Rules - Stats
A Statistic (or Stat) is a number associated with a character that measures their ability in a certain area of application.
Primary Stats cannot be derived from anything else, being the source of all other Statistics. That is in contrast to Derived Stats, which are calculated via formulae from Primary Stats.
The Primary Stats in the D12 System form a ternary tree featuring a trickle down mechanism, and starting with your Level as the root statistic. Your Level then divides into 3 Realms: Body, Mind and Soul; and they combined branch to the 9 Attributes (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA, DIV, FOW, LCK). Finally, the 9 Attributes branch into 27 Skills.
Primary Stat Tree
Level: The root statistic that represents the character's overall power and experience.
Body: The realm of physical capabilities, representing the character's physique.
STR:
Strength is a measure of the power of the
Body. Think punch hard, big muscles, heavy lifting.
Muscles: Raw power that can be impacted in a short burst, e.g. pulling a stuck lever, breaking down an inanimate object, smashing a mug on one's hands.
Stance: How hard it is to move or push one around, how well one can keep their stance, resist to being shoved back.
Lift: How much weight that can be lifted and carried for short periods of times, including oneself (climbing, using ropes, etc).
DEX:
Dexterity is a measure of speed of the
Body. Think reflexes, quickness, agility, precision.
Finesse: Aim, quick fingers, sleight of hand, stealth; delicate movement of the hands and the body; used for the
Aim action.
Evasiveness: Evasion, acrobatics; precise movement of the body; used for the
Dodge action.
CON:
Constitution is a measure of the endurance of the
Body. Think stamina, health, resilience.
Stamina: Breath, how much exertion can be sustained in a short period of time; continued athleticism.
Resilience: Resistance to heat, cold, sickness, poison and disease.
Mind: The realm of mental capabilities, representing your character's intellect.
INT:
Intelligence is a measure of the
Mind's ability to learn, reason, and understand. Think logic, reasoning, and knowledge.
IQ: Ability to learn new information, apply logic, raw intelligence and reasoning power.
Knowledge: Consolidated knowledge and lore about the world and how it works; learned information and academic understanding; "book smarts".
Memory: Short-term memory, ability to recall details and retain information from recent experiences.
WIS:
Wisdom is a measure of the
Mind's ability to perceive and interpret the world. Think perception, awareness, and intuition.
Perception: Active perception, seeing, hearing, sensing, feeling and noticing details in the environment.
Awareness: Alertness, passive perception, attention to details when not paying attention; intuitive awareness of surroundings.
Intuition: Common sense, "street smarts", cunning, instinctive understanding of situations and environments.
CHA:
Charisma is a measure of the
Mind's ability to influence, persuade, inspire, and connect with others, as well as understand emotions (be it your own or others'). Think empathy, magnetism, charm, physical attractiveness.
Speechcraft: Rhetoric, speech, verbal (or written) communication; the art of expressing ideas through language.
Presence: Personal magnetism, body language, physical attractiveness, and non-verbal communication through physical poise.
Empathy: Reading people, understanding emotions and motivations, connecting with others on an emotional level.
Soul: The realm of spiritual capabilities, representing your character's life force, connection to the
Aether and the link to their own physical being.
DIV:
Divinity is a measure of the
Soul's ability to connect with the Aether. It determines the conviction of one's faith and devotion in the unknown and how well one can attune to
Imbued Items.
Devotion: A personal connection to a deity; faith, ability to believe, ask and receive for providence through Prayer.
Aura: The extent and range of the power of your Soul over the Aether (and the material world). Your spiritual presence, as well as your ability to perceive other people's Souls (or influences).
Attunement: General attunement to the Aether, how well external forces can flow and be channeled through one's Soul; conduit to external powers.
FOW:
Force of Will is a measure of the
Soul's ability to resist temptations, vices, and instant gratification. Think willpower, determination, and psychological resilience.
Discipline: Ability to resist fear, urges and temptations, vices and instant gratification, self-control and restraint.
Tenacity: Concentration, ability to ignore pain or hardship or being disturbed and keep going, mental toughness and grit.
Resolve: Resistance to mind control, social manipulation, deceit, charm, and intimidation; fortitude of the mind and mental resilience.
LCK:
Luck is a measure of the
Soul's connection with forces even beyond the
Aether, measuring a character's unexplainable connection with Luck as a concept that appears to escape the realm of reality itself.
Fortune: Personal luck for one's own actions; used for the
Luck Die mechanic.
Karma: Things just don't seem to go well for people who wrong ones with high Karma; used for the
Karmic Resistance reaction.
Serendipity: The Luck for the world itself; an uncanny ability to be favored by external chance and coincidences; synchronism; used for the
Write History action.
More details about how the trickle down (point propagation) and level caps work are detailed below; however a simpler way to explore the system might be to use the Simulator and play around with characters.
Advanced Breakdown of the Stat Tree
How the trickle down works is, for every point you earn on a node past the first, you get to propagate that point to one of the three children. So at Level 1, every single Hero has the same attributes (bar racial, class and feat bonuses of course). But when they level up to 2, they get to propagate to the Body/Mind/Soul tier, and thus make their first attribute choice. On Level 3, you can propagate to the same node as before, doubling down on one of the 3 realms, and getting to propagate again, or you can generalize and pick a second realm to focus on.
Then each node has its modifier computed according to its hierarchy: Level / 4, Realm / 2, and Attributes and Skills are 1:1.
The way modifiers work is that you always roll the most specific check you can, normally a Skill check for skills or an Attribute for core game actions (such as attacks); your modifier on each node is based on its value and the values of the parents. Use the built-in character sheet editor to easily fill up your tree.
The final value of a node (except Skills) is also subject to a Level cap: the self node modifier (before applying any external modifiers) is capped at your current level. That means there are diminishing returns to over-specializing, and players are encouraged to have at least a minimal level of spread.
Derived Stats
Derived Stats are based on formulae over the primary stats.
You have 5 Resource Points that are derived from your stats:
- Heroism Point: Represents a character's heroic potential in the narrative. Each character has a maximum number of Heroism Points equal to their Level value.
- Action Point: Represents the amount of effort a character can expend in a given turn. Each character has 4 AP per round, refilled at the end of their turn, which can be used to perform different Actions.
- Vitality Point: Represents a character's physical ability to keep going during intense situations. They are analogous to Health in other games, but in the D12 System, you only take real damage after you are Incapacitated. A character has a maximum VP equal to 4 + Body modifier.
- Focus Point: Represents a character's mental vigor and ability to focus during intense situations. They are analogous to Mana in other games for Arcane casters, but they are also used by any characters to power special abilities that require focus, mental acuity and concentration. A character has a maximum FP equal to 4 + Mind modifier.
- Spirit Point: Represents a character's morale and spiritual strength. They are a different form of Mana (for non-Arcane powers) or a form of mental stress or morale in other games, but they are also used by any characters to power special abilities. A character has a maximum SP equal to 4 + Soul modifier.
Other derived stats include: