernatural realm, rely on magic, devote their lives to religion of philosophy, or pursue the mystical arts. Having a higher Spiritual improves your odds for summoning and/or negotiating with an angel or demon, creating your own magical artifacts, crafting new magic spells or wards, get special favors from priests, astral projecting out of your body, sensing the presence of ghosts or spirits, intuitively knowing the right answer or way to go, etc.
Social
communication, influence, charisma, reading body language
Ideal for characters who are naturals at talking to, influencing, and working with other people. Having a higher Social improves your odds for getting someone to open up and reveal secret information, negotiating better terms on a deal, selling your wares, relating to and understanding anybody, speaking with elegance and persuasiveness, reading body language, successfully bluffing in a poker game, calming people down or getting them riled up, detecting dishonesty, etc.
Sexual
attractiveness, seduction, charm, romantic
Ideal for characters who are exceptionally beautiful and attractive, experts at seduction, and powerful in their sexuality. Having a higher Sexual improves your odds for getting a date, seducing someone, being the best lover your partner ever had, manipulating others through sexual attraction, flirting, romance, distracting an enemy with your good looks while a teammate sneaks up behind them, getting free small favors from others, etc.
Financial
business skill, good credit, value appraisal, anything to do with money
Ideal for characters who are entrepreneurs, investors, and masters of money. Having a higher Financial improves your odds for getting a higher interest rate on investments or lower interest rate on loans, recognizing profitable opportunities, identifying rare and valuable objects, leading others in business, getting discounts from stores, paying someone off with “hush” money, bribing others, stealing/looting more money than normally possible, understanding financial statements, etc.
Initiative
reaction time, reflexes, turn order in combat
This skill helps you react faster both in and out of combat. It determines your turn order in combat. But it also improves your overall reaction time and reflexes, which can come into play in a variety of ways and circumstances. You’d also use this skill for situations like, for example, if you’re sleeping and an enemy is sneaking by. Having a higher Initiative would make you a lighter sleeper, more alert to things like this, and ready to jump up and catch your enemy.
These skills can be used when competing with other characters, to check a skill level required for a particular task, or as a prerequisite for certain Classes or Strengths & Weaknesses.
For example, you’re trying to buy a house to serve as the new headquarters for your team. You have a high Financial skill (you know what it’s really worth), but the real estate agent has a high Social skill (and is trying to persuade you to buy it at the higher price). You’d both roll a D20 and add your respective skills to your rolls.
Or you’re translating an ancient text written in a dead language. The Story Master decides you need at least 25 Mental to be able to interpret it. You roll a D20, add your Mental skill, and if the total is 25 or higher, you’ve done it!
Or you want to be a Summoner class, so you can call angels, demigods, genies, and supernatural beings to your aid. It requires a minimum Spiritual skill to accept that class.
Combat and Other
These are all optional, but if you have some spare points, you may want to invest them here.
Critical Hit Range / Critical Fail Range
Every time you use a power or equipment to attack, you roll a D20. If you roll a “20”, it’s considered a Critical Hit, and you automatically succeed in your action. If you roll a “1”, it’s considered a Critical Fail, and you suffer penalties and may even accidentally harm yourself. Certain things can increase the range for either one. For example, a magical amulet may improve your odds for success, increasing your Critical Hit range from “18” to “20”, instead of just “20”.
Critical Hits double any damage/healing totals on that action. Critical Fails halve any damage/healing, and can sometimes cause you to damage yourself or an ally instead. See the Combat Rules for more information.
If you want to increase your Critical Hit Range or Critical Fail Range, it costs 25 Character Points for every +1 increase in range. To increase your Critical Hit Range to “18″ to “20″, for example, would require 50 Character Points.
But why would you purposely want to increase your Critical Fail Range? This, too, is 25 Character Points per +1 increase in range. But rather than costing you Character Points, it actually provides those points! So in exchange for a higher chance of doing a Critical Fail, you get more Character Points to invest elsewhere.
Accuracy and Evasion
When being attacked, you can attempt to dodge or avoid it, provided such an action is possible and plausible within your current situation. Adding points to Accuracy improves your odds of hitting a dodging target. Adding points to Evasion improves your odds of avoiding an incoming attack. Both at bonuses to a D20 roll. Every 1 point invested here gives you +1 to your D20 roll when attacking or evading.
Note: You only need Accuracy if your opponent is trying to dodge. Accuracy improves your chances to compensate for their Evasion and hit them anyway. Normal attacks (that aren’t being dodged) are assumed to automatically hit. You are a super hero/super villain, after all. Your aim is pretty good.
To dodge an attack, roll a D20 and add your Evasion total. Your opponent will roll a D20 and add his/her Accuracy total. If your total score is higher, you manage to dodge the attack this time. If their total score is higher, they successfully hit you, even though you tried to dodge it.
Dodging is useful for avoiding attacks that damage one of your stats or skills.
Actions/Turn
Normally, everybody can only do 1 action per turn. If you have a lot of free points, you can permanently give yourself additional actions per turn. Every 100 Character Points gives you +1 action, every turn.
If you have more than 1 action per turn already (possibly provided by your class or race), you can permanently take away extra actions per turn as well. Every -100 Character Points here creates -1 action per turn. If you limit yourself like that, those extra Character Points are free to be invested elsewhere.
Special Points
You can give yourself additional Special Points by converting excess Character Points. Every 25 Character Points provides +1 Special Point.
Max Powers
You get 1 power per level. Need more? Every 15 Character Points here enables you to have +1 maximum number of powers.
Max Equipment
You start with up to 2 equipment (weapons, armors, etc). You do not automatically gain any additional new spaces for equipment, but you can get more by spending some of your Character Points. Every 15 Character Points here enables you to have +1 maximum number of equipment.
Max Inventory
Normally you can hold up to 10 inventory items per level. Every 1 Character Point here allows you to hold +1 inventory items.
Background Story / More Information
Last but not least, fill in whatever useful, important, or fun information you want to remember here. You can talk more about your character’s background, origin story, source/explanation of powers, additional physical description details, romantic interests, secret society memberships, motive, goals and dreams, top secret plans for world domination, or whatever you want!