Attributes

Attributes are a bears characteristics. Lower numbers in an attribute means that when they must use that aspect of themselves they are more likely to end up in trouble. On the flip side, higher numbers in an attribute can allow your character to things they never thought possible. Attributes come in 4 categories: Core Attributes, Exploration Attributes, Profession Attributes, and Summary Attributes. All of these act a little differently during character creation and leveling up.

Core Attributes

Core attributes make up the main 6 traits that a character can be defined by. During character creation, all core attributes start with a 1, except the stats under a bear's War Pattern and Casting Style, which start at 2. The player can then assign 3 extra attribute points across their 6 Core Attributes. Each time they level up afterwards, they may assign 1 more attribute point to one of their 6 Core Attributes. The Core Attributes consist of the following:

STR - Strength is not how buff they are, but how much they can push the strength of their husk to its limits. To be physically strong is to be smart enough to find the proper methods of exerting force, and the proper capacity to maximize the amount of force ones husk can exert. STR measures these characteristics, and can be thought of as a characters ability to physically push, pull, damage, and throw the world around them.

SKL - Skill is your character's ability to use their mind to its full calculating potential. SKL mainly represents a character's ability to think quickly and effectively for ways to solve their problems. It's not book smarts, nor is it wisdom and experience. Skill is ones raw ability to process and apply information.

DEX - Dexterity represents how well one can handle their own body. How it twists and moves. It's speed, it's fine movements, it's broad elegance. That is DEX in it's purist form. 

BRV - Brave is how well a character can swallow their fear and jump head first into certain danger. Fear of death, fear of risk, and fear of failure. It's knowing that dread and uncertainty that takes hold when facing oblivion, and being able to face it head on.

SAN - Sanity is how well a character can keep their head on their shoulders. It's the ability to think straight and cut through the noise. Avoiding temptations, handling bad news, and swallowing ones ego. One must stay sane in the face of an absurd set of circumstances if they wish to survive.

ABS - Abuse is your ability to ignore your physical limits limits. Many things might require someone to push further than they should, threatening to break down their physical or mental state as a result. ABS ignores them, pushing past to an uncertain victory. Breaking the unbreakable, stopping the unstoppable, that's one's ABS.

Exploration Attributes

Exploration Attributes are the general survival skills all bears have learned. Those without good Exploration Attributes have already passed away, usually from unnatural causes. All exploration attributes start at 1, and 1 extra point can be added to any one attribute during character creation. When leveling up, add 1 more point to one Exploration Attribute.

Knowledge is all of the information a bear has learned in their lifetime. Rumors, books, underground movements, mechanics of society, instruction manuals, all of these count as a bears knowledge. Knowledge is used when asking if a character can remember a fact that it may make sense for them to recall.

Perception is your bear's ability to notice things in their environment. Whether they are trying to find something specific, or there's a check to see if they can notice someone sneaking up on them, perception is their eyes, ears, nose, and arcane senses.

Speechcraft represents a bears ability to sway others in a social context. Gaining trust, lying through your teeth, bolstering confidence, or trying to read intentions of another bear. Speechcraft is anything and everything social.

Profession Attributes

Bears all have something they know how to do that's uncommon. Some can conduct trains, some know how to brew a mean drink, and others may have survived on their own to know the ruins like the back of their hands. Professions represent all of these things. Unlike other Attributes, there are no actual Profession Attributes provided by this book. Instead, when assigning a profession point, you may chose to either add it to an existing profession or, make a new profession with 1 point in it. Professions are some field or interest that is applicable to some checks as a bonus. For instance, a bear with a vehicle mechanic profession would probably do well with a few types of machines, but they would gain a boost from their profession points if the machine is a train.

There is no strict list or strict definition of what can and cannot be a profession. Instead, work with your Ruin Master to come up with a fitting concept for your bear. Both of you should try to make sure that you find something that is agreed to not overlap with a majority of checks, but is also not too niche to not see much use in the campaign. A car mechanic is a good profession in a campaign in the ruins, but if the whole story is in a guild complex, that profession might feel neglected. You have 1 profession point on character creation, and gain 1 extra profession point every time you level up.

Summary Attributes

Summary attributes are not attributes that points can be put into. Instead they are all derived, meaning that their value changes depending on other attributes, gear, or conditions. Because of this, these attributes do not change during level ups, but should be recalculated anyway as most parts of a level up will change the value of a summary attribute.

MOV - Move is your bears speed when crossing familiar terrain. Movement is mostly concerned with how far a bear can go in a single turn during time-stress, but is otherwise not super impactful. Most skill checks should refer to DEX instead. Calculated using: The lower of SKL and STR, added to double DEX.

DMG - Damage is mostly used during time-stress to see who wins a fight, or breaks an object. For melee weapons, damage is STR + Weapon Damage. Ranged Weapons use DEX + Weapon Damage.

AR - Armor Rating represents how hard it is to hit your bear. It factors in their ability to dodge, parry, and their armor's protection. This is also mostly used in time-stress. Calculated using: the lower of SKL and DEX, added to the higher of your BRV and ABS, added to the AR bonus from Armors, Shields, and Gear.

SP - Stamina Points are used during time-stress to signify the amount of things one can pull off in the tiniest of moments. Calculated as 2 higher than ABS, subtracting Void Strain. When regenerating stamina at the start of a turn, regain DEX stamina points.

AP - Arcane Points are spent during time-stress to signify the amount of power one can pull from the aether in short time spans. Calculated as 2 higher than SAN, subtracting Void Strain. When regenerating arcana at the start of a turn, regain SKL arcana.

LP - Life Points signify how much damage a character can shake off in a battle. Unlike the previous two this is a per-battle measurement, and acts as a sponge to prevent damage from creating long-lasting impacts. Calculated as 2 higher than BRV, subtracting 1 for each Lethal Wound.

Lethal Wounds are the maximum amount of damage a bear can take before Cracking. When they exceed the maximum LP of a bear, that bear becomes Cracked.

Void Strain is a bear's capability to survive their life force being extracted from their body. When Void Strain exceeds the higher of a bears SP or AP, the bear becomes Dormant. If Void Strain becomes higher than the sum total of SP and AP, the bear Enters the Valley.

Exploding 6's

Regardless of any bonuses or disadvantages to a roll 6's will always explode. when you roll a 6 you may roll an additional six sided die and possibly gain an extra success or roll another 6 which will explode again. 

Example: Rebar, a mage, wants to break down a door and rolls his STR which is 2 dice but he needs 3 successes. he rolls a 4 and a 6 so he may roll an additional die. he rolls a 5. since he has 3 successes he breaks down the door.