ATTRIBUTES
Attributes are the basic building blocks of a character. They represent the fundamental nature of a person.
There are four attributes:
STRENGTH is physical constitution and power. It determines the amount of weight the individual can lift or carry. It affects the amount of physical harm one can inflict and endure.
DEXTERITY is physical speed. Quickness, perception, balance, and coordination are all facets of dexterity. Physical skills are based on Dex.
WILLPOWER is the strength of the mind. Courage, patience, and self-control are facets of will. It allows a character to resist interrogation, torture, and fear. It determines the amount of supernatural energy that a sorcerer can channel.
INTELLECT is both general knowledge and quickness of thought. Mental and sorcerous skills are based on Int.
Average humans have levels ranging between -1 and 1 in each of the four attributes. Small children, frail elders, and diseased persons may have physical attributes lower than this; fools and madmen may have lower mental attributes. Mythic heroes and villains may have attributes of six or higher. Monsters and horrors may have attributes of ten, twenty, or beyond.
The point cost of an attribute is based on the level. The higher the attribute, the more difficult it is to improve. The amount of points required to achieve a particular attribute level is given by the following chart and formula:
Attribute level | cost | description |
---|---|---|
-2 | -20 | feeble |
-1 | -10 | weak |
0 | 0 | fair |
1 | 10 | good |
2 | 20 | great |
3 | 30 | heroic |
4 | 40 | |
5 | 60 | |
6 | 80 | |
7 | 120 | |
8 | 160 | |
9 | 240 | |
10 | 320 | mythic |
11 | 480 | |
12 | 640 | |
L | 10 * 2^(L / 2) |
So: to give a new character a Str of 3 requires 30 character points. To later raise that same character's Str to 4 will cost 10 experience points (40 for level 4, minus the 30 points already spent for level 3).
Fractions are rounded down. Putting only 7 experience points into the above character's strength would give no benefit until 3 more points were added to raise the total to 40.
Attribute levels are open-ended, but most human beings do not have attribute levels greater than 2. Few have attributes greater than five.
The negative numbers in the table above show that a player may obtain extra points for use in other abilities by being particularly weak in an attribute.
This table gives the amount of weight that different Str levels can lift:
Strength | Lift (lbs) |
---|---|
-2 | 50 |
-1 | 75 |
0 | 100 |
1 | 150 |
2 | 200 |
3 | 300 |
4 | 400 |
5 | 600 |
6 | 800 |
7 | 1200 |
8 | 1600 |
9 | 2400 |
10 | 3200 |
11 | 4800 |
12 | 6400 |
13 | 9600 |
14 | 12800 |
15 | 19200 |
16 | 25600 |
17 | 38400 |
18 | 51200 |
19 | 76800 |
20 | 102400 |
In addition to the four attributes, there are three damage metrics:
STAMINA measures how much punishment one can take before falling unconscious. A character with zero Stamina is barely conscious; a person in this state has -10 to all skill rolls. If Stamina falls below zero, the character is knocked out.
HEALTH measures physical illness and injury. If Health falls to zero, the victim is incapacitated and will die without assistance. If Health falls below zero, the character is dead.
SANITY measures mental illness and injury. If Sanity falls to zero, the character becomes a raving lunatic who acts at random. If Sanity falls below zero, the character is catatonic - the body lives, but the mind is is gone forever.
A character's maximum Stamina is limited by its current Health and Sanity. If either is damaged, the maximum Stamina is equal to whichever is lower. Example: a character who has taken 5 points of physical damage and 9 points of mental will have Health 15 and Sanity 11; that character's maximum Stamina is 11 until Sanity is recovered. If Sanity is healed but Health is not, the character's maximum Stamina will be 15.
Every PC has twenty points of Stamina, Health, and Sanity.