The term Actor replaces “Character” from other RPGs. This is because in TnT, anything that can take an Action and interact with another Actor is considered to be an Actor. Players create Actors that they play throughout the game, but the GM also creates, or uses source material that contains Actors. Obvious Actors are things like sentient creatures, like human Player Characters (PCs), or monsters or aliens that the the GM controls as Non-Player Characters (NPCs). But unlike other games, the GM in TnT will also use Actors to describe abstract things that interact with the PC Actors. This gives the GM a consistent way to quantify the powers and abilities of those entities.

For example, if the PCs entered a city, the GM might have a thief NPC Actor who tries to pickpocket on of the PC Actors, and there may also be a merchant in that city selling expensive gear the players are interested in. Actor Sheets, if they exist, describe the powers and abilities of the thief and the merchant of course, and how difficult it might be to avoid being robbed or swindled, but in TnT, the city itself is also an Actor, albeit an abstract one, which can take actions like “pickpocket,” and “swindle.” This abstraction allows the GM to have an Actor Sheet for the city itself, and know it's abilities and their difficulty quickly when the PCs enter it, even without any other NPCs generated. Abstract Actors can be anything, a Swamp that causes the Foggy Condition, a Spaceship that uses its lasers to attack and its AGI score to evade attacks, A mountain that “attacks” using an Avalanche, etc.

The articles under this page go into detail about how Actors are defined in the Core Rules, and how to create them: