STEP VII: DETERMINE DERIVED ATTRIBUTES

Some of a Player Character's attributes are derived from a player's other choices during character creation.

WOUND THRESHOLD

A character's wound threshold is the number of wounds - physical damage - a character can withstand before getting knocked out. A Player Character's starting wound threshold is determined by adding their species' wound threshold to their Brawn rating (after spending starting XP). After determining this initial value, further increases to a PC's Brawn rating do not increas their wound threshold: wound threshold inprovements are acquired by purchasing talents such as Toughened.

STRAIN THRESHOLD

A characters strain threshold determines how much strain - psychological and mental damage - a character can withstand before becoming stunned, dazed, or incapacitated. A Player Character's starting strain threshold is determined by adding their species' strain threshold to their Willpower rating (after spending starting XP). After determining this initial value, further increases to a PC's Willpower rating do not increase their strain threshold: strain threshold improvements are acquired by purchasing appropriate talents, such as Grit.

DEFENSE

Defense determines how difficult a character is to hit in combat situations, due either to their own training or the protective equipment they employ. Defense is divided into ranged defense and melee defense. A Player Character's default value in each defense rating is zero.

Defense is most commonly gained by wearing armor or by adopting a defensive position in combat (such as taking cover). Some talents also increase one of the character's defense ratings.

SOAK VALUE

Soak value determines how much incoming damage a character can shrug off before being seriously wounded. A character's soak value is subtracted from any incoming damage. Any remaining damage after subtracting soak becomes wounds, and is applied toward the character's wound threshold.

A Player Character's default soak value is equal to their Brawn rating. After this initial value is determined, increases to a PC's Brawn rating do increase their soak value. Additional soak value is most often gained by wearing armor. Some talents, such as Enduring, also increase a character's innate soak value.