Abilities & Skills

Waystone uses a modified version of the ability and skill layout from D&D 5e. Abilities are the six measures of physical, mental, and social performance, and these are further broken down into more specific skills that describe certain aspects of an ability. Every action you or an NPC may attempt is theoretically subject to an ability or skill check: rolling 1d20 and adding the ability or skill modifier to determine the outcome.

Unmodified ability scores exist on a range of -6 to 6, achieved by rolling 6d6 for the base scores and flipping 6d2 to get positive and negatives for each rolled score. Skill scores typically mirror their parent ability score, but the player’s class and subclass give them a proficiency in two set skills. During character creation, they may select two additional skills to take proficiency in.

Strength

Strength (STR) is your pure physical power.

Combat (Attack Rolls)

Add your STR to any unarmed or melee attack, or ranged attacks with brute-tagged weapons.

Skills

• Athletics - Overcoming obstacles in accomplishing physical feats

Intelligence

Intelligence (INT) is your raw knowledge.

Skills

• Academia - General scholarly knowledge
• Arcana - Knowledge of magic and its workings
• Nature - Knowledge of the natural world and its workings
• Tech - Knowledge of technology and its workings

Wisdom

Wisdom (WIS) is your experience and learned knowledge.

Skills

• Insight - Reading nonverbal communication in others
• Medicine - Knowledge of healing and medicine
• Perception - Awareness of surroundings and forming deductions
• Survival - General skills that aid in basic natural survival

Constitution

Constitution (CON) is your durability.

Endurance (Armor Class)

Add your CON to the base Armor Class (AC) of 10.

Dexterity

Dexterity (DEX) is your agility and motor skills.

Combat (Attack Rolls)

Add your DEX to any ranged attack, or melee attacks with finesse-tagged weapons.

Skills

• Acrobatics - Physical agility and reflexes
• Finesse - Physical grace and precision
• Sleight of Hand - Fine motor skill and manual deception
• Stealth - Sneakiness; basically what it says on the tin

Charisma

Charisma (CHA) is your social ability.

Skills

• Deception - Influencing others through vagueness and lies
• Intimidation - Influencing others through threats and hostility
• Performance - Influencing others through entertainment
• Persuasion - Influencing others through charm and subtlety