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Edges

Charlie: But the most we can hope for is to get you buried in secrecy so your grave don't get violated!

Lincoln F. Sternn: Take it easy Charlie. I've got an angle.

--Segment "Captain Sternn" from Heavy Metal

A collection of Traits and a list of skills is a good start to determine what your Hero is capable of—his strengths and capabilities, by the numbers. Another aspect of any good hero (or villain, even!) are some of their facets that aren’t so easily quantifiable. When creating your Hero, you surely have a notion in mind of what sort of character you wish to portray in the story. Assigning traits lays out the frame work. When selecting skills, you are beginning to flesh out what this Hero knows how to do. You might even be thinking about how your Hero learned some of the things he knows how to do. Building the background for your hero is good! It will keep him from being so faceless to you and the other players. One final touch for a Hero in Future Imperfect are his edges—both sharp and rough—that help give a greater sense of what kind of person the Hero is and how he can impact the story, beyond the sheer numbers that define him.

But what is your Hero’s background, other than talking points that you made up? How does your intricate personal story affect the game, if at all? What possible benefit can there be to having a flawed character? This chapter aims to answer those questions and others with the introduction of edges.

Edges: A Brief Overview

Edges are broken up into two categories: Sharp edges (perks) and rough edges (flaws). Integral to the use of edges are the story chips that the heroes earn during play. During the course of normal play, story chips can be used to do things like improve task checks to turn failure into success and increase the effectiveness of skill successes (such as increasing damage in combat or accumulating effect points for extended actions). Edges come into play here by allowing a hero to use story chips to greater effect. With a sharp edge, a hero can perform much greater feats by using story chips than another character could by using story chips without a perk. Some edges will even grant a hero special abilities that would not normally be available.

On the other side of things, flaws are quirks, weaknesses or complications. They can be physical, mental or social in nature. They help define how a hero might act, what sort of actions he might (or might not) take in certain situations, and will at times infer penalties to actions that the hero wants or needs to take. While seeming purely negative in nature and application, character flaws can help the crew and master create interesting situations within the story, and most importantly, for having to deal with the complications that flaws present, players will earn story chips when their flaws play a part in the game. So, flaws can also be thought of as "story chip generators." Flaws are purely optional. One need not take any for their hero if they choose not to. However, "flawless" heroes may find themselves running short on chips when they need them most.

Perks: The Sharp Edges

Edges that are generally beneficial to the Hero are called sharp edges, or perks. They will generally allow for some ability that the average human is not capable of doing (such as gills that would allow them to breathe underwater) or grant an innate bonus to a trait or skill, or provide some kind of "special effect" if the player spends story chips to activate his Perk. Sharp edges can be tailored by the player to uniquely represent the abilities, character and flavor of his Hero. Several aspects of racial customization are accomplished using sharp edges. In use, a sharp edge grants a special ability or allows the Hero to use story chips for a specific purpose with greater effect than he would normally be able to.

Some examples of sharp edges are:

• Increased size--the hero can take extra damage before suffering wounds.
• Enhanced senses--More acute vision, hearing, a tongue that can taste the air and detect people sneaking up on you or vibration sense that detects minute details from the engines and aids a pilot in his maneuvers.
• Natural weapons--Claws, fangs, pincers, whip-tail, etc.
• Natural armor--Thick fur, leathery hide, chitin and blubber are just a few examples that can help deflect sharp, blunt or energy trauma.
• Enhanced natural traits--Brawny, Quick, Nimble, you name it; the hero may have natural ability to exceed when it comes to tests of raw physical or mental capabilities.
• Talents--Some heroes have a knack with certain skills and can succeed with ease, or perform more effectively when they do.
• Enhanced movement--Running, jumping, climbing, gliding, clinging, swimming and more can be achieved with the proper edges.
• Resistances--Were you born on an ice planet? Raised on a toxic hell-world? A dense mega-earth with a high gravity and atmospheric pressure? Resistances can enable your hero to operate where others would need special survival gear, or eliminate penalties from some types of scene attributes.
• Contacts--Maybe you know a guy. Some heroes cultivate a network of friends and allies that can be called on to help out in various ways in a pinch.
• Wealth--Your hero might start off with additional funds, or have a pension from retiring from the starforces, or maybe he is a whiz at investing his money or making deals.
• Cybernetics--Mechanical augmentation or bioware may enhance your hero's capabilities in any number of ways.

This is far from a complete list of possibilities. Many examples will be listed, and if these are not enough for your needs, some guidelines to creating your own custom edges will be included.

Flaws: The Rough Edges

Edges that are generally detrimental or impose complications on the Hero are called rough edges, or flaws. They will usually impose a penalty when trying to accomplish a task, or establish a Scene Attribute for the character in question. If the flaw is psychological or a compulsive behavior, the penalty may apply to any check that goes against the nature of the compulsion. If one of your Hero's flaws is "Cowardly," for example, then when he tries to stand and fight, he may face penalties because every fiber of his being is telling him to run.

Leonid Kovnachuk has led something of a blessed life. You might not believe it for the myriad wounds that line his thick skin and are the root cause of the irregularity and patchiness of his thick fur, but if you had been there to see how he got those wounds, you might wonder how he had survived at all. Chuk’s player has chosen the Edge “Lucky” for his Hero. To counterbalance this edge, he also chooses the flaw “Vengeful.” The player imagines that Chuk will be a kind of rough and tumble soldier who often wades hip-deep into a fight and manages to come out every time (so far!). However, Chuk has a mean streak when it comes to people doing him wrong; he suffered for many years under the oppressive yoke of the GPR, and refuses to let others get one over on him without making them answer for it.

You should always attempt to roleplay your Hero’s rough edges, as they are an integral part of his physical or mental being. How you represent that in game is up to you as a player, of course. Only imposing penalties in relation to flaws is purely mechanical and largely devoid of storytelling or creativity, though it may be appropriate at times. Many flaws may be handled in the game with creative roleplaying without the cold imposition of penalties. By altering how the player approaches or deals with an obstacle, the flaw has made its presence known on the metaphorical page of the story. A cowardly hero might be played so that he makes every attempt possible to avoid a fight. That is roleplaying. But what if he can’t avoid it? Or he finds a cause worth fighting for, where he must stare down his reservations? That is when penalties may be applied. However, not every instance of a flaw being invoked need be that momentous; sometimes it is much smoother for gameplay for the master to impose a brief penalty when a rough edge is invoked. The roleplaying aspect of the flaw will become quite clear if your Hero has to deal with the consequences of failure!

Flaws can be invoked by the Master if he deems the situation appropriate. With Master approval, players can also invoke their hero's flaws (because, hey, the Master has a lot of stuff on his plate. He might not always remember each hero's every foible). Obstacles are meant to be overcome, though, and sometimes, just because the Master has laid your own flaw down to trip you up doesn't necessarily mean you have to deal with it. If the Master invokes a flaw that you would rather not be penalized by at the moment, you can, in effect, veto the decision by paying a chip. This might represent the hero tapping into a reserve of determination or mustering the wherewithal to overcome his weakness. See "Invoking Flaws" below for more details.

Edges are intended as another means by which the players and the Master can interact with the story, by invoking special abilities or dealing with limitations. They are not necessarily “always on,” but when they are called into play, they should have some kind of impact on the story.

When Tara 7 slips away from the brewing tension in the ship’s lounge, Chuk is seated across the poker table from Sid Scorpio. The Blarad is certain that his friend has just fleeced him of over 400 credits at a game of poker. Clearly, luck was not on Chuk’s side in this scene (as his edge did not fit the criteria, more on that later). However, the player decides that this is a moment where Chuk’s vengeful nature might kick in, and invokes his Hero’s flaw. The player now has to determine Chuk’s path.

A Hero is more than his edges, though. They do not completely define him any more than his highest trait or skill. For this reason, edges need not play a part in every scene. By the same token, rough edges shouldn’t prevent a Hero from acting, but should provide the opportunity for complication beyond the player’s control. When flaws come into play, it is an opportunity for the player to earn story chips, so even flaws can be beneficial in their own way. When edges come into play, it is the chance for something special to happen, even if it is detrimental in nature. It is an opportunity for something you have crafted about your Hero to have an effect on the story.

Terminology

While we, the game designers, might think ourselves mighty clever for coming up with spiffy terms like "sharp" and "rough" edges, using those terms repeatedly is cumbersome both from a writing and reading standpoint, hence the additional use of the terms perks and flaws. Just so there is no confusion, here are a few simple reminders:

• Edges (in general) can be either Sharp edges or Rough edges.
• Sharp edges are also called "perks." These are the useful abilities a hero might possess.
• Rough edges are also called "flaws. These are the complications that may set your hero back from time to time.
  

Story Chips: The Currency of Cool

Throughout the game mechanics of Future Imperfect, story chips can frequently be utilized by the players to influence the game in multiple ways. They can be used to improve dice rolls on an action card. They can be used to heroically soak damage and withstand punishment like a boss, or to resist giving in to an opponent’s psychological attack. These are but a few of the more common uses. With edges, story chips earn another use.

Ultimately, story chips are a kind of currency. They are something you can earn and use for positive effect in the game; the story, if you will. If you want your Hero’s perks to make more of an impact on the story, either in frequency or effectiveness, you can spend story chips to do so. Likewise, since people tend to learn and grow more from their failures rather than their successes, your Hero’s flaws are an important mechanism for earning story chips. When a Hero’s flaw makes an appearance, it is impacting the story in a way not possible without your flawed nature! If roleplayed well, or if the flaw causes a failure, you should earn story chips that can later be used for something cool. This is to encourage players to spur the action and take chances, rather than play it safe all the time and hide from failure. Failure can be a great opportunity for roleplaying, and should be embraced! This can also be used to discourage flawless “Mary Sue” types; Heroes who elect to have no or very few flaws might find themselves short on chips compared to others who have chosen to play Heroes with a greater number of rough edges that give the Master more to work with. Sometimes flaws and complications help move the story better than any other motivators. The movement may not always be in the proper direction, but sometimes a story is like a road trip: It’s not always the destination that is important, but how you got there!

Designers note: If you play RPGs long enough and with a talented set of players and game masters, you will inevitably come across situations like these. Sometimes it is an innocuous situation that becomes a focal point due to one simple skill check failure that quickly becomes a comedy of errors. Eventually, these encounters sometimes snowball into a major plot point, or a scene that the players all reminisce about later on because of how things went wrong (and became memorable!) rather than how they went right. We aren’t suggesting that as a player you should purposefully try to be a fail magnet, or that as a Master you should crush the heroes with misery and defeat (because sadness is...fun?), but focusing on making an entertaining aside out of bad luck or mishap can be just as enjoyable a story as success. Besides, the sweetness of victory is often measured by the bumpiness along the road to the climax.

Chuk hurls the table to the side, filling the air with cards and chips like confetti. Sid Scorpio jumps back, holding his hands up and tries to calm his buddy down. “Chuk! C’mon, pal! It was a fluke! What are the odds I’d get four of a kind while you were sitting on a full house? It’s just a game!”

“’Is just game?’ You never believe in play fair! You say is for suckers! You were just trying to impress pretty girl. And make me look like fool!” Chuk advances angrily, flexing his massive paws. The dim lights of the lounge glint on his knife-like claws. Sid backs up, hoping to find some time to say something to defuse Chuk before the marine gets his hands on him, but he runs out of room. When Sid's back bumps against the bulkhead, Chuck grabs him by the collar and hoists him off the floor. Chuck pulls out a credstick loaded with credits. “Here is your damn money, pirate. A whole week’s pay for me.” He jams the thumb-sized credstick in Sid’s mouth. “I hope you choke on it!” he growls as he tosses his friend to the side and mopes off to sulk.

Character Creation

A Hero’s edges are chosen during character creation. The rank chosen for edges determines the number of points in the edge pool. These points can be used for two things: Choosing perks, and purchasing an activation pool.

• Each edge has a cost attached to it. Some edges (most examples provided here) will have a flat cost. Some are customizable, and their final cost is based on the range of their effect and other modifiers.
• The activation pool determines how often you can "freely" activate your edges. Normally, using edges costs story chips. The points in the activation pool are used just like story chips, but can only be spent to activate perks, and they refresh every game session. 1 point from the activation pool is the equivalent of a white chip, 2 for a red chip, and 3 for a blue chip.
  
• Each rough edge costs 1 edge point and takes one available edge slot.
• The total number of available edge slots are determined when creating your race, however a low or high ranking for edges can alter the number of edge slots available.

A Hero's edge loadout is highly customizable. You can have a large number of edges with a small activation pool, or a small number with a large pool allowing you to use them freqently. You could have many flaws in order to try and earn more story chips for other purposes, or you could have mostly perks, relying on your activation pool and story chips from sources other than flaws to activate them. Feel free to mix and match and find a balance that works for your character and play style.

Charles decides that his Hero, Stonwall "Stony" Krantz, has a very low ranking in edges so that he can assign more points to skills and traits. He assigns a rank of 1 to edges, which gives him 5 points in his edge pool, and reduces his number of edge slots by 1. His character is human, which has 4 edge slots, but with rank 1, he loses one, for a total of only 3 edge slots. He purchases just one sharp edge that costs 3 points. He has enough points left for an activation pool of 2 (2 points), but chooses not to. Instead, he uses the 2 remaining points and edge slots to take a couple of rough edges to help him earn some story chips during play, figuring that the flaws may ultimately yield more than 2 chips each session, and also it might make Stony more fun to play. He could roleplay any number of flaws that he chooses, but why not make these quirks official and get some story chips while he's at it?

The Activation Pool

Most perks require the expenditure of a story chip to activate. If using story chips to use a perk, the color (value) of the chip will usually determine the level of effect. However, during character creation, you can spend edge points to create an "Activation Pool." In game terms, this is a number of points that can be used in the place of story chips only for the purpose of activating perks. When using points from your activation pool to power a sharp edge, the number of activation points spent determines the level of effect:

• 1 point = white chip
• 2 points = red chip
• 3 points = blue chip

A Hero's activation pool refreshes at the beginning of each game session. With a large activation pool, one may not even need to utilize story chips to use their sharp edges, depending on how frequently they care to use them or how many perks they have in total. If your pool is small and/or you have a greater number of perks, you are likely to burn through story chips faster. A greater number of perks can definitely give your Hero greater versatility, but with a small activation pool, you may be hard-pressed to utilize that versatility at times. Find the balance that is right for your style of play and whatever you deem is appropriate for your Hero.

Designer's Note: Nothing need be written in stone. Depending on the tastes of you, the player, the Master and your game group, it may suit your tastes to be able to exchange edge points from time to time. Perhaps what you thought would be a useful edge often has little use in the story you are playing out. Maybe you purchased a large activation pool, but later find that you never seem to use all your activation points, or vice versa. Maybe you didn't take any flaws and are constantly running out of chips to use your perks. With Master approval, you might be able to trade in less-useful sharp edges, increase or decrease your activation pool or acquire or "buy off" flaws. Even if this is allowed, there might be exceptions; your hero might not be able to change racial edges, or acquire any edges that he would have "been born with." As we have said before and will likely say again, this is your game. Play it how you would like (but here are some guidelines and suggestions!)

