Attributes are determined first by the character's race, and they'll start either as 0 or a negative number. For instance, an ogre starts with -7 in intelligence, while a gnome begins with -7 in physique. This doesn't mean an ogre can't be intelligent, but they'll need to work harder.
The luck of dice rolls is the next determining factor, which brings us to attribute development.
Attribute development during creation, and every class level beyond, dice rolls determine your character's strengths and weaknesses, starting with your chosen race and class; although class doesn't directly relate to attributes, its class abilities do.
When players begin character creation, and when your character levels up, players will roll a six-sided die (d6) 9 times. After you roll, pick the seven highest numbers and discard the two lowest.
Next, you will assign each of these seven numbers to a different attribute. The attributes are:
Note:
Fortitude reduces the duration and impact of ongoing negative effects—such as bleeding, poisons, curses, hexes, and other persistent afflictions—after the initial damage has occurred. In contrast, Resilience helps mitigate or prevent initial damage; if it fails to do so completely, it can still prevent that damage from being fatal.
Each of the seven assigned numbers now represents the attributes’ scores AND the number of points that can be spent on talents, skills or traits aligned to the attribute, or KEPT as the attributes score.
TST costs vary, and are cheap in the early branches of its tree (talents, skills or traits), but the cost inflates as you advance in said trees. Some TST cost 1 point, others 2, and others 10. It's up to the player to decide where they want their characters to excel. Do you want trait buffs(?), do you want to craft enchanting gear to level your way to the top(?), do you want to expand your chances of dice rolls and wear special equipment through your adventures(?), or somewhere in between all of it?
Your score is the remainder of the number you've invested into TST.
So at level 1, if you had 6 points in the attribute Physique, you could spend all six, in any order of TST, but you’d now have 0 points in that attribute, so you'd need to restock points there to spend them at the next level of progression, level 2. However, it's suggested to keep points in your attributes of interest because between development their score works as a prerequisite, and also works as an adjustment to rolls.
Attributes represent your character’s innate strengths and weaknesses. There are seven attributes, each starting at a value set by your character’s race (either zero or a negative number). During character creation, you roll dice to determine your starting scores for each attribute.
Your attribute score serves two purposes:
Spending attribute points:
As you buy TSTs during character creation or level-up, you spend points from your attribute score. Your attribute score decreases as you spend points. Keep in mind, some abilities, equipment, or skills require a minimum score in their related attribute, so balance your spending accordingly.
Rolling for attributes:
You roll for attributes at character creation and again at every class level-up. At each level-up, you re-roll your attributes in the same way as at character creation, assigning your new results to your seven attributes and replacing your previous scores (and spendable points).