Ability Scores

### **Primary Stats**

Players begin the game with a score of 8 in each Primary Stat, and are given 18 points to distribute among them at character creation. One point is also granted at level 5, 10, 15, and 20, and up to four points may be acquired by spending points in certain ability trees for a total of 4-8 granted points. The maximum score in any Primary Stat at character creation is 18, with a maximum of 20 at level 20.

A few abilities and items increase or decrease your primary ability scores, such as the *Bindings of the Giant*, which increases Power by 1, or the Skullduggery ability *Apply Poison* which debuffs Power, Agility, or Endurance by 1 on hit.

Each Primary Stat governs 5 Secondary Stats, two of which are purely defensive in nature. The calculation for all secondary stats is half of the product of the two primary stats that govern it - this encourages builds that are balanced between several or all primary stats, depending on desired role.

* **Power - the physical heft with which one can move weapons and objects. Determines the ability to wield heavy weapons.**
* **Agility - balance, flexibility and ability to move gracefully and lightly. Determines the ability to wield light weapons.**
* **Endurance - the amount of energy one can expend, and how quickly it returns. Determines the type of armor worn.**
* **Ego - the clarity and discipline of one's sense of, and control over, the self. Determines the maximum level Lore, Illusion, Arcane, and Elemental spell that can be learned.**
* **Empathy - the ability to sense the intentions, feelings, and influences of one's surroundings. Determines the maximum level Zeal, Preservation, Necromancy, or Healing spell that can be learned.**
* **Initiative - quickness of reaction, presence of mind, and opportunism. Determines the ability to use shields.**

### **Secondary Stats**

* **Vitality (Endurance+Power)**
	+ Base HP. This increases with level every time a point is spent in a class tree, each tree adds 6-10 HP per point spent.
* **Prowess (Agility+Power)**
	+ Base Hit Chance. Some weapons may have inherent increased or decreased chance to hit, and hit chance can by modified by certain player buffs and feats. The Balance (Dual Wield) tree shared by Fighters and Rangers also adds 1 Prowess for every point spent in it. Whenever a weapon attack is made, this stat is rolled against the defender's Perception (projectile), Focus (melee) or Reflexes (area).
* **Accuracy (Agility+Endurance)**
	+ Critical Hit Chance. On any attack or spell that hits, a d100 roll equal to or above 100-(Accuracy/10) will result in a critical hit, which does double damage, and applies a secondary effect based on damage type. If a critical hit is rolled on an attack that still only results in a glancing blow, the attack will hit, but not score a critical hit. Placing points into the Archery (Rogue/Ranger) tree increases accuracy and applies further effects on critical hits. Attacks on unsuspecting/unaware enemies or from stealth are automatic critical hits, and critical hits always stagger for the attacker's full weapon stagger length, regardless of defender's armor.
* **Focus (Ego+Power)**
	+ Base single-target melee avoidance. Melee weapons will add to this based on their size, and it can be increased with feats and other effects or by active blocking. Every point spent in Dueling, the single-handed weapon tree shared by Thieves and Bards will add to Focus.
* **Willpower (Ego+Endurance)**
	+ Spell damage bonus. Willpower/10 is added to the total damage of any damaging spell, regardless of tree or type. Willpower increases with points spent in the Elemental magic tree shared by druids and mages.
* **Wit (Ego+Agility)**
	+ Base chance to evade any mind-affecting attack. This could be from a variety of sources, such as a spell, a psionic attack, a demoralizing chant or feint, or fear effect from a particularly intimidating monster. Certain buffs and feats may add to this, as well as placing points in the Lore tree, unique to Bards
* **Resolve (Empathy+Power)**
	+ Block cost reduction. All players have 100 stamina and expend 20 whenever they receive a glancing blow, but only expend 10 if they are actively blocking (holding down the block key), during which time they cannot attack or regenerate stamina. Resolve reduces the amount of stamina expended when an attack is successfully defended by Resolve/10 - allowing, at maximum Resolve, no stamina expenditure when receiving a glancing blow. Without Resolve, a character is inherently not effective at defending themselves and will be quickly overwhelmed by a high volume of attacks, whether or not they actively block. Resolve can be increased with feats and by spending points in the Protection tree shared by Fighters and Paladins.
* **Faith (Empathy+Endurance)**
	+ Base spell defense. Spell defense applies to all spells that are not mind affecting, do not target an area, do not launch a projectile, and are not undefendable. This can be increased with spells and feats as well as placing points in the Zeal tree unique to Paladins.
* **Charisma (Empathy+Agility)**
	+ Healing bonus. Charisma/10 is added to all healing spells cast by the player, including self and group heals. This can be increased with a few feats and by placing points in the Healing tree shared by Druids and Clerics.
* **Id (Empathy+Ego)**
	+ Base mana. Mana is a finite resource that must be regenerated by consuming mana-containing items or resting. Thus any magic-user depends heavily on having a large mana pool available. This can only be increased with certain items or by placing points in the Wizard's Arcane tree, the Cleric's Necromancy tree, or the Druid's Wild Magic tree. Note that placing points in the Zeal, Preservation, Healing, Elemental, Illusion and Lore trees (the other trees that contain mana-using abilities) does not add to base mana and thus players planning on using those trees without the three that contribute to mana must manage their mana expenditure much more carefully.
* **Ferocity (Initiative+Power)**
	+ Weapon damage bonus. Accuracy/10 is added to every swing with a melee weapon or shot with a ranged weapon, if it successfully connects. This can be increased with certain Fighter feats or by putting points into the Rage (Fighter) tree at the top of the wheel.
* **Conditioning (Initiative+Endurance)**
	+ Stamina regeneration rate. Base stamina regeneration is 10/s while moving and 20/s while standing still. This is increased by Conditioning/10, so a player with maximum Conditioning regenerates 40/s while moving and 50/s while standing still (out of a maximum of 100 - needing only 2s to fully regenerate stamina). Conditioning improves with points placed in the Beastmastery tree available only to Rangers.
* **Reflexes (Initiative + Agility)**
	+ Base projectile avoidance. Increases with certain feats, active blocking, and points spent in the Skullduggery (Rogue) tree.
* **Intelligence (initiative+Ego)**
	+ Base spell hit chance. Increases with feats and points spent in Illusion tree, shared by Wizards and Bards.
* **Perception (Initiative+Empathy)**
	+ Base area avoidance. This applies to area-of-effect spells, such as Fireball or Entangle, as well as cleave melee attacks, and certain traps or breath weapons. This can be increased by some feats, active blocking, and placing points in the Preservation tree shared by Clerics and Paladins.