In story terms, the activation pool might represent an aspect of a Hero's strength of will, or his reliability; a character with a large activation pool can more frequently find the wherewithal to do the things that he is great at, he can pull through in a pinch and be counted on to save the day. A small or non-existent activation pool means that the Hero is less likely to be able to pull off a snazzy maneuver or feat of strength or what have you when it counts. This is the Hero that makes others ask, "does he have what it takes today?" when he has to step up to the plate. This is not meant to be a literal character trait or representation of a Hero's personality. One could play a reliable Hero with boundless energy and have an activation pool of zero. You will simply have to spend story chips every time you want to use a perk. If you run out of story chips, however, you will simply have to forego the use of your sharp edges. If your Hero is still reliable and energetic in the face of that, so much the better, but if he fails due to lack of story chips, he may have to answer to the other PCs and NPCs, which may lead to interesting opportunities for roleplaying.

Dormancy

Some edges will be utilized more frequently than others. This may happen for three primary reasons. Just like the key elements of the commission of a crime, these reasons can be boiled down to means, motive and opportunity. Some edges may simply be more inherently useful than others. A perk that can be used in every combat encounter may find multiple opportunities for use each game session, depending on how frequently the Master throws combat encounters at you, while a perk that helps your pilot figure out FTL jump equations can only be used when you are flying a starship. This may also fluctuate based on the Crew's activities and what sort of game the Master is presenting to his Crew, which leads to the next point: Depending on what kind of game is being played, some perks may simply see more or less use. For example, if the Crew is the type to use combat only as a last resort or the Master runs a game that focuses more on dialogue and less on punching and shooting, combat encounters may be less frequent; combat-related perks may see less use because the story itself does not provide the means (i.e., combat encounters) to use them as frequently. Lastly, some perks get used more often simply because the player has motivation to invoke the edge every chance he gets, or will actively seek out opportunities where they can utilize their perks. Another Hero may have the same or a very similar perk and not utilize it as frequently just because he chooses not to, or doesn't have to (maybe he's lucky on the draw or the dice, or his Hero is skilled enough that he doesn't have to rely on his perks as often, or maybe he doesn't mind the occasional failure at a task so he can earn a story chip.

Whatever the case, some edges will see more use than others. Rather than attempt to shape the cost of perks based on their utility or expected frequency of use (because all the above variables controlling their use are out of our hands as game designers), we introduce the concept of "Dormancy" to help offset the cost you paid for a perk when that perk goes unused for a spell. When one of your edges (sharp or rough) goes unused for an entire game session, it earns a dormancy point. Make some kind of a notation next to it that you can identify and remember (The character sheets we provide will have three check boxes on each entry for edges). Each dormancy point for a perk represents an activation point (see "Activation Pool," above) for that perk only. Each dormancy point for a flaw represents an additional story chip of effect (and reward) when it comes into play. Unlike points in the activation pool, which are refreshed each game session, dormancy points are persistent (until used!) and accumulate. Each session that an edge goes unused earns it another dormancy point, up to a maximum of 3 (the equivalent of a blue story chip).

A perk that has earned one or more dormancy points can use these points in lieu of activation points or story chips. Dormancy points can only be used to activate the perk that has earned them. They do not have to all be spent in the same check or task; if one of your combat perks has gotten dusty because it's been three game sessions since your last scrap, you can activate it multiple times using one dormancy point a pop, or you can use your sharp edge in a blaze of glory and spend 2 or 3 in one shot if you need to or want to!

When rough edges come into play, they may last for a varying length of time, but need to be invoked before any checks are made. Dormancy with flaws can cause additional penalties to be applied due to infrequency, so one can expect that flaws that come up less often will have a more devastating effect. When a flaw with dormancy points is invoked, the Master may add some or all of the dormancy points to whatever value is assigned to the penalty. If the reward is a red chip, the flaw must have 2 dormancy points to increase the effect. If the the reward is a blue chip, the flaw must have 3 dormancy points. If dormancy is applied to a single task, only enough dormancy points are expended to cause the task to fail (if all the dormancy points would still not cause the check to fail, none are spent, and the dormancy points remain).

The retired Space Marine commando Hannibal Jung suffers from "The Shakes," a flaw that can give a -2 penalty to any Dexterity-based checks. Because the crew has been pursuing some business and diplomatic interests for several game sessions, an opportunity for Hannibal's shakes to play a part in the game has not come up for a while, and his flaw has 3 dormancy points. The next time Hannibal is in a fight, he fires at an opponent with his razor carbine. The TN is 5, and the Master tells the player that because it has been a while since Hannibal has been in a fight, his nerves are shot, and invokes his flaw. The player draws a card, and sees that the cause result is 8. Each dormancy point would add another -2 penalty to the check. Activating the flaw alone would only reduce Hannibal's result to 6; one dormancy point would reduce it to 4 and cause Hannibal's shot to miss. The Master tells the player that Hannibal's shot suffers a -4 penalty and misses. The player earns a white story chip, and play continues. Hannibal's flaw still has 2 dormancy points, but this fight may allow him to dispense with them, especially with it dragging out from his trembling aim!

Nick Nestor has the flaw "Acrophobia" (fear of heights). He has stayed close to ground for a good long time, and has 3 dormancy points, but tonight, he is forced to chase a villain onto a catwalk, where their showdown ensues. The Master invokes his acrophobia for the encounter, which can infer a -1 penalty to any actions (and will yield a red chip because it is affecting an entire encounter). The Master applies two dormancy points, raising the penalty by -1 to -2. The encounter ends with the villain escaping and the player earns a red story chip, but because the Master could only apply 2 points of dormancy to increase the effect, Nick still has 1 dormancy point remaining on his flaw.

The next game session, Nick Nestor's Acrophobia flaw doesn't earn another dormancy point (because it was invoked last game session during the battle on the catwalk), and much to Nick Nestor's objections, his team chooses to infiltrate the escaped villain's stronghold atop a tower by scaling the structure. For the entire scene that they are climbing up, which the Master knows will involve several different puzzles and encounters, the Master invokes Nick's acrophobia, which will cause a -1 penalty to all actions and yield a blue chip. Since it would take 3 dormancy points to increase the effect of a scene-spanning flaw, the Master waits until one of the planned encounters to use Nick's last dormancy point for a single task roll. When the scene is over, the player will earn a blue chip for his scene-spanning acrophobia.

While scaling the tower, Nick and his team reach a checkpoint at a landing and need to take out some guards. During Nick's first attack, the Master invokes his acrophobia flaw. The TN is 5, but Nick's cause for his attack is 10. Normally, the penalty for a single check would be -2, and adding one point of dormancy would make it -4. Since even -4 to a cause of 10 would still result in a success, Nick doesn't earn a story chip, and the dormancy point remains. During the next encounter the Master is able to use Nick's last dormancy point. Nick earns a white chip for his failure, and he has dealt enough with his fear of heights now that they don't bother him any more than they normally do (since he is out of dormancy points).

This system does require a tiny bit of record keeping on the part of the players, but it only benefits you if you keep track, so there is incentive there. Besides, you are also asked to keep track of your wounds, CT, ammunition, money and a bunch of other fluctuating values. Occasionally placing or erasing a hash mark in a check box doesn't seem too arduous of a task by comparison.

Your group's preference may vary, but we also recommend that dormancy points only be earned if a player is in attendance for the game session in question. Just because you couldn't make it to Saturday's game doesn't mean your Hero should get a check in each dormancy box because you didn't use your edges. Just like in many classes in school, attendance counts for a portion of your grade.

Invoking Perks

In many stories across all media and genres, you will find a situation where the protagonist pulls a trick out of his sleeve to save the day, and a common question the audience asks is “If the Hero could do that all along, why didn’t he do it earlier?” Why doesn’t Gipsy Danger lead with the giant mecha-sword when squaring off against a Kaiju? First off, this is not a forum to defend a movie. But, one must also consider the genre and its accepted conventions—silly as some of them may seem—before playing the realism card. Depending on your play style, RPGs need not be realistic, and for the purposes of storytelling in Future Imperfect, we have skewed certain conventions and mechanics in an attempt to favor the kind of literary style common to classic science fiction novels and films. Why doesn’t Voltron form the Blazing Sword right away, all the time, and flame-chop his way to victory?

