Ability Stats

Also known as ability scores, abilities, attributes, primary characteristics or simply "stats." Ability stats describe the limitations of a character's prowess in mind and body. The stats possessed by everyone include the following:

Strength: physical brawn and force

Intelligence: problem-solving ability and alertness

Wisdom: education and willingness to learn from mistakes

Constitution: sturdiness and overall health

Dexterity: agility and reflex

Charisma: physical attractiveness, persuasiveness and personal magnetism

Both creatures and characters possess these ability stats in some variation, ranging from 0 to 25. Humanoid characters possess a range from 3 to 18, a number generated by rolling 3 six-sided dice (3d6). Players roll 4d6, ignoring the lowest die, when creating their character's ability stats.

Ability stats help the character's survive. For player characters, an exceptional total must exist for at least two stats, with one being at least 15 and the other being at least 16. It's enough if a player has one gifted stat, a minimum of 17, instead. Because a player character's stats are adjusted due to age or race, it's possible to achieve a number higher than 18. This is acceptable in such cases. Only weak and helpless creatures have stats that are less than 3.

Abilities are important in determining which character class a given character can be — they must have the minimum scores necessary to meet the class requisites.

When characters are tested by events in the game that apply to their ability stats, such as being intelligent enough, wise enough, charismatic enough and so on, they sometimes need to make an ability check.

Ability stats can be drained or augmented by spells, magic items, bonuses due to a character's background and training, and creatures possessed of natural abilities. Whenever a check is made, or a determination of what the ability allows, the present status of that ability always applies.

For example, Nebban, a mage whose strength is ordinarily 9, loses a point of strength due to an encounter with a troglodyte, whose odour drains strength. Nebban is also presently at -2 hit points, which means his base total for all abilities is lowered by 20%. Nebban has a strength of only 6.4 (9 minus 1 minus 1.6) when he needs to make a strength check. If he rolls higher than 6 on the die, he fails the check.

In such cases, the character's ability stats are healed as the character returns to normal hit points and escapes the effects caused by noxious odours or other ability draining effects.

See also,
Player Characters
Primary Attributes