Sphere Robot Wars Character Rules

Your Character

You have 50 points to design your character. Any excess points can be saved for increase later.

Level 1 - 1 CP - Hobbyist
Level 2 - 3 CP - Amateur
Level 3 - 6 CP - Professional
Level 4 - 10 CP - Skilled Professional
Level 5 - 15 CP - Experienced Professional
Level 6 - 21 CP - Expert
Level 7 - 28 CP - Master
Level 8 - 36 CP - Ancient Master
Level 9 - 45 CP - Superlative
Level 10 - 55 CP - Unmatched

In short, to improve a stat costs (current level + 1)

Stats

These are the defining 'hard' characteristics of your character.

Pilot

Your character's Pilot rating is an overall measure of how well he or she pilots a mobile suit, covering the breadth of skills as opposed to the specific increases some other stats may provide. It also covers other pilotable things such as fighters or shuttles as determined by the GM. Low Pilot does not in itself prevent access to a powerful suit, but even tremendous Newtype prowess and bleeding edge technology cannot replace basic proficiency in piloting skills.

Physical

This is the raw physical prowess of your character while she is on her own two feet, governing everything from proficiency with firearms, strength, agility, endurance, athleticism, and skill and/or talent in hand to hand combat. A character with a high rating in this category can make an excellent special forces combatant without other additions. However, it does not reflect her skill with the guns or melee weapons while inside her mecha.

Smarts

Your innate intelligence, as well as your ability to notice things and act on your feet.

Education

How well you paid attention during school; a measure of your book learning.

Charisma

Charisma measures the likeability of your character in several ways. Although few characters are anything but superior in physical attractiveness, those with high Charisma do tend to be the coolest or hottest, and they do tend to sell more figurines. More importantly though, charisma attracts followers, suitable romantic partners, and helps keep the faction together. Charisma is also the ability that governs your ability to get new or replace old/destroyed humanoid frames.

Specialties

You may also buy Specialties, which are substats giving you additional strengths in one field. Each specialty is bought as per regular stats cost and adds during the appropriate situation. For example, if a character has Pilot 4 and Melee Speciality (Pilot) 2, during mecha melee battleships he has effectively Pilot 6.

In especially appropriate situations, Specialties may add even more points to the stat.

Example for Physical: Sniper (superior gunmanship), Duelist (swordsmanship), Big Guy (brawling, clobbering, not-dying), Ballet (looking pretty), etc.

There are also a number of particularly important or common stats that are (almost) always bought as specialties. They are detailed below

Rank

Rank is a fairly straightforward rating of how much ‘pull’ you have in your armed forces. Sergeants don’t command battleships (except under exceptionally unusual circumstances) and Admirals do not go on infiltrations on foot. At higher levels it grants mook underlings and improved equipment.

Command is always bought in reference to a specific organization, such as ARROWs, the Combined ZOCU Militias, the USMC, etc. Depending on the campaign, one or more levels of it may be automatically granted.

While the specifics may vary depending on the exact organization one is a member of, these are the typical ranks and bonuses.

Level 1 - Specialist
Level 2 - Flight Sergeant
Level 3 - Master Sergeant
Level 4 - Lieutenant - 1 bonus Mecha Build Point
Level 5 - Major - 2 bonus Mecha Build Point
Level 6 - Commander - 3 bonus Mecha Build Point
Level 7 - Colonel - 4 bonus Mecha Build Point
Level 8 - Captain - 5 bonus Mecha Build Point
Level 9 - Commodore - Additional warships
Level 10 - Admiral - Additional fleets

Command

Command measures your character's raw proficiency at tactics, strategy, and his or her ability to make awesome plans and have them miraculously flow like water – most of the time. While low Command characters aren't necessarily stupid, high Command characters do tend to be the conspicuously smart ones. Note that Command ability doesn't necessarily have anything to do with rank.

Command is normally bought for specific (if broad) circumstances, such as Aerospace Operations, Warship Command, Mecha Squadrons, Infantry Combat, etc. General Command can be bought and applies to all situations where Command would be used, but it is treated as being one-half of its stated rating (rounded down, you munchkins), and is generally used to represent a basic amount of training that military officers (or resistance leaders) get before they specialize in any one field.

Conspiracy

While Charisma is a measure of how well you deal with people, Conspiracy is a measure of how well connected you are to the political machinations that underpin the story. In essence, it is how much of the ‘big picture’ the character sees. Conspiracy is an effective way of acquiring information, supplies, allies and even new machines, but remember that oftentimes there is no loyalty, only self-interest in this.

