Personality Aspects

Here is where I've decided to do something different. I'm adding my favorite mechanic from another game, Spirit of the Century, to this game. It's an easy add-on that won't change how Savage Worlds works, but I think will add to the roleplaying.

Aspects are short, descriptive phrases that convey something about the character, like "Smarter than the average bear," "With great power comes great responsibility," or "Hunted by the Red Court." These Aspects are used in the game in a couple of ways, beyond describing the character.

1. The GM can use aspects to award bennies to the players by bringing an appropriate aspect into play at times when embracing that aspect would present the player character with an interesting or troublesome roleplaying opportunity. This is called "tapping" or "invoking" an aspect.
     For example, say a PC is trying to break into a necromancer's lair and needs to sneak past a guard to do so. Say the character succeeds in making his Stealth roll, but the GM thinks this is good opportunity for more action and recalls that the PC has "Two left feet." So the GM, while holding up a bennie, suggests that the PC stumbles into a table, sending lot of stuff clattering to the floor, spoiling the attempt at sneaking.
     This doesn't mean that the PC gets caught, but it does present him with a more exciting situation. Of course, if the player decides that it's more important to successfully bypass the guard, he could just say no thanks to the bennie, and all goes according to plan.
     Naturally, this works both ways. In the same situation, the player could be the one suggest invoking the aspect and make things more interesting in exchange for a bennie from the GM.

2. Players can use aspects to assert some narrative control over the story. Say the PCs need some info aobut the eccentric and reclusive scientist outside of town, and so far, they've hit a brick wall. One of the characters has the aspect "Hardcore Wahoo" and suggests that maybe the guy with season seats next to his works in the college science department. And just maybe that guy can give them some info.
     If the GM thinks this is a reasonable idea, the player can spend a bennie to invoke the aspect and gain some useful information from his stadium-neighbor.

3. Finally, players can spend a bennie to tap an appropriate aspect and receive a +2 on a trait roll. Say a thief is trying to pick a lock. He could tap his aspect "Steady hands" to get a +2 on the attempt.This being Savage Worlds, bennies can already be used to reroll a failed action, so at first this might not seem all that useful. But consider that you could tap several aspects, each giving a +2, so long as they are appropriate and the player has the bennies to spend.

The purpose behind aspects and using them in this game is to give the GM (me) a more straightforward and balanced way of handing out bennies, while also giving players opportunities to have their characters shine. Going back to the source, here are some examples of aspects and how they could be used. Be sure to page down to the big chart!

Coming next: Character generation and choosing aspects.