The Character Sheet. A collection of various numbers that attempts to give some feel for what your character is capable of doing and a very rough outline of who s/he is.
It is a simple thing really, divided into a couple of sections.
Attributes: After the name and all that jazz, comes the attributes. These are the main statistics of the character, giving some measure of comparison in a variety of fields.
The Physical Traits are rather self explanatory. Strength. Constitution. Size. Dexterity. Appearance. They affect, in no small degree, what the character can physically do to the world around them. Each race has its own upper and lower boundries.
Strength: One's physical might.
Constitution: How tough, hardy, and healthy you are.
Size: Just how damn big are you?
Dexterity: How nimble and quick you are.
Appearance: How physically appealing you are to look at.
The Mental Traits aren't quite so concrete. Intelligence and Chi.
Intelligence: While Intelligence is really up to the player and how they portray themselves, this stat affects how quick they are capable of learning intangibles such as other langauges, spells, and what not. The player's common sense and wisdom are those of the character's. There is no need for such stats and they will come across in role-play, as well as things like Manipulation or Charisma.
Chi: This is the character's personal power. The strength of their spirit or soul. Chi can be focused in different ways. Most people have this rating, but don't know how to tap into it. Others have learned. While the paradigm might differ greatly (one might call on spirits while another might weave a magic spell while yet another might pray to God), it is one's potential for personal, inner power.
SKILLS: The skills are divided into subsets. Each subset has a base modifier which is dependent on one's attributes. The math of it all matters little for the flow of the game, but I will explain it below. Each type of skill has a base percentage. You take the base percentage and add it to your modifier to find out how good you are at something to start off. Of course, with practice, these skills can be increased. The number of skills is rather limitless, but we try to keep things down to what we need for the game. We don't need a sheet that is ten pages long. Each subset of skills has a rough formula based your attributes, with a primary attribute, a secondary attribute, and a negative attribute (one that hurts your skills in that area). Below are a list a the skill sets with the attributes in paranthesis and how they affect the skill set..
Agility Skills: These are, obviously, skills based on how nimble and agile you are. Jumping, running, climbing, parrying, and missile weapons. (DEX-primary, STR-secondary, SIZ-negative)
Communication Skills: Your abilities to speak languages, sing, orate, and haggle are all in here. (INT-primary, CHI & APP-secondary)
Knowledge Skills: Here we have your ability to read and write various languages, your various lores, your skills at crafts. (INT-primary)
Magic Skills: Not that anyone really knows any, but occasionally, someone might pick something up. (INT & CHI-primary, DEX-secondary)
Physical Manipulation: Your ability to manipulate things physically. How well you move, play an instrument, or fight. (INT & DEX-primary, STR-secondary)
Perception: As described, it is your ability to see and notice things. Tracking, scanning and listening are all good examples. (INT-primary, CHI & CON-secondary)
Stealth: Your ability to hide or go unnoticed. (DEX-primary, CHI & SIZ-negative)
Finally, there are a bunch of other little odds and ends on your sheet that will come into play. Most can readily be explained when they are needed. Things like Damage Modifiers and the like. Feel free to ask me any questions once you get your sheet.