Strong as an Ox

"You're as strong as an ox and as wise as an owl." Sure you say that but how does that translate to strength, intelligence, and wisdom? Easy, look it up on the charts below and see how your PC stacks up with some common and not so common denizens of the Pathfinder world. The stats below come from the Bestiary, NPC Codex, and Iconic PCs of Pathfinder.

Physical Attributes

Strength: measures your physical power and muscle and is important for melee fighters. It also determines your carrying capacity and ability to dead lift objects.

• Melee Attacks
• Damage rolls with melee or thrown weapons; A penalty applies to bow attacks
• Climb & Swim checks
• Strength Checks: break down doors, bend bars, lift gates

 Descriptors-

• Low Scores: sickly, feeble, ailing, debilitated, frail, puny, overweight, adolescent, young, lazy...
• High Scores: strong, brawny, sturdy, built, athletic, rugged, stalwart...

Dexterity: Measures agility, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and balance and is important to rogues. It is useful for characters with light or medium armor as it helps you dodge incoming attacks and is vital for ranged weapon attacks.

• Ranged attack rolls and ranged attack spells
• AC +/-
• Reflex saves to avoid fireballs
• Skills: Acrobatics, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, Sleight-of-Hand, & Stealth

 Descriptors-

• Low Scores: Clumsy, ham-fisted, hunchbacked, lame (limp, crippled legs, missing leg: speed reduced to 1/2, can't charge) klutz, missing a finger (-1 Dex per 3 fingers lost) or hand (can't use 2-handed weapons), involuntary movement (tremors), no depth perception (one eye: -4 sight-based Perception checks), one armed (can't use 2-handed weapons), bowlegged, bum knee...
• High Scores: Flexible, lithe, graceful, agile, supple, limber, nimble, deft, willowy...

Constitution: Measures your health and endurance. It increases your HP per level and is important to all adventures

• +/- HP rolls
• Fortitude saves: resist poison, disease, or other threats

Descriptors-

• Low Scores: Suffer from (bad back...), glutton, lazy, unfit, wounded, out of shape...
• High Scores: Fit, athletic, robust, hale, trim, vigorous, hardy, sturdy, hearty...

Mental Attributes

Intelligence: determines how well you learn, remember, and reason; Animals have instinctual intelligence of 1-2. It is a key ability to wizards, witches, and other spellcasters.

INT 5-7: dull-witted and slow; 11-12 tend to pick up ideas quickly and learn new ideas easily; 13-14 can solve problems quickly often without thinking; 15-16 are exceptionally intelligent and cleaver; 17-18 are genius level characters, naturally brilliant.

• Determines bonus languages equal to Int modifier
• Determines number of bonus skill points you get at each level, minimum 1
• Skills: Appraise, Craft, Knowledge, Linguistics, & Spellcraft

Descriptors-

• Low Scores: whimsical, unimaginative, absent minded, dyslexic...
• High Scores: Eidetic memory, versatile, innovative, resourceful, ingenious, logical, broad- minded...

Wisdom: Describes a players willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition and is very important to not only clerics and druids, but also paladins and rangers.

• Determines Will saves: negate effects of sleep, charm person, and many other spells and hexes
• Skills: Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, & Survival

Descriptors-

• Low Scores: witless, folly, rash, reckless, impulsive, foolhardiness, careless, daredevil, fearless/fearful, clueless, gullible, oblivious, overconfident, short attention span, distractible, daydreamer...
• High Scores: natural wit, canny, astute, shrewd, gumption, savvy, street smart, perceptive, empathetic, fearless, intuitive, rapier wit, imaginative, curious, attentive, careful...

Charisma: Measures a players personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance and is important to sorcerers, paladins, and bards as well as clerics to channel energy. Undead use Charisma to measure their "lifeforce." Keep in mind that appearance and personality are not always linked by low scores- it is possible for a player with a Cha 8 to be beautiful but haughty (like Cinderella's step sisters: "beautiful of face but vile and black of heart")

• Checks to influence others
• Channel Energy DCs for clerics & paladins
• Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Perform, & Use Magic Device

Descriptors-

• Low Scores: Pitiable, odious personal habits (tuneless humming, body odor, spitting on floor, poor table manners), haughty, arrogant, vain, conceited, disdainful, big-headed, pompous, snobbish, bad tempered, bully, callous, megalomaniac, miserly, selfish, shy, chauvinistic, staid, uncongenial, puts foot in mouth, bluntly honest to point of rudeness...
• Appearance- Ugly scar, unattractive, ghastly, homely (average level looks)
• Scars (optional) Minor (interesting conversation starter); Moderate scar on face (+1 Intimidate); Major scar on face (+2 Intimidate); bonus = to penalty from CHA modifier- it doesn't cancel out the - modifier, it replaces it (Example: Max the Barbarian has CHA 7 partially because he has a large scar across his face but also because he smells and is bad tempered. He takes a -2 on all CHA skills except Intimidate where he takes a +2)
• High Scores: Adaptable, social chameleon, humble, proud, dignified, noble, chummy, gregarious, selfless, congenial, charming,
• Appearance: Attractive, handsome, beautiful, alluring, bewitching, beguiling, comely, fair, pretty...

What they all mean...

Ability scores define more than just +s and -s on hit rolls, saves, and damage- they should help serve to define your PC. The hardest part of most games is trying to portray a Int 8 Barbarian when you yourself are an avid gamer and know how to plan things out and think things through. But you're not playing yourself are you? A 8 Int Barbarian would be impulsive, would cut the ropes holding him over a pit filled with spikes before thinking ahead 1 step; he would boot down the door without second thought.

How to read the scores...

STR: 9 (-1)
DEX: 14 (+2)
CON: 13 (+1)
INT: 17 (+3)
WIS: 8 (-1)
CHA: 9 (-1)

You could read the same stats many ways depending on your character concept

1) He was lazy as an adolescent and never worked out too much (Str 9) but was otherwise healthy (Con 13). He was naturally smart (Int 17) and used that to get by and get into trouble as he lacked the common sense to keep his gob closed and tended to insult others with his offhand comments and insights (Wis 8). He learned to be quick on his feet to evade the people he offended (Dex 14). Most people find him abrasive but his heart is in the right place even if his people skills are lacking (Cha 9).

2) He grew up an academic in a boarding school for mages and applied himself day and night to his studies (Int 17) but never found the time or need to work out (Str 9). He is shy and introverted as he spent most of his time in the library pouring over ancient tomes piecing together forgotten lore (Cha 9). He is so engrossed in his thoughts he often doesn't notice it is raining until the downpour starts (Wis 8). He tinkers late into the night on potions which require manual dexterity (Dex 14) and enjoys a good meal when he remembers to eat (Con 13).



So... you're as strong as an ox (Str 16-17) and as wise as an owl (Wis 12-13) now means something else in the game world.