Character Stats

Stats in Dragonpact are divided into two broad categories: Core Stats and Derived Stats.

 

Core Stats

All characters have a set of Core Stats that determine their overall power and progress through their adventuring career and path. The Core Stats in question are:

  • Strength, your essence of physical force. Strength determines musculature, physical power, and kinetic weight. The force behind a hammer blow and the ability to lift and push. Strength measures your ability to withstand hits.
  • Agility, your essence of speed. Agility demonstrates quickness and deftness of hand. The accuracy of an arrow and the deadliness of a dagger. Agility measures your ability to evade hits.
  • Intelligence, your essence of mind. Intelligence is your reason and logic, your wit, and a measure of your accumulated knowledge. Your skill in the esoteric sources of magic, Arcane and Eldritch, is represented by your intelligence. It also powers a wide variety of skills and abilities.
  • Will, your essence of soul. Will is your measure of experience, emotional presence, and connection to the world around you. Your skill with the divine schools of magic, Draconic and Wild, is improved by Will. It also boosts your resistance to magical effects.
  • Vigor, your essence of life. Vigor represents your fortitude and heartiness, your constitution and resilience. Vigor most commonly used to ward off special status effects and defend against harm. It also directly bolsters your Health and Stamina.

The specific benefits your core stats provide as they increase in value are as follows:

Stat Benefits
Strength
  • Your Armor increases by 1 for each Strength level.
  • You begin with a carrying capacity of 10, and you gain +5 carrying capacity for each point of Strength.
  • More powerful equipment requires higher Strength to use.
  • Most weapons allow you to add your Strength value to damage.
Agility
  • You begin with no bonus to Evasion and Accuracy, and you gain +1 to both for each point of Agility.
  • More powerful weapons sometimes require higher Agility to use.
  • Certain weapons allow you to add your Agility value to damage.
Intelligence
  • Each time your Intelligence increases, you gain a number of Skill Points equal to your new Intelligence value.
  • Some items require higher Intelligence to use.
  • Certain Arcane and Eldritch spells allow you to factor your Intelligence value into their effects.
Will
  • You begin with no inherent bonus to your elemental Resistances, and you gain +1 to all of them for each point of Will.
  • Certain magical weapons allow you to add your Will value to their damage.
  • Certain Draconic and Wild spells allow you to factor your Will value into their effects.
Vigor
  • You begin with 2 Health, and you gain 1 Health for each point of Vigor.
  • You begin with 2 Stamina, and you gain 1 Stamina for each point of Vigor.

Aside from the passive benefits listed above, many abilities and game mechanics will require you to make rolls associated with your Core Stats. For example, you may be required to “roll Agility” to determine whether an ability affects an enemy, or you might have to “roll Vigor” to end a poison effect on you. At such times, you will roll a different die depending on the value of your relevant Core Stat according to the following table:

Value Die Size
0 Cannot roll
1 d4
2 d6
3 d8
4 d10
5 d12

Note that all characters gain a passive bonus to all stat rolls at the following character levels: 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18.

In the event that you’re required to roll a Core Stat with a value of 0, your result will automatically be 0 (barring any bonuses or penalties). Once the result is determined, you’ll compare that to a Target value. Rolls always win ties. In the event that the situation calls for an opposing roll such as in player-versus-player combat, ties require a reroll from both participants.

As you advance in your adventuring career, you will gain the ability to increase your Core Stats at regular intervals. Beginning as a new character at Level 1, you will increase two Core Stats from 0 to 1. Subsequently at every odd character level, you can increase one of your Core Stats by 1 up to a maximum of 5. You may choose to max out your primary Core Stat by Level 9 to take advantage of the power it brings, or you might find it more advantageous to spread your Core Stat increases around to qualify for strong classes, abilities, and equipment. The choice is yours.

That said, you may not choose Vigor to increase in this way. At Level 1 and again at Levels 5, 9, 13, and 17, your Vigor is automatically increased by 1. Vigor represents an extremely potent, character-defining progression in the form of additional Health to survive and Stamina to power your actions, and so each adventurer grows slowly over time on their own when it comes to their vitality and constitution. This process takes time and cannot be rushed, and so you can’t choose to manually invest in your Vigor. Patience will reward.

