Personal Attributes
A Guide on Unique Aspects


____________B a s i c tab D e f i n i t i o n ||
tab What is a Personal Attribute [P.A.]? The question is a rather important one, for it can effect a vast majority of our systems and your character's ability to interact with them. As such, this guide is being made to help each Member discover just what we define a Personal Attribute as, and more importantly, what all they can do to effect a character in Shattered Past. As you'll no doubt see, we of the Moderation Team see PA's as top tier rewards in many cases, and by the end of this guide it is our sincerest hope that you will feel the same way.
tab At its basics, a Personal Attribute is a unique trait the character possesses, one of three for the basic character, that can be used to further define their race, their class, their natural abilities and statistics, and even their techniques or bloodlines. In short, these unique traits are augments of your characters existence, and work as a form of modifier to existing abilities. By definition they do not use mana or stamina on their own, and are not techniques, but can influence other techniques by increasing costs for gain. Yet like all physical and metaphysical augments, a Personal Attribute must be balanced, and the greater the power bestowed the greater the cost to balance it. While below you will find rules and restrictions, please keep in mind that these are "soft limits" unless otherwise noted, as much can be justified through other aspects of a character, like personality, history, and play style. They are personal attributes, after all.

____________N o t e s tab t o tab R e m e m b e r ||
tab Below you will find a list of important notes that will help explain just how we view Personal Attributes, and how they can help you:
        • PA's can serve as spring boards for customs and paths later on down the road. An example outside of those listed below would be utilizing a PA that allows a character of the Magnaborn Evo to have a magnetic field that fluctuates at random, making the metals they can effect also random. While in the short term such a feature would be random and hamper the character greatly, as there is no predicting it, Custom Abilities later on can be made off of this randomness to allow control, or to allow for abilities that use all metals in varying degrees to be used. An example might be an ability that makes the switching every other post, and thus the character can plan out their actions to allow for unique, and powerful, combos. Such PAs have no requirement to do anything by themselves and instead allow for access to a greater form of bloodline, such as allowing Rustborn to effect more than just metal, but allowing customs to be used later to define just what that might mean.
        • PA's can be used to effect learning in many capacities, as will be listed in the rules below. Keep in mind that if you narrow the knowledge to specific situations the limits may be increased. An example might be that by consuming blood and performing a ritual under a full moon after gaining an experience rank, the character gains half again as many abilities as they normally would. Another example might by that training within a location that has been ritually sanctified will allow all learning reduction to further be increased.
        • PA's can be used to increase skills by a specific amount, as written below, but this bonus can be increased during specific situations. An example that has been used within this guild was an Adamantborn character who, when using Triage on an open wound, puts a crystal within said wound the skill is counted as several points higher.
        • PA's may be used to include physical changes which may or may not be permanent or started during specific times. This can include status changes that otherwise would be beyond allowance if temporary, or include ephemeral increases like increased physical senses. In these cases keep in mind that the human body is built in specific ways to function as it is, so if you choose to replace your sense of smell with that of a canines, unless you sprout a snout your olfactory senses won't be increased to the full amount of the animal's. Physical changes may be triggered in a temporary sense by many different situations or requirements, but these shouldn't be extremely easy, and such transformations should require a cool down and time limit for the change.
        • PA's can help define your ability in your Evo, make it stronger, or different. Such PAs can augment them in small or unusual ways, such as making glass red or lightning green. This can add increased speed or damage, or can cause elements to arc in unusual ways. In short, it can be used to change your bloodline in unique ways specific to your character.
        • PA's allow the altering of details within a Race, such as making a one-off new An Teaghlach that otherwise wouldn't exist. This will not be necessary if you are simply taking what already exists mechanic wise and just changing how it looks.
        • PA's can be utilized to change how something may effect you, such as fear. An example seen before was one where Fear does not illicit a fearful response but instead rage. Or Fear can increase the stats or ability ranks of the character in question. It need not be fear, of course, but can indeed be any emotional state.
        • Unique properties can be made with a PA, things that don't rightly make sense, such as the ability to teleport to whomever says your name three times instantly, and against your will. Such strange powers always have something in common: balance. In the above example you have no choice who can do it, and you cannot resist it being done.
        • Always remember that if a PA requires the consumption of Mana or Stamina, it is a technique and not a Personal Attribute. There are very few times this can be allowed, and if uncertain please see a member of the Approval Committee before applying for it.
        • When applying always aim high. The moderators can help winnow you down, but keep in mind that it is our job to do so. We need to keep a balance. As mentioned before, we do take into consideration the character itself, and how it may be used.

