Gender

Your character's gender is most important to the story and the reactions of other characters. However, it does have an effect on your attributes during character creation:


 * Male characters can choose a one-point bonus to either Strength or Focus.
 * Female characters can choose a one-point bonus to either Dexterity or Perception.

Add this bonus after you have determined your starting attributes; it is a free point. However, after character creation, advancing that attribute from its total rating costs the normal amount of experience.

Optional: If everyone agrees, beginning characters can also take a free skill training based on gender. For females, this is free training in one social skill; for males, free training in one applied skill. These are cultural biases and need not apply in all circumstances.

''Self-justifying note re. gender politics:'' "How un-PC to give different stats to different genders!  Didn't RPGs leave that behind in the 80s?  What is this, F.A.T.A.L.?"

Perhaps it is un-PC, if being politically correct means denying that any physical differences exist between the sexes. Clearly, that would be foolish -- even little kids know that boys and girls are different. These differences extend beyond reproductive hardware. Most people recognize that the average man is physically stronger than the average woman.

Yes, the chosen attributes are fairly arbitrary. But so what? It's mainly to provide greater meaning to choice of gender than just breasts and chromosomes. After all, in the real world gender is rich with meaning and consequence. Perhaps for the worse, at times, but also for the better. And that's what I aim to reflect with this choice.