1. What Are Facets?
Facets are descriptors that tell the world what is important about your character and important to your character. They can be just about anything you can imagine, from relationships and beliefs to quotes, reputations, and simple statements describing your character.
- Sample Facets: Strong Like A Bear, Sworn Enemy of Duke Welston, Well-Traveled, “I’m getting too old for this $#!%,” Protector of the Golden Flame, “Inconceivable!”
2. What Do Facets Do?
Facets tell the world what’s important about your character. It also tells the GM exactly what you’d like to see show up in the game. If you have a Facet of Protect my daughter, Maddie, then you’re telling the GM that you want your daughter to be a feature in the game. Similarly, if you tie any organizations into your Facets you better believe that they’re going to show up in the game…for good or for ill.
Facets also provide the player a bonus to checks/rolls which are tied into that Facet. This is called applying the Facet. A character with the Facet of “I Never Miss” may apply that Facet for a bonus on his attack roll while firing a gun. Someone with the Facet of Fearsome Presence can apply that to get a bonus to intimidation rolls, or any social rolls where such a description could affect things
Lastly, Facets provide a way to get Plot Points. The GM can instigate a Facet in order to challenge that player to perform certain actions, or limit choices that fall under the description of that Facet. This is done in order to introduce complications to the story that come directly from what the character holds dear. Characters are rewarded with Plot Points for making their own lives a little tougher and a lot more interesting.
Why should you include Facets into your game? The main reason is that it allows a chance for players to put character definition in the spotlight. How many times have you played a game where someone has put in their background that they’re well-traveled (or something like it) but has nothing else that reflects it on his character sheet? In the standard rules (and with most roleplaying games) it’s just a background detail, or something he might ask the GM to give him a bonus for once in a while. With Facets, the player can put that part of his character in the forefront. He’s Well-Traveled and can get bonuses on all sorts of rolls that relate to his travels, if he’s willing to spend a Plot Point.
Facets allow the background and roleplaying aspects of characters to have a more concrete impact on the game, without breaking the balance of the established rules.
3. Applying a Facet
In order to apply a Facet, first the player and the GM must agree that the Facet in question applies to the situation. There may be some negotiation involved in this. If it would occur in combat, it is probably best to have this worked out ahead of time. Next, the player spends a Plot Point to apply the Facet. The player then adds either a +5 bonus (for combat actions) or a +15% bonus (for skill actions).
- Example One: Barrett has a Facet called No One Touches Silvanna. Silvanna is another PC who is a mage that has had a long-standing relationship with Barrett. When the orc berserker wounds Silvanna, Barrett spends a Plot Point and applies his Facet to gain an additional +5 to attack the orc. He then chooses to spend another Plot Point and apply the same Facet for an additional +5 on the damage roll. Seriously, no one should mess with Silvanna.
- Example Two: Joe is playing Lars, the pilot of a transport in Steve’s sci-fi game. Joe’s character has the Facet I Am a Leaf on the Wind, which Joe has defined as a state of mind that allows his character to ignore distraction and keep level-headed in even the worst piloting situations. Sure enough, the ship gets caught between two enemy fleets and must maneuver through sheer hell to get to safety. Battered and beaten, the ship must evade one last exploding vessel to get to safety. With flak, explosions, and carnage all around him, Lars spends a Plot Point to apply I Am a Leaf on the Wind and get an dditional +15% to make that piloting check.
A Facet may be applied either before or after the roll is made. A Facet may only be applied once for each roll, but if multiple Facets are applicable then you can spend additional Plot Points to apply additional Facets.
4. Instigating a Facet
Instigating is not meant to punish players, but to showcase their Facets and put them in interesting situations. It also adds a mechanical aspect to certain hindrances that are usually solely in the purview of roleplaying (and often forgotten about, in my experience). For instance, how many times have you seen a GM introduce a situation which was mysterious that no player would send his character to investigate because it was too dangerous? Even a character otherwise described as “curious” might not delve into the mystery because his player knows that it’s trouble.
With Facets, the GM can insitgate a player with a “curious” PC to go investigate. When instigating, the GM offers a Plot Point to the character with the Facet in question. The player may then choose to take the Plot Point and give in to his Facet or spend a Plot Point to ignore his Facet. Instigating Facets gives the players the fuel to later apply Facets.
