Every character on Fernweh joins with a select amount of attribute stats. The number of total stats any given character may have is based on the age of the individual. Younger characters will have less experience in any given field compared to those of older age. From there, characters may be customized with a select number of skills. These skills impact specific systems and may directly apply a modifier on certain stats as part of a skill check.

Players will decide where they desire any given stat to be placed to allow customization in fields they want their character to excel or be weak in. Characters may also be subjected to being an “all-rounder” type if a player wishes, where they have no strengths or weaknesses.

There are six attribute categories for each character that a player may separate their total stats within. They are: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma — each of these assets usually range from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 18. A player may decide to completely forgo a category if they wish, and make a “glass cannon” so to speak at their own discretion. These set scores will determine the base “stat” on any skill checks henceforth, and will be subjected to modifiers from there depending on the stat, and the situation they are in.

If a number is divided unevenly, the number is rounded down regardless of the fraction percentage.

In situations where a skill check is necessary, a d20 dice will be rolled to determine success or failure. The d20 is rolled first and then the appropriate modifiers are added. Circumstantial bonuses and penalties are added or deducted lastly, and result in the official “total”. The total must be equal to or higher than the precedent check difficulty to succeed.

Skill checks are not required for pre-planned outcomes. First and foremost, Fernweh is here for the creativity of our players. If you already have an outcome that you are interested in with a plot partner, skill checks can be skipped completely. Skill checks are only 100% required in certain BWPs and likewise circumstances.

Our system is loosely based off of Baldur’s Gate 3’s version of the 5th Edition D&D rulebook.

Age	Total Stats
Under a year	60
One Year	64
Two Years	68
Three Years	72
Four Years	76
Five Years	80
Six Years	84
Seven Years	88
Eight+ Years	92

1. Modifier — Depending on the number equivalent to the checked attribute of an individual character, the dice will have a subsequent modifier that may be positive or negative in nature. For example, if Bob rolled a d20 which resulted in 14, because he has an 8 in Charisma that the check is based on, he would receive a -1 modifier, totaling the final number to 13.
2. Circumstantial Bonus — Circumstantial bonuses affect a roll or multiple rolls in a single event. These attribute buffs are not permanent. Examples of a circumstantial bonus may be a rallying call of a leader motivating her soldiers to fight in a battle.
3. Circumstantial Penalty — Likewise, there are circumstantial penalties that may also affect a roll, or multiple, in a single (or set number of) thread(s). These penalties, for example, may be that a character has already encountered a battle and is now exhausted or injured. Another penalty could be poison inflicted by the enemy.
4. Target Number — Depending on the difficulty of a check, the target number is the number that a character must roll equal to or above in order to succeed. Any number below the target number results in a failure.

1. Strength — Strength measures raw physical force, bodily power and athleticism. A strength check could be, but is not limited to:
1. Pushing or pulling an object (or individual)
2. Attempting to break something
3. Climbing a steep or slippery cliff
4. Jumping long-distance or high up
5. Fighting against a strong ocean current
6. Forcing open a door
7. Breaking free of bonds
8. Holding onto something or someone
2. Dexterity — Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. It is also directly tied into a character’s initiative bonus (D20 + initiative bonus) that determines stealth when starting a battle and how fast your character will react to a fight initiated against them. A dexterity check could be, but is not limited to:
1. Balance on a slippery surface (ice, rickety bridge, stepping stones in a river)
2. Concealment
3. General trickery, such as theft
4. Stealth (slipping away undetected, sneaking up on someone)
5. Picking a lock
6. Disabling a trap
7. Wiggling free of bonds
8. Singing / instruments
3. Constitution — Constitution measures endurance, health, and resistance to poison. Constitution checks come into play primarily with Life or Death situations, or traveling long distances. These scenarios push your character to their limits. A constitution check could be, but is not limited to:
1. Survival (such as without food or water, no sleep, etc)
2. Traveling without rest
3. Climbing a steep or slippery cliff
4. Resistance to poison, venom and other toxic substances
5. Major/crippling damage recovery
4. Intelligence — Intelligence measures intellectual acuity, accuracy of memory, and ability to reason. These traits primarily have effect against NPC characters, and may or may not play a role with fellow player characters depending on their playstyle. Intelligence also plays a part with Magick. An intelligence check could be, but not limited to:
1. Recalling spells, lore/history, magickal planes, terrain
2. Creating a disguise
3. A battle of wits / fooling a NPC
4. Investigate a crime scene
5. Magick potency
5. Wisdom — Wisdom reflects perceptiveness and intuition. These traits primarily have effect against NPC characters, and may or may not play a role with fellow player characters depending on their playstyle. A wisdom check could be, but not limited to:
1. Find & check tracks
2. Hunting wild game
3. Predicting the weather
4. Detect a presence of something or someone
5. Diagnose an illness or injury
6. Charisma — Charisma reflects on a character’s ability to interact effectively with others. Like Intelligence and Wisdom, Charisma primarily has an effect against NPC characters and situations. It may or may not play a role with fellow player characters depending on their play style. A charisma check could be, but not limited to:
1. Maintain a straight-face when telling a blatant lie
2. Pry information out of a prisoner
3. Delighting an audience with your storytelling, music, dancing, etc
4. Convince a merchant to give you a discount
5. Negotiate peace between upset citizens
6. Blend into the crowd to gather information

