True System Reference Document, Romantic Fantasy Edition

All of the following text is Open Gaming Content.

CHAPTER 1: HERO CREATION

Abilities

Everyone has certain basic abilities: how strong, fast, smart, and clever they are. These ability scores influence almost everything your character does. Stronger characters can lift greater weights, more dexterous characters have better balance, tougher characters can soak up more damage, and so forth.

Characters have six abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are called physical abilities, whereas Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are mental abilities. Each above-average ability score provides a bonus on certain die rolls, while below average abilities apply a penalty to some die rolls.

Choosing Ability Scores

Ability scores have a numerical value, expressed as a penalty or bonus, from -5 (abysmal or disabled) to +5 or more (legendary, practically superhuman), with an average of +0. When ability scores are noted in this book, the score follows the ability's name, for example: Strength +2, Dexterity -1, and so forth.

You have 6 points to divide among your hero's abilities, which all start at 0, neither a bonus nor a penalty. This means you can have +1 in all six abilities; +3 in one ability, 0 in two others, and +1 in the remaining three; or any combination adding up to 6. The only limitation is you cannot put more than 5 points in a single ability score. (Scores can only go higher than +5 as a result of level advancement and a few other factors.)

Ability Scores = 6 points divided between six abilities.

If you choose to have a negative value in an ability, you gain bonus points to assign to your other ability scores. For example, if you give your hero Strength -1, you have 1 more point to assign to another ability (such as Intelligence). If your hero has Strength -2, you have 2 bonus points, and so on. Heroes cannot have abilities lower than -5, and abilities lower than -2 aren't recommended unless the hero is seriously deficient in that ability. Even with bonus points, you cannot put more than 5 points in a single ability score.

Your ability score is added to or subtracted from die rolls when you do something related to that ability. For example, your Strength score affects the amount of melee damage you do, your Intelligence score affects your Knowledge skills, and so forth. Sometimes your score is used to calculate another value, such as when you use your Dexterity score to help determine how good you are at avoiding harm using your reflexes (your Reflex saving throw).

The Abilities

Given here are descriptions of the six abilities and how they affect your character.

Strength (Str)

Strength measures sheer muscle power and the ability to apply it. Your Strength score applies to the following:

• Melee attack rolls.
• Damage dealt by melee and thrown weapon attacks.
• Defense when parrying, blocking attacks in melee combat.
• Climb, Jump, and Swim checks.
• Your carrying capacity, how much you can lift and carry.
• Strength checks for breaking through doors, smashing things, and other deeds of strength when a specific skill doesn't apply.

Dexterity (Dex)

Dexterity is a measure of coordination, agility, and manual dexterity. Your Dexterity score applies to the following:

• Ranged attack rolls.
• Defense when dodging, evading attacks in combat.
• Reflex saving throws, for avoiding danger with coordination and quick reflexes.
• Initiative checks.
• Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Ride, Sleight of Hand, and Sneak checks.
• Dexterity checks for tasks requiring agility and coordination when a specific skill doesn't apply.

Constitution (Con)

Constitution is a measure of endurance, health, and overall physical toughness. Constitution is important because it affects your hero's ability to resist damage. Your Constitution score applies to the following:

• Toughness saving throws, for resisting damage.
• Fortitude saving throws, for resisting disease, poison, fatigue, and other effects involving your hero's health.
• Constitution checks for overcoming the hazardous effects of the environment and recovering from damage.

Intelligence (Int)

Intelligence is a measure of reasoning, memory, and quick thinking. Your Intelligence score applies to the following:

• Your number of known skills at 1st level.
• Craft, Disable Device, Knowledge, and Search checks.
• Intelligence checks to solve problems using sheer brainpower when a specific skill doesn't apply.

Wisdom (Wis)

While Intelligence measures reasoning, Wisdom is a measure of awareness, common sense, intuition, and strength of will. Your Wisdom score applies to the following:

• Will saving throws, for resisting attempts to influence you, whether by mundane or supernatural means.
• Concentration, Heal, Notice, Sense Motive, and Survival checks.
• Wisdom checks to resolve matters of intuition when a specific skill doesn't apply.

Charisma (Cha)

Charisma is a measure of persuasiveness, force of personality, leadership ability, and attractiveness (not necessarily physical). Your Charisma score applies to the following:

• Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, and Perform checks.
• Charisma checks to use force of personality when a specific skill doesn't apply.

Altering Ability Scores

Over the course of play, your hero's ability scores may change for the following reasons:

• Some effects -- including disease and poison -- temporarily lower ability scores.
• Characters improve their ability scores permanently as they increase in level.

Whenever an ability score changes, all traits associated with the ability change as well. For example, if you increase your Dexterity, your attack bonus, Dexterity-based skills and Reflex saving throw modifier also increase. Likewise, if your Dexterity bonus decreases, your attack bonus, Dexterity-based skills and Reflex saving throws suffer.

Debilitated Abilities

There is no limit to how high an ability score can be raised, but there is a limit on how low it can drop. If one of your hero's ability scores drops below -5 for any reason, the score is debilitated. Your hero suffers serious effects, depending on the ability. Debilitated Strength or Dexterity means the hero is helpless and unable to move. Debilitated Constitution means the hero is dying (and suffers a -5 on checks to avoid death). Debilitated Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma means the hero is unconscious and incapable of waking until the score is restored to at least -5.

Nonexistent Abilities

Some things in the True SRD actually lack a basic ability (having no score in it at all, which is not the same as having a debilitated ability). The effect of lacking a particular ability is as follows:

• Strength: Any creature capable of physically manipulating other objects has a Strength score. A creature with no Strength is incapable of exerting any physical force, either because it has no physical form (like an incorporeal ghost) or simply can't move (like a tree). The creature automatically fails Strength-based checks.
• Dexterity: Any creature capable of movement has a Dexterity score. A creature with no Dexterity cannot move (like most plants) or take physical actions and automatically fails Dexterity-based checks.
• Constitution: Any living creature has a Constitution score. A creature with no Constitution has no physical body (like a ghost) or no living metabolism (like an animated statue or other construct). It is immune to effects requiring Fortitude saving throws unless they work on inanimate objects. The creature always fails Constitution-based checks. Creatures with no Constitution do not recover from damage (since they can't make recovery checks). They must be repaired in some fashion. The same is true of objects.
• Intelligence: Any creature that can think, learn, or remember has an Intelligence score. A creature with no Intelligence is an automaton, operating on simple instinct or pre-programmed instructions. It is immune to all mental effects and automatically fails Intelligence-based checks. Note animals have low Intelligence scores (usually -4), but they do have Intelligence.
• Wisdom: Any creature aware of its environment has a Wisdom score. Anything with no Wisdom also has no Charisma. It is an inanimate object, not a creature. Objects are immune to mind-influencing effects and automatically fail Wisdom-based checks.
• Charisma: Any creature capable of interacting with others has a Charisma score. Creatures without Charisma cannot interact, are immune to interaction checks, and automatically fail Charisma-based checks.

Inanimate objects have no abilities other than their Toughness score. Animate but nonliving beings, like undead, have Strength and Dexterity. They might have Wisdom and Charisma, if they are aware of their environment and capable of interaction. They might have Intelligence, if they are capable of thought, but they never have Constitution, since they are not alive.

Backgrounds

After choosing your hero's abilities, you need to select a background -- a package of modifiers and abilities which represents both your birth and your culture. Each background comes with certain features representing the hero's early experiences, upbringing, and innate abilities.

• Traits: Backgrounds provide certain traits. This is particularly true for nonhumans, who often have abilities quite different from humans. Most background traits are advantages, although some are restrictions and others are neither advantageous nor restrictive, simply part of the background. When your hero's background traits include ability modifiers, the modifiers are in addition to the 6 points you spent on your hero's ability scores. If one of these ability modifiers results in a negative ability score, you do not gain bonus points as a result. Ability modifiers from backgrounds can raise an ability score above +5, but cannot lower it below -5. One trait every background has is size. There are nine size categories, from smallest to largest: Fine, Diminutive, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal. Most heroes are Medium.
• Favored Skills: Some backgrounds provide favored skills. These are always considered favored skills for characters of that background. Your hero is not required to be trained in any of these skills, but if you choose them as known skills, you gain them at the favored skill rank, regardless of your role. (See Chapter 2: Skills for more information.)
• Favored Feats: Some backgrounds provide favored feats. Characters from that background have access to these feats as favored feats regardless of role and may choose them as normal, so long as they met the feats' prerequisites. (See Chapter 3: Feats for more information.)

The two tables below summarizes the backgrounds developed for the True SRD. For more information, consult the setting-specific games using this system.

Roles

Heroes in True SRD games come in different types and from many walks of life. Your hero's role is the part he or she plays in the game. A role is like a character's part in a story; stories have different sorts of heroes, from brave and skilled warriors to cunning diplomats to wise wielders of the arcane arts. The role you choose for your hero affects the other choices you make, including your hero's skills and feats. Still, roles in the True SRD are broad enough to allow plenty of freedom of choice in creating your hero.

There are three roles in the True SRD, in addition to heroes with mixed, or multiple, roles. The roles are:
Adept: Someone with a keen intellect and usually a talent for the arcane arts.
Expert: Someone experienced in a wide range of skills.
Warrior: Someone with unmatched skill at arms and training in many forms of combat.
Mixed-Role Heroes: Heroes start out with only one role at 1st level; however, as your hero advances in level, you may choose levels in other roles, creating a mixed-role hero. This mixing of roles gives a hero a wider range of abilities at the cost of slowing advancement in any one role.

For example, a 1st-level warrior attaining 2nd level might choose to take the 1st level in adept instead of a 2nd level in warrior. The hero is now a 1st-level warrior/1st-level adept, but still a 2nd-level character. The character's combat abilities are less than those of a 2nd-level warrior, but the character now has the abilities of a 1st-level adept. Guidelines for creating mixed-role heroes can be found at the end of this chapter.

Level-Dependent Benefits

Heroes improve in experience and power by advancing in level. This represents the progress of a hero's career during a long series, from novice to seasoned expert. As heroes advance in level, they gain additional bonuses and access to more skills and feats, improving and expanding their capabilities. After 1st level, heroes also get the opportunity to begin mixing roles to further expand their options and capabilities.

Certain benefits are based on a hero's overall level, regardless of role. The Level-Dependent Benefits table summarizes these. See each role description for the benefits specific to each.

Favored Skill Rank: This lists the rank a hero has in any known favored skill. The rank is equal to the hero's level + 3. This is also the hero's rank in any known arcana. See Chapter 2: Skills and Chapter 4: Arcana for details.

Normal Skill Rank: This lists the rank a hero has in any known skill that is not a favored skill. The rank is equal to the hero's level + 3 and then divided by two (round down). See Chapter 2: Skills for details.

Ability Increase: Upon gaining any level divisible by six (6th, 12th, and 18th), heroes can increase an ability score by 1. You choose which ability you want to improve, and the improvement is permanent. You can increase the same ability more than once or a different one each time. You can increase an ability score above +5 in this way.

Conviction: Heroes start out with 3 points of Conviction at 1st level and gain a point of Conviction every two levels thereafter (3rd, 5th, and so on). The number indicated at each level is a hero's maximum Conviction points at that level. See Conviction for details.

Feats: Your hero gets a certain number of starting feats at 1st level (determined by role), plus an additional feat for each level beyond 1st. You choose feats from among those available to your hero's role(s).

Role Descriptions

The following sections describe the three roles in detail. Each provides an overall view of the role, the role's traits in game terms, and examples of different types of heroes who fit that particular role.

