Character Creation

The Character Model

Characters are composed of:

1. A Texture
2. A Motive
3. An Identity, and a Realm
4. An Emotion & an Awareness (At Realm 1)
5. A Breadth of Keywords
6. An Instrument, a Physique, a Gait
7. A Circulation Style (at Realm 2)
8. A Centralization Method (at Realm 3)
9. A Realization (at Realm 4)
10. An Expansion (at Realm 5)
11. A Number of Strain - empty checkboxes that you can tick until you go unconscious
12. Relationships & Favor
13. Stride (how many zones you can move in a turn)
14. Gear (Armor, Items)

It’s assumed player characters start at Realm 1 unless otherwise stated.

Keywords come from an item or from the keyword phrases.

Everything is run off of the experiences the character has had.

Experiences

• Each experience gets written down and then used somewhere relevant on the character.
• Each experience can only be spent once. Repeated events count separately: extracting a VIP on two different missions gives you two experiences.
• Experiences can be spent on: Motive Rank, Keyword Ranks (up to 5 per keyword), Strain, Stride, and Awareness.
• Experiences map to potential polarities. You can take a keyword if you can reasonably justify one of your polarities being able to cause it. That polarity becomes the keyword’s Polarity Source.
• Characters gain these during creation (Character Creation sets how many) and during play, through adventure: each mission and its outcome, and the events of your relationships.
• “Intense Practice” is an experience that can be gained during a Long Downtime, and applied anywhere except for Motive.

Texture

Texture decides how many successes each die in your pool gives. A character has one Texture, and it never changes. What each Texture means is covered under Texture in Core Resolution.

Roll on a d6	Success # (Rampant)	Success # (Volatile)	Success # (Tranquil)
1	0	0	0
2	0	0	1
3	0	1	1
4	1	1	1
5	2	2	1
6	3	2	2

Motive

Motive

Motive describes what the character is pursuing power for.

• FORMAT: (The) [Polarity1] (of) [Object]
• MECHANIC: The Motive is a number of dice that can be invoked by expending 1 strain. The ‘Rank’ of the Motive increases the more ‘experiences’ you assign to the motive itself. That Rank is the number of dice you gain in your roll.
• EXAMPLES:
  • [Truthful] [Order]
  • The [Flame] of [Freedom]
  • The [Redeeming] [God]

Objects

d10	Object
1	Justice
2	Vengeance
3	Freedom
4	Bonds (Family, Friends, Nation, Community, Individual)
5	Balance
6	Peace
7	Truth
8	Order
9	God
10	Self (Actualization, Survival, Ego, Autonomy)

Identity, and Realm

Identity

Identity is like a title for your character. It’s an Adjective and a Noun. It will always take it’s adjective from [Polarity1]

• FORMAT: (The) [Polarity1] (of) [Noun/Polarity2]
• MECHANIC: Identity operates exactly like Motive in that it is a number of dice that can be invoked by expending 1 strain. The ‘Rank’ of the Identity is equal to the character’s Realm. That Rank is the number of dice you gain in your roll.
• EXAMPLES:
  • The [Truthful] [Witness]
  • The [Burning] [Challenger]
  • The [Redeemed] [Shadow]

Realm

Realm is the primary measure of power in Metanoia. It reflects the density and structure of a character’s Ren, and sets the baseline for how they interact with the world’s power systems. Realm is a measure of the density of your Ren, and provides an overwhelming advantage against those who are below your Realm.

To progress through Realms, one needs enough resources of a suitable polarity (things with that next stage’s Ren Realm) to advance.

It’s assumed Texture is established even before Realm 0.

