Character Creation and Progression · Core Rules

Philosophy

In Cerberus, the character comes before the sheet. Players do not “build” a character by optimizing points: they describe one, and the GM translates that description into numbers. Progression follows the same logic. It is decided in play by what the character experiences, eats, finds, and learns.

Attributes are never rolled at random. Rolling scores puts min-maxing at the heart of character creation: the player discovers a number, then invents a concept around it. Cerberus works in the opposite direction. The player arrives with an idea, discusses it with the GM, and the numbers follow. A character who starts one step behind the others is not doomed: organic progression gives them the entire campaign to catch up.

Creation in Five Steps

1. Concept and origin. Before writing any number, the player writes a few paragraphs: who the character is, where they come from, and why they became an adventurer. Add one defining anecdote. Osseur once went an entire month without eating chicken to test his resolve. That sentence contains the whole character.

The format matters little. A few lines of dialogue the character might have spoken often establish a personality better than a page of biography; one memorable story does the rest. These are the fragments the GM will reread when deciding what the character earns later.

2. Attributes. In dialogue with the GM, assign the six modifiers. As a guideline for a starting character, give them one dominant attribute between +8 and +10, one or two strong attributes between +5 and +7, and the rest between +2 and +5. Attributes must express the concept, not define it after the fact. A sickly scholar has high Intelligence and low Constitution, and that weakness is part of the character. The section What Attributes Mean below defines the scale and exact role of each one. After creation, attributes increase only through organic progression, never by gaining a level. See the two progression engines below.

3. Starting feats (2 to 4). Write each feat in prose, including its narrative justification and, where relevant, its future progression by level. A good Cerberus feat passes three tests: it follows from the character's history, asks for behavior in play—studying an enemy, being surrounded, fighting from horseback—and will still be enjoyable to read two years later.

A feat is a plugin applied to the character. It can modify a spell or general rule, grant a bonus, or provide a special technique. That technique can be passive or cost one or more actions, expressed in ticks.

The feat must provide everything needed to use it: trigger, action cost, targets, range, duration, frequency, and effect whenever those elements apply. When a feat contradicts a general rule, the feat's text takes precedence.

4. Power path, if any. Red magic, blue psychic magic, divine magic, alchemy—or none. Record the caster level, DC, regeneration rate, highest spell level actually mastered, and starting spell list.

Every character begins play at caster level 1. What a character adds to that base comes from what they are, not from what they studied:

Power path	Caster level from attributes	Slots
Human, red mana	+1 CL per 2 points of Charisma	4 per spell level + ½ CHA
Human, power of the Partage	granted by rank, capped at 7 × CHA (6)	6 per spell level + ½ INT
Dwarf, Valerium implant	none—experience and story only (8)	4 per power level + ½ WIS
Drow, psychic	none—experience and story only	4 per spell level + ¼ INT

A human with +10 Charisma therefore opens at CL 6 at Level 1: the base of 1, plus the 5 their Charisma buys. Everything above that is earned in play and awarded by the GM. A class can improve the racial ratio (Using Classes); none of them lowers it.

Two power paths have no attribute route at all. A drow and a Monk of Kaz'Nakaram raise their caster level only through experience and the story—which is why an old drow is dangerous and a young one is not, and why the Valerium in a dwarf's skull rewards the years spent training with it rather than the mind it was installed in.

The GM may open a character higher still when the story already accounts for it: a prodigy, an apprenticeship served before the campaign, an implant installed years earlier.

caster level alone does not unlock complex spells. A character needs both the minimum CL required by the spell level and the corresponding level of mastery in the story. At creation, a Level 5 Wizard or Cleric can normally be considered to have mastered spells through Level 5, but not Level 6 spells. An unusual history may justify slower mastery.

5. Derived values and equipment. Calculate everything that follows from attributes and level:

HP = 10 × Strength at Level 1. See the progression chart below.
Saves = 1d20 + attribute + level: Reflex (DEX), Will (WIS), Fortitude (CON).
Speed: 30 ft per tick by default, +2 ft per point of Dexterity, then modified by race, size, class grade, or a feat.
Jumps: horizontal distance = 1× Speed; height = ¼ Speed.
Level 1 action economy: 3 attacks, 2 spells, 1 dodge, and 3 general actions per round.