- Example One: Cole Treller has just discovered the abandoned lab of the evil genius, Dr. Strobe. As he and his companions explore the place he comes across a strange panel that seems completely alien. Cole has been previously described (and played) as curious and thus has linked that to the Facet “What’s that?” The GM instigates “What’s that?” by offering Cole a Plot Point to begin fiddling around with the alien device. Not looking to press his luck, Cole begrudgingly spends a Plot Point to ignore his Facet.
- Example Two: Lucky Lou is a character with the Facet High Roller, Baby. He’s been applying that Facet all session in order to win big on the tables down at the strip. He’s also been using it on persuasion rolls to get into back room games and have the casinos roll out the red carpet. He’s earned a fat pile of cash but he’s just gotten word that the contact he and his crew were sent here to find has agreed to a meeting in twenty minutes. The contact is known to be skittish and he knows he has to be there to back up his crew. As he makes his way through to his car, Fat Carl and the boys from last night’s game approach him and let him know that they want a chance to earn back their money. The GM offers Lou a Plot Point as he instigates High Roller, Baby. The player knows that if he accepts the Plot Point he’s not going to make the meeting, but he’s low on Plot Points from applying the Facet so much. Lou accepts the Plot Point and prepares to make a few more gambling rolls while his friends walk into danger across town.
5. Other Uses of Facets
There are other ways that Facets provide Plot Points to the players. If the GM uses a relationship or organization from a player’s Facets, he’s obliged to give that player a Plot Point for introducing something so inspiring to the game. Also, for those times when the GM needs to use a character with a certain knowledge skills as a mouthpiece for critical game info (which we all know happens), that player should be awarded a Plot Point.
Also, at the GM’s discretion, a player may spend a Plot Point to edit the details of the story.
- Example: Josh is playing Rhupert, a mage and member of the Magus Academy. As this affiliation is important, he even has the Facet Ascendant in the Magus Academy. Rhupert just took a long voyage and has arrived in a foreign port. His travels have uncovered a conspiracy and he needs to contact the Magus Academy as soon as possible. He asks the GM if the academy has a presence in the city. The GM tells him no, as the local religion believes all mages to be evil. Josh offers to spend a Plot Point to have the academy have some sort of presence in the city. The GM considers it and agrees that there is a small underground group of academy mages in the city working both to stay alive and undermine the church. Of course, finding such outlaws will be an adventure in itself…
Having the players take an active role in world creation isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it usually ends up creating far more interesting adventures if the GM knows how to spin it.
6. Creating Facets
Facets are really only limited by the player’s imagination. Anything that can be thought of as important to a character can be turned into a Facet. The key to creating good Facets, though, lies in honing them into a double-edged sword. Since you generate Plot Points by having Facets instigated, it’s in the player’s best interest to make sure that each Facet is designed that it can be instigated easily. That’s not to say you can’t create a Facet that would be difficult to instigate, but while those types of Facets provide bonuses, they’re not going to net you any Plot Points.
- Example: Cale has the Facet Bookworm, which he applies frequently when doing research. His player has described the Facet as being born from all the hours Cale has spent isolated in the library. As Cale hasn’t had great social exposure, the GM takes great pleasure in instigating Cale into awkward social situations where his bookwormish ways tend to make a poor impression.
Another key to Facets is giving them an interesting name. You could have the Facet of Strong (which is one of those Facets that isn’t terribly instigateable), but it’s much more interesting to give it a bit of flair. Perhaps your Russian woodsman is Strong Like Bear or your brawny dwarven miner has Strength Born of Granite. Your ex-cultist researcher could have a Facet of Ex-Cultist, but isn’t Hunted by the Crimson Hand more interesting? It is up to the player to define those situations in which his Facets can be applied and instigated. The GM has final approval though, as some Facets may be far too broad or uselessly narrow.
A character may create up to 5 Facets. While he may never have more than this, Facets can change during play as long as the GM agrees. There are two methods for picking Facets.
- Pick and Choose. The easiest of the methods. Pick 5 Facets that are important to your character and go play. Simple and quick.
- The Lifepath Method. This is the more interesting of the methods. Divide the character’s Facets over the course of his lifetime. His first Facet might be from his childhood and reflect his place of origin or upbringing. The second Facet could cover his pre-adventuring career. The third Facet relates to the character’s first adventure. The fourth and fifth Facets should be tied to the adventures of other characters. This instantly creates a back story to the party and gets around the whole “Your characters all know each other” issue that many games begin with. Think of your third Facet as a novel, movie, or comic starring your character. Your fourth and fifth Facets are from guest-starring in the other player’s novels or movies. You can also adapt the lifepath to focus on a major event.
