Characteristics

Understand all 9 characteristics in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, including Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, and Fellowship.

You have a total of 9 attributes, called "characteristics" in-game. Each characteristic has a base value of 30, providing a characteristic bonus of +3. When selecting characteristic increases, you are limited to two increases per tier (basic, advanced, exemplar) for any given characteristic. This means you can increase any given characteristic no more than a total of +30%. You can add more increases by taking specific talents, such as Characteristic Training.

Characteristics:

• Weapon Skill (WS): Measures your competence in close combat. It increases your parry chance and critical hit chance with melee attacks, while also reducing enemies' parry chance against your melee attacks.
• Ballistic Skill (BS): Measures your competence with ranged weapons. It determines your base hit chance with ranged attacks, calculated as (30 + BS)%.
• Strength (STR): Measures your physical strength and governs your damage with melee weapons. Each point of Strength bonus deals +5% damage with melee weapons, and +10% damage with two-handed weapons. It is the governing characteristic for the Athletics skill.
• Toughness (TGH): Measures your ability to endure pain and resist the effects of toxins, diseases, harmful environments, and other physical ailments. Each point of Toughness adds +10% maximum wounds. It is the governing characteristic for the Carouse skill.
• Agility (AGI): Measures your poise and quickness of reflexes. It governs your initiative, dodge chance, and reaction. When using a melee weapon, it also affects your dodge reduction. It is the governing characteristic for the Demolition skill.
• Intelligence (INT): Measures your acumen, reasoning, and knowledge. Each point of Intelligence deals +5% damage with non-burst ranged area attacks. It is the governing characteristic for the Logic, Lore (Imperium), Lore (Warp), Lore (Xenos), Medicae, and Tech-Use skills.
• Perception: Measures how well you perceive your surroundings. It governs dodge reduction and is the governing characteristic for the Awareness skill.
• Willpower (WP): Measures your ability to withstand the horrors of the warp and the terrors of space travel. It increases your chance of resisting negative mental effects and psychic powers.
• Fellowship (FEL): Measures your ability to interact with other creatures to befriend or deceive them. It is the governing characteristic for the Coercion, Commerce, and Persuasion skills.