Conspiracy is also normally bought for specific circumstances, such as Spymaster, Dirty Secrets, Infiltration, Well Connected, Overt Political Power, etc. Likewise, it can be bought in the 'unlimited' format, for those who truly have their fingers in every pie and is treated as having 1/2 of its stated rating, rounded down.

Extras

These are things that are particularly limited in application or do not necessarily apply to character stats. It can cover things like having a family heirloom of exceptional power, a lot of money in portable format, mutant powers like healing factor, etc. Request one and the GM will provide a cost and effect.

Ace Skills

Determinator

"I don't know the meaning of the word 'surrender'!... I mean, I know it, I'm not dumb... Just - not in this context."

Every level of Determinator gives your machine +1 Hit

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Made of Iron

Your character shields are so strong they extend to your mecha.

Every level of Made of Iron gives your machine +1 Armor

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 10 for level I, every additional level costs +8

Gunslinger

You can use two identical weapons in your mecha's hands (one each), effectively doubling your attacks without needing to have something like paired shoulder cannons.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Itano Circus

You've had the techs cross-wire the fire control system in your machine so it can fire all it's missiles at once. Fwooooooosh.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Never Say Die

When the chips are down, you always seem to manage to walk away from that giant attack.

When your machine is reduced to 0 HP, you can attempt a saving roll to make a last-second dodge, ride the shockwave, etc and as a result, not have the machine explode under you. You'll (almost) always make an eject roll, too.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Taking You With Me!

Even death can't stop your final vengeance.

When your machine is reduced to 0 HP, you may perform an Interrupt attack with all your weapons before exploding.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Crack Shot

Skilled pilots trained themselves to concentrate on the target and ignore all extraneous disruptions, letting them achieve stunning displays of accuracy.

You may take a 19 on any attack roll instead of rolling.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Killer Eyes

A few pilots are known to have an almost instinctive ability to place shots where they'll do the absolute most damage.

You may take a 19 on any damage roll instead of rolling.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Hotblood

Any quote by Domon Kasshu will work here.

Your attack automatically does x2 damage.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 10 for level I, every additional level costs +8

Lucky

Some people just have the devil's luck.

You may reroll or force a reroll on any roll made that directly affects you. If it is an area effect, your reroll does not apply to any others.

Usage: Once per battle per level

Cost: 8 for level I, every additional level costs +5

Rebel Yell

Some ZOCU pilots became notorious for their piercing war-cries when charging the enemy, broadcast on all intership channels to demoralize the enemy.

Targets may not parry in the round that they're charged by a pilot with Rebel Yell.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Disarm

Expert pilots can get in close and disarm enemy units, knocking beam sabers away or chopping the barrels off guns.

On a sufficiently successful melee attack or on an enemy critical fail, an external weapon on the enemy unit is destroyed.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Swordsmaster

You've trained under the ancient swordsmasters out in the Rim then figured out how to replicate this in a giant robot.

Whenever an enemy fails a melee attack by at least 5, you can perform a melee Counterattack.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Mook Shield

A permutation of Judo and Akido for giant robots, allowing for rapid dominance in faceplate-to-faceplate combat.

When engaged in melee combat, if you are fired upon you on a successful opposed piloting+agility roll you can force the enemy attack to be resolved against any unit in melee with you (so long as it's not larger than you and you have at least one free hand)

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Expert Navigator

The EU's Advanced Navigation Course set the gold standard for jump accuracy for over half a century.

May reroll any FTL roll.

Usage: Passive Skill

Cost: 5

Aleph Powers

TBD, sorry.

Newtype Flash

Spider Sense, essentially

Force a reroll on one Accuracy-based attack a turn per level, even one that would otherwise be undodgeable (sneak attack, etc)

High Level Control

What Alephs do best

Add your Aleph stat to any attack roll involving Aleph Bits.

Limit Break

"You won't like me when I'm angry"

For one turn, you may attack twice with all weapons (or double their ROF, for weapons that may attack more than once).

Advantages

Type Master
Cost: 3
You’ve intensive trained, having never been defeated in 2000 simulated engagements. Unfortunately your winning streak comes to an end when you encounter a Gundam. But just wait until you face off against a force of Mobile Dolls . . . You are particularly skilled against a particular type of unit or pilot, such as Mobile Dolls, Super Robots, Mobile Armors, Gundams, Newtypes, etc. You can expect to have the equivalent of at least one rank increase in your piloting skill if facing off against said, due to your almost instinctive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Note that ‘Conventional Mecha’ is not a valid choice. This stacks with both Pilot and any pilot specialty, making it particularly useful.

