CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION

PERSONAL TRAITS

Construction of a character in TOP SECRET is begun by rolling percentile dice to obtain a value from 1 to 100 for each of the 6 Primary Personal Traits:

PHYSICAL STRENGTH — This is a measurement of the overall muscular strength of the character.

CHARM — This trait embodies the character's ability to relate other humans in the game.

WILLPOWER — This value is a measure of the perseverance and dedication of the character.

COURAGE — This is a measurement of how well the character reacts in the face of danger.

KNOWLEDGE — This value is a measurement of the general intelligence of the character.

COORDINATION — This trait reveals the degree of manual dexterity and quickness the character has.

Since it is desirable to give player characters an edge and to make them somewhat better than the average non-player character, the following bonuses are made to the die rolls for the Primary Personal Traits for player characters only:

DIE ADD
01-25 +25
26-50 +15
51-70 +10
71-90 +5
91-00 +0

Therefore, if a character's Charm die roll is 23, he or she adds +25 and it becomes 48. Likewise, if the die roll was 75, it would become 80; if the initial die roll was 92, nothing would be added, and it would remain 92.  You may place the values in any order you wish.

When calculating Secondary and Tertiary Traits, ALL FRACTIONS ARE ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST WHOLE NUMBER. If a character's Offense was between 70.50 and 71.49, It would be rounded to 71; if that character's Offense was between 71.50 and 72.49, it would be rounded to 72, etc.

SECONDARY PERSONAL TRAITS

OFFENSE = Coordination + Courage ÷ 2
  This trait reflects the general combat ability ÷ 2

DECEPTION = Courage + Charm ÷ 2
  This trait is used to bluff, whether in fighting or in conversation.

EVASION = Charm + Coordination ÷ 2
  Evasion is the physical ability to get out of trouble and is useful when Deception fails.

DEACTIVATION = Knowledge + coordination ÷ 2
   Deactivation is a measure of the agent's skill and ability to deal with such things as alarms, traps, and concealed mechanisms.

OBSERVATION = Willpower + Knowledge ÷ 2
  Observation is a reflection of an agent’s ability to notice and remember things.

LIFE LEVEL = Physical Strength + Willpower ÷ 10
    This value is extremely important, for it is the character's physical ability to withstand damage. When a character's Life Level drops to zero or below, that character is either unconscious or dead, depending on what caused the damage.

SHOCK RESISTANCE = Courage + Willpower ÷ 2
  Shock Resistance is an agent’s ability to resist going into shock when subjected to sudden physical injury or prolonged psychological damage.

MOVEMENT VALUE = Physical Strength + Willpower + Coordination
  This trait is used to determine how far a character can move in one turn.

TERTIARAY PERSONAL TRAITS

PERCEPTION = Courage + Observation ÷ 2
  Allows agents to detect concealed or disguised items, booby traps, hazards, pursuing agents, concealed weapons, and lying and cheating at games of chance.  Agent’s must declare when they want to use Perception.

HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT VALUE = Evasion + Physical Strength

SURPRISE VALUE = Deception + Evasion
  The greater this trait, likely the agent is to be able to surprise enemies.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Sun 10 Oct 2021.

Vital Statistics

The Base Height for characters is 5'5" for women and 5'10" for men.

Roll 1d10.  On a 1 the agent is very short, roll subtable 1.  On a 10 the agent is very tall, roll subtable 2.  2-3 is below average, -1"; 4-5 is Average; 6-7 is above average +1" and 8-9 is tall +2".

Subtable 1

Roll  Modifier
1      -8"
2      -7"
3      -6"
4      -5"
5-6    -4"
7-8    -3"
9-10   -2"

Subtable 2

Roll  Modifier
1-3    +3"
4-6    +4"
7-8    +5"
9      +6"
10     +7"

For Age, roll 3d10+12

Handedness (Roll 1d100):  01-89 is Right-Handed; 90-99 is Left Handed; 00 is Ambidextrous.

Base Weight for women is 135 lbs, for men it is 160 lbs. Roll 1d100:

01-03  -35 lbs
04-09  -28 lbs
10-17  -21 lbs
18-28  -14 lbs
29-42  -7 lbs
43-58  no change
59-72  +10 lbs
73-83  +20 lbs
84-91  +30 lbs
92-97  +40 lbs
98-00  +50 lbs

Languages

The number of languages known by your agent is based on their Knowledge trait.  Knowledge up to 25 only speaks their Native language.  Up to 50 speaks one additional language.  Up to 75 speaks two additional languages.  Up to 100 speaks three additional languages.  As Knowledge increases with experience more languages may be learned.

Starting score in your Native Language is 3d10 +70%.  Roll a straight 1d100 for each of the other languages, though none can be higher than your Native.  You may choose which score goes with which language (after the native.)

Areas of Knowledge(AoK)

There are 42 Areas of Knowledge in the game (I am using the expanded list in the Companion.)  Agents have a value of one half their Knowledge trait in all areas of knowledge.  Your Agent will have superior expertise in some AoKs.  The number of Superior AoKs is equal to the Knowledge Trait divided by 10, rounded up.  The table for rolling which AoKs are superior is on page 10 of the Companion.  The value of the Superior AoKs is based on a modified 1d100.  For each one, roll 1d100; if the roll is 01-20, add 50%; if the roll is 21-00, add 30%.  This gives a minimum of 51% in any superior AoK.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:39, Sat 23 Apr 2022.

In the bio lines for the agent, put your current alias in the first line and in the second line the bureau.

If you know of a good template for the Agent Dossier, let me know.  In the meantime, I will unlock the character sheet and you can put all of the relevant information in there.

For the public description put two short paragraphs: one is what anyone can easily determine by looking at you:  physical description, mannerisms, style, etc.  This could be two descriptions, the real one and the disguised one if any.  The second paragraph is what the other agents know about you:  bureau, alias used in the Agency (or real name), and known capabilities (expert marksman, chemist, etc.  pull from the AoKs)

Finally, choose a portrait for your agent, but do not use an Anime one or anything that breaks the mood (comedic, fantasy, etc.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:37, Sat 23 Apr 2022.