Character Traits

Table of contents

• Traits and Boosts
• Power
• Wisdom
• Courage
• Secondary Stats
  • Health, Stamina, and Magic
  • Evasion
  • Concentration & Vitality
  • Guard Stats
  • Jumping
  • Lifting

Traits describe what your character is capable of, and how powerful and skilled they are. Every time a Hero takes an action – whether it’s attacking a foe, crafting a new sword, or attempting to read ancient runes in a long-lost tome – they’ll use a Trait related to that action. The higher the Trait, the more likely the Hero is to succeed at their task.

Traits also show what kinds of Feats, Spells, and Techniques a Hero can learn. If a Hero does not meet the Learn Requirement for something, they cannot learn it – even if they have the Tokens of Heroism to spend on it.

Traits are grouped under Power, Wisdom, and Courage; the three Aspects of the Triforce.

Traits and Boosts

As you play Reclaim the Wild, your Hero’s Traits may be temporarily boosted by various effects, such as Enchantments, Dishes, Elixirs, Spells, or other circumstances.

When you’re asked to use a Trait for a roll, or as part of a calculation, you should use the Trait plus any boosts you have to it. For instance, when striking a foe with an axe, use your Combat trait, plus any boosts to it, to determine the damage you deal.

Power Traits represent technical skill and physical strength. Heroic knights, enterprising blacksmiths, and star athletes, all exhibit incredible Power.

Wisdom Traits represent magical aptitude and awareness of people and situations. Learned scholars, dangerous wizards, and skilled diplomats, all show great Wisdom.

Courage Traits represent self-assuredness and ease in the natural world. Inspiring leaders, wandering herbalists, and acrobatic thieves, all display great Courage.

Each of these three Aspects is further split into eight separate Traits. It is these Traits that truly define what a Hero can do!

However, sometimes those temporary boosts should be ignored – in those cases, you’ll be asked for your base Trait. This typically occurs when using the boosted Trait could cause problems or confusion. For instance:

• Racial bonuses also always look at your base Trait.
• Feats’ Trait Requirements always look at your base Trait.
• Trait requirements to craft items also use your base Trait

Power

Combat is a measure of how much damage you can do with physical attacks, both melee and ranged. Physical Basic Attacks and Techniques will use both the damage rating of your weapon, and your Combat, to cause damage to your opponents.

Hearts defines how much damage you can withstand. Every point in Hearts grants an additional 4 HP, allowing you to weather more blows before falling unconscious.

Athletics is your ability to move in physically demanding ways. Swimming through water, climbing up cliff faces, pushing heavy boulders, and carrying heavy objects will all draw upon your athleticism and raw strength.

Civilization is your knowledge of peoples, cultures, and cities. If you need to know how a government works, what a business might want to import or export, or how soldiers from a given nation would comport themselves in battle, you should keep your knowledge of Civilization up-to-date.

Fortitude measures your ability to stand your ground. A hero with high Fortitude is a rock, immobile under any pressure, resistant to poisons and diseases, and capable of completing exhausting tasks.

Intimidate is your ability to gain the upper hand in social situations through the application of force. You might intimidate with a loud voice and drawn sword, or with an arched eyebrow and a subtle threat, but both work off your capacity to Intimidate.

Mechanics measures your capability with and knowledge of mundane technologies, such as traps and locks, but also advanced technology like Guardians and other automatons. With a good eye for Mechanics, you can raise an elevator without finding its activating switch, unlock the treasure chest it leads to, and jam the trap lurking inside.

Smithing is your knowledge of carpentry, metalworking, sewing and leatherworking. With great knowledge of Smithing, you can create powerful weapons and tough armors, fit for the finest of warriors. You can also better identify the equipment that others use.

Wisdom

Willpower determines how much damage you can do with Spells, wand and staff weapons, as well as a select few Techniques. Magical Basic Attacks and Spells will use both the damage rating of your weapon, and your Willpower, to cause damage to your opponents.

Magic measures how much arcane effort you can support at a given moment. Every point of Magic grants you an additional 4 MP, allowing you to cast more impressive spells and keep more magical effects active at a time.

Arcana is your knowledge of mystical items, creatures, and effects. Knowledge of the undead, how to dispel a curse, or the properties of a mystical artifact would all fall under the umbrella of Arcana.

Perception is your capacity to be aware of things in the world around you. Perception helps you notice movement on the horizon, find a secret door (and the button to open it), or a trap about to spring.

Influence determines how capable you are at convincing others of the rightness of your ideas, without forcing them. You might go about it with logical, well-reasoned arguments, by appealing to their sympathies, or enticing them with your physical beauty.

Perform measures your skill with music, both mundane and magical. With great prowess in Perform, you can set the mood for a party, or perform powerful Magical Songs to enact great wizardry.

Discipline helps keep your secrets to yourself, and resist the arguments of others. With great Discipline, you can hold your course when every critic begs, pleads, or commands you otherwise.