The role's traits are organized as follows:

Abilities: What ability scores are most important to the role and why? While you can certainly choose your hero's abilities as you wish, you might want to keep these important abilities in mind, if you want your hero to be effective in the chosen role.

Skills: The number of skills you choose for a hero of that role at 1st level. You apply your hero's Intelligence modifier to this number, but it cannot be lower than 1, no matter how low a hero's Intelligence might be.

Feats: The feats a hero starts with at 1st level. Each role allows you to choose some or all of these feats from lists of feats available to characters of that role.

Each role has a table indicating the role's other game abilities, all based on level:

Attack Bonus: A role's base attack bonus measures skill in all forms of combat. It is used as the basis for a hero's attack rolls in fights, with the addition of the appropriate ability score, usually Strength or Dexterity.

Defense Bonus: A role's base defense bonus measures the ability to avoid attacks. It is used as the basis for a hero's Defense score, which is the Difficulty to strike that hero in combat. It is usually modified by the hero's Dexterity.

Save Bonuses: Roles have four save bonuses, measuring the ability to avoid certain kinds of harm when they make saving throws. The saving throw types are Toughness, Fortitude, Reflex, and Will.

Reputation: Every hero has a reputation score based on role and level. See Reputation for details.

LEVEL-DEPENDENT BENEFITS

* Starting feats are based on role.

Adept

Intellectual, scholar, mystic, the adept specializes in the sciences and arts of the mind. Adepts are known and respected for their knowledge and insight. They're particularly known for their skill with the supernatural.

Adepts fill many roles in the True SRD. Their arcane powers range from subtle visions and insight into the psyche to overt manipulations of the physical world. Depending on the manifestation of the supernatural in the setting (see Chapter 4), adepts may be widely known and respected (or feared) for their powers, or operate entirely behind the scenes.

Adept Traits

Adepts have the following traits:

Abilities: Mental abilities are usually more important to adepts than physical ones. In particular, adepts tend to require strong Wisdom and Charisma scores, since many of their powers depend on will and force of personality. Intelligence is nearly as important, given the adept's emphasis on scholarship. Adepts also find a healthy Constitution helpful, especially if they plan to exercise their arts in the field rather than in the comfort of a college or hermitage.

Favored Skills: Choose any 4, plus Craft (any) and Knowledge (any).

Known Skills: Choose 2 + Intelligence score (minimum of 1).

Feats: Choose 4 from General and Supernatural.

THE ADEPT

Expert

Experts range from diplomats and nobles to traveling bards and storytellers, from merchants with an eye for profit to cunning thieves with an eye for an easy mark. Some experts choose to focus on the ability to handle any social situation, while others emphasize physical skills allowing them to avoid unwanted entanglements, including with the law.

Adventuring experts tend to combine a measure of physical and social skill. They have to be able to endure long journeys yet be ready to negotiate with various parties when they reach the journey's end. Experts essentially handle everything adepts and warriors do not.

Expert Traits

Experts have the following traits:

Abilities: Agility is the name of the game for experts, both physical agility (represented by Dexterity) and social agility (represented by Charisma), with a bit of mental agility (represented by Intelligence) thrown in for good measure. Nimble experts are often trained in skills like Acrobatics and Ride, while the personable and charming ones focus on interaction skills like Bluff and Diplomacy. Wisdom is useful to experts in avoiding danger, from traps to deception, and keen Intelligence can help an expert go far (and pick up a few extra useful skills).

Saving Throws: Experts vary in their Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save bonuses. Choose two of these three to be good saves and one to be normal, consulting the appropriate column on the table. For example, your expert's Fortitude save might be normal, while her Reflex and Will saves are good. At 1st level, her base Fortitude save bonus would be +0, while her base Reflex and Wills saves would be +2.

Favored Skills: Choose any 12, plus Craft (any).

Known Skills: Choose 6 + Intelligence score (minimum of 1).

Feats: Armor Training (light), and choose 3 others from Expert or General.

