Stats & Attributes¶

"A strong arm and a quick eye will carry you far. But I've buried plenty of strong, quick fools who never thought to ask whether they could hold their nerve. Know what you are made of - all of it - before you wager your life on it." - Master Halvard, arms-trainer of the Iron Yard

Your character is built on fourteen attributes. They aren't decoration on the sheet - every one of them feeds something concrete: how hard you hit, how much you can take, who acts first in a fight, how reliably your skills land, and how much HP and mana you carry.

This article is the reference for what each attribute does, which classes care about which, and how they all flow into the dice. The numbers move around as you grow, but the direction never changes: more of an attribute is always better at the thing it governs.

For how those rolls resolve at the table, see Skills & Training. For how attributes play out in a fight, see Combat 101.

At a glance¶

The fourteen sort into four families. Here's what each governs:

Attribute	Family	Governs
Strength	Physical	Melee damage, carry weight
Constitution	Physical	Max HP, fatigue, poison resistance
Dexterity	Physical	Accuracy, critical hits, lockpicking, crafting
Agility	Physical	Dodging, climbing, acrobatics, escaping melee
Speed	Physical	Turn order, fleeing, travel pace
Intelligence	Mental	Spell power, identifying, recipes
Perception	Mental	Spotting hidden things, ranged accuracy, tracking
Willpower	Mental	Mana pool, resisting fear and charm
Wits	Mental	Initiative edge, counter-attacks
Charisma	Social	NPC opinion, persuasion, prices
Guile	Social	Stealth, pickpocketing, deception
Spirit	Mystical	Mana regeneration, enchanting, spell defense
Faith	Mystical	Healing power, divine favor
Luck	Mystical	Critical chance, loot quality, lucky breaks

Every attribute is rated on the same scale, from Abysmal up through Average, Good, Exceptional, and on to Superhuman at the very top. The sheet shows you the word, not just the number, so you can read a build at a glance.

The Physical attributes¶

These are the body - how hard you swing, how much punishment you shrug off, and how fast you move.

Strength - raw power. It drives your melee damage and sets how much you can carry before you're overloaded. Warriors and Paladins lean on it hardest; it's the difference between a sword that bruises and one that breaks bone.
Constitution - your toughness. It's the single biggest input to your maximum HP - a hardy Constitution means a much deeper health bar - and it governs how quickly you tire and how well you resist poison. Every front-line build wants Constitution; it's what lets you stay standing long enough for the rest of your kit to matter. (See Wounds & Healing for the HP bar versus lasting wounds.)
Dexterity - precision. It improves your accuracy (your chance to land a blow), feeds your critical-hit chance, and governs fine-handed work: lockpicking and crafting. Rogues and Tinkerers live and die by it.
Agility - nimbleness. It powers dodging, climbing and acrobatics, and it's the attribute you roll to break away from a melee when you want to run - a high Agility versus your foe's Speed is what gets you clear. Rogues and Monks prize it.
Speed - quickness off the mark. It decides turn order in combat (faster characters act first - see below), how well you can flee a fight, and your travel pace on the road. It's the Wanderer's signature attribute.

The Mental attributes¶

These are the mind - magic, awareness, nerve, and quick thinking.

Intelligence - reasoning and learning. It's the primary driver of spell power for arcane casters, and it governs identifying unknown items and learning recipes. Mages, Scholars, Herbalists and Tinkerers all want it.
Perception - awareness. It's what lets you spot hidden things - traps, caches, a lie in someone's eyes - and it sharpens ranged accuracy and tracking. Rangers and Herbalists lean on it, and it pairs with the right skills to notice what others walk past.
Willpower - mental fortitude. It sets the size of your mana pool (alongside Spirit) and steels you to resist fear and charm. Mages, Monks, Clerics and Necromancers all care: it's both the fuel tank for magic and the wall against having your own mind turned against you.
Wits - fast thinking under pressure. It gives an edge on initiative and feeds your chance to counter-attack when an opening appears. It's the attribute that turns a good fighter into a dangerous one.

These are how you move through people - the honest way and the crooked way.

Charisma - presence and likeability. It shapes NPC opinion of you, powers persuasion, and gets you better prices when you barter. Bards build their whole kit on it; anyone who wants to talk their way through the world should invest. It even tilts how warmly people respond to your advances.
Guile - cunning and misdirection. It powers stealth, pickpocketing and deception - the underworld attribute. Rogues and Bards both want it: where Charisma wins people over, Guile gets past them.

