Attributes
The eight Attributes determine the basic physical, mental, and esoteric characteristics of an individual. These are Might, Fortitude, Dexterity, Agility, Intellect, Guile, Presence, and Luck.
Might is a character’s physical strength and power. It’s not limited to merely muscle power but also their use of leverage, tools, and other physical advantages for the best outcome. It also covers their capacity to withstand physical strain.
Fortitude is physical resilience, resistance to damage, and general health and endurance. It also covers an individual’s mental fortitude, grit, and determination in the face of adversity. Those with high Fortitude are able to just keep going despite what comes.
Dexterity applies to fine motor skills, such as working with small, intricate items or hand-eye coordination. A high Dexterity allows an individual to become adept in tasks such as crafting fine jewelry, picking locks, disarming traps, or holding a ranged weapon steady.
Agility corresponds with speed, flexibility, reaction time, and general acrobatic ability. High Agility causes someone to become swift, nimble, and quick on their feet, enabling them to dodge attacks, perform feats of acrobatics, and react swiftly in combat or other fast-paced situations.
Intellect directly governs a person’s competency to learn, retain information, and make intuitive leaps. It is the capacity of the highly intelligent and knowledgeable, those able to quickly grasp complex concepts, solve puzzles, and come up with creative solutions to problems.
Guile is used when someone attempt to convince, manipulate, and deceive another as well as for general politicking. A person with a high Guile Attribute would be skilled in persuasion, manipulation, and deception, able to convince others to do their bidding, negotiate favorable deals, or uncover hidden information through social interactions.
Presence is often linked with charismatic individuals, those able to dominate a room simply by entering it. A character with a high Presence Attribute has a commanding presence, exuding charisma and inspiring awe or fear in others, and is able to lead and influence others with their mere presence or words.
Luck bends the nature of reality around an individual blessed (or perhaps cursed) with it. An individual with a high Luck Attribute has unpredictable and fluctuating luck, which could result in particularly fortunate or unfortunate outcomes. A lucky person rarely, if ever, ever has a normal day. Conversely, an individual with low Luck has far fewer lucky breaks but is also blessed with far fewer unlucky catastrophes.
Measuring the Attributes
The eight Attributes are added to System Checks related to that Attribute. As such, each Attribute is tracked only as the modifier added to the roll. These typically range from -5 to 5, with 0 being the average. Few individuals will have Attributes lower than -2 or higher than 2.
Aptitudes
Where Attributes measure what a person can do, Aptitudes instead measure the limits of what each person can become. Each ability has an associated Aptitude which limits the level of that Ability. Even the most Mighty of individuals will never become a great warrior if their Prowess Aptitude is low; their Prowess related Abilities will simply never grow strong enough.
The eight Aptitudes are Prowess, Mana, Psi, Spirit, Soul, Qi, Aether, and Eldritch.
Prowess represents a person’s physique and capacity for using and improving their body to its peak. Most obviously, Prowess limits a person’s competence with physical combat, including proficiency with weapons and martial arts. A character with high Prowess would excel in hand-to-hand combat, be skilled with various melee and ranged weapons, and possess advanced combat techniques. However, it also measures the individual’s ability to use their physical body for all other tasks, from climbing, jumping, and swimming, to acrobatics and gymnastics, to endurance. Any Ability related to using the physical body is almost certainly tied to Prowess.
Mana is used for harnessing and channeling magical energies and is the primary power source for most overtly magical effects. It represents an affinity for the mystic arts, ability to manipulate the elements, heal wounds, craft illusions, enchant powerful weapons, and all manners of spell work. Mages, wizards, sorcerers, and others rely on their Mana to reach their full potential with the arcane. Mana itself is an energy generated by the natural word through the interaction of the primal elements.
Psi is easily the most misunderstood Aptitude. While it does reveal an individual’s proficiency with psychic abilities—including mental manipulation, clairvoyance, telepathy, and other psychic phenomena—this is only the most overt use of Psi. This Aptitude covers all manner of mental abilities, including the ability to learn and recall information, understand and communicate well with others, and produce great works of art. Psi is, quite literally, the power of the mind in all its many forms.
Spirit most commonly governs a person’s connection to the divine and the harnessing of spiritual energies. Characters with high Spirit are deeply attuned to the supernatural, enabling them to channel divine power, commune with deities, and perform holy (or unholy) miracles. The energy harnessed by Spirit is powered by faith, be that faith in a higher power, or faith in a great cause, friends, or even in oneself.
Soul is the capability to commune with living things or things that were once living and with the natural world. It encompasses a person’s connection to the spiritual essence of reality independent of divine influences or faith. Individuals with high Soul Aptitude possess a profound understanding of the unseen forces that shape the world. They can commune with nature, manipulate the flow of life energy, and communicate with spirits and entities from other planes. Soul taps directly into the primal force that breathes life into the world.
Qi represents a person’s talent for harnessing and cultivating the energy from the natural world and the heavens. Qi governs one’s capability of communing with themselves and harnessing the life energies that flow within. Qi energies flow through all things, and a high Aptitude allows a person to gather that energy and use it to enhance their own physical, mental, and spiritual selves beyond normal limits and achieve harmony with the world around them. They can perform remarkable feats of self-improvement, achieve heightened awareness, and even manipulate the flow of qi within themselves and others.
Aether connects an individual to the enigmatic void energy that emanates from the gaps in reality where nothing exists. Tapping into this unique form of energy is inherently harmful, even lethal, to living beings, so Aether is used primarily in works of artifice to power magical machinery, create dimensional portals, or manipulate space-time. It excels at powering long-term magics that draw on ambient energy outside of the direct control of its original user.
Eldritch measures a character’s capacity to connect to otherworldly beings and unfathomable forces that exist beyond mortal understanding. Individuals with a high Aptitude for the Eldritch possess a unique affinity for aberrant entities that warp and defy the laws of reality. Though undeniably powerful, delving into the Eldritch often leads to madness. Those who tap into the Eldritch can gain access to mind-bending abilities, summon eldritch entities, and manipulate reality in ways that defy logic.
Measuring the Aptitudes
Unlike Attributes, an individual’s Aptitudes are never considered when making System Checks. Except in rare situations, an Aptitude serves only as a limit on a person’s potential. No Ability a character possesses can ever have a level higher than its governing Aptitude. Aptitudes begin at 0 and, theoretically, have no maximum limit. An Aptitude of 7 is generally considered quite good, and scores in excess of 10 are rare unless an individual is particularly gifted.