Statistics

In Linguomancy, an entity's strength and weaknesses are represented with numerical values called Stats. They are comprised, amongst other things, of the player's Wordsmithing Level, their Hit Points, their 12 Abilities, and their Expertise. Each value dictates their experience in a given field, and can greatly impact their efficiency in many different tasks.

Level

In Linguomancy, disciplines like classes, jobs, proficiencies or skills are tracked independently of each other with separate levels. Wordsmithing is one of such disciplines, some sapients having dedicated their entire life into attuning their entire soul and being to the primordial Flux in order to harness its power. This experience, harmony and knowledge of the Flux is defined by their Wordsmithing Level.

Levels are not only an indicator of skill, but also of growth ; specific disciplines allowing entities to grow specific abilities as their level increases. Wordsmithing levels especially allow the essence of an entity to grow, as detailed in the sections below.

Hit Points

Rather than being a value representing pure physical hardiness, Hit Points (HP) represent a combination of physical and mental durability, luck, will to live, life force, structural integrity and grip on existence. They indicate how much damage an entity or item can take before being killed or destroyed.

When an entity takes damage, this damage is subtracted from its current HP. Losing HP has no effect on an entity's capabilities until it drops to 0.

Abilities

Abilities are numeral indicators of an entity's characteristics, capabilities and talents. There are 12 of them in total :

	MATTER	MIND	ESSENCE	REALITY
POWER	STRENGTH Physical power and might	INTELLIGENCE Memory, reason and quick thinking	POTENTIAL Ability to harvest Flux	PRESENCE Weight on reality
RESISTANCE	CONSTITUTION Health, vitality and endurance	WISDOM Insight, awareness and intuition	COHESION Sturdiness of the soul and perseverance	ANCHOR Tether to existence
FINESSE	DEXTERITY Agility, balance, reflexes and coordination	CHARISMA Strength of character and eloquence	RESONANCE Ability to influence Flux	SIGNATURE Mark on destiny

Scores & Modifiers

Each of an entity’s abilities has a defined score, a number that defines the magnitude of that ability. This Ability Score measures the innate capabilities of the entity, along with its training and competence in activities related to the given ability.

As a scale of reference, scores of 10 or 11 are the normal human average. Some creatures are however cut above average in most abilities, a score of 18 being the highest a person can reasonably reach. While strong adventurers can have scores as high as 20, some powerful creatures can have much higher scores.

There is no limit to how high an ability score can be, but an entity's Ability Score cannot fall under 0. If any entity's Ability Score reaches 0, it dies immediately.

Each ability also has an associated Modifier. Modifiers are values that affect dice rolls related to their given Ability. The value of a Modifier is at 0 when at 10 or 11. Every 2 points above 10 gives +1 to the Ability Modifier, while every 2 points underneath 11 reduces it by 1. For example, an entity with a Strength Score of 15 will have a Strength Modifier of +2, while an entity with a Wisdom Score of 5 will have a Wisdom Modifier of -3.

Alternatively, an Ability Modifier can be determined with the following formula :

Ability Modifier = (Ability Score - 10) / 2 (round down)

Abilities of Matter

The Abilities of Matter represent an entity's physical characteristics. These scores start at 10, but are initially adjusted during character creation. They can be increased further through Level progression.

Strength

Strength is the mix between Power and Matter. It defines an entity's athletics and ability to exert raw physical force. It affects melee combat damage, jumping distance and carrying capacity.

Constitution

Constitution is the mix between Resistance and Matter. It defines an entity's stamina and ability to physically endure. It affects HP, survival and the maintaining of idioms.

Dexterity

Dexterity is the mix between Finesse and Matter. It defines an entity's agility, balance and reflexes. It affects evasiveness, accuracy, initiative and stealth.

Abilities of Mind

The Abilities of Mind represent an entity's mental capabilities. These scores start at 10, but are initially adjusted during character creation. They can be increased further through Level progression.

Intelligence

Intelligence is the mix between Power and Mind. It defines an entity's reasoning, memory and mental acuity. It affects deductive reasoning, culture, knowledge, learning and logic.

Wisdom

Wisdom is the mix between Resistance and Mind. It defines an entity's senses, awareness and intuition. It affects emotion, morality, introspection, perception and prediction.

Charisma

Charisma is the mix between Finesse and Mind. It defines an entity's force of personality and ability to interact with others. It affects intimidation, confidence, lying, persuasion, communication, leadership and performance.

Abilities of Essence

The Abilities of Essence represent an entity's talents of the soul and attunement to the Flux. These scores start at 10, then can be increased further through Level progression.

Potential

Potential is the mix between Power and Essence. It defines an entity's ability to harvest Flux from their essence. It affects idiom's damage and intensity.

Cohesion

Cohesion is the mix between Resistance and Essence. It defines an entity's willpower and ability to maintain the structural integrity of their essence. It affects HP, healing efficiency, discipline, determination, will to live and perseverance.

Resonance

Resonance is the mix between Finesse and Essence. It defines an entity's ability to accommodate with its surroundings and influence Flux. It affects empathy, perspective, adaptability and natural authority.

Abilities of Reality

The Abilities of Reality represent an entity's grip on existence. These scores start at 10, and increase depending on the other associated Abilities' Modifiers. For example, Presence, an Ability of Power, is calculated with 10 plus the sum of all the Abilities of Power's Modifiers :

Presence Score = 10 + Strength Modifier + Intelligence Modifier + Potential Modifier

Anchor Score = 10 + Constitution Modifier + Wisdom Modifier + Cohesion Modifier

Signature Score = 10 + Dexterity Modifier + Charisma Modifier + Resonance Modifier

Presence

Presence is the mix between Power and Reality. It defines how heavy an entity weighs on reality. It affects the ability to create and mend rifts in the fabric of reality.