Starting equipment is narrative: exactly what this character would possess, no more and no less.

What Attributes Mean

A modifier means nothing until the table knows what it looks like in the world. Strength is the benchmark because it is the easiest attribute to imagine. Read the others on the same scale.

Strength	What It Represents
+1 to +2	an ordinary adult with no particular training
+5	a visibly powerful human: muscular, fit, and tough
+10	a Brazzant barbarian, strong enough to rival a wild beast
+15	a small giant or an ogre
+20	an average giant

Strength is also the easiest attribute to increase and the only one magic doubles without complication. An effect that changes a creature's size category routinely doubles its Strength. See Size below.

Dexterity uses the same scale, but climbs it less often. A human with +5 has remarkable reflexes—an experienced rogue. At +10, they are plainly superhuman. Extremely high Dexterity is rarer than extremely high Strength because the game's monsters gain Strength, not Dexterity. An ogre is much stronger than a human, but not quicker.

Intelligence and Charisma are the rarest and hardest attributes to increase. An Intelligence of +10 describes a mind that defines an era, not merely a well-built character.

What Each Attribute Governs

Strength (STR)—muscle, and therefore half of a martial character's sheet.

HP, multiplied by the progression chart below.
Damage, both in melee and at range (see 11).
Grapple maneuvers, whose prescribed chance accounts for both opponents' Strength, Dexterity, size, and experience (see 11).
Prerequisites for feats based on raw power.
Countless roleplaying situations that nothing else resolves.

Dexterity (DEX)—the game's most frequently tested attribute for both martial characters and mages, because Cerberus is built around reactive actions.

The Reflex Save, which determines which action occurs first and therefore governs dodging, parrying, initiative, and spell interruption (see 1).
Attack damage when Dexterity exceeds Strength: a quicker character strikes with speed (see 11).
Speed: +2 ft per tick per point (see 9).
Prerequisites for the most sought-after feats, especially those granting additional attacks or actions.

Constitution (CON)—the body's ability to endure.

The Fortitude Save against poison, disease, exhaustion, and magic that attacks the body.
Natural recovery: HP regained during rest and, for humans, the rate at which mana returns. The GM may adjust the rates in 4 for remarkably high or low Constitution. An iron constitution recovers spells faster.

Intelligence (INT)—the first mental attribute.

Spell DC: the more intelligent the sorcerer, the more tightly constructed and difficult to resist their spell is (see 12).
Enchanting objects (see 15).
Crafting objects: higher Intelligence improves the prescribed chance that completes the work, with the character's experience counting just as much.
Many prescribed chance checks and roleplaying situations.
Prerequisites for advanced feats, especially wizard feats.

Wisdom (WIS)—the mind's ability to endure and reject both magical manipulation and ordinary lies.

The Will Save against illusions, invisibility, fear, and domination. A wise character is less likely to fall for traps and ambushes.
Prerequisites for some high-level feats.
Roleplaying situations reserved for it by the GM.

Charisma (CHA)—the mind's ability to exist fully in its own right. Charisma influences not only other people but the universe itself.

Mana power, meaning caster level. In a human, red mana answers to Charisma:

+1 caster level per 2 points of Charisma, rounded down, on top of the base caster level of 1.

A character with +9 Charisma therefore opens at CL 5. This is racial and not studied—it is what a human body does with red mana—and a class can improve the ratio but never removes it (Using Classes). Everything beyond it is earned in play (see 12). Charisma also governs the slot reserve: 4 per spell level + ½ CHA.
The ability to influence others during roleplay.
The potential to develop strange powers. At high levels, some characters enchant objects through their presence alone.

Attribute Affinities in Magical Progression

When the GM assigns weeks or months to develop a spell, feat, or magical technique, the relevant attribute helps determine that time. These affinities are guidance for organic progression, not automatic prerequisites or universal multipliers.

Intelligence governs study, formulas, research, crafting, enchantment, and the deliberate design of spells. It is also strongly associated with controlling blue mana: a human Psychic uses Intelligence to organize converted blue mana and train new pathways in their cerebriles.
Charisma is the primary affinity of human red mana. It is especially relevant when developing Metamagic and other feats that expand, accelerate, suspend, preserve, or otherwise force red mana beyond its ordinary limits. Quicken Spell, Long Spell, Suspend Spell, Grab Gold, and Additional Time are typical examples.
Wisdom governs self-mastery: Will, meditation, Ki, resistance to mental influence, and techniques internalized through disciplined practice. It may support appropriate Monk and Barbarian feats, but does not replace the physical attributes required by feats built primarily on strength, speed, or endurance.