The simple answer is that each episode would be a minute long after the monster of the week showed up, and the fight scenes wouldn’t be any fun to watch.

A more complex (and realistic) answer is that sometimes the benefits offered from some sharp edges have their own drawbacks or considerations to take into account before invoking them. Maybe a sharp edge is a one-off and must be reloaded or some such before it can be used again. Other abilities (such as contacts or allies) may need some kind of cool-down before the Hero can call upon them again (“I just saved your hide yesterday! What do you want now, dammit?”). But what if your perk is an innate ability, or a permanent feature of your body, or an item you have access to?

Our answer to that: Fine. Go ahead and use it. Nothing is stopping you. However, in the essence of game balance, the cost for using your perks is the currency of the story. When you use your perks, it will cost story chips in much the same way that your flaws will earn you story chips when they come into play. The key point here, though, is that you, the player, choose when the cool bits of your Hero shine and make their mark on the story. Tit and tat, yin and yang. Balance. Maybe Voltron doesn't form Blazing Sword because the lead pilot never has any story chips when a fight breaks out. Maybe he's got to taste a bit of fail (and earn some story chips) before he's convinced that it's time to whip out the big guns (so to speak).

In this vein, all edges are treated much the same when it comes to their relative power level, because the frequency of their use is the limiting factor, not how innately useful, powerful or debilitating each edge is.

Invoking Perks

When you take an action, you draw your action card or roll the dice. After the card is drawn or the dice are cast, you can choose to invoke a perk if the action in question meets the criteria you have set out for your perk. Often, this will be fairly obvious. If you're not sure, ask the Master for a judgment call. If you choose to activate your perk, you must pay its cost in points from accrued dormancy points, your activation pool or in story chips. If the perk can affect more than one aspect of the action card, such as a combat perk that can improve the attack roll, penetration or damage, inform the Master what your perk is modifying; if the perk has the "additional activations" modifier, you can spend story chips to enhance other aspects of a task (such as improving your chance to hit with an attack and also increasing the damage). When all this is done, you can apply the results. Using a perk can turn a failed check into a success, or a successful check into an exceptional success if you need bumps to achieve your goal. Invoking a perk allows it to affect only one regular or extended action, so a combat perk that increases your chance to hit or damage will only do so for one attack per activation. If your character is performing an extended action and accumulating effect points, the perk will function for the duration of the extended action.

Harold Funkhouser is attempting to tamper with the remote GPR sub-aethir comm relay while the rest of the crew holds off the GPR reaction force. The Master informs Harold's player that this will be an extended action with a TN of 5, but will require 100 effect points because of all the redundancies built into the relay's operating systems. Harold has a perk called "Technical Genius" and this situation meets the criteria for its use. He can use this particular perk to improve the cause or the effect of his General Technical Aptitude skill. The player knows Harold can reliably succeed with a TN of only 5, but wants to get the task done as quickly as possible, so he informs the Master that he is using his perk to increase his effect for this task. He spends a blue chip to activate it, which increases the effect by +12 on every draw until either the extended action is complete (he accumulates 100 effect points) or the reaction force overcomes his mates and he is captured or knocked out in the fight. Meanwhile, Stony Krantz uses his "Rifleman" perk to increase the damage from his gauss rifle in an attack against a member of the reaction force, obliterating the henchman in one shot. If Stony wants to do that again the next time he hits a target, he will have to activate his Rifleman perk again.

Perks can be activated in one of three ways:

• By spending story chips
• By spending points from the Hero's activation pool
• By spending Dormancy Points earned by not using a perk in the previous game session(s)

Each method of activation has its own limitations:

• Story chips--only one chip can be spent to activate a perk. You can't use two or three white chips to activate it as though you had spent a red or blue chip.
• Activation points--These points can only be used to activate perks, and only refresh at the beginning of a game session. One, two or three points may be spent to equal a white, red or blue chip, respectively. Activation points can be used to increase multiple aspects of a perk, if applicable (such as increasing the cause and effect of an attack). Activation points and Dormancy points can be used together (i.e., you could use 1 dormancy point and 2 activation points to equal the effect of one blue chip.
• Dormancy points--These can only be used to activate the perk that has earned them.
  

Persistent Perks

Some aspects of a Hero's being are expressed by using perks. These are referred to as "racial" perks. They are an intrinsic part of the Hero's race; they cannot be taken away or forgotten, and the Hero always has the ability to use them, regardless of how many story chips he has. When choosing the criteria (see below for more on range and criteria), racial perks may be given "persistence points." The number of persistence points determines the effect of the perk (if applicable), but persistence only grants a +1/2/3 to cause and +3/6/9 to effects, the same as the bonus for the regular expenditure of story chips when no sharp edge is in play. If the player wishes to spend a story chip on top of his persistent edge, the effects will stack (i.e., an edge with one level of persistence adds +3 to effect. If the player spent a blue chip--+9 to effect--the end result would be +12 effect).

Simply put, persistent perks are always "on," and cannot be turned off. They need not be used at every opportunity, but when they are used, they require no activation points or chips to use. These edges are either inherent physical or mental abilities, or are talents trained so extensively that they are basically instinctual. Once again, only racial perks (for example, Natural Weapons) can be designated as persistent. If they were purchased as such, the hero would not have to pay chips or use activation points to use them in combat, however persistent perks are slightly less effective unless "powered up." Like regular perks, persistent perks can be trait-based, skill-based or special (see the next section, Perk Creation and Use for details about the three types of perks). Like other edges, a persistent perk will need a name, range and criteria definition and effect description.

Racial edges do not need to be persistent, but the designation as a racial trait helps define the race of the hero. One could play a human hero, but if you gave him the racial trait "Natural Weapons: Claws," he is no longer a regular human. He would then be a Humanoid, which may have other in-game effects. A racial designation can also somewhat limit which sort of edges may be included. It is difficult to rationalize that your race is naturally good at using pistols (just so you can make the edge persistent). The application of common sense is recommended.

While many types of perks can be made persistent, some perks can only be persistent by their very nature. One broad category of which are resistances. Some races or beings may be highly resistant to radiation, extremes of heat or cold, high or low atmospheric pressure, high gravity, toxins or other effects which may establish a detrimental scene attribute for most characters or require protective gear to survive. An ability like this cannot be turned off; you don't stop being resistant because you have run out of story chips. Likewise, a permanent bonus to a character's size or willpower is always present; this is an effect that will aid him whenever he takes damage (phsyical or psychological, respectively), so it is a persistent effect. In this case, one doesn't inflate when they pay a chip, or shrink when they run out.

Persistent perks do not earn Dormancy points. Instead, they are treated as though they always have a set number of Dormancy points based on their level of persistence. A simple way to represent this is to black out the appropriate number of check boxes for that entry on the character sheet.

Perk Creation and Use

As stated earlier, story chips can be used, in general, to improve any cause or effect in the game. Need to make take that henchman down in one shot? Spend a story chip to increase your damage. Need to sweet talk a receptionist? Use a story chip to improve your persuasion check. The standard use of story chips grants a +1/2/3 bonus to causes (that would be the "roll" for trait or skill checks if using dice; the top set of numbers if using action cards) and +3/6/9 to effects ("damage" dice rolls, or the bottom set of numbers if using action cards). When a perk is available to be used, the bonus can be much more dramatic than with the generic use of story chips. This is something your Hero specifically excels at; of course he should get a benefit! When a perk boosts a cause or a special effect, the bonus is doubled to +2/4/6. When used to boost an effect, the bonus is increased by three to +6/9/12. Also, perks may be the only way to use story chips to improve some special effects, yet another reason to have some sharp edges. So, go out there and be awesome, Tiger.