Fan Favourite
Cost: 6
You are The Patrick. You might not be omnicompetent and flying the top-end craft like some, but your popularity ensures that you’ll survive all but the most ridiculous situations (or, of course, deliberate self-sacrifice). Note that generally this advantage won’t apply if you’re the best of the best; Kira Yamato never needed to be a Fan Favourite to survive.

Disadvantages

Obsession
Bonus: 3
Perhaps you're a (very) persistent womanizer (no matter your gender), mechaphile or have some other sort of very noticeable personal trait. Essentially have acquired an (un)healthy interest in someone or something else to the level that you have little self-control when faced with it. This goes far beyond schoolgirl yuri or a wandering eye; at the extremes it can reach the level of creepy stalker crush.

Code of Honor
Bonus: 5
You abide by a code of honor consisting either of one huge schtick (never kill anyone – just disable their suits) or a general mode of behaviour, such as being polite at all times, not taking advantage of people when they're down and so on.

Intolerant
Bonus: 3
You hate some group. Maybe baselines killed your father, or your little sister was captured by pirates. You never associate with them, abuse them if they're prisoners, and always go after them in combat with extra berserk.

Adventurous
Bonus: 3
Whenever in a situation where direct instruction from higher command or even when direct instruction is somewhat interpretable, your instinct is to go ahead and drag along a partner along if you have one! This will put you in a lot of dangerous situations, though you will also have a useful streak of fearlessness.

Damaged Goods
Bonus: 3
At some point in your past, you encountered something terribly traumatic that set your angst temporarily at 11. You may pick a circumstance, though if the GM doesn't think it'll affect things enough, he may pick one for you or expand on it. Often, people with this disad are very bright and cheerful but may have constant nightmares, try to keep themselves, and suffer debilitating flashbacks, seizures, or freezeups during battle.

Type Failure
Bonus: 3
Your training had gaps, perhaps due to a rushed schedule or simple lack of experience. There’s one type of enemy unit or pilot that you simply cannot handle. You are particularly unskilled against a particular type of unit, such as Mobile Dolls, Super Robots, Mobile Armors, Gundams, etc. You can expect to have the equivalent of at least one rank decrease in your piloting skill if facing off against said, due to your limited skillset.

Berserker
Bonus: 4
You go crazy in battle, forget to cover your friends and kill more shit then you need to. Even when you’re not in a berserker rage, you’re not likely to be terribly subtle. You may have a hair-trigger temper, or you just might have some ‘buttons’ that get pressed often.

Genetic Templates

Baselines

The majority of Humanity's population are 'baseline', though by the 22nd century this has expanded to include those who have had various genofixes for health and longitevity.

No stat modifiers

0 CP

Fixers

The efficient health care systems and cultural socialization of the first world nations has led to a progressive improvement in the general human condition. The following is typical for members of the US, the EU and similar nations.

+1 Healthy specialty, +1 Conspiracy (defaults to General Contacts)

2 CP

Spacers

While various methods of generating artificial gravity have steadily become more common, a substantial number of people have spend generations in space, adapting both artificially and naturally to microgravity conditions.

+3 Zero-Gravity Specialization, -1 Physical

0 CP

Alpha Upgrade

A general category of genetic modifications common across the Expanse that offer broad improvements over baseline physiques and minds. While the specifics often vary, in practice they use the following statline.

+1 Physical, +1 Smarts, +1 Charisma

10 CP

Icarus Upgrade

An upgrade specifically marketed to spacers, the Icarus Upgrade adds various zero-gravity physiological modifications to the common Alpha template, making it particularly popular in the Rim where since its introduction in the 2130s it has spread to be one of the most common templates.

+1 Smarts, +1 Charisma, +3 Zero-Gravity Specialization

10 CP

Atlas Upgrade

'Atlases' are those who have taken to physical modifications while retaining baseline intellects.

+2 Physical, +1 Big Guy Specialization

8 CP

Ishtar Upgrade

A transgenic template that optimizes socialization and interpersonal abilities. The exceptional beauty (even for modern humans) helps as well.

+1 Physical, +2 Charisma, +1 Conspiracy (defaults to General Contacts)

13 CP

Mentis Upgrade

Representative of 21st century intellectual augmentations after the various bugs and kinks had been worked out.

