Badass Kung Fu Demigods design journal, pt 3

Fun fact, a few days ago I noticed a persistent scotoma floating around the center of my vision. So, hopefully I'm not going blind...but if I am I better hurry up and get this stuff written out while I still can (I've got an eye exam in a few days, hopefully it won't be something to worry about). 

But back on topic, when I was talking about the Core Traits (which I'm pretty sure are going to be reduced to Might, Style, Reflex and Mettle, or some synonyms thereof). [[EDIT: I've settled on Heat (strength), Impulse (speed), Style (skill) and Guts (willpower)]]. I mentioned that I wasn't going to completely get rid of player-defined abilities and that's where Defining Traits come in.

Your Core Traits are the things that are universal, making Defining Traits the personal, customized elements of your character (before getting into crazier stuff like Powers). A Defining Trait is kind of a combination of the previous draft's Backgrounds and Knacks all in one. They're usually meant to be big, broad concepts that cover a lot of ground. Some examples of Defining Traits: 

• Giant Robot Disguised As A Teenager
• Machine Shaman And Techromancer
• Renegade Alchemist
• King Of The Moon 

By themselves Defining Traits have two very simple functions. First they define your character in a way that establishes permissions (I'll try and come up with a pithier term) allowing a character who is Megacorp Neo-Count to flaunt their wealth, get invitations to social gatherings and have a closetful of gilded codpieces or a character with a Infernal Motorcycle flying on wheels of fire or calling their bike with a whistle. 

The second is when one of your Defining Trait is relevant to a roll you're making you get a 1-die bonus to the roll. This isn't cumulative with multiple Defining Traits (so don't worry about stacking all your Traits into combat or anything). So the Neo-Count gets the bonus if he's driving his custom supercharged sportscar or bribing someone with a large stack of cash or intimidating someone with his family's reputation. 

This doesn't sound like much, but the main benefits will be related to a brand new mechanic I'm calling the Spotlight mechanic. While Spotlights have other uses (which I'm still tinkering with) one of the primary uses will be to allow you to expend your Spotlight in order to make a Boosted roll related to one of your Defining Traits. 

Although I haven't settled on a final decision I'm thinking characters will probably have two or three Defining Traits, enough to cover most any normal starting concept.