There is no "complete" list of perks. Some common perks will be listed in this chapter that have special effects or rules, along with several examples of custom perks. As for the rest, each player can define his own perks individually (for purposes of roleplaying and flavor). As such, most perks have relatively standardized effects. Why, when and how they come into play we leave in the hands of you, the Crew and the Master. When a perk is chosen, the player will need to choose what it is (a name and basic concept, and whether it is a racial or standard perk), when it can come into play (range and criteria) and what it does (its effects).

Bruce chooses the perk "Natural Weapons: Claws for his Avatar marine character, Frost. This is clearly a racial perk, so he uses one of Frost's available racial edge slots for the perk. For criteria, this is a combat perk, and Bruce decides that Frost's claws can improve several aspects of her attack, assigning 2 additional uses. In game, he can improve the cause (Frost's attack roll), a special effect (in this case, penetration value) or damage (effect). Also, he links this perk to Frost's climbing and intimidation skills. This one perk costs a bunch of edge points, but can be useful in a variety of situations.

One activation of a perk will only boost one category (cause, effect or special effect). If, in the above example, Bruce chose to boost Frost's attack roll, penetration and damage, that would be three separate activations of the perk. But it would be a pretty damn sweet claw swipe from the cat-girl!

Range of Effect

Edge Type

After choosing a name for your edge and deciding if it is a racial or standard edge, you must determine what effect it can have in the game. This is called its range of effect. There are three types of range: Trait, skill and special.

• Trait--This type of perks can affect a broad range of tasks, but is more centered around pure mental or physical tasks than any tests of skill. They often represent major aspects of a character, and are easily crafted as racial edges that help define the physical or mental capabilities of one's character race. Trait perks can be used to boost Trait checks such a reflex checks for initiative or Fortitude checks to resist being stunned in combat. For the cost of an extra activation point (a red chip would give the bonus of a white chip and a blue chip would give the bonus of a red chip), a Trait perk can also be used to link to any skill that uses the trait. Trait perks can be quite versatile, but are not quite as effective at specific tasks as more specific edges.
• Skill--Skill-based edges are used to boost a narrow range of tasks. They often represent special training or an aptitude the character possesses. When crafting a skill-based edge, one selects a primary skill that is the focus. For additional edge point, extra skills can be linked to the edge, and when making task checks with any of the primary or linked skills, the edge can be used to boost the results.
• Special--This category of edge affects aspects or abilities of a character that do not follow the task check mechanics above. A list of these edges will be given later in the chapter.

Criteria

For the sake of flavor and variety, not all perks need operate by exactly the same rules. The type of perk (above) determines what sort of actions the perk can influence. Criteria help determine other aspects of a perk (such as when, why and how). Criteria are modifiers attached to perks that add extra capabilities or limit the use of the perk. These modifiers will also alter the end cost of each sharp edge; if your sharp edge is too costly, you may be able to shave some points off it by adding some limiting criteria. If you have a few points to spend, you might be able to take a perk and add some capabilities to it that makes it more useful.

Crafted edges can be named whatever the player chooses for roleplaying purposes. Special edges should retain the name listed just for ease of reference. This is kind of a no-brainer, but you should pick a name that somehow describes what the edge does, if for no other reason than to stave off confusion. However, just naming something doesn't completely define it. You can't have a perk called "God Mode" that allows you to automatically succeed at whatever you do. Part of the name is just flavor; you will have to define a set of criteria and its effects. Note that in the example above, Jason chose the name "lucky" for one of Chuk's sharp edges, but its criteria was that he was only lucky when it came to avoiding injury. Another character could choose a perk and name it "Lucky," but might define it as a skill perk that affected a set of chance-related tasks such as gambling and tasks with a TN of 13 or higher (where success is basically a shot in the dark!) A player could not take the perk "lucky" and say that it can improve any outcome he wants just because he's, you know, lucky. That is too broad a criteria, and must be narrowed down.

The base cost for a skill perk is 1. When a skill perk is chosen, you must select a skill that it primarily applies to, and what aspect of the skill check it will boost (cause or effect). If you want to be able to use the perk in conjunction with more related skills, you must purchase additional skill links. Some skills or applications may be able to boost values that are neither cause or effect results (such as armor penetration for attacks). These are called "special effects." A skill perk will boost only one of these by default. If you wish for the perk to be able to boost more than one, you must purchase the Additional Activation criteria for each one.

Frost’s demo charge collapses the tunnel just in time, cutting off the main body of the Klackon warriors, but one of the slippery aliens manages to dash past the falling rocks, right at Chuk. The Blarad’s ruined Blast MMG won’t do him any good in this fight, and he doesn’t have time to draw another weapon before the insectoid is upon him. Jason (the player controlling Chuk) determines that now is the right time for Chuk to be a badass. He attacks the Klackon to hold it off and help cover the others’ retreat. His attack hits and penetrates the Klackon's thick armor. Jason tells the Master that he is invoking Chuk's Natural Weapons: Claws perk to increase his unarmed damage. Chuk is out of points in his activation pool, but has a blue chip, which will yield (in additon to the +3 damage for level one persistence) a whopping +12 damage! Bruce, playing Frost, knows that Chuck will need some help with the dangerous Klackon, but doesn’t want to fire a blast rifle into the melee. He also knows that all the extra claw damage in the world won’t do much against the heavy armor of a Klackon if he can’t penetrate. Frost jumps into the melee and swipes with her claws, as well, scoring a hit. Bruce invokes Frost’s level one persistent claw perk also, but hers have the bonus of additional effects. He spends two points from her pool to boost the penetration value (an effect) for his Hero’s claws by +2 (to +3), and an additional two points from the pool to increase damage by +6 (to +9). “Frost may not have the size or strength that Chuk does,” Bruce says. “But if Chuk’s claws are like hatchets, then mine are like razors. My claws naturally find the seams in the bug’s chitin, and slice at the softer tissues while Chuck cracks and tears through its exoskeleton!” The two marines make short work of the final Klackon, and the entire crew escapes the tunnel system and boards the dropship that will take them back to the Chain Lightning…

The base cost for a trait perk is 3.

The cost for special edges is listed with each edge. It may be possible to add modifiers to some of these perks. Each sharp edge costs a minimum of 1 edge point, even if the criteria take the cost to zero or less.

• Additional Skill linked to edge--Many skills have specialties. The +1 version only links to one specialty while the +3 version links to any specialty under the skill.
• Combat-related edge--Any edge that can be used to boost cause/effect/special effect for attacks, reduce damage taken, stun rolls, armor, etc. in personal physical or social combat is considered a combat-related edge. If this criteria is not taken, the perk is only valid outside of combat.
• Special Effect Only--Skills or traits that do not use a cause or effect in their mechanics such as size, willpower or rate are considered affected only by special effects. Since the result of boosting these numbers can be rather extreme, the cost for them is increased.
• Persistence Level--Number of Dormancy boxes filled in for persistent perks.
• Conditional Use--The -1 version allows the edge to be used only if the toggle of the action card is "YES." The -2 version allows the edge to be used only if the step is 4 or less. See the section on conditional use for more details.
• Increased Cost--The -1 version costs an additional story chip to activate, while the -2 version costs double. This criteria allows an exception to the rule allowing only one story chip to be spent to invoke an edge.
• Limited Use--Whether activated using dormancy points, activation points or story chips, this edge can only be used once per game session.
• Wild Card--Can be used for an associated skill to the skill it is linked to (-2 penalty for associated skill checks still applies). +1 version only applies if the TN of the associated check is 13 or greater; +3 version allows this edge to be used for any skill check with a TN of 13 or greater, or for unskilled checks. Can only be used to boost cause. This is our way of representing someone who is "lucky."
• Requires Exertion--Causes the loss of 1d6 CT or Stress each time the perk is used.
• Powered by Dormancy Points--This edge can only use dormancy points to activate it, effectively limiting its use to every other game session or less. This criteria cannot be taken in conjunction with persistence.

