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.

Every Actor is created using these elements:

1. The Trine — all of their 3 main Aspects: Mind, Body & Spirit
   1. Trine Aspect (TA)— one of the 3 Aspects, Mind, Body or Spirit
   2. Trine Score (TS)— calculated by averaging all 3 Trine Attributes of an Aspect
   3. Total Trine Score (TTS)— the sum of all three Trine Scores
2. Attributes (AT) — each Aspect is further broken down into 3 Attributes
3. Attribute Value— the numerical value of each Trine Attribute
4. Build Budget — how many Build Points are used to create the Actor
5. Rank— a calculation of power level relative to other Actors that is derived from Build Budget
6. Wildcard Rank— an Edge PC Actors have over NPC Actors derived from Rank

The Trine Attributes of all Actors may range in power from 0— 100. An average adult human has Attribute Value 3 on all Attributes. The most powerful Actor that can be created in the game has 100 AV on all ATs.

Build Points are used to increase Actor AVs above 0, so the average adult human mentioned above has a Build Budget of 27 Build Points: (9 AT) x (3 AV) = 27. The most powerful Actor that can be created would have a Build Budget of 900 (9 AT) x (100 AV) = 900.

Rank describes how powerful an Actor is based on their Build Budget. A 27 Build Point Actor, like the average human example, is Rank 1. For every 9 additional Build Points an Actor has, their Rank increases by 1.

Wildcards are special Tokens that only PC actors receive that give them an Edge over NPCs. The Ranks when a PC Actor gains a Wildcard are underlined in the Rank table below following this formula:

Wildcard Rank progression:
WR = 1 + floor((R − 1) / 2)
So WR increases at R3, R5, R7, R9…

Examples: R1–2 → WR1, R3–4 → WR2, R5–6 → WR3, R7–8 → WR4

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