Now Risa's character statwise represents a beaaaaaaaaaaautiful woman who is intelligent and possesses her wits about her on top of that.  A real dangerous woman if you ask me.  However, she is fairly average when it comes to strength and constitution because, let's face it, she's a sorceress who gets by with her looks.  Of course, Risa can do something else with her sorceress (obviously), but I hope you understand the example.<br/><br/>To further the example, let me show you the stats of Alfreic:<br/><br/>STR 16, DEX 14, CON 20, WIS 10, INT 10, CHA 16.<br/><br/>Alfreic isn't slow, persay, he's just not any more intelligent than regular adventurers, peasants and most anyone.  He is also not very wise.  In game terms, I describe his wisdom as being fairly average because he's distracted constantly.  Now, he is a looker and has a commanding presence, so I gave him a 16.  He also has a strength of 16 and a dexterity of 14, which means that he's relatively imposing on the battlefield and can dodge a stray arrow here and there.  His dexterity can be explained as being JUST a 14 because Alfreic typically utilizes armors which restrict movement.  His strength is formidable, but he's not an overly musclebound human with muscle on top of muscle-- so I thought an 18 might be inappropriate.  However, Alfreic is the toughest S.O.B. imaginable.<br/><br/>This is how stats start playing into your character.<br/><br/>Stats give you bonuses.  The bonuses are broken up as such:<br/><br/>10-11 / +0<br/>12-13 / +1<br/>14-15 / +2<br/>16-17 / +3<br/>18-19 / +4<br/>20-21 / +5<br/><br/>Notice that you CAN get a higher score in your attributes.  When you hit every fourth level (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, etc.), you can add one extra attribute point.  You can also add to your ability scores with magic items.<br/><br/>Risa would have a +5 CHA bonus, a +3 INT bonus, a +2 DEX bonus, etc.<br/><br/>Let's go back to the original sorceress template!<br/><br/>Skills:  2 + INT<br/>Base Attack Bonus:  +0<br/>Fort:  +0<br/>Ref:  +0<br/>Will:  +2<br/>HP:  6<br/>Special:  Bloodline Power, Cantrips, Eschew Materials*<br/>Spells Per Day:  3 First Level Spells<br/><br/>To skills, Risa would take her sorceresses' intelligence and add it to the 2, to get a total of 5 ranks of skills which she can place over the following skills:<br/><br/>Appraise (INT)<br/>Bluff (Cha)<br/>Craft (Int)<br/>Fly (Dex)<br/>Intimidate (Cha)<br/>Knowledge (Arcana) (Int)<br/>Profession (Wis)<br/>Spellcraft (Int)<br/>Use Magic Device (Cha).<br/><br/>Of course, there are a few caveats here which we should cover;  since Sorceresses is Risa's chosen class, she gets an extra rank per level;  on top of that, she's also to receive an extra rank per level because she's a human.  So instead of 5 ranks, she gets 7 ranks.<br/><br/>Since she's a noble, she'll put one rank in Appraise and Bluff.  Since she's a magician, she'll also put a rank into Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft and Use Magic Device.  Since she wants to be capable rider, she'll use her remaining two points in skills that aren't specific to her sorceress:  Ride and Handle Animal.<br/><br/>So, her stats look like this:<br/><br/>Appraise (Int):  1 +INT<br/>Bluff (Cha):  1 + CHA<br/>Knowledge (Arcana):  1 +INT<br/>Spellcraft:  1+INT<br/>Use Magic Device:  1 + Cha<br/><br/>and<br/><br/>Ride (Dex) 1 + DEX<br/>Handle Animal:  1 + CHA<br/><br/>Because of rules, a character receives an extra +3 to skills in CLASS SKILLS (listed way above).  So, Risa would have:<br/><br/>Appraise (Int):  4 +INT<br/>Bluff (Cha):  4 + CHA<br/>Knowledge (Arcana):  4 +INT<br/>Spellcraft:  4+INT<br/>Use Magic Device:  4 + Cha<br/><br/>Not bad!<br/><br/>Skills:  7<br/>Base Attack Bonus:  +0<br/>Fort:  +0<br/>Ref:  +0<br/>Will:  +2<br/>HP:  6<br/>Special:  Bloodline Power, Cantrips, Eschew Materials*<br/>Spells Per Day:  3 First Level Spells<br/><br/>Now, her Base Attack Bonus represents the base number which she uses when she is rolling to strike someone with a melee or ranged weapon.  The sorceress isn't good with attacking, so it's a 0.  A melee attack is typically the BAB (Base Attack Bonus) + the Strength Modifier.  A ranged attack is typically a BAB + Dex modifier.<br/><br/>Risa would have either a +0 to melee attack, or a +2 to ranged attacks.  Yikes!<br/><br/>You will now see the FORT, REF and WILL save base modifiers.  These save modifiers are somewhat important in D&D, because as you might already know, there are more ways to skin the cat when it comes to creating damage.  You could mentally attack someone, or you could throw a really, really, really big rock at someone from the edge of a cliff.  You might even inflict poison!!  These saves are reactionary.  Fortitude represents the internal ability to overcome duress, fatigue, stress and suffocation-- it can also be used to resist poisons or stay alive after a killing blow.  Reflex is your ability to react to danger.  Will represents your ability to overcome mental attacks and insanity.  It is common for geeks all around the world to say, "... I failed my will save this morning," whenever they are depressed.  :D<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Special</span><br/>These are your special abilities!  The first of which is Bloodlines.  I suppose I will cover this in my next post.