Attributes – Eschalon: Book I

Eschalon: Book I defines each character through eight Attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Speed, Intelligence, Wisdom, Perception, and Concentration. During character creation, you’re allowed to re-roll these stats as many times as you’d like (with the values always landing between 7 and 14). and then you’re allowed to spend 15 more points however you want. There isn’t a maximum score, so you can min-max to your heart’s content.

The eight Attributes are described below.

Strength

Strength is a measure of your character’s physical power: his ability to lift and carry weight as well as the maximum force he can deliver when attacking. Nearly all of your character’s physical abilities are augmented by Strength in some way, including Toxin Resistance.

Dexterity

Dexterity is a measure of steadiness, accuracy, hand-eye coordination, balance, and grace in physical activity. Dexterity is critical in your character’s ToHit rating and his base Armor Rating, as well as skills such as using Bows, Thrown Weapons, and Picking Locks.

Endurance

Endurance is a measure of how well your character can endure physical trauma, poisons, diseases and fatigue. It is the critical foundation of your character’s Maximum Hit Points and all Resistance scores, as well as his Hit Point regeneration rate.

Speed

Speed is a measure of how quickly your character is able to perform actions. The higher your character’s Speed is, the faster he can swing a melee weapon (thus increasing maximum deliverable damage) and the lower his base Armor Rating is because he is more able to quickly evade an oncoming attack.

Intelligence

Intelligence is a measure of your character’s ability to understand and retain information, as well as his logistic skills. Intelligence also augments Elemental Resistance and your character’s ability to identify unknown items. For magick users, Intelligence contributes to the number of Mana Points gained each level.

Wisdom

Wisdom is a measure of your character’s insight, common sense and quality of judgment, as well as general cognitive abilities. Wisdom augments the magickal skill of Divination, as well as Disease Resistance and some defensive stats. Wisdom is also the only attribute that can protect your character against cursings. For Healers, Wisdom contributes to the number of Mana Points gained each level.

Perception

Perception is the ability to sense, channel and utilize the arcane energies that exist below the surface of observable reality. In its slightest form, Perception also affects awareness and intuition. Perception represents your character’s ability to perform acts of magick and divine channeling and is the basis for all maximum Mana Points, Magick Resistance and Mana Point regeneration rate, as well as your character’s natural ability to spot hidden items.

Concentration

Concentration is a measure of your character’s ability to maintain attention and mental focus, especially while distressed. It is often considered the mental version of Endurance. It augments many different skills and stats that require strong mental focus and as such it is a critical attribute to develop for every character, regardless of his specialization.