Stat Score	Modifier
1	-5
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

For example, if Bob has a 7 in Wisdom, he will have a -2 modifier on all Wisdom skill checks.


Skill checks will primarily be based around the use of NPCs and systems — such as hunting, healing, and gathering. Players are expected to use these checks to correlate whether their character succeeds or fails in an action, or task.

To see a specific system and how their checks work, check out their Guidebook page for further details. In this section, we will be focusing on Skill Checks in general and where else they can be used.

In addition to these checks that are player base run, staff members may add random “event” checks in threads, and any BWP that is staff member run. Players are to utilize the RNG Fates forum to roll dice related to their IC threads.

Checks are split into different Difficulty Classes. The DC is dependent on the action an individual or group is attempting.

Difficulty Class (DC)	Target Number (TN)
Very Easy	5
Easy	10
Medium	15
Hard	20
Very Hard	25
Improbable	30

For example, in this scenario, Bob is attempting to loot a merchant of three pieces of dried meat in the city of Teggedell. Bob’s player will roll three d20 with a check in Dexterity (Sleight of Hand), one dice per piece of meat that Bob is attempting to steal. Because it is a city, we can assume that the DC will be Medium due to the number of citizens and guards that could bear witness to the crime.

If Bob rolls a 18, a 12, and a 17, and has an additional modifier of +2 in dexterity, his final numbers would be: 20, 14, and 19. With the Medium DC’s target number (TN) set at 15, Bob is able to grab 2 pieces of dried meat.

Now Bob has the meat, he has to ensure that he can escape before the merchant (guards, or others) notice. Again, we will roll a d20 with a check in dexterity (stealth) with a Medium DC. Bob ends up rolling a 8. Bob has 14 in Dexterity so he, once again, has a modifier of +2. The total he ends up with is a 10. Bob fails the check as a result, as a Medium DC TN is 15.

Bob is noticed by the merchant who starts to make a fuss over the situation. The guards are alerted by the merchant’s yelling. Bob could now either use an additional check in dexterity to attempt using the commotion to escape unnoticed in the crowd, or checks in strength if Bob wanted to try fighting the guards and said merchant off.

A critical failure is when an individual rolls a 1. Critical failures may result in minor situations such as a character slipping and hurting themselves, to major damages that could impact your character’s future — physically, mentally or status wise.

A critical success is when an individual rolls a 20 without modifiers. Critical success results in a situation going too well and your character gains an advantage next turn. An advantage is when you are able to roll two sets of d20 dice, and the higher of the two is used, for one turn. Eg: Bob rolls a 14 and a 5, the 14 would be used with character specific modifiers applied.


In addition to a character’s flat stats, Fernweh has a perk system. Perks are purchasable add-ons that can assist with rolls, resistances, and other helpful additions. Certain perks are not compatible with each other and may not stack. Every character may have a maximum of four perks at any time.

Perks are purchased on a by-player-basis. This means that once a player has unlocked a perk, they may use this perk on a new character without purchasing it again through their character. A single perk, however, can only be used once per player. So if you already have a perk attached to a current character, you may not use the same on another character of yours.

You may transfer perks and change your characters perk loadout so long as the characters affected are not currently locked in a scenario where perks will be used (aka any RNG situation).

There are few, rare exception perks in which a player may have multiple of them active at a time. These perks are typically tied to a position, or otherwise circumstantial scenario.