Character Statistics:

Attributes start at three for a typical person.

Finesse (application of skills)
Fortitude (staying alive, persistance, willpower, etc)
Force (physical strength, capability to exert power, intimidation)
Etiquette (social talents and skills, social adeptness)
Insight (a measure of the character's mental capabilities)

Health: Fortitude is added to three.

Character Traits:

Characters have additional descriptors called Traits which can be almost anything and which define the character in a unique fashion. "Well-Educated", "Irascible" and "Detective" are all appropiate Traits. Each level of a trait is associated with both an increase and a decrease of an attribute level. Frex. "Irascible" can be a positive bonus to Force and a negative modifier on Etiquette. When a Trait gains a further level, this modifier is applied again, but not necessarily to the same attributes, though this is limited by the following rules: 1) a Trait cannot be both a positive and negative modifier on an attribute 2) a Trait cannot increase an Attribute over 5 nor decrease it below 1.

Starting characters have two Traits.

Basic Resolution:

Attribute number of ten-sided dice are rolled vs a target number set by the GM (2-10, 1 is always a failure) or against an opponent's Attribute times two. All die greater than the target number are counted as successes.

Successes in a roll can be saved up and used in a latter action, ie. first attacking with your sword you can use "sword-point diplomacy" to augment your negotiation roll later on. At least one success must be used to be succesful with the action itself, but successes beyond that can be carried over (they have no effect on the current resolution in that case).

In contested rolls, a character can use a success to buy off a die from an opponent's next action. This can result in the opponent being unable to act at all, when the die rolled are reduced to zero.

Combat Rules:

Initiative is determined by the highest Finesse Attribute. In case of a tie, actions are considered simultaneous.

In combat rolls (Force vs Finesse), successes are spent to cause damage to the opponent. Each success used to inflict damage lowers a character's current Health by one.

Being injured increases the character's target number for all appropiate rolls by one, and one more for every point of damage sustained above the character's Fortitude. So, a Fortitude 3 character with 1-3 points of damage has a target number modifier of 1 and that character with 4 points of damage has a target number modifier of 2.

If a character has zero health, she dies.

Healing is a Fortitude roll against a target number of 7 (or 5 for initial medical treatment) allowed once per day. Target numbers for healing are affected by damage. Each success restores one Health.

Using Traits:

A Trait can be used a number of times in a session equal to its rating. Invoking a Trait in this fashion gives you an automatic success for a roll (count the rating of the appropiate Attribute if number of successes is relevant).

All such uses of a Trait must be fitting and narrated appropiately.

Advancement Mechanics:

A Trait used in an adventure accumulated a point. When a Trait has accumulated points equal to twice its current rating, the Trait is increased by one.

If no Traits are used in an adventure, the character accumulates one point towards creating a new trait at rating one. When the character has accumulated five points, the Trait is earned.