THE EXPERT

Warrior

Flashing blades, clashing shields, and the roar of combat are the life of the warrior. For some it is the safety of their homeland and their loved ones. For others it is religious zeal, wealth, or the simple joy of battle. Warriors include trained and disciplined soldiers, heroic knights, grizzled hunters, savage mercenaries, and daring swashbucklers. Although they don't command the mysterious powers of adepts or the influence of experts, warriors have courage and skill at arms, and for them, it's enough.

Warrior Traits

Warriors have the following traits:

Abilities: Warriors prize physical abilities over mental ones. Strength is important in striking a powerful blow. Dexterity allows warriors to evade attacks and gives them accuracy with ranged weapons. Constitution may be warriors' most important quality, granting them the endurance to sustain long marches and to fight on when others fall due to injury or fatigue.

Favored Skills: Choose any 6, plus Craft (any).

Known Skills: Choose 2 + Intelligence score (minimum of 1).

Feats: Armor Training (light & heavy), Weapon Training, and choose 2 others from General or Martial.

THE WARRIOR

Level Advancement

The Narrator will tell you when your hero advances in level. When this happens, do the following:

• Decide whether to add a level to your hero's existing role (or one of your hero's existing roles, for mixed-role heroes) or to add a level in a new role. See the next section, Mixed-Role Heroes, for details on this.
• Look at the Level-Dependent Benefits table and the level table for your hero's role(s). Note any increases to combat bonus, saving throws, skill ranks, and reputation.
• Pick a new feat for your hero from among the feats available for the new role level.
• If your hero's new total level is divisible by six (6th, 12th, or 18th), increase one of your hero's ability scores by 1.

Mixed-Role Heroes

Heroes may acquire other roles as they progress in level, becoming mixed role heroes. The traits from a hero's different roles combine, so a mixed role hero has versatility at the expense of focus.

As a general rule, the traits of a mixed-role hero are the sum of the traits of each of the hero's roles, as follows:

Level: Total level is a character's total number of levels in all roles. For example, a hero who is a 2nd-level warrior and 1st-level adept has a total level of 3rd. Total level is used to determine a hero's benefits on the Level-Dependent Benefits table.

Role level is a hero's level in a particular role. For a hero whose levels are all in the same role, total level and role level are the same thing. Role level is used to determine the hero's benefits from each particular role.

Attack Bonus: Add the attack bonuses for each role together to get the hero's total attack bonus.

Defense Bonus: The hero's defense bonus equals the defense bonus for the hero's first role plus the defense bonus for each additional role minus 2. For example, a 1st-level adept (Defense +2) who adds a level of warrior (Defense +3) woudl get an additional +1 to Defense, not +3.

Saving Throws: Add the save bonuses for each role together.

Reputation: The hero's reputation bonus equals the reputation bonus for the hero's first role, plus the reputation bonuses for each additional role.

Skills: If you add a level in a new role for your hero, you may be able to learn additional skills that role favors.

First, compare your current list of favored skills to the new role's number of favored skills. If the new role's number is greater, you may add one new favored skill to your list. Each time you gain a level in the new role, you can choose another skill favored by the new role and make it a favored skill, until you reach the new role's total of favored skills. For example, a warrior who acquires a level in expert gets to add one favored skill (since the expert has 12 and the warrior has six). Each time the hero gains an expert level, the player can add another favored skill, to the expert's total of twelve favored skills.

If you already know a skill and it becomes a favored skill, its rank improves accordingly. So if the previous warrior had Diplomacy as a skill, then made it a favored skill upon becoming an expert, his Diplomacy rank would increase to the favored skill level.

Second, compare your new role's number of known skills at 1st level to the number of known skills at 1st level from the role or roles you already have.

• If the new role grants the same or fewer starting skills, you can add one skill to your known skills.
• If the new role grants more starting skills than your best previous role, you can add two skills to your list of known skills.

Feats: A mixed-role hero gains one feat per level like everyone else. The role acquired at each level determines the feat list you choose from. For example, if you add a level of adept to your hero, you choose the hero's feat for that level from the adept's list of available feats (General and Arcane).