Anchor

Anchor is the mix between Resistance and Reality. It defines how firm an entity tether to existence is. It affects the ability to resist glitches in the fabric of reality and travel between planes.

Signature

Signature is the mix between Finesse and Reality. It defines how efficiently an entity can leave its mark on the world and shape destiny. It affects Armor Class, luck and the ability to influence the outcome of reality.

Player Growth & Level Progression

As players gain levels, they can learn new skills and idioms, and even increase their ability scores.

Ability Scores

Every time an entity's Level increases, it gains 1 Ability Point to increase an Ability Score of their choice.
Ability Scores of Reality (Presence, Anchor and Signature) cannot be increased with Ability Points.
For every 4 score points above 10 in an ability, the amount of Ability Points to spend to increase the score further becomes 1 point higher.

For example, to raise a Potential Score by 1, a score of 12 only needs 1 Ability Point, a score of 15 needs 2 points, and a score of 23 needs 4 points.

Learning Idioms

When gaining a Wordsmithing Level, players gain a resource called Learning Points that they can spend to learn new idioms. Every Wordsmithing Level increase grants a player 3 Learning Points. Each point allows them to learn one idiom ; as long as the player has a high enough Expertise and Wordsmithing Level.

Most idioms cost a single Learning Point to be successfully learned by a player.
However, idioms of the Nouns of Time, Space, Void, Reality and Infinity cost 3 Learning Points instead of 1 to be learned, even if the entity has an Affinity.

Idioms of the Noun of Flux cannot be learned with Learning Points, as players automatically learn them as they level up, without having to spend Learning Points.

Idioms of the Verb of Annihilate are extremely complex rituals and cannot be learned with Learning Points.

An entity must first learn the idiom of the Verb Speak before being able to learn any idioms of Speech and the idiom of the Verb Shape. Likewise, an entity must learn the idiom of the Verb Shape before being able to learn any idioms of Shaping and Wild idioms.

The following table displays idiom learning progression through Wordsmithing Levels :

Level	Learning at said Wordsmithing Level
0	The creature is not a wordsmith. It doesn't know how to cast any idiom naturally.
1	From now on, the creature gains 3 Learning Points each time its Wordsmithing Level increases, this level included. The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 0 and 1 Flux Points.
2	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 2 Flux Points.
3	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 3 Flux Points.
4	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 4 Flux Points.
5	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 5 Flux Points.
6	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 6 Flux Points.
7	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 7 Flux Points.
8	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 8 Flux Points.
9	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 9 Flux Points.
10	The creature automatically learns the idioms of Flux that cost 10 Flux Points, except the idiom of Annihilate.
20	From now on, the creature can spend 3 Learning Points to learn idioms of the Noun of Time, Space, Void or Reality.
???	From now on, the creature can spend 3 Learning Points to learn idioms of Infinity.

Expertise

Expertise is an indicator of an entity's attunement to a given Noun. The more Expertise an entity has in a Noun, the more it can learn and use powerful idioms in that Noun. Every entity has a separate Expertise value for a Noun, starting at level 0.

For every 2 idioms learned in a Noun, the Expertise in that Noun increases by 1.

An entity's Wordsmithing Level and Expertise in a Noun both dictate the idioms it can learn and how intensively it can upcast :

In order to learn an idiom with Learning Points, the idiom's Flux Cost needs to be less than or equal to both the entity's Wordsmithing Level and the associated Noun's Expertise Level. For example, an entity with a Wordsmithing Level of 5, a Fire Expertise of 4 and Water Expertise of 7 can learn idioms of Fire up to a Flux Cost of 4, while it can learn idioms of Water up to a Flux Cost of 5.

Similarly, an entity can only upcast an idiom of a given Noun up to a final Flux Cost less than or equal to the lowest of either its Wordsmithing Level or the associated Noun's Expertise. For example, an entity with a Wordsmithing Level of 5, a Fire Expertise of 4 and Water Expertise of 7 can upcast its idioms of Fire up to a Flux Cost of 4, while it can upcast its idioms of Water up to a Flux Cost of 5.

Affinity

An Affinity is a special learning ability tied to the essence : it is unique to the entity and defined at character creation by players.

An Affinity is either tied to a Noun or a Nuance :

If a player has an Affinity to a Noun, they start with both the idioms of the Verbs Speak and Shape at Wordsmithing Level 0. Once per Wordsmithing Level increase, they can use their Learning Points to learn two idioms instead of one in the Noun they have an affinity with. Once Expertise 10 of that Noun is achieved, they can cast all of its idioms without verbal input.

If a player has an Affinity to a Nuance, they learn one idiom of this Nuance of their choice at level 0, regardless of their Expertise and Wordsmithing Level. Each 5 Wordsmithing Levels onwards, they can spend their Learning Points to learn another idiom of the Nuance they have an affinity with, this time ignoring only Expertise. Each idiom learned through this Affinity can be cast without verbal input. They cannot use this Affinity to learn idioms that cost 8 Flux or more, idioms of Annihilate or idioms of Infinity.

If a player has no Affinity, their lack of alignment allows them to growth quicker : every 5 Wordsmithing Levels, they automatically gain one Expertise point in all Nouns.