Attribute Descriptions

At first glance, the line between some of these attributes (Constitution and Endurance, Agility and Hand-eye Coordination, Intelligence and Wisdom) may seem fairly fine, but with a little thought, the distinction should become apparent.

In addition to these primary attributes, there are a few secondary attributes. They include hit points, armour class, the various movement attributes, and the optional luck attribute.

For each attribute, its common abbreviation is given, along with a brief description and an example of when it might be used. Also, whenever other numbers are based on an attribute, that is noted.

Physical Attributes

• Strength (STR) measures physical strength. It is used to determine such things as how much weight a character can carry, or how much damage a blow to an enemy's head will do. Weight lifters have high strength.

  Whenever a character needs to do something which requires brute force (such as break in a door, or lift something heavy), a check will be made against strength.

  The maximum weight a character can lift and hold is equal to their strength in kilograms (see the section on Weight and Encumbrance in Other Rules).

• Constitution (CON) measures physical vitality and health. It is used to determine such things as how much damage a character can take before falling unconscious on the floor. Martial Artists have high constitution.

  If a character should be poisoned, lose a lot of blood, or get sick, checks may need to be made against constitution to determine whether the character lives or dies.

  Hit points are determined directly from constitution (see the introduction to Race Descriptions).

• Endurance (END) measures physical endurance. It is used to determine such things as how long a character can run without stopping. Triathletes have high endurance.

  If a character ever needs to remain awake for long periods of time, or do some normal physical activity for much longer than it is usually performed, check will be made against endurance to find out whether they can continue.

• Agility (AGI) measures physical dexterity. It is used to determine such things as how well a character can balance on a tight rope or do backflips, and for calculating the maximum encumbrance . Acrobats without high agility don't remain acrobats for long.

  Checks would be made against agility to find out if a character retains their balance on precarious footing.

  The maximum encumbrance a character can lift and hold is equal to their agility (see the section on Weight and Encumbrance in Other Rules).

• Hand-eye coordination (HEC) measures digital dexterity. It is used to determine such things as how well a character can do fiddly things with their hands and fingers. Lock pickers, card dealers, and many musicians have high hand-eye coordination.

  If a character needs to make repairs to an electronic component by doing spot welding, their hand-eye coordination had better be good.

  Note: This name is somewhat misleading; characters which belong to races without hands may still have a hand-eye coordination. Cats and dogs can certainly manipulate objects with their paws, although not nearly as well as we can. If the race description lists an average HEC, then it is considered to apply to whatever appendage happens to be most hand-like.

Mental Attributes

• Intelligence (INT) measures mental strength. It is used to determine such things as how well a character can reason or use logic. Intelligence is typically related to the solving of problems which have a single, well-defined answer which everyone agrees on. A character's IQ rating is approximately double their intelligence. People with PhDs generally have high intelligence (although some just have high endurance).

  If a character is asked a skill-testing question to win a million dollars, the odds of getting it right will be determined by their intelligence.

• Wisdom (WIS) measures mental flexibility. It is used to determine such things as how well a character can understand the various aspects of problems and how they relate to each other. Wisdom is typically related to finding the best answer to problems which have many possible solutions. Sages have high wisdom.

  If a character is asked a riddle to win a million dollars, the odds of getting it right will be determined by their wisdom.

• Willpower (WIL) measures mental endurance. It is used to determine such things as how far a character can push herself after her endurance runs out, or how well she would stand up to torture. Disabled athletes often have high willpower.

  If a character's endurance gives out while swimming the English Channel, their willpower will help to determine how much further they can go on.

• Intuition (ITU) measures sixth sense. It is used to determine such things as how well a character can predict the outcome of events. Instinct is also included in Intuition. It can alternately be thought of as the link between the conscious and the subconscious. Fortune tellers and seers would like you to think they have high intuition.

  If a character is being followed at night, and senses that something is wrong, that's intuition talking. New mothers have instincts about how to care for their children; this is also intuition (for the purposes of this game).

  Note: You will not usually use your character's intuition. The GM will generally roll an intuition check on your behalf when there is something that your character has a chance of noticing. By the very nature of intuition, you will not know when it might come into play, but the GM will.

• Charisma (also called Charm) (CHR) measures power to inspire loyalty in followers, and trust in strangers. It is used to determine such things as the initial reaction of others when they first meet your character. Politicians typically have high charisma.

  Whenever your character meets someone new, you may wish to use their charisma to try to make the strangers more friendly than they would otherwise be.

Secondary Attributes

• The maximum hit points (HP) for each hit location are calculated from the character's CON. (See the introduction to Race Descriptions for more detail on this.)

• Each hit location also has an armour class (AC), which is a rating of how much damage that location can absorb without the character being affected (see the Combat chapter for more detail). The race description which applies to the character will give a minimum armour class for each hit location, which is the amount of armour the character's skin, fur, or scales provide in that area. Any armour which is worn on that location adds to that location's armour class. See the various armour types in Equipment for more details.

• There are six more movement attributes which belong to any creature which can move itself, and every piece of equipment which is designed with travel in mind (whether the movement is self-generated or caused by an external force being applied). The six attributes are acceleration, deceleration, top speed, maximum turn, maximum shift, and maneuverability. The use of these attributes is described in the section on Movement in Other Rules. Values for these attributes, or formulas for calculating the values, are given in the description of the race or equipment.

• (Optional) The luck attribute, if used, can give characters a second chance when facing almost certain doom.

  Players can give their character luck points when they are created (see Initial Attributes), but this is the last time they will ever know how much luck the character has. Instead, to model the fickle hand of fate, the GM is the only one who knows how muck luck a character has.

  The GM may hand out extra luck points to new characters based on such things as original concepts or well-crafted histories. During play, players may earn extra luck points for their characters with good ideas or original solutions to problems, doing an exceptional job of being "in character", paying for the pizza, or whatever the GM feels is appropriate. They may also cause their characters to lose luck points by flagrantly ignoring character vs. player knowledge limits, arguing with other players, getting a soda for themselves but not offering one to the GM, and so on. There is no right or wrong thing to award or deduct luck points for. It is completely at the whim of the GM, and players should never be told.

  A player can try to use a luck point at any time. A luck point will allow any toss of the dice directly involving that character to be rerolled (you cannot use your luck on behalf of another character). Luck points used in advance can also increase the chance of success on a given die roll (usually by 10% per point spent, e.g. from 20 to 30, although this number too is at the discretion of the GM). By using enough luck, almost anything can be achieved, but remember that once a luck point is used, it is gone forever.