Warhammer: The Rise of Chaos
Six characteristics help define characters and creatures in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. The three characteristics that define the physical make-up of a character are Strength, Toughness, and
Agility. The three characteristics that define the mental make-up of a character are ntelligence, Willpower, and Fellowship.
Strength: Defines a character’s brawn and physical strength. Strength is used to determine the outcome of a number of physical skills and tasks, such as climbing, breaking down a door, or hitting hard enough with a melee weapon to inflict damage.
Toughness: Defines a character’s endurance, constitution, and vigour. Toughness is used to shake off damage, recover from injuries, and resist the effects of toxins or the ravages of disease.
Agility: Defines a character’s dexterity, coordination, and gross motor control. Agility is used for a variety of physical skills and tasks, such as balance, stealth, picking locks, and the ability to wield ranged weapons with accuracy.
Intelligence: Defines a character’s general intellect, reasoning, and powers of deduction. Intelligence is used for a variety of academic and knowledge-based skills, and is important for arcane spellcasting.
Willpower: Defines a character’s nerve, discipline, and force of will. Willpower is used to resist effects such as fear, remain disciplined under trying conditions, and is important to controlling the Winds of Magic or generating favour with a deity.
Fellowship: Defines a character’s general charisma and ability to apply their personality. Fellowship is used for a variety of social skills and actions, such as charm and guile, as well as to beseech the gods when invoking divine blessings.
These six characteristics are represented by a single number, called the characteristic’s rating. The rating indicates how many blue characteristic (eight-sided) dice form the starting dice pool for checks based on that characteristic. Characteristic ratings can range from one (extremely low) to eight or higher. A characteristic rating of three is an average rating for a human.
Some characters may have fortune dice associated with a characteristic, showing a racial benefit or slight advantage with that characteristic. While these fortune dice are added to dice pools relying on the characteristic, these dice do not count as part of the characteristic rating. Fortune dice associated with a characteristic are represented by a six-sided white cube.
The characteristic rating is also used to reflect the magnitude and impact of the characteristic outside of its use in forming a dice pool. For example, a character’s Toughness rating indicates how many wounds a character can withstand, while a wizard’s Willpower rating governs how much arcane power he can safely manage while channeling the Winds of Magic.
Unless a special rule or ability states otherwise, when a player builds a dice pool for an action, he starts with a number of characteristic dice equal to the characteristic rating. To this he adds any fortune dice associated with that characteristic.