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____________L i m i t a t i o n s ||
tab The below limitations are soft limits, and written limits, of some finer details.
        • Learning Bonuses: Learning bonuses must target one specific section of abilities such as: Arcanist Spells, Stages of Learning, Titan Abilties, Illusions, etc. They may only be allowed a +1/Paragraph bonus with one exception: +2 may only be obtained if another section suffers a loss of -1. Note that a character must have slots in the section that suffers a loss, and it must be somewhat significant. No higher than +2 can ever be obtained via 1 Personal Attribute.
        • Healing Factors: Attributes are allowed to increase natural healing factors, but in these cases it must reference the Triage skill, or other treatment skill. This recovery, then, is limited by the range that the said skill goes. Though recovering faster is an entirely different story, as it pertains to natural rates, and must be specifically specified. Hard capped at 2x. Example: Recovery of mana via 'Relaxation' at twice the normal rate.
        • Mission/spar/fight rewards: Ryo/Raak rewards may be increased by a max of 1.5x. Experience rewards can never be increased. Ryo/Raak rewards may be increased further to 2.0x if Experience rewards are halved.
        • Mana/Stamina Interaction: Hard cut resistance towards mana/stamina is not allowed. Specifically the energy types themselves.
        • Stat Bonuses: These are in regards to Power, Agility, Intelligence, and Mana. These may be increased by no more than one [1] point without some sort of significant loss, either other stat losses or only under extremely specific circumstances.
        • Casting Method(s): While there are the unique, base types of casting, and Paths do grant additional types, these might not match exactly what you're looking for. In this case a PA can be used to introduce a unique/custom casting type, which can have bonuses and negatives to reflect its unique nature.
        • Easy Technique Freebies: 5 Stages of Learning may be obtained free of charge via personal attributes. 10 (in the same attribute) may be acquired if said person gives something of equal or greater value in return. (10 Spell slots are equivalent to 5 Stages of Learning.) Members may gain 10 Spell slots, 5 Stages of Learning, or 2 custom ability slots free as a personal attribute. If said given-up slots aren't available until such a body rank then the PA is locked until they are available.
        • Increase based on opponents: Members cannot make their stats automatically better than everyone. Ex: [Ryu is faster than everyone his rank] This is better achieved by asking for status bonuses. Ones that reference the letter rank for competitive uses, such as "if the opponent is two Experience Ranks higher than me, I gain a +1 Agility", is fine.
        • Disciplines: No PA may be used to directly replicate another Path's or Race's Disciplines. However, a single PA will bestow one [1] Discipline Point to spend, or may be used to allow the character to gain a second E - ranked Discipline. At not time can this be used to gain a second S - ranked discipline.
        • Insectborn: 150 additional insects per hive, and begin play with a Custom Insect already living within the character's body.
        • Elemental Affinity: 1 additional elemental affinity PA is allowed, to a max of two [2]additional Elements.
        • Rank Increases: Things that increase by "body rank" are allowed, though the end result must be known so it can be judged accordingly.
        • Energy Increase: Mana or Stamina may be increased by up to 50 points without negotiation. Easy negotiables include deficiencies in one to boost the other.
        • Proficiencies and Skills: May immediately bestow either two [2] additional Proficiency Points, or three [3] Skill Points, to assign as desired.
        • Mana reductions: Mana reductions to Spells must be applied to a specific form of Spell, such as Wind Arcanist spells or Titan Abilities. In the case of elemental spells and medical spells a specific element or medical type must be selected, Void element included. A reduction may be safely decreased by [-10], and Mana cost can only be reduced to a minimum of [5]. This means that an E-rank mana cost cannot be reduced any further. 'Void' for mana reductions to spells, Ki Energy, a summoned creature's abilities, Runic spells, Spirit/Demon/Primal related abilities, or implanted materials. Typical negotiations include [-15/+10] in reference to lessening one while complicating another, which is also quite safe.
        • Math Attributes: Putting Math into attributes usually makes it more complicated than necessary. If you must use a percentage, fraction, et cetera, please contact a mod first to see if there's an easier way to state the P.A. This doesn't mean they are banned.
        • Ability based: If the member needs mana to activate their personal it belongs in the custom jutsu section as stated above. Personals that affect techniques themselves are just fine. Ex: Making Lightning Transformation your "Signature" spell and thus it's stronger than normal castings.
        • Mana Manifestation: Allowing this to become real and not cosmetic (without aids) is allowable. In this case, we'll have to look over the manifestation itself, and make a judgment call on how it functions.