Archetype Characters are meant to be created quickly, often NPCs for powerful Plots created spontaneously, often built from card draws and as varied in power level as a Detailed or Full Character.
Archetypes simplify a Detailed Character by combining Facets of the same Boon together into Stats. This can allow Characters from other TTRPGs to be easily converted into Archetypes. When doing so, Facets may be unlinked from their Anti-Facet (and can even share the same Boon). If an Archetype is later converted into a Detailed Character then a choice may be required, does the Facet or Anti-Facet keep the Boon, with the Anti-Facet or Facet taking 26-the Boon instead.
- An example from the most popular RPGs could be, 6 Stats of 4 Facets each, Strength (G, T, F, M), Dexterity(Z, C, R, Y), Stamina (P, B, I, N), Intelligence (K, D, O, Q), Wisdom(A, E, V, W) and Charisma (L, S, J, H).
- You can use Facets as Four Stats most easily if you use the Facet Suits, and can use the suits as Elemental Stats as well, Hearts are Water, Diamonds are Earth, Clubs is Air and Spades are Fire, for example.
- You can build 3 Stats of eight Facets each, such as: Physical (G/B, P/M, T/R, C/N), Mental (K/E, H/O, D/Y, L/W), Spiritual (A/J, F/Q, V/S, I/Z)
- Another example is to have all Yin and Yang Facets on the same Boon, giving a Character a Yin Stat and a Yang Stat.
- The Simplest (and therefore fastest to create) Archetypes use the same Boon for all Facets (usually Boon 13 Scale adjusted).
Archetypes usually have their Facets defined by the Plot that they are associated with. This makes NPCs for those plots faster to generate. You can see a table below that shows how to generate Boons from the Plot.
Archetypes have their Persona, Core and 1 Hitch defined from a single card. You should check the Yarn aspect of the card for an NPC Archetype More Cards can be drawn to add additional Hitches if they are required for an Experience Tier. Here’s a random card for an example.
Drawn:Archetypes can have Age categories and so on, as the Ref or Yarn-Teller requires.
| Type | Description | Rules | Min Hitches | Max Hitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh | A new Character that has little or no experience of the real world, they may have some education, street smarts, battle experience, or professional training, but never all four. | Fresh Characters generally begin with the minimum number of Hitches for their Type, but may add up to 2 additional Hitches. Fresh Characters often start with a negative Scale and usually begin play as Young-Adults or Kids. | Normal for Type | Up to +2 over Minimum |
| Experienced | Any Character that has survived a few Stories, or Chapters, is usually considered an Experienced Character. Some Narratives may require a Character to remain Fresh for longer than this, but if they have received new Hitches, then they are probably experienced. | Experienced Characters generally have at least one more Hitch than their minimum, and usually have at least 3 more than the minimum. They are generally around Half full of Hitches and at least one is usually Resolved. | Minimum for Type +1 | Up to Half of Max for the Type |
| Veteran | Veteran Characters have survived through at least one Volume Plot, and have Resolved at least two of their early Hitches. | Veteran Characters generally are within 3 of their Maximum Number of Hitches for their type and always have at least Half their Hitches either filled or Resolved. | Half of Max for Type | Max for Type -1 |
| Maxed | A Maxed Character has generally experienced enough of the world that nothing surprises them anymore. Maxed Characters have typically survived several Volumes and completed at least one Character Arc. | Maxed Characters simply have their Maximum number of Hitches possible for that type (and a Scale to match). Usually a Maxed Character will have at least Half of their Hitches Resolved. | Max-Hitches for Type. Half of them Resolved | Max-Hitches for Type |
| Type | Description | Rules | Min Hitches | Max Hitches |
