This article is a slight correction to the way I was thinking about traits in Exceptional Traits for Fudge. Two of the sample characters, initially described in Descriptive Traits for Sherpa and Quasi-Descriptive Traits for Sherpa, have wording that makes less sense in Fudge. Charlotte Chevalier, for example, has Sharp as a Tack (Mind): Good for one trait. "Sharp as a Tack" is a loose description of a trait and its level — not a trait in and of itself. For better clarity, I would list the traits of these two characters in the following manner:
Charlotte Chevalier, Reporter (15 levels allocated)
- Reporter: Great ("Ambitious")
- Aviatrix: Great ("Daredevil")
- Marksmanship: Great
- Driver: Fair
- Mind: Good ("Sharp as a Tack")
- Body: Fair ("Tough Cookie")
- Spirit: Great ("Sassy and Irrepressible")
- Reflexes: Poor ("Klutzy")
- Advantages: Patron: Editor of a Big Metropolitan Newspaper, Press Pass
- Disadvantages: Obsessed with Dance (and Has Two Left Feet), Recklessly Brave
- Complications: Her Prominent Family's Disapproval of Her Lifestyle
- Motivations: To Show Up Her Family, To Get the Scoop of the Century
Oliver Rath, Police Detective (15 levels allocated)
- Police Detective: Great
- Boxer: Good
- Poker Player: Good
- Driver: Good
- Mind: Great ("Like a Steel Trap")
- Body: Good ("Tough as a Boot")
- Spirit: Poor ("World Weary")
- Reflexes: Good ("Agile When He Needs to Be")
- Advantages: Photographic Memory, Law Enforcement Authority
- Disadvantages: Lives in a Bad Neighborhood, Coffee Addiction
- Complications: Is a Widower with Two Children
- Motivations: To Provide for His Children, To Be the Best Damned Cop He Can Be
The descriptions are optional. Some trait/level combinations lend themselves easily to descriptions; some do not. The choice, as always, is yours.
[Edit: Upon re-examining the other sample characters, I noticed they, too, could benefit from this minor alteration (perhaps with the exception of Sam Turnstile).]