Characteristics

This section helps you round out your hero. Here you pick your hero's name, age, and other details and decide whether your hero is aligned with Light, Twilight, or Shadow. You'll choose a calling for your hero, as well as Light and Shadow natures. This section also explains how heroes can go that extra mile when they need to pull out all the stops in order to succeed, using extra effort and the strength of their Conviction.

Details

A lot of details go into making your hero more than just a collection of numbers, things like name, gender, age, appearance, and so forth help to define who he or she is. Take a moment, if you haven't already, to consider the following things about your True SRD character.

Name

What is your character's name? You can give your hero any name you like, based on a real-world name, one from fiction, or a name entirely of your own creation. Appropriate names depend on the kind of character and the type of story you're telling, so consult with your group and your Narrator.

Gender

Is your hero male or female? There's no requirement to play a character of the same gender as you. In fact, you may find it interesting to play a hero of a different gender, to experience a little of what life is like from another perspective.

Age

How old is your character? Heroes tend to range from their teens to middle age, but some heroes are older, depending on a hero's background, possibly much older.

Consider the effects of age on the hero. A teenager on her first adventure away from home isn't likely to have the same views as a mature adult. A hero's age may influence the choice of certain traits. Older characters are likely to have lower physical ability scores, for example, while younger characters may have fewer Craft and Knowledge skills (having had less time to train in them).

Appearance

What does your hero look like? Consider things like the character's race, sex, and other factors in appearance. Is the character short or tall? What about hair and eye color? Does the hero have any distinguishing marks or unique features?

Personality

How would you describe your hero's personality? While heroes tend to share a desire to use their powers for good and uphold the law, they show a diverse range of attitudes. One hero may be dedicated to the ideals of truth, justice, and equality, while another is willing to break the rules in order to ensure things get done. Some heroes are forthright and cheerful while others are grim and unrelenting. Consider your hero's attitudes and personality traits, particularly in light of the hero's nature.

Calling

Everyone has a calling, a goal or motivation in life. A calling is more overarching than specific adventure goals. Common adventure goals are vanquishing a foe, discovering a long-lost artifact, finding the perfect gift for one's beloved, safeguarding the queen's entourage, and so forth. A calling has to do with less concrete but larger things, like achieving enlightenment, protecting the innocent, mastering the arts of love, or securing power. Callings drive heroes even when they're striving for their more concrete goals. Sometimes their callings are foremost in their minds. Other times their callings are quiet voices within, reminding them of their ultimate goals. Most heroes take a lifetime to realize their callings, while tragic figures forsake their true callings or achieve them in some twisted way.

There are as many ways to respond to a calling as there are people called to it. For example, two individuals might be called to temporal power. One might be generous and merciful, seeking to rule for the benefit of others, while the other is cruel and hungry for power. A hero's alignment is a primary indicator of how he is approaching his calling. The calling is the goal, while Light and Shadow Natures represent two paths toward it, and alignment is the path the individual chooses. Heroes gain Conviction Points by pursuing their callings. (See the following sections, Alignment and Natures and Conviction for more information.)

Each calling is associated with a Tarot card in the Major Arcana. When making your character, you can choose from the list, draw a card form the Major Arcana and let it determine your character's calling, or come up with a different calling based on your own reading of the cards.

Alignment and Natures

All intelligent creatures make moral choices, to live according to their better nature or to give in to immoral impulses. Many walk a difficult line between the two. A person's attitude toward morality is called alignment. There are three alignments in the True SRD: Light, Twilight, and Shadow. In addition, each person has a Light Nature and a Shadow Nature. Their alignment indicates which, they tend to choose.

The Alignments

Pick one of the following alignments for your hero:

Light

Light-aligned individuals follow their Light nature, doing their best to overcome their Shadow nature. Generally, the Light-aligned believe in community and the good of all over mere self-interest. They seek peace, harmonious coexistence, and the general good; although, there is sometimes disagreement as to what exactly is the best for everyone.

