STEP VII: DETERMINE DERIVED ATTRIBUTES

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

WOUND THRESHOLD

A character's wound threshold represents, basically, how many wounds - how much physical damage - a character can withstand before becoming incapacitated. A character's starting wound threshold is determined by adding the wound threshold for their species to their Brawn rating (after spending starting XP). After determining this initial value, further increases to a character's Brawn rating do not increase their wound threshold - wound threshold improvements are acquired by purchasing talents, such as Toughened.

STRAIN THRESHOLD

A character's strain threshold determines how much strain - psychological and mental damage - a character can withstand before becoming stunned, dazed, or incapacitated. A character's starting strain threshold is determined by adding the strain threshold for their species to their Willpower rating (after spending starting XP). After determining this initial value, further increases to a character'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, either as a product of the PC's own training or the protective equipment they employ. Defense is divided into ranged defense and melee defense. A character's default value in each defense rating is zero.

Defense is most commonly gained by wearing armor or by adopting a defensive postition in combat (such as gaining cover). Some talents may also increase one of a 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 character's default soak value is equal to their Brawn rating. After determining this initial value, subsequent increases to a character's Brawn rating do increase their soak value. An addition to soak value is most often gained by wearing armor. Some talents. such as Enduring, may also increase a character's innate soak value.