Blue mana is not universally Intelligence-based. The Monk of Kaz'Nakaram is the central exception: Wisdom governs both the implant's Ki reserve and the amount of its blue mana the Monk can direct. The specific class or power-path rule always overrides these general affinities.

Example: Building Osseur from Nothing

Apply the five steps to an actual character as they would emerge from creation, before play changes them.

1. Concept. Osseur the Steady is a young barbarian of Brazzant's Feather Clan, known for his resolve. He once went an entire month without eating chicken to test his mind. The whole character is in that sentence: a colossus with an iron will.

2. Attributes. The concept demands an overwhelming physique and extraordinary willpower. The GM assigns WIS +10, his famous resolve; STR +8; DEX +8; CON +5; CHA +5; and INT +2. Osseur is an exceptionally gifted beginner. Most start one step lower.

3. Starting feats. Two feats, each rooted in his history and requiring behavior in play: Mental Stability, advantage on Will Saves against mental effects—his anecdote turned into a rule; I Love to Fight, one additional attack each tick when two enemies surround him.

4. Power path. Almost none. Brazzant barbarians have no system of magic. He has no CL and no spell list, only what play may unlock later. His tree leaf will eventually grant him a minor mist spell.

5. Derived values, at Level 1:

HP = 10 × 8 = 80
Saves, attribute + level: Reflex +9, Will +11, Fortitude +6
Speed 30 ft/tick; horizontal jump ~30 ft, vertical jump ~7 ft
3 attacks, 2 spells, 1 dodge, and 3 general actions per round
Equipment: his village's axe (1d12), a bow too weak for his Strength, leather armor, and barbarian clothing

Progression after creation. The rest of his current sheet came from play: the +2 Strength gained by eating the tree leaf, the mist spell unlocked by the same leaf, additional feats, and reaching Level 2, which grants +1 to Saves but leaves his action economy unchanged. None of these elements can be purchased during creation.

The Two Progression Engines

Organic progression (continuous). The GM grants advancements as direct consequences of play: +2 Strength for eating the tree leaf, a spell unlocked by an artifact, or a feat earned through an exploit or training. This engine belongs entirely to the GM. Every organic advancement should fit into a sentence beginning with “because.”

Level progression (discrete and slow). Level governs general elements: HP, action economy, Saves at +1 per level, and feat thresholds. It never changes attributes, which belong exclusively to organic progression. The GM grants a level at major campaign milestones. As a guideline, grant one level every three to five sessions. Level 10 is the game's epic horizon—the equivalent of Level 20 in D&D—and a Level N+2 character is worth roughly two Level N characters.

Progression Charts

HP per point of Strength. HP doubles every two levels. This exponential curve governs the entire game.

Level	1	3	5	7	9	10
HP per point of Strength	10	20	40	80	160	320

Multiply this value by the character's Strength. A Level 1 beginner with +5 Strength has 50 HP; a Level 10 epic hero with +10 Strength has 3,200.

The base of 10 belongs to a combatant. This is the only number to adjust: the curve doubles every two levels regardless, so changing its starting point produces a more fragile or durable profile. A GM who wants to distinguish archetypes can give a wizard-like character a lower base:

Level 1 Base	1	3	5	7	9	10	Intended For
12	12	24	48	96	192	384	barbarian
10	10	20	40	80	160	320	default, combatant
8	8	16	32	64	128	256	rogue
6	6	12	24	48	96	192	wizard

These four curves, along with the rest of their progression, are detailed in Using Classes.

Action economy per round. A round contains three ticks. The table lists totals per round gained at the indicated levels; each value remains until the next threshold.

Level	1	3	5	7	9
Attacks	3	6	9	12	15
Spells	2	2	3	3	4
Dedicated Dodges	1	1	2	2	3
General Actions	3	3	4	4	5

Attacks progress fastest: one per tick at Level 1, then one additional attack per tick every two levels—2 per tick at Level 3, 3 at Level 5, 4 at Level 7, and 5 at Level 9.