Shadow

Shadow-aligned individuals follow their Shadow nature, ignoring the twinges of conscience from the Light nature. The Shadow-aligned are typically selfish and solely interested in satisfying their own desires and goals. Some justify what they want, but many don't bother. The Shadow-aligned are interested in cooperation and community only so far as it benefits them.

Twilight

Twilight-aligned individuals are balanced between their Light and Shadow natures, shifting between them. Some are torn between the two sides of their character, while other manage a careful balancing act between their own wants and what they feel is right and proper.

Changing Alignment

Players choose the alignment of their heroes, while the Narrator assigns the alignment of any supporting characters. Alignment is not fixed; people change over time. Generally, the only thing required to change alignment is a decisive change of heart. When this happens, a hero changes alignment and spends a point of Conviction, reflecting the deep personal decision to change and the will required to make the transition (see Conviction later in this chapter for more information). This point of conviction cannot be regained until the hero gains a new level.

Natures

A hero's alignment indicates whether she tends, in actions and intentions, toward Light or Shadow, but a moral is never entirely one or the other. During character creation, select both a Light and a Shadow nature for your character. The Light and Shadow Natures table lists fifty-six possibilites, each associated with one of the Minor Arcana in a tarot deck. The Light Natures in the list are positive interpretations of the cards, whereas the Shadow natures are negative interpretations.

Changing Nature

Generally speaking, a person's nature is fixed. Virtue and vice are deepseated facets of the character's personality; some might say the halves of the soul. So changing one's true nature is difficult. If the Narrator allows, a hero may change either Light or Shadow nature at the cost of a point of Conviction, which cannot be regained until the hero gains a new level. You can never eliminate either nature, as everyone must have both a Light nature and a Shadow nature, and changing each nature takes Conviction, so changing both requires two Conviction points.

At the Narrator's discretion, certain major events in a character's life can lead to a change in nature (either Light or Shadow), but these events are largely beyond the players' control. The Narrator shouldn't allow changes in nature to happen lightly; they're pivotal events in an individual's life.

Conviction

Whether it's luck, talent, or sheer determination, heroes have something setting them apart from everyone else, allowing them to perform amazing deeds under the most difficult circumstances. In the True SRD, that something is Conviction. Spending a Conviction point can make the difference between success and failure.

Gaining Conviction

Characters have Conviction based on their level (see Level-Dependent Benefits). As heroes improve in level, their maximum Conviction increases.

Using Conviction

Unless otherwise noted, spending a Conviction point is a reaction, taking no time, and can be done at any time. You may spend only one Conviction point per round. You can spend Conviction for any of the following:

• Re-roll: One Conviction point allows you to re-roll any die roll you make and take the better of the two rolls. On a result of 1 through 10 on the second roll, add 10 to the result, an 11 or higher remains as-is (so the second roll is always a result of 11-20). You must spend the conviction point to improve a roll before the Narrator announces the result of your roll.
• Heroic feat: You can spend a Conviction point to gain the benefits of a feat your hero doesn't already have for one round. You must be capable of acquiring the feat normally, meaning it must be a feat available to your role(s) and you must meet all the prerequisites. For feats that can be acquired multiple times, you gain the benefit of one acquisition of the feat by spending a Conviction point.
• Dodge bonus: You can spend a Conviction point whenever you are denied your dodge bonus, but still capable of action (surprised, flatfooted, and so forth). In this case, you retain your dodge bonus until your next action.
• Surge: Gain an additional standard or move action, before or after your normal actions for the round (your choice). Using this extra action does not change your place in the initiative order. You can use a standard action gained from a surge to start or complete a full round action in conjunction with your normal actions for the round.
• Cancel Fatigue: Any time you would suffer fatigue (including the effects of using powers and extra effort), you can spend a Conviction point and reduce the amount of fatigue by one level (so you're only winded by a fatigued result, fatigued by an exhausted result, etc.).
• Recover: You can spend a Conviction point to recover faster (see Damage and Recovery). A Conviction point allows you to immediately shake off a stunned or fatigued condition. If you are exhausted, spending a Conviction point causes you to become fatigued. If you have suffered damage, a Conviction point allows you an immediate recovery check. This check is made normally; the Conviction point just allows you to make it in addition to your normal recovery check. While disabled, you can spend a Conviction point to take a strenuous action for one round without your condition worsening to dying.
• Escape death: Spending a Conviction point automatically stabilizes a dying character (you or someone you are assisting); although, this doesn't protect the character from further damage.