Jason chooses the sharp edge "Lucky" for his Ursoid, Leonid Kovnachuk (Chuk). He sets the range for this edge as "Trait" (3 points). He doesn't see Chuk as being lucky at cards or business, but lucky in shrugging off damage and keeping in the fight. To reflect this, he decides that this edge will improve his ability to soak damage. How? He is lucky. Sometimes serious attacks only scratch him, or do less damage than they ought to. He simulates this by saying that the lucky perk increases Chuk's effective size stat (considered a trait, and since reducing damage is considered combat-related, costs an additional +1 edge points) when he activates his edge. Since it is neither a cause or effect, it is a special effect and will give a +2/4/6 bonus when story chips are spent (+3 for "Special Effect Only"). It doesn't actually make Chuck physically larger, but an attack that may have caused a wound might only result in the loss of some CT, or a devastating, lethal attack might only result in one or two wound points being applied, which is one way to simulate being "lucky" (at avoiding being hurt). Since 7 edge points is a lot for Chuk, Jason adds the criteria "Limited Use" (-3 points). Now, Chuk can only be "lucky" at most once per game session. The total cost for this perk is 4 edge points.

Jason also chooses the perk "Brawny" for Chuk. He makes it a trait perk (3 points), and defines it by saying that Chuk is unusually strong, associating it with his Strength trait. Since it is linked to his strength, if Chuck had to knock down a door or lift a car off a comrade, these are aspects where strength plays a role, these would all meet the criteria for his edge. If he wanted to use his brawny perk to help him punch someone really hard, he would have to add the criteria "Combat-related perk" (=1 point) and "additional activation (effect)" (+2 points) for a total cost of 3 or 6 edge points.

Sid takes the perk "Gift of Gab" for the eponymous Sid Scorpio. He makes it a skill perk (1 point), and Sid says that the criteria is that Sid Scorpio is especially good at verbal exchanges, with the intention of linking the Perk to his persuasion skill by increasing the cause. He will make successful checks more often, but they may not necessarily be more effective. The total cost of this simple sharp edge is only 1 point.

Stony Krantz has the perk "Rifleman," a skill perk (1 point) which allows him to apply bonuses (cause or effect, +2 points for additional activation) to the use of any weapon (+1 for combat-related edge) using the Shooting: Rifle (Gauss) skill. The total cost is 4 points. To bring the cost down a point, he adds in the criteria "conditional use (-1)." Now, he can only use his perk if the action card he draws to attack has a YES in the toggle element. If he wanted his rifleman skill to affect all rifles (any specialty covered under the "Shooting: Rifle" skill, it would cost an additional +3.

Special Effects

An edge may sometimes boost a result that is not a cause or effect. In these instances, the boost is considered a "special effect." A common special effect for combat-related edges is the ability to increase the penetration value of an attack. The increase for special effects per chip value spent to activate is the same as for causes, +2/4/6. Some special effects may introduce a new ability to a trait or skill. You have some leeway to be creative with special effects, but edges that influence them should be approved by the Master to ensure that they are appropriate for the game.

Ssslith, a chameleon-like saurian, takes the edge "360-degree vision. It gives him the ability to look in any direction regardless of his actual facing. This is an added ability, so it is considered a special effect.

Conditional Use

When an edge has the conditional use criteria, it effectively limits how often the edge can be invoked. This can either be a case-by-case situation where the edge can only randomly be used half or one-third of the time based on either the toggle or step element of the drawn card. An example of this may be a combat perk that allows you to inflict extra damage if you hit a weak spot in your opponent's armor, or are able to target a sensitive body location. Did you find a weak spot or nerve bundle, allowing you to increase damage? Check the toggle or the step number. Sometimes, conditional use can be applied to edges where the opportunity to use them may be limited by other factors, such as only operating in a certain environment or under certain conditions. Like special effects, conditional use may be open to some interpretation and debate; they should be discussed with the Master and approved before purchase. If the condition preventing/allowing use does not, in practice, limit your ability to use the edge or restrict its effectiveness, then the edge should be reviewed and possibly reworked somehow. This can easily be achieved by just buying off the conditional use criteria with one or two points from the hero's activation pool.

Dieter, Ssslith's player, makes his hero's 360-degree vision a racial edge, and gives it one level of persistence (+2 points). To simulate the capabilities of Ssslith's edge, He chooses to make it a skill-related edge (base cost of 1 point) and links it to his awareness skill (having it modify a special effect). Since the special effect grants him approximately 180 extra degrees of vision (he can naturally see facing forward for free!), he figures this would apply for the -1 conditional use criteria. Additionally, it is only useful for vision, just one of his major senses, so he applies an additional -1 conditional use criteria. The master approves this but comes to an agreement with Dieter that Ssslith cannot truly perceive what is going on all around him at all times. It is assumed that he is generally looking forward unless Dieter states otherwise. The final cost for Ssslith's 360-degree vision is 1 edge point.

As with generic use of story chips, you can choose to wait until after a roll is made or a card is drawn to invoke a sharp edge. This way, you can ensure that story chips are never wasted, and are always beneficial.

The standard currency for activating perks are story chips, but the appropriate number of activation or dormancy points may be used in place of story chips at the proper exchange rate (1/2/3 = white/red/blue). Hence, most players will use their dormancy and activation points before using story chips. If these are expended, you can use story chips to activate perks, but remember that only one story chip may be played for any single activation; if all you have are white chips, you cannot spend two white chips to equal one red chip. In this sense, your hero's activation pool is more versatile. Alternatively, you can spend story chips instead of draining your activation pool, but there is no benefit to it.

If, for whatever reason, the Master invokes one of your sharp edges, this activation does not cost story chips, nor does it disqualify the edge for earning a dormancy point, unless the player activates it at some point in the session. To determine the bonus, draw a chip from the pool.

Rough Edge Activation

By giving your Hero a flaw, you are making a kind of statement as to what kind of actions the character may take in certain situations and what kind of Hero he is. If your character has the coward flaw, for example, you are not likely to exhibit an abundance of bravery. You may actively try to avoid conflict. That is fine; that’s what a cowardly person might do. However, this being an RPG, you will likely find your cowardly character in a fight (either physical or psychological) sooner or later, which may give you or the Master an opportunity to invoke your flaw. As with perks, you should design your flaws to suit your character's physical or mental limitations, or his habits and personality, and be willing to roleplay them. If flaws are ignored by the player, he won't earn story chips for them; those flaws may as well not exist in that context. If the flaw affects something that the player has intentionally made their Hero a master of--to the point that he almost never fails a task even when hampered by his flaws--he won't get story chips through failure. In these cases, all that has been accomplished is that the player has pointlessly used up one of his edge slots and edge points, and spammed his character sheet with some ultimately meaningless words. Unless they affect the Hero through action (roleplaying) or consequences (failure), rough edges have no effect on or benefit to the player or the story and will not earn the player any story chips.

Designers' Note: Rewarding players for "good roleplaying" can be a troublesome concept. Firstly, it is entirely subjective. The bar will be set differently from one Master to the next, and no amount of rules would ever completely define the subject. Secondly, rewards for something that is so subjective can rapidly be seen by the Master as an obligation to dole out, or seen by the players as a penalty if not rewarded. It can also be a point of contention (either real or perceived) if one or more players earns roleplaying rewards more often than others, or conversely, if one or more players feels excluded from getting those rewards. As such, we recommend eschewing most "roleplaying" rewards unless you have a rock-solid grip on the matter, are consistent, impartial and fair. Even then, expect a player to balk the first time you don't reward him for good roleplaying, so a final requirement might also be "make sure your players are on board." Otherwise, we suggest sticking to a more concrete system of penalty/reward when it comes to edges.

