Defensive Values

Once you finish assigning your points, you can combine some of them to create your Defensive Values. These numbers represent your ability to protect yourself in combat.

**Your Defensive Values are calculated based on your attributes and the Armor you will choose.** Armor is something you will choose that bolsters your Defense Values. You will choose your Armor after calculating your base Defense Values.

**Health** is your character's raw endurance. It is a numerical representation of how many hits your character can take before they go down.

**Defense** is your character's ability to protect themselves from incoming attacks. How exactly your character defends itself depends a lot on the incoming attacks and how you describe your fighting style. A character may defend themselves by parrying, deflecting, bracing, or perhaps letting their armor absorb the hit. Most physical attacks will target your Defense, and it is influenced heavily by the material your armor is made of.

**Grit** is your ability to tough through attacks with sheer determination and fortitude. A spell that would wrack your body in immense pain would target your Grit as you try your hardest to repress your desire to collapse to the ground in agony. Another example would be a spell that attempts to mind control you. A spell like this would target your Grit as you use every ounce of your mental determination to maintain control over your body and actions.

**Reflex** is your ability to outmaneuver and react to attacks. This is for those attacks where blocking is not an option, and you must dodge and land on your feet.

In your entire adventuring career, about half of the attacks that target you will target your Defense, a quarter will target your Grit, and a quarter will target your Reflex. Any damage you take from attacks that hit you will subtract from your Health.

### Health

**Vitality Attribute multiplied by 4.** Armor will make this number significantly higher,

### Defense

**Defense is determined by the Armor you wear.** Defense is also considered an amalgamation of all your Adventurer abilities combined into your most basic protective talent.

## Armor

Your Armor will improve your Defense and Health, and it may improve your Grit and Reflex. Armor also determines your **Speed.** Speed is the number of spaces your character can move each turn during combat.

**Balanced Armor** has average speed and provides average Defensive Value bonuses.

**Sturdy Armor** is slow but has high Defense.

**Powered Armor** is just as slow, but provides a bonus to Grit or Reflex instead of Defense.

**Swift armor** is the fastest but provides the weakest armor.

### Balanced Armor

* Speed 4, Health +26, Defense +12
* Speed 4, Health +26, Defense +10, Grit +2, Reflex +2

### Sturdy Armor

* Speed 3, Health +34, Defense +12
* Speed 3, Health +26, Defense +14

### Powered Armor

* Speed 3, Health +32, Defense +11, Grit +3
* Speed 3, Health +32, Defense +11, Reflex +3

### Swift Armor

* Speed 5, Health +26, Defense +10
* Speed 5, Health +34, Defense +8

## Shield

You also have the choice of picking a Shield. A Shield doesn't necessarily have to be an actual Shield, but it can represent magical wards, arm bracers, or a constant force field that protects you.

A shield will bolster your Defense, but it means you can't take two-handed weapons and spell styles that increase your damage output.

### Shield

* Defense +4

Alternatively to improve the likelihood of landing your attacks, you can take an Offhand Weapon. An Offhand Weapon is a sidearm such as a parrying blade, dagger, or a magical tome, orb, or wand that you use in conjunction with your main weapons. This edge in combat is reflected in your increased Attack.