Regaining Conviction

Heroes regain expended Conviction points in a few ways:

First, heroes regain one point of Conviction each day. The player chooses a time appropriate for the hero, such as in the morning, at midday, at sunset, or at midnight. Light-aligned heroes regain Conviction at sunrise, Twilight-aligned heroes regain it at sunset, and Shadow-aligned heroes regain it at midnight.

Second, heroes regain Conviction by moving toward their calling accordance to either their Light or Shadow natures. When a hero does something successful in accordance with one of his natures to further his calling, he regains a point of Conviction. The Narrator decides when an action is appropriate for the hero's natures and awards the Conviction point if the hero is successful.

Note that heroes can follow either of their natures, Light or Shadow, to regain Conviction, and the Narrator may occasionally use this to put temptation in a hero's path. A good hero with a Greedy Shadow Nature might have the opportunity to steal, for example, and regain Conviction. If the hero steals to further his goal, he gets a point of Conviction, but also has to deal with the consequences of his actions. Likewise, a Shadow-aligned character who shows an unusual kindness or streak of honor may be following her Light nature to regain Conviction. Which nature a character chooses to follow most often tends to indicate what kind of person he or she is.

Third, the Narrator can choose to award the heroes a point of Conviction for a particularly impressive success or achievement in the adventure that renews confidence and faith. Overcoming a difficult challenge or solving a complex puzzle might give the heroes a burst of inspiration in the form of renewed Conviction. The Narrator chooses when to do this, but it should only happen once or twice in an adventure, and may not occur at all in some adventures.

Reputation

Reputation is used to determine whether a Narrator character recognizes a hero. Those who recognize the hero are more likely to help the hero, provided the hero has a positive reputation. A high Reputation bonus also makes it difficult for heroes to hide their identities and go unnoticed.

Most of the time, the Narrator decides when a hero's reputation is relevant to a scene. The Narrator makes a Reputation check for a Narrator character that might be influenced in some fashion due to the hero's fame or infamy.

Fame and Infamy

Whether reputation has a positive or negative connotation depends on the point of view of the person who recognizes the hero.

When a character has a positive opinion of a hero's reputation, the hero is considered famous. Fame, when recognized, provides a bonus to certain interaction skill checks.

When a character has a negative opinion of a hero's reputation, the hero is considered infamous. Also, at the Narrator's option, a hero might be considered infamous in certain situations due to events that have transpired in the past. Infamy, when recognized, provides a penalty to certain interaction skill checks.

Using the Reputation Bonus

Whenever the Narrator decides a character's reputation is a factor in a scene, make a Reputation check (Difficulty 25) for the Narrator character involved. A Reputation check is d20 + the hero's Reputation bonus + the Narrator character's Intelligence. (Some Knowledge skill modifiers might apply instead of the Intelligence score, if the hero would be well known in the field covered by a Knowledge skill.) Modifiers to the Reputation check depend on the hero and the Narrator character in question, as shown in the table. Note that if the Narrator character has no possible way of recognizing a hero, then the Reputation check isn't necessary (or even possible).

If the Reputation check succeeds, the Narrator character recognizes the hero. This provides a +4 bonus or a -4 penalty on checks involving interaction skills for the duration of the scene.

The Narrator must decide that a character's fame or infamy can come into play in a given situation to make a Reputation check necessary. A character that doesn't know, or know of, the hero can't be influenced by the hero's reputation.

SAMPLE REPUTATION MODIFIERS