P99 offline: Abilities

Your character’s abilities represent her physical and mental capabilities. The modifiers derived from these abilities will modify just about every die roll you make in an EverQuest Role-Playing Game session. A [powerful character does more damage with a greatsword. A nimble character can evade blows and sneak through small spaces. A frail character can't take as much damage and is less likely to maintain concentration in the face of pain and distraction. When making checks in situations like this. your character's abilities have a strong influence over her success or failure.

Every character. creature and monster has six abilities: Strength (Str). Dexterity (Dex), Constitution (Con). Intelligence (lnt). Wisdom (Wis). and Charisma (Cha). In the EverQuest Role- Playing Game. the Dexterity ability score combines the Agility and Dexterity attributes used in the online version of EverQuest . An above average ability score gives a character a bonus on related rolls in the form of a positive modifier. Similarly. 21 below average ability score imposes a penalty on other die rolls in the form of a negative modifier.

You determine your character's scores by assigning ability points to a base score. generally assigning more points to abilities important to your character. Scores can he modified by a character's race and class. and scores increase gradually over time as your character gains levels.

Determining Your Ability Scores

All characters begin with a score of 8 in all six abilities and an additional 27 ability points that can he added to increase these scores. Ability scores are increased by one point for every ability point added. up to a maximum of 16. Increasing a starting ability score beyond 16 requires two ability points for each additional point by which the ability score is increased. Ability points cannot be used to raise any starting ability score beyond 18.

Table 1-1 : Ability Point Cost:

Ability Score	Ability Points Spent
8	0
9	1
10	3
11	3
12	4
13	5
14	6
15	7
16	8
17	10
18	12

A character can have a score of less than 8. but receives no benefit from lowering the score. The only reason to do this is if you have a character concept that calls for a great weakness in one of your character's abilities. Also note that a character's racial ability modifiers can raise an ability to above 18 or lower it below 8.

The average ability score for the typical inhabitant of the EverQuest world is 10 or 11. but your character does not represent a typical inhabitant. Player characters are heroes. adventurers and people of exceptional potential. Among such people. the most common ability scores are 12 and 1 3. and many have one or more abilities with scores of 16 or higher. Player characters are the focus of an EverQuest adventure, and generally need above-average scores to survive the experience.

Note that once you've begun playing your character. you can't change your initial ability scores around. so you should give serious thought on how to assign them. You'll likely need to decide what race and class you want to play before you assign all your ability points in purchasing the abilities your character will most often use. A monk. for example. needs good Strength and Dexterity scores to be an effective combatant. and may want a high Constitution as well. A warrior needs good Strength and Constitution scores to excel, but with heavy armor, she may be able to skimp a little on her Dexterity score. A wizard needs as high an Intelligence as possible. but may not have much use for Strength However. the most important consideration when assigning your ability scores is your character concept.

If you envision your shaman as a powerful fighter cursed by the constant attention of his tribe‘s spirits. you may want to develop his Strength and Constitution rather than his Wisdom (which dictates a shaman's spellcasting ability). There can he benefits to such an approach — while high physical scores won't help your shaman cast spells. they do make him a much more effective fighter than most other shamans, a factor that can result in a nasty surprise for his enemies. No ability is useless. and having a high score is almost always a good idea if you can manage it. Since characters are limited to 27 ability points. however. you have to decide what's most important to your character concept.

After you spend your ability points to purchase your initial ability scores. remember to modify your resulting ability scores by the racial ability modifiers for your race (see Chapter 2: Races). Racial ability modifiers can raise a character's starting scores well above 18 or lower them below 8. For example. if you decide to play an Ogre your Strength is increased by 6 points and your Constitution by 4. but you lose 2 points of both Dexterity and Wisdom and 4 points of both Intelligence and Charisma.

Ability Modifiers:

Each ability provides a modifier, most commonly ranging from -3 to +8. The modifier represents the number you add to or subtract from die rolls when your character tries to do something related to that ability. For example, you add your Constitution modifier to both your Hit Dice (which determine your total hit points) and to Channeling checks made to successfully cast a spell after taking damage. Some modifiers also apply to numbers other than die rolls. such as the way your character's Dexterity modifier affects his Armor Class.

The modifier can be determined for any score through the use of the simple formula (score ~10)/2. Thus an ability score of 18 results in a modifier of(18—10)/2 = +4. while a score of 6 results in a modifier of (6—10)/Z = —2. As with all calculations in the EverQuest Role—Playing Game, fractions are always rounded down. For ease of reference. the modifiers for the most common ability scores are listed in Table 1-2.

