Aptitudes are used to resolve contests between characters, or gauge how well they perform when attempting difficult tasks or in risky situations like combat. Characters get a set number of points that they can allocate or earn for each aptitude, making them better at that skill and more likely to succeed. 

USING APTITUDE IS OPTIONAL,
but recommended if you like adding a bit of surprise to your encounters!

The major aptitudes are:

Aptitudes are not the end-all be-all of a character's abilities. They can provide a quick gauge for where a character's skills lie, and can add a bit of fun rng inspiration to the outcomes of events. But it would not make sense for a wolf of any Agility rating to survive falling from a 50ft cliff onto sharp rocks unscathed, or for an Arynian Master Vicar to fail an Insight roll and somehow not have ever heard of the One. A character with max Aura cannot simply mind-control others. A wolf might need to roll Agility when attempting to climb a tree, but a squirrel would take to climbing naturally. When used, failures and successes should take into account the context and characters involved, and play out in a believable manner.

Aptitudes are built in two ways - natural skill and experience. 

A certain number of natural skill points are available based on the age of the character and are allocated by you, the character owner. A few more points in each aptitude can be earned through activity with your character. 

Natural Skill (Base Points)

• At each age milestone, you have a different amount of free points available to spend on whichever aptitudes you want. The maximum that you can allocate into each aptitude also varies with age.

  • Points do not stack. Pups have 8 starting points total and Juveniles have 22 starting points total.

• You can reorganize your stats when you age up and whenever you feel it's appropriate for the character. But if you are roleplaying or collaborating with other people, you shouldn't, for example, rearrange points to max your Strength right before before a fight, and then change them to max out Aura before a big speech, and then to Agility before a race, etc. to try to be the best at everything all the time. Be fair to others!

• You can hold points in reserve if you want to keep your character on the weaker end of the spectrum or haven't decided what their skills should be, yet!

Experience (Bonus Points)

• At any age, you can depict your character, through any artistic medium, doing something related to an aptitude to gain another point in that aptitude.

  • You can level up Might, for example, by showing your character doing things like sparring, lifting heavy things, fighting, etc. 

• You can gain 6 extra points at most for each aptitude except Heart, which cannot be improved beyond natural skill.

  • This means the absolute maximum Might for an Adult is 16, and for a Pup is 8.

•  High levels of Renown provide the following additional bonus to Aura (giving it a higher max potential score than other skills):

  • • Well Known + 1

    • Established +2

    • Celebrated/Notorious +3

Generally, you decide for yourself or with your RP partner(s) when you feel a challenge is significant enough for your character to need a check, and which aptitude they will roll for.

If you have a specific plot outcome in mind already, and know that you want your character to, for example, lose a fight, you don't have to roll, you can just do it! If you think they are experienced enough hunting to not struggle taking down deer, you can just let them succeed at hunting deer. 

Rolls are mostly for when you don't have a specific outcome planned, and want the excitement of an rng result to inspire your next step. They're also useful when you have a really strong guy who's trying to fight someone else's really strong guy and you can't decide between yourselves which of your characters should beat the other to a pulp.

• When you've decided your character is faced with a meaningful challenge they could potentially fail at and want to roll for it, pick which aptitude is most appropriate to apply to what your character is trying to do. For example:

  • If they're practicing medicine, it might be Insight. 

  • If they're scared and resisting the urge to run away, it might be Grit. 

  • In a fight, if they're trying to overpower their enemy - Might may be appropriate, but if they're trying to dodge an attack or nip at a foes heels then Agility may be more relevant.

• Roll RNG for a number between 1-20. Their aptitude score will influence the outcome as follows:

While using Heart and the injury roller at all are optional...

The Injury Roller, especially for 2nd/3rd injuries, includes the potential for death or permanent disability. If you plan to exclude any potential roll results, make sure everyone involved knows before using the system for your encounter.

And...

If you do decide use Heart in an RP with other people, you must also use the recovery system to recover from lost Heart or injuries you receive in the encounter. Be fair to others and play by the same rules, the consequences are part of the challenge!