Choosing the nature of any flaw can be important to your character concept. The cowardly “Hero” above may be a yellow-belly through and through, which will definitely impact what roleplaying decisions the player may make. While the game play effect may have the same triggers (combat), another character may just have a touch of PTSD and only freaks out occasionally. This character might not have the same reservations about conflict, and might not avoid a fight, but would probably realize that it is possible for him to go into vapor-lock and freeze up at the worst possible time in the middle of a combat, which might bring about other roleplaying opportunities, such as the Hero getting ribbed by his peers or being seen as unreliable in a fight for freezing in the heat of battle. A third character may choose the flaw "Pacifist," and might roleplay his character as avoiding violence for spiritual or moral reasons. Regardless of the trigger (in this case, combat), how the characters are played and what penalties might be applied (if needed) can be very different. The aforementioned yellow-bellied coward may be the scientist in the Crew who rarely sees combat anyway, but his cowardice may cause him to avoid other types of conflict as well, such as psychological or social combat. Maybe he doesn’t speak up to the other Heroes, or lets an NPC run ragged all over him because he doesn’t want to get in an argument. The Hero with shell-shock may be a member of the ship's marine complement, could be a bad place for someone with PTSD, but probably an even worse vocation for a pacifist! If the event comes up frequently, you simply have the opportunity to earn more story chips for it.

Designer’s Note: How often a flaw comes up during play, or how many opportunities there are for it to affect a Hero is often a troublesome point in some role-playing games. We want to encourage players to play up their characters’ flaws by instituting the reward of story chips for doing so. That way, flaws are not simply something you take to get extra points for skills or stats. Many times, a player will take a flaw for his character and simply hope the Master forgets about it, or the player makes the triggers for it rare in order to game the system. In Future Imperfect, we hope the players will embrace their Heroes’ flaws to bring their Heroes to life and get an enriched story out of it all in the end.

Aside from informing how you might roleplay certain aspects of your Hero based on his flaws, they are a means for your Hero to earn story chips. Give some thought to your Hero’s rough edges. Figuring out why your Hero has his flaws will help you determine how to express them during play. They can help give him that extra dimension that makes him a memorable character instead of just some numbers on a sheet of paper. When creating your character, take a moment to discuss your character's rough edges with the Master. At the very least, will give the Master an idea of what your Hero's flaws are. Explain why your hero has these flaws, and how you imagine them affecting your hero in the game. This may give the Master opportunity to throw elements into the game that can trigger your flaws (and earn you story chips!) so the more communication and mutual understanding, the better. If you'd like, you can even coordinate with the other players, as they may be able to help steer the story in such a direction to test your Hero! Everyone in the A-Team knows that B.A. Baracus hates flying, but they sure do wind up in planes a lot, and sometimes it is because his chums tranquilized him to get him on board!

Chuk’s vengeance stems from his long years of service to his cruel masters within the GPR, and he feels most justified when striking back at them or other oppressors. Letting his anger get the better of him while playing a card game with his friend is not something he is proud of. Jason decides that for Chuk, while it was immediately gratifying, he regrets his recent act of vengeance against Sid, and starts thinking of how to express that in the game…

Players should roleplay their Hero’s flaws. If you don’t want to roleplay a particular flaw, just don’t take it! You have chosen them to help establish your Hero’s background and personality; they don’t disappear just because the Master isn’t forcing penalties on you at every turn. As a player, feel free to bring them into play when you feel they are appropriate by reminding the Master of your rough edges. As a Master, you should also have a good idea of what rough edges the various members of the crew have, so you can call upon them as you see fit and create scenes that feel more real because they affect the unique rough edges your players crafted for their characters. Inconveniences can crop up when the hero least expects or wants them to, which is why the Master also has the power to invoke flaws. Plus, if a flaw makes your Hero’s life harder and enriches the story with the complication you put out there for the Master to utilize, you might get a story chip out of it. Winners all around!

Eric’s Ursoid, Nestor, grew up on an arctic planet. There were no trees to climb, and all the buildings were dug into the ground to protect them from the elements. As such, he decides that his Hero has acrophobia (fear of heights), and that it is a fairly strong aversion. Eric decides to play Nick such that he will go to great lengths to avoid triggers to his phobia. Even though the trigger is fairly common, if Eric plays Nick such that he stays rooted to the ground almost all the time, the Master may rarely even be able to invoke the flaw to the point where he has to penalize Nestor's actions.

Application of Rough Edges

When a likely trigger for a Hero’s flaw comes up, the Master may choose to invoke it, though the players are encouraged to call attention to their rough edges when appropriate or invoke it themselves. When this occurs, the rough edge can be applied in a few ways:

• Instantaneous checks
• Encounter-length
• Scene-length

Sometimes a rough edge will rear its ugly head, but it have a very brief duration, or can only affect a single task or extended action. When the hero is attempting a task, the player or the Master may invoke his rough edge before an action card is drawn or the dice are rolled. A chip is also drawn from the pool represent how adverse an effect the flaw has for this single act. Unless specified otherwise, the penalty applied will be -2/4/6, depending on what color chip is drawn (white/red/blue). If the penalty from the rough edge causes the hero to fail at a task, he is rewarded with the chip that was drawn from the pool to determine the difficulty of the task.

Rough edges will most commonly apply penalties to cause results, but can sometimes be applied to effect. If they are used to reduce effect, it counts as the hero "failing" at the task insofar as earning a story chip goes.

Designer's Note: To keep the Master from hammering the hero endlessly with a rough edge or to prevent a player from gaming the system and raking in obscene amounts of chips and throwing your game's chip economy into a tizzy, we suggest that instantaneous checks be applied no more than twice per encounter or three times per scene. If you feel the need to apply a certain flaw more frequently, consider invoking the rough edge as an encounter or scene-length application instead.

If a rough edge might be applied for the duration of an entire encounter, it applies a -2 penalty to every affected task (unless specified otherwise), which may vary, depending on the nature of the rough edge. In pulp-style play, once the rough edge causes up to two failures, it may be disregarded for the remainder of the encounter with Master approval. The hero may slowly come to grips with his rough edge and be able to compensate. This a reflection that in many stories in various media across all genres, if the protagonist has some kind of drawback, it often only crops up a few times in the midst of an action sequence. It appears just long enough to remind him (and the audience) that he's got a weakness, then it's back to ass-kicking as usual. If you prefer gritty realism over pulp story convention, feel free to keep the penalties for rough edges in play regardless of how often it causes the player to fail. Maybe it will serve as a hint that they might need to find a different plan! For dealing with the rough edge for an encounter, the hero earns two chip draws, keeping the best one. Even if the flaw does not cause two outright failures during an encounter, the -2 penalty also impacts his ability to get bumps, so he still earns the red chip.

Some rough edges can be applied for an entire scene, effectively establishing a scene attribute that only affects the hero in question. The flaw applies a -1 penalty (unless specified otherwise) to every affected task, as above. If the rough edge causes up to three failures, it may be disregarded for the remainder of the encounter with Master approval, or not for gritty playstyles. For dealing with the rough edge for an entire scene, the hero earns three chip draws, keeping the best one.

If a flaw has earned dormancy points, the master may apply them to the penalty for any application. For instantaneous checks, each point of dormancy applied adds another level of penalty, so if the penalty is -2/4/6, a draw of a red chip from the pool would incur a -4 penalty; each dormancy point applied would increase the penalty by another -2. Encounter/scene applications require 2/3 dormancy points to increase the penalty, and if the penalty is increased, it is simply doubled. A -2 penalty becomes -4; a -1 penalty becomes -2. You still get the same number of story chips as a reward, so it is in a Hero's best interest to get some mileage out of his flaws as often as he can, lest they come back to haunt him...

The reward for encounter and scene-length applications of a rough edge come at the conclusion of the encounter or scene in question, after the hero has actually "dealt" with his flaw.