Dodges are the scarce resource. A character has only one dedicated dodge per round at Level 1 and three by the end of the progression. No one dodges everything. This makes parrying decisive because it allows a character to spend attacks on defense (see 11). Classes modify this axis most sharply, ranging from one dodge throughout a wizard's career to four for an accomplished rogue.

The reserve empties during the round and refills at the next. Levels, feats, spells, and objects increase the reserve itself. Some conditions temporarily shrink it instead, including nausea, curses, and poison (see 3).

Capacity and the Action Board. Each point in a reserve represents an action token. A character with 9 attacks has nine attack tokens to spend during the round. Do not add these reserves together to determine how many actions fit into one tick. The largest reserve—attacks, spells, or general actions—sets the board's width: one slot for every three tokens, rounded up. A largest reserve of 4 therefore opens two slots per tick; a reserve of 9 opens three; and a reserve of 15 opens five.

An action spanning multiple ticks spends one action at every stage. A Standard spell therefore normally requires two spell actions—casting, then release—and can be lost if the character does not reserve a second action and slot on the next tick. 8 explains how to build and fill the board, mix categories, maintain long actions, and resolve priority conflicts.

Dodges occupy no slots: they use their dedicated reserve and trigger outside the Action Board. A parry, by contrast, converts an attack into defense. It spends one attack token and occupies a slot during the tick. See 11.

Classes as an Optional Layer

The charts above are sufficient for play. A Cerberus character is defined by concept, attributes, and feats; no label is required.

A GM who wants to deliberately widen the differences between profiles—most often to restrain spellcasters, the game's most powerful characters (see 12)—can have every player choose a class. A class is a complete set of charts replacing the general action economy, HP base, dodge progression, quality of all three Saves, and base Speed. Everything else remains unchanged.

Five archetypes are written: Fighter, Barbarian of Brazzant, Rogue, Ranger, and Wizard. The Using Classes chapter establishes their shared conventions and explains how to write more. An epic class, Lazy Wizard, deliberately breaks those conventions for a character whose history has already placed them above everyone else.

All or nothing. If the table uses classes, every character has one; otherwise, no one does. Each class chart is designed to be clearly stronger than the general chart on one or two axes and clearly weaker on the others. Mixing them lets one player take the benefits without the costs.

How Damage Keeps Pace with HP

HP doubles every two levels, so damage must do the same; otherwise a Level 9 hero would strike the same wall forever. Several axes of power multiply together, each fed by organic progression. Their product keeps damage on the same curve as HP.

Strength and its enchantments. Every point of Strength gained through a leaf, ring, potion, or training increases damage alongside HP.
Magic weapons. A higher-tier weapon deals more damage and penetrates DR more effectively (see 10 and 15). Beyond tier 5-6, an ordinary weapon is no longer enough.
Number of attacks. This rises with level, from 3 to 15, and also with character size: twice the attacks means twice the damage per round.
Size. Enlargement spells and animal or colossal forms raise Strength, HP, and weapon damage at the cost of Reflex. Each spell or form defines the magnitude.
Combat styles. A signature feat with a bonus that doubles at thresholds—such as Osseur's “Combat Style,” from +2 to +64—is common among martial characters.
Spell scaling. Magical damage grows sharply with caster level. This lets spellcasters catch up where martial characters rely on Strength and weapons.

A martial character follows the curve through Strength × weapon × attacks × combat style. A caster follows it through spell CL. The GM advances these axes at the pace of the campaign.

Size

Some effects—Giant Form, a Polymorph form, or a naturally colossal creature—change a character's size category. The entire game uses one scale:

Medium · Large · Huge · Gargantuan · Colossal. Some effects extend it to “Colossal+.”

Increasing size by one step raises Strength, HP, Speed, and weapon damage. Reflex falls in exchange, through Dexterity. Reflex governs dodging, parrying, priority contests, and avoiding areas of effect. A colossus is devastating but vulnerable to quick opponents.

The effect granting the size defines the exact magnitudes: increased Strength, reduced Dexterity, and the form's abilities. See Giant Form, Polymorph, and the creature templates. The GM adjudicates anything the effect does not specify: a colossus cannot hide or fit through a narrow door and may sweep allies aside in melee.