Basic Stat Descriptions

Here we will go over the basic stats that comprise characters on the forum. These represent the basic physical and supernatural capabilities of any character, and range from a natural scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest. We'll cover and detail each stat, as well as what mechanical affects they might have.

STR: Strength is a stat that represents the literal, physical strength of an individual. It is how much he can lift, how hard he can hit, and how developed his muscular structure is. A character's STR modifier is applied directly to his Weapon Damage, and doubled when wielding the weapon with both hands. The stat itself is rolled when performing or defending against Take-Down, Disarm, and Grapple Special Maneuvers. High Strength normally develops in a person as high muscle volume in the arms, pectorals, legs, and even back.

CON: Constitution is a measure of how physically resilient an individual is. Your CON modifier is applied to your Presence when rolling Physical or Poison Resistance, and to your Block ability. It also directly determines your life points, meaning how much damage you can take before dying, and your fatigue, which is how much physical energy can be expended before getting exhausted. Lastly, it determines how much of your health you can recover in a single day. In extreme cases, this could be accelerated to hours and minutes. High Constitution normally develops in a person as direct body mass. Someone who has high CON might be large and bulky, or husky, even if he's not muscular.

SKI: Skill is a character's ability to perform and manipulate things that take intrinsic tact and dexterity. The SKI modifier is applied to your Attack ability and your Initiative. The stat itself is rolled when performing Take-Down, Disarm, and Grapple Special Maneuvers in place of STR, and can also be rolled when defending against Disarm maneuvers in place of STR. High Skill stats normally develop in a person as long fingers, and good coordination.

AGI: Agility is how nimble and fast a character is, and their ability to maintain their balance in difficult situations. The AGI modifier is applied to your Dodge ability, and is also applied to your Initiative alongside SKI. The stat itself is rolled when defending against Take-Down and Grapple Special Maneuvers in place of STR, and it directly determines the top speed of a character when running long distances. High Agility normally develops in a person as lean muscles, good but not bulky legs, and a strong core.

PER: Perception is not only how good a character is at using his five senses, but can also be is capacity for situational awareness; how intuitive he is. Of course, the second part of this is mostly left to the jurisdiction of roleplay, rather than a stat, but for a few things that require a mechanical representation, this stat represents mental acuity. The PER modifier is not directly applied to any major stats, but does play a part in Combat Awareness, which is an important stat, as it is a character's main line of defense against things such as sneak attacks. High Perception normally doesn't develop in any two people the same way, except perhaps visibly sharp eyes.

WIL: Willpower is a representation of not necessarily the willpower in someone's personality, but rather their mental fortitude. Those who are exposed directly to horrors or torture will have their Willpower tested. This modifier is added to Presence when rolling Psych Resistance. Most normal characters don't have to worry about their Willpower on a mechanical level, however those delving into the mysteries of Avalon may find that having an abundance of it is quite useful. High Willpower, like Perception, doesn't normally develop in people in a visible fashion, but could be reflected by a failure to seem shocked during moments that would normally cause distress in others, or high tolerance to pain.

MAG: Magic is a person's natural capacity for magic. Your MAG modifier is applied directly to your Magic Attack and Defense, Summon, and Bind. The Magic stat directly determines your base Magic Accumulation. In some cases, Magic might also influence how certain supernatural forces, objects, and beings interact with a given character. Magic also plays a part in determining a character's supernatural connection to the gods. High Magic for an individual occasionally manifests as minor but odd occurrences around a character.

SPI: Spirit is a person's spiritual strength, and in some ways their social influence. It doesn't affect a person's personality in any way, but could give more weight to their words in a social environment, regardless of effort on their behalf. The SPI modifier is applied to Control and Banish, and the stat itself directly determines a character's base Mana pool. While it doesn't influence any one distinct stat, Spirit greatly influences many different Shard abilities, as described on a case-by-case basis. Keep in mind, spirit doesn't necessarily imply a pure or true soul of a person, just the supernatural power of their soul, whether it's good or evil. High Spirit can make an individual's presence in a room distinct, even by those with no inclination towards the supernatural.

Bear in mind that those additional lines at the end of each paragraph describing how a stat could manifest in a character are nothing more than suggestions. It's entirely possible for a high Willpower character to be sporadic and easily excitable, or for a high Strength character to be petite in their deceptive size. These are merely intended to give a better representation of what exactly these stats mean mechanically.