Realm	Realm Name	Description	What you need develop in this Realm
0	Void	Pre-awakening. Ren is not perceived, not moved.	Motive, Identity, and Emotion
1	Spark	Ren can be sensed (Awareness is gained) and can be moved.	Circulation, Steps, Body, Instrument
2	Flame	A stable, autonomous circulation of Ren is established.	Centralization
3	Star	A core solidifies: a stable, condensed center of Ren. Competent. The highest tier most practitioners ever reach.	Realization
4	Constellation	Multiple cores in an established pattern. Formidable by any ordinary standard.	Expansion
5	Galaxy	The mortal limit. Full sets of core patterns. A Galaxy-realm Rennim is a force that reshapes whatever ground they stand on.	Unification
6	Singularity	Beyond the mortal limit. The Realm of the Spirits. It’s theorized that it’s only achievable by Yndryr. This is the upper limit of all power in the setting.	N/A
7	Divinity	Outside and uneffected by all of reality as we know it, only one maintains it (Ylelaim).	N/A

Emotion & Awareness

The Ren Awakening Polarity - Emotion

When you awaken your Ren, it comes from a distinct emotional experience. This experience becomes [Polarity3].

d12	Polarity	Description	Spirit	Shape
1	Anger		Gorrab	XV6* + X3@30
2	Sorrow		Terricen	VW6* + V3@30
3	Joy		Sura	XW6* + X3@30
4	Surprise		Zythim	W6* + S3@30
5	Disgust		Norfek	V6* + V3@30
6	Fear		Dremok	VW6* + W3@30
7	Love	Care, selflessness	Ylash	X6* + S3@30
8	Hatred			VX6* + V3@30
9	Shame			V6* + S3@30
10	Rage			X6* + V3@30
11	Serenity			S6* + S3@30
12	Anxiety			WV6* + X3@30

Awareness

Every Rennim gains Awareness, an added sense for perceiving Ren, at Realm 1. The five states, their social weight, and how they target abilities are on the Awareness page.

Strain, Stride & Awareness Range

These grow with Realm and with the experiences you assign to each one. “Experiences” in each formula means only the experiences assigned to that stat. All four Awareness ranges share one set of Awareness experiences.

Stat	Formula
Maximum Strain	8 + ((Realm + Experiences) x 4)
Stride (zones per turn)	1 + Experiences
Suppressed / Cloaked range	Realm + 2 + Experiences
Extended radius	Realm + Experiences
Projected distance	Realm + 1 + Experiences
Focused range	Realm + 3 + Experiences

Breadth & Keywords

Breadth

Breadth Determines how your character’s resistances and vulnerabilities has access to, and can change over time. The minimum number of keyword phrases you can have is 5, and the maximum is 20. The spread impacts how your resistances and vulnerabilities operate. The less keyword phrases you have, the better defense you have from your polarities. Every Character has Resistance and Vulnerability. The more experiences you put into this to increase the rank, increase both the resistance, and the vulnerability.

d12	Breadth Profile	# of Keyword Phrases	Resistance/Vulnerability Profile
1-3	Concentrated	5-7	Just Resistances
4-8	Balanced	8-13	1 Vulnerability for every 3 Resistances
9-11	Versatile	14-16	1 Vulnerability for every 2 Resistance
12	Distributed	17-20	1 Vulnerability for each Resistance

Keyword

Keywords present the specific things your character has / can do with their Ren abilities.

Passive Keywords treat the keyword like something active at all times at that rank, but can’t be used in an ability of their own

Active Keywords are used in abilities.

• [Keyword]
  • Effect:
  • Active/Passive
  • Strain:
  • Polarity Sources:
  • Rank X (= # of experiences)
    • Experience 1
    • Experience 2
    • etc… up to 5 experiences total

A Keyword’s Rank = the number of experiences attached to it. This rank is the ‘power’ of the keyword so to speak, so it’s not a number of dice but rather that the keyword gets applied at Rank 2 - meaning it takes 2 strain to clear.

Every keyword phrase can have multiple polarity sources. Drained can be gained from Death or Blood. The advantage of having a keyword have multiple sources is that if there is something disrupting a polarity in the area, then you will still have access to that keyword.