+1 Smarts, +2 Education, -1 Charisma

8 CP

Omoikane Upgrade

A somewhat more recent 22nd century transgenic template, the Omoikane upgrade significantly improves mental 'power' without the problems plaguing earlier attempts to upgrade human intellect.

+1 Smarts, +2 Education, +1 Charisma

16 CP

Harawayan Colours (Homo donna)

Communitarian Transhumanism of Haraway has given rise to a whole variety of different transhuman types, each with it's own color designator, designed to produce a society greater than the sum of it's parts

+3 Color Attribute

13 CP

Adharan Exhuman (Homo vulcanus)

Adharan religion holds that continual improvement to the human condition is a necessity for the faithful. Extensive genetic rewrites and a history of excellence in biotechnology and cybernetic enhancement have created an overall superior specimen to the baseline, or even to most transgenes. Easily recognizable due to their poreless, plastic-like skin and odd eye coloration, Adharans are mostly found on Adhara proper although several religious subsects particularly enamored of posthuman technology or disliking the PACT have defected to other Expanse powers.

+2 Physical, +2 Not Dying Physical Specialization, +1 Smarts, +1 Education, +1 Medical Prodigy Educational Specialty, +1 Theology Educational Specialty

The pre-Breakdown refugees from Adharan religious warfare found on Heaven's Shore have a more primitive version of the genome with somewhat different biases. Although many have had their children and themselves modified to another transgenic template or updated to the latest Adharan standard, a few still stick to their original "birth" genome.

+1 Physical, +1 Big Guy, +1 Not Dying, +1 Smarts, +1 Education

Minkowskan Exhuman (Homo caelum)

The gravitophobic Minkowskans have extensively reconstructed the human genome for permanent space-based survival.

+1 Education, +4 Zero-Gravity Specialization, +2 Ingroup Specialization, +1 Mechanics Specialization, -1 Physical, -1 Charisma, -2 Gravity Penalty, Vacuum Tolerant

Valeran Standard

Over a century of genetic modification and tweaking have resulted in a well balanced template that is extremely robust and tough.

+1 Physical, +2 Toughness/Endurance Specialization, +1 Charisma, +1 Smarts

Ishtar-V

A local modification of the Ishtar template.

+2 Physical, +2 Charisma, +1 Senses Smarts Specialization

Kanonite Noble

Pink Bishoujou Ghetto.

+1 smarts, +2 charisma, +2 conspiracy

Careers

Careers represent what your character does for a living. Like Genetic Templates, they provide bonuses and penalties to stats and specialties; again like Races these modify the final value, not the inherent value (eg, what you calculate cost to buy with). Some Careers might also have minimum stats - nobody's going to make it through special forces training with a physical of 1.

ZOCU National Pilot

A typical hotshot pilot from one of the ZOCU member-states.

+1 Pilot, +1 ZOCU Rank

Cost: 0

Unified Militia Pilot

Pilots who opt for dedicated service in the ZUM recieve additional training in intelligence-gathering and battlefield assessment, along with a small increase in pay.

+1 Pilot, +1 ZOCU Rank, +1 Dodger Specialty, +1 Conspiracy (ZOCU Intelligence)

Cost: 5 CP

Backseater

Special training is generally required to bring out the full capabilities of electronic warfare platforms.

+1 Education, +1 Electronic Warfare

Cost: 0

War Veteran

With the war only six years in the past, many of the pilots flying fought during the war.

+2 Pilot, +1 ZOCU Rank, 1 Ace skill

Cost: 8 CP

ZOCU National Officer

ZOCU officers are almost universally war veterans and demonstrated sufficient leadership to be promoted to command their own squadron.

+1 Pilot, +2 Command (Mecha), +2 ZOCU Rank (min 3)

Cost: 8 CP

Unified Militia Officer

The Unified Militia officers recieve multidisciplinary training in not just combat operations but diplomacy and etiquette.

+1 Pilot, +1 Command (Mecha), +1 Charisma, +2 ZOCU Rank (min 3), +1 Conspiracy (ZOCU Intelligence)

Cost: 12 CP

Aleph

Techniques stolen from the Magnates were put to use during the war, developing a group of supersoldiers who had quantum-active neural wetware. While not as spectacularly superior as the Magnate bioroid pilots, the process was much more controllable and did not result in a socially dysfunctional meatbot.

+1 Pilot, +1 ZOCU Rank, 2 Aleph skills, 1 Ace skill

Cost: 15 CP

Can buy additional Aleph skills

Character List

Sphere Robot Wars Characters
Sphere Robot Wars NPCs