Table 1-2 : Ability Score Modifiers:

Ability Score	Modifier
2-3	-4
4-5	-3
6-7	-2
8-9	-1
10-11	+0
12-13	+1
14-15	+2
16-17	+3
18-19	+4
20-21	+5
22-23	+6
24-25	+7
26-27	+8
28-29	+9

Abilities and Spellcasting:

Different spellcasters use different abilities when spellcasting. Divine spellcasters (beastlords. clerics. druids, paladins. rangers and shamans) use their Wisdom to determine their mana and the Difficulty Class (DC) of saving throws of the spells they cast. Arcane spellcasters (enc chanters. magicians. necromancers. shadow knights and wizards) use their Intelligence for all spellcasting modifiers. Finally, bards use Charisma for their magical songs. For more information on how a spellcaster's abilities interact with his spellcasting see: Using Magic.

Strength (Str):

Strength measures your character's ability to carry weight and hit hard. This ability is especially important for monks, paladins, rangers, rogues, shadow knights, warriors, or anyone else who gets involved in a lot of combat. A good Strength score can make the difference between a mediocre fighter and someone who is an elite combatant.

You apply your character‘s Strength modifier to:

• Melee attack rolls.

• Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown

weapon. However. attacks made with your off—hand receive only one'half your Strength bonus. while rwo—handed attacks receive one and a half times the Strength bonus. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies to attacks made with a bow or a sling. See Chapter 12: Combat for more details on combat modifiers.

• Climb. Jump and Swim checks. These skills have Strength as

their key ability.

• Strength checks (for breaking down doors and performing

similar brute force tasks).

Dexterity (Dex):

Dexterity measures a character's ability to perform delicate tasks. shoot accurately. avoid blows and maintain balance. This ability is most important for rogues and monks, but many other characters also benefit from high Dexterity scores. including those who typically wear light, medium. or no armor (enchanters. magicians. necromancers and wizards. for example). and for characters who want to be skilled archers.

You apply your character's Dexterity modifier to:

• Ranged attack rolls. including attacks made with bows.

throwing spears, thrown knives. and other ranged weapons.

• Armor Class. provided you can react to the attack (see

Chapter [2: Combat for more information on when your character may not get any Dexterity bonus to AC).

• Reflex saving throws, for avoiding attacks that you can escape

by moving quickly.

• Balance. Escape Artist. Hide. Pick Lock, Pick Pocket. Ride.

Safe Fall. Sneak. Tumble and Use Rope checks. These skills (along with the bard exclusive skills of Play Percussion Instruments. Play String Instruments. and Play Wind Instruments) all have Dexterity as their key ability.

Stamina (Sta):

Constitution represents a character's toughness. health. and stamina. This is most important for characters who expect to act as front line fighters, such as warriors. However. since a character's Constitution score affects his hit points, it's an important ability for everyone in the EverQuest world.

You apply your character‘s Constitution modifier to:

• Each Hit Die (HD) (although a penalty can never reduce a

HD roll to less than 1 — a character always gains at least 1 hit point every time he goes up a level).

• Fortitude saving throws, which characters use to resist poison

and numerous other threats.

• Channeling checks; this skill. important to spellcasters. has

Constitution as its key ability. The hard skill Play Brass instruments is also affected by the bard's Constitution.

A character's hit points are always by her current Constitution score. and any changes to her Constitution modifier are retroactive. For example. if a 5th-level warrior increases her Constitution from 1.3 to 14 (thereby increasing her Con modifier by +1). she gains 5 extra hit points — one for each of her five levels.

Intelligence (Int):

Intelligence represents how well your character can acquire skills, use logic, and make deductions. Intelligence is important for arcane spellcasters. since it affects how much mana they have and how hard their spells are to resist. It's also important for any character who depends upon a wide selection of skills. since it modifies how many skill points a character has to spend at each level.

You apply your character‘s Intelligence modifier to: .

• The number of skill points your character gains at each level.

(But even if your character has an Intelligence penalty. he always gets at least 1 skill point per level.) Unlike all other ability score modifications. Intelligence bonuses to skill points are not retroactive. The bonus skill points a character gets upon achieving a new level is based on the Intelligence he had for the majority of the previous level.

• Appraise. Disable Device. Forgery. Knowledge, Language.

Meditation (for arcane spellcasters), Read Lips. Search, Spellcraft and Trade Skill checks. These skills have Intelligence as their key ability.

Wisbom (Wis):

Wisdom describes a character's self—control. common sense. and perceptiveness. While Intelligence measures a character’s ability to reason. Wisdom relates more to being aware of both internal and external forces, A character with a low Intelligence but high Wisdom may seem slow-witted, but often understands more of what's going on than she has the words to explain —— insight and intuition are functions Wisdom.

