On this third Monday of the month, our look at game rules takes us to the character sheet and the concept of traits, special abilities which can be purchased on character creation or during the course of the game.

 Since The Broken Hourglass employs a point-buy experience system for character advancement, a natural question is, "Exactly what can we buy with those points?"

There are two major categories of assets "on sale" to a character in our system. Attributes and skills make up the first category--these are ability ratings which are measured on a scale from 0 to 100 (except for Health, which has no ceiling). Additional points in these abilities can be bought over and over again.

The other category of point-buy asset is the trait. Unlike skills and attributes, traits are one-time, either-you-have-it-or-you-don't purchases. Traits provide specialized benefits which are not easily expressed through the standard skills and attributes, or provide special "synergy" bonuses for characters with a prerequisite set of skills.

In some systems with special features or feats, those perks can only be bought at certain times. In The Broken Hourglass, a trait can be bought during any point-buy session so long as the character has enough points to pay for the trait. And although some systems consider the purchase of one feat to be equal to the purchase of another, in The Broken Hourglass, more beneficial feats cost more points than those which offer only a modest boon.

There is a special class of traits which can only be chosen upon character creation. Typically, these deal with special circumstances of a character's birth or upbringing. For instance, the trait Cold-Iron Birth, which gives a person innate resistance to magic but also makes it difficult to wield magic, can only be selected when a character is initially created. Most traits are not "at creation only" traits.

Consider some of these traits, which represent only a partial glimpse into the entire lineup available in The Broken Hourglass:

Combat Traits

Backstab: You gain a bonus to your attack roll against an enemy who cannot see you.

Bloodlust: Each time you kill an enemy, you heal an amount proportional to the victim's starting Health.

Duelist: Grants a bonus to Sword Precision and Parry skills when fighting one-on-one.

Head Butt: Grants a bonus to melee damage when you hit a target while wearing a helmet.

Shield Bash: Grants a bonus to melee damage when you hit a target while wearing a shield.

Defensive Traits

Consecrated: When you are dealt damage by an Undead being, you are protected from the full force of the blow and take less damage.

Hide In Plain Sight: You may attempt to hide from others even while you are visible to them. Normally you cannot hide from an opponent party if a member of that party can see you. (This trait is expensive.)

Spellcasting Traits

War Mage: This trait grants a damage bonus to all direct-damage, single-target spells.

Ethereal Magic: Spellcasters with this trait may target and affect an enemy, even if that enemy is separated from the caster by a solid wall. Note that this trait does not give the caster "X-ray vision"--the spellcaster must be able to perceive the target. Typically this is done by having another member of the spellcaster's party in position to see the target--an Ethereal spellcaster then "shares the eyes" of his or her partner for targeting purposes. (This trait is expensive.)

Guarded Invocation: Normally, casting a spell is a "Drop Guard" action which incurs free attacks from any enemy within melee striking distance. A caster with this trait is able to cast spells without being exposed to such attacks. (This trait is very expensive.)

Equipment Traits

Armor Optimization: The bulk-weight of armor is cut in half for someone with this trait. All else being equal, heavier armor offers more protection from damage than lighter armor or clothing, but its heft also can create encumbrance penalties to attack and defense rolls. Armor Optimization helps reduce that penalty.

Monkey Grip: The bulk-weight of weapons is cut in half for someone with this trait. The offensive flip-side of Armor Optimization.

Magic Wielder: You can equip and wield magical items for less than the usual mana cost.

Miscellaneous Traits

Military Mind: The owner of this trait earns double the usual combat bonus from the Tactics skill. Additionally, all members of his or her party get 150% of the usual Tactics bonus.

Knowledge Seeker: The owner of this trait earns double the usual experience from map exploration and dialogue.

Negative Traits

Some traits are negative--that is, they provide a net penalty, rather than a net benefit, to a character. They also have a negative cost, meaning that selecting a negative trait actually results in a gain of experience to spend on other traits or on skills. Take negative traits with caution!

A couple of example negative traits:

Necrophobia: You take a penalty to your combat rolls when facing an undead opponent.

Thin-blooded: You receive only half the usual benefit from healing.