 

Derived Stats

Your Core Stats will help determine a great number of other things that your character will rely on as they delve and destroy. These are referred to as Derived Stats, and they’re each derived from your Core Stats. Many Derived Stats automatically increase as your Core Stats improve while others don’t take any of your Core Stats into account — These are still considered Derived Stats, however, as they can receive bonuses from items, spells, abilities, and other sources.

Derived Stat Description
Accuracy When your attack has a chance of being evaded, you’ll roll Agility and add your Accuracy. This is compared to the target’s Evasion, and on a success, your attack hits and damage is then dealt.

  • Base Accuracy is equal to your Agility value plus any bonuses from your classes as noted in their Class Table.
  • Spells, weapons and other items can offer Accuracy bonuses.
Armor Armor reduces damage taken. If the damage of an attack, technique, or spell is higher than your Armor, it inflicts a wound.

  • Base Armor is equal to your Strength value plus any bonuses from your classes as noted in their Class Table.
  • Armor is increased by wearing stronger equipment.
  • You can use the Guard action to temporarily improve your Armor.
  • When you Block or Parry an attack, your Armor is increased against that attack.
  • All damage is reduced by Armor regardless of where it comes from — a fireball has to deal more damage than your Armor to inflict a wound just the same as a slash with a sword would have to.
  • Armor always reduces damage last — Resistances and other forms of damage reduction are factored in before Armor.
Defense Defense provides characters the opportunity to negate effects that might otherwise apply to them from enemy attacks and spells. Each Core Stat is tied to its own Defense that is rolled when called for.

  • Abilities, spells, and items may grant bonuses to either all Defenses or certain Defenses.
  • All Defenses increase by 1 at character levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20.
Evasion When you use the Evade reaction to negate an attack, roll Agility and add your Evasion. This is compared to the target’s Accuracy, and on a success, the attack is evaded and prevented from hitting.

  • Base Accuracy is equal to your Agility value plus any bonuses from your classes as noted in their Class Table.
  • Spells, weapons and other items can offer Accuracy bonuses.
  • You can use the Guard action to temporarily improve your Evasion.
Health Health is a measure of how much punishment you can take before going down. Mechanically speaking, if the number of wounds you have equals or exceeds your Health, you are downed and potentially dying. Bear in mind that your Health isn’t what changes during combat — your number of wounds is what accrues as you take more damage than you can withstand. It’s recommended that you use dice to track your number of wounds. A dedicated red d20 (or another color different from your other tracking dice) is sufficient for most characters.

  • Base Health is equal to 2 plus your Vigor value plus any bonuses from your classes as noted in their Class Table.
Mana Mana is what powers spells. Mana, unlike other Derived Stats, is not dependent on your Core Stats. As Mana values change often during combat casting spells every turn, it’s recommended that you track your current Mana value using a pair of blue d10s (or another color different from your other tracking dice).

  • Base Mana is equal to all bonuses from your class levels as noted in their Class Table.
Resistance There is a Resistance for each primary element — Fire, Air, Water, Holy, and Shadow. It reduces damage from that element by an amount equal to the value. Blunt and sharp damage, categorized as physical damage types, do not have an associated Resistance (though other sources can reduce damage of those types). If a Resistance is negative and a unit takes damage of an associated element, that damage is doubled regardless of the actual negative value of the Resistance. When calculating damage taken, factor in Resistance first and then reduce it by Armor.

  • Your base Resistance to each element is equal to your Will Value plus any bonuses from Abilities and other sources.
  • You can use the Guard action to temporarily improve your Resistances.
Stamina Stamina allows you to act in combat. Nearly everything you do requires you to spend Stamina to power it, from moving to using Abilities. It’s recommended to track your Stamina using a dedicated green d8 (or another color different from your other tracking dice), as this number will change often during battle.

  • Stamina is equal to 2 plus your Vigor value.
  • Unlike other Derived Stats, there is no way to permanently increase your Stamina. There may be ways to improve it temporarily through spells and abilities, however.