01 · Who are you?

Identity

The portrait, name, honorific, title, subtitle, and lineage introduce the character. The adjacent facts record Heritage, House, Faction, Age, and Home; other characters may record an office or posting. The quotation gives a sense of their voice.

Talyne is a Triton, a member of House Vaylathe and the Fisher Knights, aged 142, with a home at Vaylathe Holdfast. These entries establish her place in the world. Keep titles, memberships, and obligations consistent with her History.

Origin rules →Membership & finishing the character →People →

02 · How do you tend to act?

Personality

The ten opposed Trait pairs describe habitual behavior. Each pair totals 20: Talyne's Bold 14 / Cautious 6 describes a tendency toward bold action. A player or the GM may request an Identity test. The player always rolls, testing the stronger Trait first. Success requires a decision expressing that Trait; only an ordinary failure leads to a test of its opposite. If both fail normally, the player chooses freely. The player decides how to express the result.

Exactly matching the tested rating is a critical success and commits the decision strongly to that Trait. A natural 20 is always a critical failure, even at rating 20: commit strongly to the opposite Trait without another roll. A consequential critical Personality result can earn a mark in the expressed Trait, within the existing development limits.

Draw on a relevant Identity to gain an Advantage Die on an action, or inspire another Character, House, or Faction to give them an Advantage Die on a matching Identity test. Test Ethos only when acting on behalf of that Faction; test Traditions only when acting on behalf of, or concerning, that House. Read the full rules for eligibility and limits.

The four small boxes beneath each Trait are development marks. During active play, a pair may earn at most one mark per real-life week. Opposing marks cancel, and marked pairs resolve at season's end. With four real-life weeks in a season, a pair can normally earn up to four marks before resolution.

Faction Ethos and House Traditions use the same development process over four Spindrift seasons: at most one mark per pair per season, resolved at year’s end. Yearly Trait Development →

Identity tests →Critical results →Draw on Identity →Inspire others →Personality & seasonal development →Starting Personality →

03 · What are you capable of doing?

Qualities

Each row records a learned, practiced, or cultivated capability and its rating. Talyne has Sailor 16, Commander 15, and Tactician 14, among others. A sheet records the character's relevant Qualities; it does not need to reproduce the whole catalogue.

Qualities may describe broad competence or specialist expertise. When a Quality is tested, its rating is read using the core resolution rules.

Personal Quality rules & examples →Core resolution overview →

04 · Who matters to you?

Bonds

Bonds record meaningful relationships and are the primary basis for social influence. Read each entry as a name, a rating, and the relationship's context. The rating measures how strongly the relationship moves its holder; it does not simply measure friendliness. Bonds are directional. The sheet's key distinguishes Ally, Neutral, and Enemy / Rival relationships.

Talyne's Bond with House Vaylathe is rated 15; “Blood of my blood. Our name is my anchor” explains what that connection means to her. Her Bond with The Tidal Will describes her attachment to ship and crew. A relationship entry records why something matters; an Asset entry records concrete resources under control.

A Bond shapes potency, commitment, and relationship consequences rather than granting an Advantage Die. Test it only when the commitment itself is uncertain; the player always rolls. An exact-rating result is a critical success and a natural 20 is always a critical failure. Read the action result separately from the Bond result.

The single development track takes ✓ for success or × for failure; critical results record two matching marks. Add spaces as needed. At season's end, cancel opposing marks, then test remaining ✓ to increase the Bond or remaining × to decrease it. A meaningful double critical success raises it immediately; a double critical failure lowers it immediately. Those immediate changes replace that test's marks and use the one rating change allowed per Bond per season.

Life Events can create, strengthen, weaken, transform, or place Bonds in conflict. Record the relationship as it changes; see the full rules for seasonal development targets and double-critical exceptions.

Bond rules →Action & Bond outcome chart →Seasonal Bond development →Bonds in Life Events →

05 · Why do they know your name?

Prestige

The medallion records a Prestige score; the rank beneath it gives a standing label. “Why They Know Your Name” records the deeds behind that reputation. Talyne's existing example shows 52 · Famous, supported by her victory at Greywake, defense of her home, and diplomatic accomplishments.

Prestige is open-ended. The descriptive band communicates scale, while recorded Prestige Sources explain why the name matters. Their suggested values are loose GM guidance, not a rigid formula. Publicly meaningful outcomes of Deeds and Endeavours can create opportunities for Prestige, but no action or resource is spent to buy it.

Prestige rules →Overview: standing in social play →Prestige and Authority →

06 · What are you empowered to do?

Authority

Authority records the titles, offices, positions, jurisdictions, and recognized powers a Character holds. It has no numerical score. Each entry states the title or position, the institution that recognizes it, and the powers and limits that define its scope.

Talyne's Knight of the Fisher Crown Authority comes from the Fisher Knights: she may exercise the Order's privileges and command forces lawfully placed under her charge. A Yardmaster of Driftmere, by contrast, may direct Guild Personnel and ordinary Guild operations within the Driftmere stockyard. Neither entry grants ownership of the institution's Assets.

Clear Authority normally needs no roll. Authority becomes contested when jurisdictions overlap, a power is disputed or resisted, a command exceeds its scope, or the institution lacks the Assets to enforce it. Prestige may come from holding office, but Prestige is the weight your name carries; Authority is what you are empowered to do.

Authority rules →House and Faction Assets →Prestige rules →

07 · What has happened to you?

History

Experiences preserve education, service, campaigns, voyages, and other events that shaped the character. Accomplishments record notable achievements. Talyne's naval service is an Experience; defeating Pirate King Vorren is an Accomplishment.

These entries explain her capabilities, relationships, and standing. Preserve the consequences of Life Events and the events of play in the record, rather than reducing her past to ratings alone.

Life Events & consequences →Overview: recording Prestige & History →

08 · What else should you remember?

Notes

This free-text space holds characterization and reminders. Talyne's note expresses the standard she asks of herself and others. Use the space for context that does not fit another field; it has no rating or separate resolution procedure.

A character may also have supplementary sections for further context. Read those alongside the main record and the relevant rules.

Overview: finishing the character & player sovereignty →

09 · What do you control?

Assets

Assets are concrete resources: Holdings are places and fixed property; Personnel are people under your direction; Possessions are tangible things, including vessels, equipment, and money. Assets tell you what exists; Authority tells you who may use institutional resources and for what purpose, without transferring ownership.

The Assets section has one column each for Holdings, Personnel, and Possessions. Talyne's existing example has no recorded Assets, so each column says so. Her Bond with The Tidal Will does not itself supply an Asset record. Assets do not use slots; record each resource as it is acquired.

Overview: Holdings →Overview: Personnel →Overview: Possessions →Assets from character creation →Authority over House and Faction Assets →

10 · The reference strip

Core Roll, Deeds & Circumstances

Core Roll: roll 1d20; equal to or under the tested rating succeeds. Roll when an outcome is uncertain and matters.

Deeds: use the character's Traits, Bonds, and Qualities to frame action. Each Spindrift month has four Spindrift weeks, and each character gets one Deed per Spindrift week: four Deeds per month.

Circumstances: Advantage Dice and Complication Dice reflect favorable or difficult conditions. The strip is a reminder; consult the current Game Structure overview for the resolution framework.

Authority: institutional resources may be used only within the powers granted by your title, office, charter, law, oath, or position. Clear Authority normally needs no roll.

Overview: core resolution & circumstances →Overview: Deeds →Overview: seasonal Endeavours →