Wisdom is important for characters who are alert or who know how to analyze or "read" people. It modifies most of the perception skills. which are often as important as combat or spellcasting abilities. Wisdom Is also crucial for divine spellcasters, as it determines how much mana they receive and the potency of many of their spells.

You apply your character's Wisdom modifier to:

• Will saving throws. which allow a character to negate the

effects of various spells and other mind-influencing effects.

• Heal, Innuendo, Listen, Meditation (for divine spellcasters).

Profession. Sense Heading. Sense Motive. Spot, Trade Skill and Wilderness Lore checks. These skills have Wisdom as their key ability.

Charisma (Cha):

Charisma represents a character's ability to influence those around her. It includes such factors as a character's appearance. personal magnetism. and force of personality. A character can be extremely attractive but might irritate those around her. and thus have a low Charisma, or be unpleasant to look at yet possess an extraordinary way with people, and thus have a high Charisma. However, Charisma Is Just as often closely related to how a person looks. A character's Charisma isn't always obvious — a young noblewoman might seem to be a fainting flower whom everyone ignores, yet have a high Charisma that is revealed only when she takes command in emergencies

Charisma Is most important to characters who wish to influence the opinions of others. Including leaders, con men, and diplomats. Such influence often becomes important to characters who are attempting to win the trust of a certain faction of people or creatures, whether to gain information from them or to be entrusted With Important quests by them.

Charisma Is also Important as a spelleasting trait for bards (who base all spellcasting modifiers on their Cha bonus), for beastlords' ability to befriend and command their warders. and also for any spellcaster who uses enchantment spells (which use Charisma to determine their save DCs. regard— less of the source ~— I.e., arcane. divine, or bardic — of the spell).

You apply your character's Charisma modifier to:

• Animal Empathy, Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, -.

Gather information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Meditation (for bards), Perfor, Taunt , and lUndead “Empathy checks. These skills have Charisma as their key ability.

• Charisma checks, for attempts to influence others

(which are generally treated as untrained Diplomacy checks).

Changing Ability Scores:

Over time, your character's ability scores will change. At first level the character receives five training points and then receives five more mining points for each level of experience attained. Training points can be spent to raise abilities as described in Chapter 3. Training points reflect a character's progress as he gains experience and are not the same as ability points which are used to determine a character's initial ability scores.

Many poisons. diseases. and other effects can harm an ability (through what is called “temporary ability damage"). Ability points lost to damage typically return on their own at a rate of 1 point per day for each damaged ability. Some creatures possess the power to drain abilities permanently. Points lost permanently in this fashion don‘t return on their own, but the victim can sometimes bring them back through other, often difficult, means.

Numerous spells and magic items can increase a character‘s ability scores. When an ability score changes. all attributes associated with that score change accordingly. For example, when Cakazu. a monk with a 13 intelligence. reaches 8th level, she decides to spend training points to increase her Intelligence to 14. As a result, all other Intelligence based skill bonuses are increased by + l . arid the number of skill points she gets per level thereafter increases from 5 to 6 (4 per level for her class. plus another 2 per level — formerly l per level — from her Intelligence bonus). However. since she had a 13 Intelligence for most of the time she spent at 7th level. she still only gets 5 skill points for 8th level. (This is an exception to how most stat bonuses work. as explained under the Intelligence section in this chapter). When Cakazu reaches 9th level. she'll get 6 skill points.

Converting Characters From EverQuest Online:

Rather than make a brand new character. it is possible to convert an EverQuest online character for use with the EverQuest Role—Playing Game. The rules below are only guidelines. and once you are familiar with the game rules you and your GM may want to make a few adaptations (or "house rules") regarding this process. In general. where the online game and EverQuest Role— Playing Game disagree, follow the rules in this book. And be sure to check all your decisions with your GM. who always has the final say on what is allowed in her game.

Ability Scores:

Converting your EverQuest online character's attributes to EuerQuest Role—Playing Game ability scores is a two'step process. First, find each attribute on Table 1—3: Attributes to Abilities to see what ability it becomes. Then convert your attribute value to an ability score using the numbers on Table 1—4: Converting Scores‘ Be sure to use your character's base attribute ratings, unmodified by spells or items (your “naked and unbufled" ratings). You'll be able to select similar magic items from the EverQuest: Game Master's Guide which will then add to your character's abilities. but for figuring your character's base ability scores. ignore these factors.