The Mystical attributes¶

These are the subtler powers - the wellspring of magic, the favor of the divine, and plain good fortune.

Spirit - your connection to magical energy. It governs mana regeneration, sharpens enchanting, and stiffens your defense against hostile spells. Mages and Scholars draw on it for arcane work; Necromancers lean on it hardest of all.
Faith - devotion. It's the engine of healing power and divine favor, which makes a believer's blessings land harder and cost less. Clerics and Paladins are built around Faith - it's what turns a prayer into a mended wound on the battlefield.
Luck - fortune's thumb on the scale. It nudges your critical chance, improves loot quality, and buys you the occasional lucky break. No class is built purely on Luck, but the Wanderer courts it, and a fortunate roll at character creation can quietly unlock advantages others never find.

How attributes feed the dice¶

Attributes don't act alone. They flow into four things you'll feel every session.

Skill checks (roll-over d100)¶

Most actions in Ghelmyon resolve on a d100 - a hundred-sided roll against a threshold. The system is roll-over: you want to roll higher than the number. The relevant attribute and your skill both lower the threshold, so a higher attribute makes the check easier to pass.

So when an action leans on an attribute - picking a lock (Dexterity), spotting an ambush (Perception), staring down a thug (Willpower) - a stronger attribute means a wider margin of success and fewer botches. Skill rank does the heavy lifting; the attribute is the thumb that tips a close roll your way. Full detail lives in Skills & Training.

HP and mana¶

Two attributes quietly set the size of your two big resource bars:

Constitution is the main driver of your maximum HP. A hardy body simply has more to give before you go down.
Willpower (with help from Spirit) sets your mana pool, and Spirit governs how fast that mana comes back.

This is why a glass-cannon Mage with thin Constitution can out-damage a Warrior and still drop in two hits, and why a caster who neglects Willpower runs dry mid-fight. See Magic & Spellcasting for the mana side and Wounds & Healing for the HP side.

Combat turn order¶

When a fight starts, characters act in order of Speed - the fastest goes first. A clear Speed advantage can even earn you an extra attack, and Wits sharpens your initiative further. The flip side: anything that drags your Speed down - a leg wound, a chilling effect, an overloaded pack - can cost you the initiative and hand it to your enemy. Moving first is often worth more than hitting harder.

Critical hits and getting away¶

Two more combat moments ride on attributes: your critical-hit chance climbs with Dexterity (and your weapon skill), while Luck gives it a further nudge. And when you decide a fight isn't worth it, breaking out of melee pits your Agility against your opponent's Speed - fast, nimble characters slip away; slow ones get caught.

Which class wants which¶

Every class has a couple of key attributes it leans on - the ones worth prioritizing when you roll or spend. Character creation flags these for you with a star rating so you can tell a great roll for your class from a wasted one.

Class	Key attributes
Warrior	Strength, Constitution
Rogue	Dexterity, Agility, Guile
Ranger	Dexterity, Perception
Scholar	Intelligence, Spirit
Bard	Charisma, Guile
Herbalist	Intelligence, Perception
Mage	Intelligence, Spirit, Willpower
Monk	Agility, Willpower, Constitution
Cleric	Faith, Willpower
Necromancer	Spirit, Willpower
Tinkerer	Intelligence, Dexterity
Paladin	Strength, Faith, Constitution
Wanderer	Speed, Perception, Luck

Your class and your race both shift your attributes at creation - a class nudges its key attributes up (and sometimes trims a dump stat), and races bring their own tilt. The starting set you roll is a foundation, not a cage: attributes grow with use over a career.

A non-key attribute isn't wasted - a Warrior with a little Charisma still talks his way past a guard now and then. The key attributes just tell you where your build's spine is.

Quick reference¶

I want to…	Raise this
Hit harder in melee	Strength
Carry more loot	Strength
Survive longer / more HP	Constitution
Shrug off poison	Constitution
Land more hits / pick locks	Dexterity
Score more critical hits	Dexterity (and Luck)
Dodge and climb / slip a fight	Agility
Act first in combat	Speed (and Wits)
Flee faster / travel quicker	Speed
Cast stronger spells	Intelligence
Identify items and learn recipes	Intelligence
Notice traps and hidden things	Perception
Shoot straighter at range / track	Perception
Carry more mana	Willpower (with Spirit)
Resist fear and charm	Willpower
Counter-attack more	Wits
Win people over / get better prices	Charisma
Sneak, pickpocket, lie	Guile
Regenerate mana faster / enchant	Spirit
Heal harder / earn divine favor	Faith
Find better loot / catch a break	Luck