Daggerfall:Attributes

Attributes define the fundamental properties of the player character and all enemies. As opposed to skills, which each determine proficiency at a specific action, attributes are more general. There are eight attributes: Strength, Intelligence, Willpower, Agility, Endurance, Personality, Speed, and Luck. Most attributes are said to "govern" certain skills, although this relationship does not actually have any in-game effect.

The player character's attributes are first set upon choosing a class. Every class, whether predefined or custom, has a starting attribute total of 400. When designing a custom class, you can set each attribute anywhere from 10 up to 75. During the final phase of character creation, you can roll for a random 0-10 extra points in each attribute, and manually allocate 6-14 additional points which can be freely assigned.

Upon leveling up, you will be awarded 4-6 points which can be added to any attributes, regardless of which skills have been raised. Once an attribute reaches 100, it cannot be increased further.

Attributes can be temporarily modified by the effects of spells, enchantments, disease, poison, lycanthropy, and vampirism. An attribute under such an effect is listed on the character sheet in blue rather than the usual yellow. Lowered attributes can be restored by a temple healer (if you are of sufficient rank) or with a spell. A character will die if any of their attributes are drained to 0.

Attribute	Enumeration	Description	Governed Skills
Strength STR	1 -9  = pathetic 10 -19  = frail 20 -29  = weak 30 -39  = below average 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = fairly strong 60 -69  = athletic 70 -79  = very strong 80 -89  = powerful 89+  = superhuman	Strength governs encumbrance, weapon damage and the ease of increasing strength-related skills. Strength modifies hand-to-hand and melee damage output (modifier = (Strength - 50) / 5).* Maximum Encumbrance = Strength x 1.5 Maximum Fatigue = Strength + Endurance	Axe Blunt Weapon Climbing Jumping
Intelligence INT	1 -9  = vegetable-like 10 -19  = idiotic 20 -29  = half-witted 30 -39  = dim 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = cunning 60 -69  = fairly clever 70 -79  = very intelligent 80 -89  = brilliant 89+  = genius	Intelligence governs total magic potential and the ease of increasing intelligence-related skills. Intelligence modifies maximum spell points.	Centaurian Daedric Dragonish Giantish Harpy Impish Lockpicking Medical Nymph Orcish Spriggan
Willpower WIL	1 -9  = inane 10 -19  = submissive 20 -29  = passive 30 -39  = distracted 40 -49  = unassertive 50 -59  = stable 60 -69  = confident 70 -79  = strong-willed 80 -89  = very focused 89+  = enlightened	Willpower governs resistance to spell effects and the ease of increasing willpower-related skills. Willpower modifies Spell Resistance at the rate of 1 bonus point for every 10 points of Willpower. "Spell Resistance" is distinct from the Magic Resistance or Magic Immunity special advantages available during character generation; for details, see Spell Maker.	Alteration Destruction Illusion Mysticism Restoration Thaumaturgy
Agility AGI	1 -9  = oafish 10 -19  = bumbling 20 -29  = clumsy 30 -39  = awkward 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = spry 60 -69  = nimble 70 -79  = dexterous 80 -89  = very agile 89+  = acrobatic	Agility governs ability to hit a target, to avoid getting hit, and the ease of increasing agility-related skills. Agility, among other factors, modifies hit chance (modifier = (attacker's Agility - target's Agility) / 10)).† (Therefore, from the player's perspective, higher AGI will lower the chance an enemy will hit you.)	Archery Backstabbing Critical Strike Hand-to-Hand Long Blade Pickpocket Short Blade Stealth
Endurance END	1 -9  = sickly 10 -19  = pitiable 20 -29  = unsteady 30 -39  = erratic 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = above average 60 -69  = very healthy 70 -79  = hardy 80 -89  = titanic 89+  = immortal	Endurance governs hit points, healing rate, resistance to poisons and diseases, and fatigue. Endurance modifies the rate of healing per hour of rest, with the modifier increasing with every 10 points of Endurance. This refers to the rate of recovering health, not spell points; spell points will always fully regenerate after 8 hours of resting irrespective of any character attribute or skill. Endurance modifies the maximum health points gained per level (modifier = (Endurance - 50) / 10)). Endurance modifies the amount of time your character can hold his/her breath underwater. Maximum Fatigue = Strength + Endurance	Swimming
Personality PER	1 -9  = abhorrent 10 -19  = unpopular 20 -29  = anonymous 30 -39  = unassuming 40 -49  = unremarkable 50 -59  = interesting 60 -69  = charming 70 -79  = arresting 80 -89  = authoritative 89+  = charismatic	Personality governs the ease of increasing personality-related skills. Personality modifies how NPCs react to your character.	Etiquette Mercantile Streetwise
Speed SPD	1 -9  = inactive 10 -19  = sluggish 20 -29  = very slow 30 -39  = slow 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = above average 60 -69  = fast 70 -79  = fleet-footed 80 -89  = lightning-fast 89+  = meteoric	Speed governs movement rate, missile reloading time, and all speed-related skills. Speed modifies movement rate and weapon swing speed.	Dodging Running
Luck LUC	1 -9  = cursed 10 -19  = hopeless 20 -29  = ill-favored 30 -39  = unfortunate 40 -49  = about average 50 -59  = fairly lucky 60 -69  = lucky 70 -79  = fortunate 80 -89  = very auspicious 89+  = divinely favored	Luck is a powerful modifier to any action you take. There are no skills in which luck is the primary attribute, but your odds of succeeding in any skill trial is modified by your luck Luck, among other factors, modifies hit chance (modifier = (attacker's Luck - target's Luck) / 10)). (Therefore, from the player's perspective, higher LUC will lower the chance an enemy will hit you.) Luck does not affect loot.	N/A

Notes

• The Oghma Infinium artifact grants an additional 30 attribute points to be allocated freely.
• Given the average maximum player level of 30 and an average attribute roll of 4.5, the average number of attribute points a player can expect to be able to allocate over the course of the game is 130. A careful player who plans their build to reach level 32, uses exploits to attain higher skill maximums, and "rerolls" level-ups to gain 6 attribute points each level may be able to allocate up to 186 attribute points. The Oghma Infinium increases this total further to 216 points. Given an average starting value of around 56 points per attribute, this means that allocating points evenly can result in a maximum of 83 in every attribute.
• A character with low physical attributes, particularly Strength and Endurance, may find it difficult to progress during the early stages of the game.
• A character with low mental attributes, particularly Intelligence, may find it difficult to progress during the later stages of the game.
• Personality has minimal effect on how people perceive you. You can engage in normal conversation with 10-15 Personality and suffer no repercussions.
  • This is changed in Daggerfall Unity, such that a character usually needs 40 or more Personality to obtain favorable responses from most townspeople.
• Agility is far less useful in Daggerfall than it is in Arena. This is due to Arena operating mostly on a D20 system, with every 5 points of Agility increasing the player's to-hit chance by 1 point, which means a bonus of 5% chance to hit an enemy. In Daggerfall and later games, this system is carried over without accounting for a switch from D20 to D100. As a result, 5 points of Agility increases to-hit chance by only 1%, a miniscule bonus in comparison.
• In Daggerfall Unity, Personality increases the chances of pacifying when using Language Skills (up to +10%), as well as when using Etiquette or Streetwise skills (up to +20%).

Bugs

^* Daggerfall incorrectly displays the Strength hand-to-hand and melee damage modifier in the character sheet; the above is the correct formula actually used in game calculations. This display bug is fixed in Daggerfall Unity.

^† Agility doesn't actually appear to affect your chance to hit enemies. This bug is fixed in Daggerfall Unity.