| Type | Description | Rules | Scale Modifier | Proficiency Dice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New-born | New-born Characters are usually pretty defenceless things. Although xenomorphic space wasps and the like can be a lot less defenceless than say a human new born. | Sentient New-born creatures are largely defenceless and usually unplayable. They can often not communicate and can rarely process sensory data accurately. | -4 | 1d3-1 |
| Infant | Small Children, often quite mobile and if sentient usually talking, although they have limited vocabularies. | In general Infants are not just small people, they are still largely defenceless, although many can communicate effectively with their limited vocabulary. Infants are intelligent and manipulative, still trying to work out all the rules of their social structure, and are likely to test boundaries. | -3 | 1d3 |
| Kid | Kids are still Children, but are more like mini-adults, they are weaker than adults and have less general knowledge and education, but make up for that by being adaptable and learning fast. | Essentially kids are small adults, they can fight, etc, but aren’t very powerful. They do however learn faster, and are usually placed in full-time education during this period to take advantage of that. Kids may have multiple Hobbies in diverse fields, some of which may be connected with aspirations or parental pressures. | -2 | 1d4 |
| Young-Adult | Young Adults, or Teens are almost adult. | Almost fully grown, although their mental facilities are sometimes hormonally impaired, in humans Young-Adults are less good at planning and are more emotional than adults. Generally have not completed their education, but in specific areas may be very knowledgable. Often have more than one Hobby activity. | -1 | 1d5 |
| Adult | Fully grown and considered an adult by their society. | Normal, fully grown and educated. Expected to have at least one area of professional specialisation and often a Hobby too. | 0 | 1d6 |
| Aged | Aged Characters are always Experienced or Veteran Characters. As Aged Characters age they generally accumulate Hitches, such as “Fatigued”, “Scars”, “Madness”, “Vague” that limit their abilities. | Experienced or Veteran only. Hitches may mimic the affects of old age, such as Physical Weakness, Dementia, etc. They suffer from Crisis less often than even Adults, but as a result learn slower. Expected to have numerous areas of professional and hobbyist level experience. | 0 | 1d8 |
| Type | Description | Rules | Scale Modifier | Proficiency Dice |
Half-Boon: The Half-Boon is used during the creation of NPCs from a Plot’s Conflict. Half-Boons are calculated by taking a Boon halving the Value and looking up that Value as a Boon. But you should be able to find it on the Plot Conflict Boon anyway. It should be noted that the Half-Boon is different to just dividing the Boon by two, as these will give very different numbers.
| Power Level | Facet Boon | Skill Boon | Talent Boon | Power Boon |
| Simple | 13+Scale | 21+Scale | 26+Scale (1 Umbral 1 Nimbed) | 31+Scale (2 Umrals 3 Nimbeds) |
| Low Power | Conflict Score | Half-Boon | Conflict Boon divided by 2 (1 Umbral) | Conflict Boon (1 Umbral 2 Nimbeds) |
| Medium Power | Reduced (Conflict Boon + Conflict Half-Boon) | Half-Boon +5 | Conflict Boon (1 Umbral, 1 Nimbed) | Conflict Boon + 5 (1 Umbral 2 Nimbeds |
| High Power | Conflict Boon divided by 2 | Conflict Boon Halved + Conflict Score | Conflict Boon (1 Umbral 2 Nimbeds) | Conflict Boon + Conflict Score (2 Umbrals 4 Nimbeds) |
Hitches: Usually as Facets. NPCs are usually limited to one Hitch more than the highest number in the party normally. They can be a little more powerful, but not too much.
Personality Boon: Either calculate from Values (as Detailed), or equal to the Conflict Boon.
Number of Skills / Talents: Conflict Score or calculate.
Number of Powers: Conflict Draw
Proficiencies: See this table instead
| Circumstance | Modifier |
|---|---|
| NPC shouldn’t be doing this | Halve Score |
| NPC might be doing this | +3 |
| NPC can do this | +7 |
| NPC is good at this | +10 |
| NPC is great at this | +13 |
| NPC is an expert at this | +16 |
| NPC is a world leader at this | +21 |
| Circumstance | Modifier |
| Example Annex | Example Boon | Example Dice | Cards draw/play |
| Skill | 28 | d4+5 (7) | 2/1 |
| Talent | 35 | d6+5/td> | 3/2 |
| Power | 48 | d10+5 | 4/3 |