Derived Attributes

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Wound Threshold

A character's Wound Threshold is, basically, how many wounds — physical damage — a character can withstand before they are knocked out. A character's starting Wound Threshold is determined by adding their species' Wound Threshold to their Brawn rating (after spending starting XP).

After determining this initial value, further increases to a character's Brawn rating do not increase their Wound Threshold — Wound Threshold improvements are acquired by purchasing talents such as Toughened.

Strain Threshold

A character's Strain Threshold determines how much strain — psychological and mental damage — a character can withstand before they are stunned, dazed, or incapacitated. A character's starting Strain Threshold is determined by adding their species' Strain Threshold to their Willpower rating (after spending starting XP).

After determining this initial value, further increases to a character's Willpower rating do not increase their Strain Threshold — Strain Threshold improvements are acquired by purchasing appropriate talents, such as Grit.

Defense

See also: Defense

Defense determines how difficult a character is to hit in combat situations. Defense is divided into Ranged Defense and Melee Defense. A character's default value in each Defense Rating is zero.

Defense is most commonly gained by wearing armor, or by adopting a defensive position in combat (such as gaining cover). Some Talents may also increase one of the character's Defense Ratings.

Soak

See also: Soak

Soak determines how much incoming damage a character can shrug off before being seriously wounded. A character's soak value is subtracted from any incoming damage. Any remaining damage after subtracting soak becomes wounds, and is applied towards the character's Wound Threshold.

A character's default Soak value is equal to their Brawn rating. After determining this initial value, increases to a character's Brawn rating do increase their Soak value.

Additional Soak value is most often gained by wearing Armor. Some Talents may also increase a character's innate Soak value, such as Enduring.