Enchanting is the measure of your ability to work magic into longer-term uses than just momentary Spells. With Enchanting, you can use magic to further empower arms and armor beyond what a smith’s hammer can achieve, transmute wood into metal, or weave spells that last days, or even years, while redefining what is or is not possible.

Courage

Accuracy helps you hit with your Basic Attacks, and with the additional effects of Techniques and Spells. Basic Attacks allow you to cause damage while conserving your Stamina or Magic, but if they miss, they don’t help you win the fight. The additional effects of Techniques and Spells can debilitate foes more thoroughly than the damage of any one attack could, swiftly turning the tide of a battle.

Stamina is your ability to perform exhausting actions before getting tired. The more Stamina you have, the more Techniques you can use in a combat encounter. Every points of Stamina grants you an additional 4 SP.

Nature is your knowledge of animals, critters, and naturally-made monsters. Nature can tell you why Bokoblins hunt in groups, which parts of them are best for use in crafting, what they can do in a fight, and where to find packs of them this time of year.

Agility measures your ability to move your body in precise or careful ways. Agility helps you move quietly, dodge certain attacks, prevents you from being put on the back foot, and lets you act earlier in combat.

Command is how you inspire both men and beasts to follow your lead and do as you say, through sheer loyalty. It helps tame a horse, quell an unruly mob, or direct an army to hold their ground.

Insight measures your emotional awareness of other people. A nervous glance, a two-faced oath, a drop of sweat on an otherwise implacable brow – all hints of duplicity or ill intent, uncovered by strong Insight.

Guile determines how skilled you are at telling lies, both subtle and gross. With strong Guile, you can tell an outrageous lie and look to all the world as if you were well-informed, truthful, and honorable.

Cooking is your ability to craft delicious foods and potent elixirs from the bounty of nature. These consumables can help you survive harsh climates, refuel tired muscles, mend wounds, or even awaken new heights of skill and knowledge in the well-fed.

Secondary Stats

Health, Stamina, and Magic

Health determines how much damage you can take. When your HP reaches 0, you are unable to battle, too wounded to lift your sword-arm or form the words to cast spells.
Your Health pool is determined by your Hearts trait; every point in your Hearts Trait grants you 4 more Health Points (HP).

Stamina is your reserves of physical energy, and is typically Spent when you use Techniques or some items in combat. When you run out of Stamina, you can no longer use Techniques, but you can still use Basic Attacks.
Your Stamina pool is determined by your Stamina trait; every point in your Stamina Trait grants you 4 more Stamina Points (SP) to spend.

Magic is your reserves of arcane energy, and is either Bound, Spent or Burned whenever you cast a Spell. When you run out of MP, you can no longer cast spells.
Your Magic pool is determined by your Magic trait; every point in Magic Trait grants you 4 more Magic Points (MP) to spend.

Evasion

Evasion determines how likely you are to avoid Basic Attacks, as well as dodging Spells and Techniques from Distracted foes.
Evasion can also be used in place of Concentration and Vitality for avoiding secondary and status effects. A Hero’s Evasion is reduced by wearing Medium and Heavy Armor.

Evasion is calculated as:
(10 + Agility + Bonuses – Armor Penalties)

Concentration & Vitality

Concentration and Vitality determine how likely you are to be affected by Status Effects, Maneuvers, and the secondary effects of Spells and Techniques.
While they don’t help you avoid damage directly, Concentration and Vitality help keep you on your toes and in the fight.

Concentration is calculated as:
(10 + Discipline + Bonuses)

Vitality is calculated as:
(10 + Fortitude + Bonuses)

Guard Stats

Together, your Concentration, Evasion, and Vitality are referred to as your “Guard Stats”.

Sometimes, Enchantments and other effects might alter your Guard Stats all at once.

Jumping

Heroes can jump vertically, horizontally, or both. Heroes can jump vertically a number of squares equal to 1 + (Athletics / 3), and horizontally equal to 1 + (Athletics / 2). Jumping still consumes a Hero’s Movement – they cannot walk their full Movement and then jump further, unless a Technique, Feat, or Spell allows them such.

Lifting

Heroes don’t need to worry about how much the items in their Pack weigh. However, there may come a time when a Hero needs to lift or carry a particularly heavy object, such as a cannonball, person, or even a statue! Heroes can lift an amount of weight based on their Athletics score, and the number of hands they use, per the table below. (Weights are calculated in pounds.)

When carrying an “easy” load or less, a Hero can move about without issue.
When carrying a “burdened” load or less, each square you enter costs an additional Movement.
When more than “burdened”, they cannot move at all, but can still lift the object off the ground.
If an object weighs so much that it exceeds the “2h Impossible” number (or exceeds 2h Burdened and the Hero has only one hand to spare), then the Hero cannot lift the object at all.

For each load, the formula is:

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