Originally posted by Danny
Well, I haven't entirely digested the Basic Compendium, but my friends and I are trying to get a good grasp of how things work before we begin playing this Saturday.
What I can't seem to find, so far, is where your characteristics factor into your rolls.
Like, does the linked characteristic work in as a related ability modifier, or what? I'd really appreciate help on this.

Thanks in advance, gentlemen.

No problem Danny! This isn't a stupid question at all, it's a great question to ask before you guys jump into combat!

The function of Characteristics as they relate to combat can be found mentioned and detailed in various areas within the Basics, Character Creation, and Combat chapters as noted below...

Characteristics factor into combat rolls in these ways:

• Characteristics are the basis upon which all combat-related skills derive their Ranking (the number of dice you roll). This I'm sure you eaither already know at this point, or will find out soon enough as you create your characters, spend more points on your Characteristics (see the first paragraph of Characteristics pg. 99), and then gain and "buy up" your Skills. All Skill Rankings are initially based on your Characteristic Rankings, and can then be bought up above that base (if desired) by expending more points...
  
• At times during a combat a GM may call upon a player to make a simple Characteristic Roll (a infliction of poison or a huge amount of damage might require a Vigor Roll from the victim to determine the outcome or effects of an attack,...a simple Perception Roll might be needed to notice some new opponent entering into the fray or a secret weapon being drawn, an Agility Roll may be required when someone needs to leap or run during combat without specifically using an Animal Ability if the action is being opposed, etc.). See pg. 37 for more details.
  
• In certain (and possibly rare) combat situations, the GM might consider allowing certain Characteristic Rolls to be used as Complementary Skill rolls to certain combat skills and attacks (see Complementary Skills, pg. 40). Care should be taken when allowing this so that multiple dice rolls for every attack don't get out of hand and cause the combat to come to a slow grind. We have purposefully left the use of Characteristics as Complementary Skill rolls vague to insure that GMs have the opportunity to allow or disallow them as they wish. If you are the GM, and you are considering letting your players use Characteristics as Complementary rolls to attack skills, I'd advise running a few combats first to test the results to insure that the general effect on combat as a whole is something that you can stomach... Believe me when I say that extreme butt-kicking would happen on BOTH sides if you encourage it, but combat might become waaaayyyyyy slooooowwwwwww...
  
• Vigor and Will play a VERY important role in combat, since they are used to determine the current Stamina of all characters (see the simple formula for calculating one's Stamina under Combat Basics on pg. 215). If either Vigor or Will are affected by events happening during combat (if they are either raised or lowered by the effects of an attack or some other event) then Stamina will be affected as well, even if the event doesn't actually cause Stamina loss on its own.
  
• Lastly, Characteristics that a player chooses to "buy up" with Story Points once the game has begun (see the fourth paragraph under Characteristics, pg. 99) will cause any associated Skill and Animal Ability Rankings (combat or otherwise) to raise by the same number of points.
  

Characteristics don't really act as modifiers to their related Skills in combat or at any other time, they are simply the basis from which their Rankings are derived... For modifiers to Skills and Animal Abilities, see pg. 34 for a list of Difficulty Modifiers and Bonus Modifiers and the number of dice they affect.

Hopefully this helps! Let us know!

Scottie

You got the gist, Danny.

When you buy a Skill by paying the cost listed to the left of the / (in the case of Martial Arts, the cost is 8 ), you automatically get the Linked Characteristic as your Ranking in that Skill.

Since Martial Arts is Linked to Agility, if your Agility Ranking is 5 then you get a ranking of 5 in your Martial Arts when you first purchase it (for 8 points).

If you wanted to raise your Martial Arts without raising your Agility, then you'd pay the cost listed to the right of the / (in the case of Martial Arts, the cost would be 5) to raise the Ranking by 1.

So in the above example, 5 points would raise the Martial Arts Ranking from 5 to 6. Every 5 additional points will continue to raise the Ranking of Martial Arts by 1 (up to the Maximum Attribute Ranking listed in the Power Level, which in the case of Talented is 6).

Hope that helps!

Glad we could help Danny!

Everyone has different ways of reading over material to try to soak up detailed information, so don't worry about it if things don't seem to immediately come to your attention... We restructured Character Creation several times in an attempt to make the information as easily available as possible, but there's just no way to match each individual's reading styles...

One of the best ways to make sure you are covering all the essential bases of Character Creation is to carefully read the six steps described on pages 47 and 48. These steps summarize everything a player needs to do to build their character, and leads them to the appropriate pages where more detailed information about each topic can be found. After all the steps are listed, each of the topic sections the steps refer to are fully detailed, including sections describing Story Points and their use, Animal Templates, Characteristics, Animal Abilities, Talents, Professions, Skills, Advantages, and Drawbacks.

The entries I think you are looking for that mention Characteristics and Skills (and the fact that Skill Rankings are derived from the Characteristic Ranking you assign) are to be found on page 48 of the chapter on Character Creation, in Step 3 (Rank your Characteristics and Animal Abilities) and Step 4 (Choose Your Talents, Profession, and Skills). Here the rules describe how all character Attributes (which include Skills) are linked to one or more of the Characteristics from which they derive their base Rankings, and guide you to check out the Characteristics section of the chapter on page 99 for further details. And under the second and third paragraphs of Step 4 we describe how Skills are linked to the Characteristics and can be raised above them, after which we guide you to page 147 where we describe the details of purchasing Skills, both initially, as well as beyond the base number derived from the Characteristic Ranking...

Check those out and feel free to ask us about anything else you need to know...

We're here for ya!

Scottie

Oh!!! I see,...you're wanting to know where it specifically says that a Skill's starting Ranking is equal to the Ranking of the Characteristic it is linked to at the time it is purchased... Sorry about the misunderstanding and any vagueness on our part...

There are two different locations this is mentioned using that essential wording in a more clarified manner:

Referencing the Skill List on page 150 describes the list itself and tells the reader what the numbers in the Skill List mean, and further explains that, when looking at any Skill's base cost, this is what "a player pays in order to get a Ranking in the Skill equal to the Skill's Characteristic Link. That Ranking determines the number of Action Dice the player gets to use every time he uses that Skill".

At the end of Character Creation on page 207 begins a small section called Filling Out the Character Sheet... On page 208 (where step 11 describes the Skills area of the sheet) it states that "The starting Rank of any Skill included with your Profession Template is the same as its Characteristic Link, seen in parenthesis to the right of the listed Skill on the Character Sheet". It then continues to describe changing the Rankings of Skills by buying them up, choosing other Skills, Basic Starting Skills, etc. This is a really great section to read when players are first filling out their sheets, because it attempts to break down the process in the simplest of terms, while also giving you most of the "nitty-gritty" mechanics for it all in one place...

Sorry again for any confusion...

Scottie

We totally understand wanting to jump right in a get that stuff done...

Trying to plan for a game in merely a few days for an RPG system you've just purchased can be TOUGH, even with a fairly easy system!

Worry not, you are asking all the right questions, and we certainly don't mind answering them and clarifying anything you need to know to make your job easier in this short amount of time...

Just let us know if there's any more help or advice we can give... I'm preparing to run a session for the on-going game for my group this coming Sunday myself! Even now I'm trying to turn the rough outline for the evening's events into a more cohesive and detail-filled set of cool stuff for them to experience...

The hardest part for me is often keeping good track of all the uniquely-named NPC's they are constantly dealing with (as well as all the intrigues that implies)... They are currently adventuring on the island of Klinráh, and the type of crazy plots that can happen there is enough to make one's head spin!

Good luck and let us know how things go...

Scottie