Special Rough Edges

Some players may choose to have a rough edge that does not easily fit the mechanics laid out above. One might be a Hero who owes people money, or is actively hunted by some group. These are certainly allowable, but you will have to work with the Master to determine how these flaws will come up and how they will affect your hero. Just keep in mind that if they can't or don't come up, there is no way for you to earn your story chips, and part of the mechanic of earning story chips from flaws involves your hero occasionally failing or actually being inconvenienced somehow by his flaw.

Bearer of the Burden

Rough edges are meant to impact the player that has them. You should also be mindful of keeping your flaws within the realm of playability. You might choose a rough edge called "Easily Confused," but if other heroes pay the price because you loaded dinner rolls instead of powercells on the shuttle, or you shoot them in the middle of combat, it is primarily others that are dealing with the consequences of your rough edge. Similarly, you could play a quadriplegic, but your opportunities to be involved in any type of action would be almost nil. The same could be said for any extreme take on a disadvantage such as any mental disorder, phobia or compulsion. Flaws should not necessarily cripple the hero or prevent him from joining in on the story. If they will, you might reconsider them. Your character is supposed to be a hero, after all. Not some kind of loony basketcase. At the very least, if he is a loon, try to make him functional.

Suggested Penalties

The standard penalties for one's rough edge should be laid out when the flaw is chosen. The strength of the flaw is an indicator as to how severely it affects the Hero, whether it is fairly debilitating or an occasional nuisance. "Rougher" edges will tend to net more story chips for instantaneous checks, but be warned! If the Master prefers to keep things gritty rather than pulpy when it comes to keeping rough edges in play when applied to an encounter or scene, you may be in for a rough ride.

If the effect of a rough edge is very broad, for example, if it has the potential to alter any task the hero might make at any given time or situation, we recommend applying -2/4/6 for instantaneous checks and -1 for encounter and scene applications. An example of this might be operating in the face of a phobia or taking action that opposes an established compulsion.

If the effect of a rough edge is more limited, we suggest the standard -2/4/6 for instantaneous checks and -2/-1 for encounter/scene applications. An example might be a flaw that affects any checks or tasks related to a certain trait, or a rough edge like "Vengeance" that might penalize any action that doesn't count as actively bringing harm to the target(s) of your wrath.

If the effect of a rough edge is relatively narrow, we suggest -3/6/9 for instant checks and -3/-2 for encounter/scene applications. An example of this might be a flaw that occasionally impacts one's ability to perform a specific skill or small group of skills.

This also doesn't account for the magnitude of the application, which may increase or decrease the effect, given the circumstances and how much you have established the rough edge impacts your hero. For Nick Nestor with his acrophobia, getting into a fight on the enclosed observation deck of a skyscraper might give him a slight case of the willies, but fighting on a rickety suspended deck bridge spanning a deep, rocky crevasse while ropes fray and wooden planks creak and crack under his massive weight might be downright terrifying!

Lastly, the Master has final say on whether any rough edges are appropriate to be called into play for the given situation.

Special Edges

The following is a list of special edges. They do not necessarily boost cause, effect or special effect like other edges described above. This list is also not exhaustive, but if you would like to create your own edge, there should be enough examples here to determine an appropriate point cost.

Finesse
Cost: 3 (HTH unarmed/armed), 4 (HTH unarmed & armed); +2 for Dexterity-based effect
To determine the likely winner of a brawl, the adage goes "When in doubt, bet on the big guy." People with great strength tend to excel at armed and unarmed hand-to-hand combat, as they are able to wield heavy weapons with ease, batter down attempts to block or parry and simply muscle their hands onto others trying to evade them. Some fighting styles place less emphasis on brute strength and rely on finesse. A character with the sharp edge Finesse can associate his Hand-to-hand: Armed or Hand-to-hand: Unarmed skill with his Dexterity trait rather than his Strength trait. Melee damage bonuses are still based on the character's strength; you may hit with greater ease, but your weak frame will not boost damage unless the Dexterity-based effect enhancement is taken. In this case, the character also knows how to target more critical locations with precision strikes, maximizing his effectiveness. Some weapons, such as axes and heavy clubs and unarmed attacks like chokes are unaffected by finesse; these weapons and maneuvers rely almost purely on strength to be effective. This edge is ideal for characters or races that are not intrinsically strong such as Avians or IRSOL.

Under Construction

Disregard the sloppiness on this page, especially toward the end. This page is currently under construction and review, and will take a more presentable form soon.

Edges and Character Race

During character creation, there is some degree of overlap between the sections of Race and Edges. The primary reason for this is that many of the unique traits one can imagine for an alien race are handled by crafting them as edges, such as the claws described in earlier examples. Some racial variations are unique to the race creation system (such as bonuses to traits), and as such, exclusively use points derived from a character's rank in race. Race points can be used to craft "racial constructs" for a character using the rules for edges. Racial constructs are an aspect of your character's race, shared by all members of your race. For example, "Ehanced sense: Smell" is a racial construct shared by anyone choosing the canine template, and "Enhanced sense: vision" is shared by all characters using the human template. The number of points available for race selection is determined by the rank given to race. Racial constructs may help define what sort of alien (or even human) you are. Several standard templates are provided (see chapter XX, "Populating the Universe" for more information), but even with these there is room for customization.

Also, the number of edge slots available is determined during character race selection. Some racial templates allow for greater or fewer number of edges. If your race template does not allow as many edge slots as you would like, you can use race points to purchase additional edge slots. If you need to shave a few points from your race template, you can reduce the number of edges available due to race. You can also use points from the edge pool to purchase racial edges.

Though your universe in your own Future Imperfect campaign may be inhabited by nothing but pure strain humans, the "Canon" setting is not so vanilla. All races (even humans!) can be defined to a degree by their variation. Some races are more homogenous as a whole, or less diverse as individuals. These species and races will tend to have fewer edge slots avialable. Some types of edges (such as resistances) can only be purchased as persistent edges, and are therefore racial edges (since they would be common to all members of your race, which in this sense means "everyone of the same race who grew up in the same environment as your character").

The description of an Ursoid character says they have a thick coat of fur. While Jason may choose a resistance to cold environments for his Ursoid, Chuk, he decides not to include this as a racial edge for his character. Instead, because Chuk's myriad injuries have left his hide scarred and patchy (which doesn't seal in the heat), he makes up a sharp edge and calls it "Mangy Countenance", a skill perk that gives a bonus when Chuk tries to indimidate or threaten people.

You can use a template for your Hero, or create your own unique alien species or flavor of humanoid. While some Edges are clearly "racial" in nature, it could be argued that many other perks and flaws could be a part of your race, as well,.

Custom races should, of course, meet with Master approval before play begins.

Sample Edges

General Perks

• Brawny--Criteria: Can be used to influence any acts of brute strength.
• Hardy--Criteria: Can be used to influence any acts of endurance (fortitude).
• Quick--Criteria: Can be used to influence any tests of reflexes.
• Nimble--Criteria: Can be used to influence any tests of dexterity.
• Sharp--Criteria: Can be used to influence any Acuity checks.
• Smart--Criteria: Can be used to influence any tests of Knowledge.
• Aura--Criteria: Can be used to influence any acts of Presence.
• Spiritual--Criteria: Can be used to influence any tests of Essence.
• Natural Weapons: Claws--Criteria: Combat perk. Can be used to increase attack roll, penetration or damage of an unarmed brawling attack. Turns brawling damage into lethal damage.

Creating Edges, part II

The following are all aspects of a character that can be influenced by various perks:

• Traits
• Skills
• Damage
• Penetration
• Natural Armor
• Size
• Willpower
• Stress
• Nerve
• Rate
• Weapon Enhancements
• Stun Checks
• Defense Scores
• Initiative
• Income
• Favors and Contacts
• Rank or Status
• Cybernetics
• Biological or Genetic Augmentation