Because all these words are starting to bleed together into word soup, I’m sharing where v4 of the Personae SRD currently stands in a serialized format in the hopes I can have it buttoned up to my satisfaction over the course of this week. Maybe y’all will catch something I missed?

If you’d like to look at v3 of the SRD, you can do so here: https://keeper.farirpgs.com/resources/craig-hatler/personae-srd/

PERSONAE SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT

Craig Hatler, author, designer and developer. Todd V. Ehrenfels, lead contributor and consultant. Text by Craig Hatler Games under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). Version 4 (v4) current as of Nov 2025.

IV. THE MEASURE OF AN IDENTITY

Personae identities, whether they be characters or otherwise, are comprised of stats: attributes and traits.

ATTRIBUTES

Every identity has attributes: an array of innate, descriptive numeric elements. Attributes are an identity’s point of origin: they provide modifiers to skill rolls, and determine the maximum number of a trait that each attribute is associated with. The abbreviations of the attributes' names serve as a reference to an attribute's value, e.g. RES for Resolve.

Each attribute

• is assigned a numerical value, expressed as a whole number;

• can never be less than one(1), with the exception of those the hindrance priority has been assigned to which can be zero (0).

The maximum value of an attribute is imposed by the order of importance.

ATTRIBUTES EXPLAINED

• All identities have six(6) attributes.

• When an attribute value is referenced in the text below, the following abbreviations will be used to mean the corresponding attribute’s value:

  • Competence - COM

  • Cunning - CNG

  • Resolve - RES

  • Prowess - PRO

  • Knowledge - KNO

  • Stature - STA

COMPETENCE

Competence represents keeping your head in the midst of uncertainty. It's a combination of an identity's force of personality, their presence of mind, social awareness or "street smarts".

The greater your Competence is, the more capable you are at performing different types of actions under pressure, in situations where your skill is matched in opposition with another identity.

• The maximum number of unlocked skills an identity can begin play with, over and above their automatic skills, is equal to their COM.

• The Argue and Counter skills are automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their COM.

• The number of hits a character can sustain to their Savvy before beginning to suffer shock is equal to one(1) plus their Competence value (1+COM).

  If your COM is 1, for example, you can sustain 2 hits to your Obstinance before beginning to suffer shock. Injury to Savvy, one of three types of a character's vitality, typically involves inflicting a minimum of one(1) hit as the result of a successful interaction challenge delivered against them in nonviolent encounters.

• Competence is a good attribute to add to skills rolled in challenging or responding when social situations are involved.

PROWESS

Whereas Competence deals more with the big picture, Prowess is all about particulars, formulating a plan in advance before leaping to action. Prowess is the measure of a character’s capacity for organization, their receptiveness to rigor and formal training, turning broad fields of capability into well-honed assets that get results.

Whereas Competence opens the door to a skill by unlocking it, Prowess improves the skill, increasing an identity’s chance to succeed a challenge, whether in stressful situations or when pitted against their opponents.

• The Prepare and Assess skills are automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their PRO.

• A character's Prowess pool, the maximum number of dice an identity’s unlocked skills can be increased by when play begins, is equal to their PRO × 3.

  If your PRO is 4, for example, you'd have a total of 4 × 3 = 12 dice in your Prowess pool. Some or all of those dice might be assigned to skills, or you might keep them in the pool, unallocated.

• Prowess is a good attribute to add to skills rolled in challenging or responding when discipline, a meticulous nature, and attention to detail are involved.

CUNNING

Cunning represents the quickness of a character’s wits—their perceptiveness, ingenuity, hand-eye coordination, agility (particularly of the mind), ability to improvise, and poise or positioning.

• The maximum number of enhancements an identity can begin play with is equal to their CNG.

• The Explore, Discern, and Dodge skills are automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their CNG.

• Cunning is a good attribute to add to skill rolls in challenging or responding when maneuverability, awareness, sharpness of thinking, wit and instinct rather than rational pondering are involved.

RESOLVE

Resolve represents exerting force of will. There are many words synonymous with this, such as determination, drive and conviction, but they all refer to the same principle: the degree to which you're able to focus and express your desire when confronted with the desires of others who may stand in your way, and refusing to allow those conflicting desires to take shape as well. For characters who practice the supernatural, it is the avenue by which they tap into the source of their craft to manipulate reality, breaking the theories and laws dictated by science.

• The maximum number of preternae an identity can begin play with is equal to their RES.

• The Impose and Steel skills are automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their RES.

• If the supernatural exists in the fiction, all characters have the capability to manipulate it in one way or another. Not all characters produce the more drastic types of effects covered by preternae, however, and may use those points to upgrade enhancements instead.

• The number of hits a character can sustain to their Obstinance before beginning to suffer shock is equal to one(1) plus their Resolve value (1+RES).

  If your RES is 5, for example, you can sustain 6 hits to your Obstinance before beginning to suffer shock. Injury to Obstinance, one of three types of a character's vitality, typically involves inflicting a minimum of one(1) hit as the result of a successful power challenge delivered against them in hostile or violent encounters.

• Resolve serves as a modifier to skills that are necessary for using preternae, and otherwise is a good attribute to add to skills rolled in challenging or responding when rebuffing efforts intended to impact a character's agency are involved, especially in a forceful, threatening way.

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge represents a character's aptitude, interests in the academic, and craft. This includes what the character knows about any given topic (such as history, alchemy, medicine), or how to make things with craftsmanship (such as weapons, sailing ships or furniture). The character applies these towards any of six types of spheres: eloquence, influence, expertise, reputation, bounty, or opportunity (explained in greater detail under Traits below).

• The maximum number of spheres a character can begin play with is equal to their KNO.

• The Study and Deduce skills are automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their KNO.

• Knowledge is a good attribute to add to skills rolled in challenging or responding when knowing, learning, or acting on information are involved.

STATURE

Stature represents the character’s physical body. Stamina and raw might both fall into this category. Stature informs how much physical punishment a character can take, expressed as the character's Resilience.

• The number of hits a character can sustain to their Resilience before beginning to suffer shock is equal to one(1) plus their Stature value (1+STA).

  If your STA is 3, for example, you can sustain 4 hits to your Resilience before beginning to suffer shock. Injury to Resilience, one of three types of a character's vitality, typically involves inflicting a minimum of one(1) hit as the result of a successful attack challenge delivered against them in violent encounters.

• The Repel skill is automatically unlocked for all characters when play begins, modified by their STA.

• Stature is a good attribute to add to skills rolled in challenges that involve brute force, endurance, or hardiness.

• Stature is the attribute typically involved in attack challenges that involve physical hand-held weapons, whether wielded up-close, thrown, hurled or propelled by a character's strength.