Table l-3: Attributes to Abilities:

EQ Online	EQ RPG
Atributte	Ability
Strength	Strength
Stamina	Constitution
Agility/Dexterity	Average For Dexterity
Wisdom	Wisdom
Intelligence	Intelligence
Charisma	Charisma

Table 1-4: Converting Scores:

EQ Online Score	EQ RPG Score
0-50	6
51-55	7
56-60	8
61=65	9
66-70	10
71-75	11
76-80	12
81-85	13
86-90	14
91-95	15
96-100	16
101-110	17
111-120	18
121-130	19
131-140	20
141-150	21
151-160	22
161-170	23
171+	24

Races:

All the player races from EverQuest online are presented in Chapter 2: Races. Read through your race description for information on background and culture — these things can be important in an ongoing EverQuest Role—Playing Game campaign. While you do want to note any bonus skills or feats and any special abilities your character‘s race may have. you do not need to worry about the race's ability score adjustments. (These adjustments were already figured into your EverQuest online character's attributes. and were translated when you converted them.)

Classes, Skills, and Feats

Each class from the EverQuest online game is included in Chapter 3: Classes. To determine your character‘s EverQuest Role—Playing Game level. divide your EverQuest online character‘s level by Z (rounding down, as with all in-game calculations). Then you need to spend all of your character’s skill points and select her feats. Some things. such as spells, can be convened almost directly from the online game. Many things are done differently in the EQ RPG, however, and you'll want to take some time familiarizing yourself with the options available to your class. Many classes have special abilities open to them that may not correlate directly to the abilities of your EverQuest online character. Simply select those abilities that most closely match what your character might have chosen in the EverQuest online game, had those choices been available.

Note that basic progress in fighting prowess is automatic in the EverQuest Role—Playing Game. so you don't need to worry about buying ranks in combat skills such as “lH-Slashing.“ Instead. familiarity with various weapons is represented through appropriate feat acquisition. while your chance to succeed with an attack is measured by your character's attack bonus. Fighting classes have excellent attack bonuses. while spellcasters are generally less effective in direct melee or ranged combat.

Many Skills are available, including many that are similar to those from EverQuest online. Some skills are considered feats, or a combination of a skill and a feat. A list of online skills and their equivalents are given in Table 1-5.

Table 1-5: Online Skill Conversions:

EQ Online Skill	EQ RPG Skill
Abjuration	Channeling
Alchemy	Trade Skill (alchemy)
Alcohol Tolerance	Alcohol Tolerance
Alteration	Channeling
Baking	Trade Skill (baking)
Begging	Diplomacy (and, perhaps, the Beggar feat)
Bind Wound	Heal
Blacksmithing	Trade Skill (blacksmithing)
Block	Parry feat
Brewing	Trade Skill (brewing)
Channeling	Channeling
Conjuration	Channeling
Disarm Traps	Disarm Device
Divination	Channeling
Double Attack	Double Attack feat
Evocation	Channeling
Fishing	Profession (fishing)
Forage	Wilderness Lore
Hand to Hand	Hand to Hand feat
Hide	Hide
Jewelry Making	Trade Skill (jewelry making)
Make Poison	Trade Skill (make poison)
Meditate	Meditate
Hand to Hand	Hand to Hand feat
Parry	Parry feat
Pick Locks	Pick Lock
Pick Pockets	Pick Pocket
Pottery	Trade Skill (pottery)
Riposte	Riposte feat
Safe Fall	Safe Fall
Sense Heading	Sense Heading
Sneak	Sneak
Specialize(any)	School Specialization feat
Spell Research	Spellcraft
Swimming	Swim
Tailoring	Trade Skill (tailoring)
Tinkering	Trade Skill (tinkering)
Track	Wilderness Lore (with Track feat)

In most cases, if you P99 online character could buy a skill, the equivalent P99 RPG character can buy the skill or select the feat. If for some reason your online character has a skill you cant duplicate in P99 RPG, don't worry too much - there are lots of new options available that you can replace it with. For more information on skills and feats see Skills (link) Feats (link). With luck, you will have some skill points (or feat slots) left after you've purchased all the skills know to your online character: there are some skills unique to EQ RPG that will benefit converted online characters such as Listen and Spot skills. Look at the class skills for your class for some idea on what kinds of skills you should buy with your remaining points.

Equipment: There is no perfect method for converting P99 Online equipment to P99 RPG equipment. In general look through the Equipment (Link) section, and select those items that correspond most closely with those of your P99 character. Although you may not be able to get identical items, similar things should be available. Be sure to check this list with your GM, who always has the final say on what is and isn't appropriate to the campaign.

Play! Now that you have a character, you can play and earn experience normally. Once your character gains a level, you can explore new options, such as multi-classing or buying skills and feats that may not have been available to your P99 character.