Characters

core

This page covers what a character is in Glass Empires; the parts of their sheet, how their numbers come together, and what roles they can hold in the world.

What Is a Character?

A character is any featherless biped (or otherwise independent entity) capable of taking action in the game world. Characters are the smallest unit of an Actor, which is the umbrella term for anything that acts. A Faction is also an Actor, but it represents a group of characters acting collectively.

Characters come in two flavors:

Player Character (PC): Controlled by a Player. One of the protagonists of the game.
Non-Player Character (NPC): Controlled by the GM. Everyone else in the world.

All characters, whether they be PC, NPC, monster, or god, use the same basic chassis and follow the same rules. There are no special abilities that only PCs or only NPCs can access.

The Character Sheet

Every character in Glass Empires has the following fields. Some may be empty depending on the character’s nature (a commoner has no Features; a ghost has no Morality).

Identity

Name: What the character is called.
Race: Their species; normally, this is Human, Harpy, Coraler, or Salamander (though many stranger things exist).

Combat & Movement Stats

Stat	Meaning	Derivation
HD	Hit Dice, the baseline measure of a character’s durability and power.	Set by Race and increased by Leveling Up.
HP	Hit Points, how much damage a character can take before being Incapacitated.	Power × 4
Armor	The quality of the character’s natural or worn protection.	Set by Race, equipment, or Features.
AP	Armor Points, a secondary HP pool that absorbs damage before HP.	Armor × Power
BR	Battle Rating, a quick measure of a character’s combat effectiveness, used in mass combat (see Battles).	Computed from HD, Armor, Damage Multiplier, and Features.
Level	A measure of the character’s power and social reach.	Equal to the Level of their largest ruled Faction.
Power	A derived stat serving as the basis for HP, AP, and other calculations.	HD + Level
Size	The character’s height in feet. Determines reach and what spaces they can fit through.	Set by Race.
Weight	How much the character weighs, in pounds.	Set by Race.
Max. Load	The maximum weight a character can carry without penalty, in pounds.	Set by Race.
Speeds	How fast the character moves in each mode: Run, Fly, Swim, Dig. Measured in feet per round.	Set by Race, modified by Features and Conditions.

Derived Values in Detail

Power is the most important derived stat. It is calculated as:

Power = HD + Level

From Power, everything else flows:

HP = Power × 4 — a character’s Hit Points are equal to their Power times four.
AP = Armor × Power. A Jiangshi (HD 4, Level 0, Armor 1) has Power 4, HP 16, & AP 4. These 4 Armor Points are depleted before HP.
Mortality threshold: A character dies when their negative HP exceeds their Power after becoming Incapacitated.

Damage is taken from AP first (if applicable), then HP.

Facts

Characters accumulate true statements about themselves & their capabilities which are called Facts.

PCs generate three Facts during Character Creation using the formula “Because I [was (a)…], I learned [lesson].” These Facts are drawn from the Origin table & each class’s class-specific Backgrounds table.

Features

Features are permanent abilities with specific rules attached. They appear in Race entries, Class descriptions, and bestiary statblocks. A Feature is simultaneously:

A fact about the character (“You can turn invisible once per day”)
A set of rules (“as a Minor Action, you may vanish for an hour”)
A modifier source (invocable for ±1 on relevant Saves, provided the invocation doesn’t duplicate the Feature’s own mechanical effect)

The vast majority of Features can be stolen from other characters through murdering & ritually cooking the character in question. This is a primary method of obtaining additional personal power.

What Characters Can Do

Characters act by taking Actions Actions. An Action is any undertaking with uncertain or meaningful outcomes, whether that be swinging a sword, negotiating a treaty, or hunting a beast. When an Action’s outcome is uncertain, the character makes a Save Save: a 2d6 roll, modified by any relevant Facts, against a result table.

There are no skill lists. If a character has a Fact that justifies an action, they can attempt it. If they don’t, they can’t … unless they find a way to create an opportunity through play.

Characters in the Faction System

Most characters in Glass Empires exist with a relationship to the Faction system. The most important relationships are:

Leader: A character who controls and represents a Faction. Most PCs are Leaders.
Retainer: A character subordinate to another. Retainers can be hired, sworn, enslaved, or bound by friendship, and may be Leaders themselves.
Liege: The master of a Retainer.

A character’s Level is not earned through experience points. It is borrowed from their largest controlled Faction; specifically, from the number of Families in that Faction’s Capital. This means:

You start at Level 1 instead of Level 0 because your Party counts as a Family & your camp as a Capital.
You grow in Level by acquiring more Families, followers, and territory.
If you lose your Faction, you lose your Level and all the HP (but not any accrued Class Features) that came with it.

See Level & Retainer for the full Families-to-Level table and Retainer generation rules.

Character Taxonomy

The full hierarchy of actors in Glass Empires:

Actor: Any entity capable of taking action.
- Character: A featherless biped (or otherwise independent entity).
  - PC: Controlled by a Player.
  - NPC: Controlled by the GM.
  - Leader: Controls and represents a Faction.
  - Retainer: Subordinate to another character (hired, sworn, enslaved, befriended).
  - Liege: The master of a Retainer.
- Faction: A statistical grouping of many characters taking collective action.
  - Subfaction: A Faction whose Leader is the Retainer of another Leader.