What is the point?

In this game there is a currency used to create things.  The universal unit is "the point".  A point can never be created or destroyed, and anything that can be helpful in conflict (combat, task, contest and the like) has a point value.

An average person and the things an average person can do are all at zero points.  That is, a basic person who has common sense and normal skills and intellect, physical attributes.. the average person is worth 0 points.

If a person was blind, yet average then their blindness (negative point value) would be offset by something else (positive point value), like maybe they get extra money from the government under the Americans with Disabilities Act or at least accommodations so their blindness was less of a factor.

If a person was a famous rock star and thousands of people loved them (positive point value) they might also have a ruined marriage, drug addiction and photographers invading their life all the time (negative point value).

That is all part of the character creation process, to calculate these point values and to balance them.  Positive and negative, then they balance to zero points - the human condition. 

The point is not only held in these states of being (blindness, rock stardom, etc) but also in skills and attributes.  The average attribute is 10, that is worth 0 points.  The average skill is +0, that is worth 0 points.  A strong character might have a physical strength of 12 (worth 2 points) and a weak character might have a physical strength of 8 (worth -2 points).  There might even be a person who is not alert in the morning and has an intelligence of 8 in the morning but in the afternoon they are at 10 (which would be worth -2, half the time since the time is split in half for a total of -1).

Not only is the point the universal currency of creation, it is also is used in the stereotypical RPG combat system.  Most Role Playing Games use a concept of Hit Points where a person can take damage and perform at their peak until they run out and die instantly.  This game does not follow the Hit Point methodology.

In this game, when a character takes damage it comes from the creation points.  If you take damage, attributes are decreased, skills are impacted and eventually the character may die (but after significant loss of abilities).  Healing can regain all lost/impacted abilities back to the pre-injury level, but combat and damage are intentionally draining.  Just as in real life, avoiding combat and damage is the best policy (but it might happen anyhow).