Examples

• [Dampened]
  • Effect: Increases strain costs by Rank
  • Active
  • Strain: 2
  • Polarity Sources: Redemption, Conflict
  • Rank 2
    • Needed to Escape Control
    • Intense Practice
• [Inscrutability]
  • Effect: Injuries, Stacks, and Keywords up to Rank cannot be read by Observed
  • Passive
  • Strain: N/A
  • Polarity Sources: Shadow
  • Rank 1
    • Negotiation

Instruments, Physique, Gait

Instruments

An Instrument grants you additional success on rolls when leveraging that specific instrument. Everyone can create and cast abilities using thought, but it provides no bonuses. There are 3 levels:

Level	Bonus	How it’s determined	Examples
Specific	+2 Successes	A Singular type of item	Longsword, Shortsword, Kusarigama, Longbow, Shortbow, Throwing Knife, Dagger, Needles, Spear, Halberd, Flail, Chain, Whip, Dart, Mace, Hammer
Categorical	+1 Successes	Some large category of items that share properties	Swords, Polearms, Short Blades, Bows, Flexible Weapons, Brutish Weapons, Dance, Song
General	+0 Success	Something that’s not an item that can be lost in the same way a sword could.	Glyphs, Writing, Speech, Gesture

Physique

Physique	Benefit	Effect
Absorptive	Wound Negation	Ignore a wound once/frame (doesn’t protect you from the condition)
Immune	Condition Negation	Ignore a condition once/frame (doesn’t protect you from a wound)
Swift	Faster Movement	Travel double your stride 2x/frame
Forceful	Keywords applied not from abilities apply at a higher rank	You cause a keyword to apply with Realm bonus to Rank 1x/frame
Sensitive	Increases the Range of Awareness	Increases Range by 1

Gait

Gait	Effect
Vanishing	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to ignore an attack and be [Obscured] at a rank equal to your Realm
Rooted	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to ignore an injury whose keyword rank is less than or equal to your Realm
Circling	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to move without leaving the exchange and be [Hidden] at a rank equal to your Realm
Drifting	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to ignore an attack and [Dodge] at a rank equal to your Realm
Stalking	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to move to your target’s zone immediated and apply [Pinned] to them them at a rank equal to your Realm
Relentless	You can invoke this keyword once per frame to [Dispel] a Keyword at a rank less than or equal to your Realm

Circulation Styles

Circulation Style	Description	Effect
Collision	The polarities clash against each other	Once per frame can activate a collision to add Realm # of successes to a roll
Harmonization	The polarities meld and work together	Get # of +1 Successes to add to a roll equal to realm in each frame (can’t be added more than 1 at a time)
Separation	The polarities stay separated from each other	For each polarity that isn’t tied to a keyword, you can take that number and add it as a number of successes to a roll

Centralization

Centralization is how one creates their Ren core, and there are several methods to do that:

Method	Description	Effect
Condensation	You put a ton of pressure on your Ren with a Higher Realm Ren to condense a core	You can add 3 to the keyword rank once per frame
Filtration	You filter out everything that isn’t your own Ren from your body, and the purity and interaction with yourself then allows your Ren to absorb and consume a Higher Realm Ren to form a Core	You can cause an ability to only cost 1 strain 1x per frame
Gathering	You gather so, so much Ren indiscriminately with a higher realm that the world helps you create a Core	You have 4 additional strain

Realization

This phrase grants a specific awareness state as a permanent secondary awareness state that you can use simultaneously as the state your awareness is presently in, and this allows you to further amplify your own Ren pattern into a constellation.

You can choose from:

Realization	Effect
Focused	Permanent secondary Awareness state: Focused
Projected	Permanent secondary Awareness state: Projected
Suppressed	Permanent secondary Awareness state: Suppressed

Expansion

Grants Extended awareness as a tertiary permanent awareness state. When developing a Galaxy, one has to choose a path to produce it. The three paths are:

Path	Description	Effect
Replicating	One produces more constellations to create their galaxy	You can receive another 8 Strain to your current maximum
Connection	You begin to take the connections you have and have your constellation interact with them	Can offload or absorb strain for those you have a relationship with and are in your awareness’ range in a 1:1 trade
Pressurizing	One consumes so much Ren and pulls their constellation in	Ignore a wound and its condition (or just a condition) 1x/frame