Starting A New Character
When you create a new character, you will start out with a set amount of Aptitude points which you may freely distribute across the six Aptitudes. How many Aptitude points you start with is listed below:
- An eleven-year-old first-year student at Penwick starts with 36 aptitude points
- A thirteen-year-old third-year student at Penwick starts with 40 aptitude points. This is 4 points fewer than a first year who makes it to third year.
- A fifteen-year-old fifth-year student at Penwick starts with 46 aptitude points. This is 6 points fewer than a first year who makes it to fifth year.
- A seventeen or eighteen-year-old freshman starting at Sigerth in their first year starts with 63 aptitude points. This is 3 points more than what a graduated seventh year student who made no effort to maximize their aptitude points would have upon graduating Penwick. By comparison, a seventh year Penwick student who maximized their aptitude points through abilities and activities could expect to reach about 80 aptitude points on graduation. This discrepancy is on purpose to reward players who put in the time and effort to grow their character through the school system.
- An adult character starting outside of the school system (not a Professor) starts with 70 Aptitude Points.
Supposing you start as a first year character and divided all 36 points equally, you'd have 6 points in each aptitude, which translates into your character being a fully functional, but generally unskilled person. Your character will gain additional points annually which you can distribute how you want, thereby increasing their Aptitude scores each year.
As mentioned earlier, the range of Aptitude points is 0 to 16. This means you may allot 0 Aptitude points to some Aptitudes. However, not all Aptitudes are eligible this since Physique, for example, determines a character's health and a character with zero health would be dead or unconscious. The following Aptitudes may have 0 points allotted to them, but you should be aware that choosing to assign 0 points to an Aptitude means that your character is relying
entirely on luck in that area.
- Physique may not be 0 as this would mean your character is dead or unconcious.
- Intelligence may not be 0 as this would mean your character is utterly oblivious to their surroundings and would likely be walking into walls.
- Charisma may be 0. You are allowed to lack any sense of social grace.
- Spirit may be 0 but your mind will likely shatter at the slightest setback.
- Agility may be 0. If you want to have the reflexes of a brick, we'll let you, but you are going to get hit by stuff. A lot.
- Sorcery may not be 0 as this would mean you are a squib or a muggle.
Aptitude Point Distribution Limitations
When you create a new character, you will get a number of Aptitude Points to start with. You may then distribute these points freely (with some minor limitations) across the various Aptitudes. These limitations are as follows:
- A first year Penwick student may have no more than 8 points in any given Aptitude.
- A second year Penwick student may have no more than 10 points in any given Aptitude.
- A third year Penwick student or higher may have no more than 13 points in any given Aptitude.
- Characters starting at Sigerth may have no more than 13 points in any given Aptitude.
- Only characters who have taken cap-breaking abilities may have more than 13 points (up to 16) in a given Aptitude.
All characters, from third year on out, are basically unrestrained to go up to 13 points in any aptitude. A character can only reach 14, 15 or 16 Aptitude points in a given Aptitude by taking a special ability which allows them to break this cap. Regular characters without special abilities are hard-capped to a maximum of 13 Aptitude Points in any given Aptitude.
Because you are unrestrained in your allotment of Aptitude Points from third year on out, you are able to play a student character who is prodigiously good in a particular Aptitude (like being highly intelligent, or highly charismatic). However, the cost you pay for doing so is that you will be massively lacking points in other areas.
Earning More Aptitude Points
Each year, as your character graduates at Penwick or at Sigerth, you will gain additional Aptitude points. Adults existing outside of the school and university also gain an Aptitude Point yearly, but their growth is significantly slower than students.
The progression table for
Penwick Students can be seen below:
| Year |
Apt. Points |
Apt. Cap |
Annual Gain |
| 1 |
36 |
8 |
+4 |
| 2 |
40 |
10 |
+4 |
| 3 |
44 |
13 |
+4 |
| 4 |
48 |
13 |
+4 |
| 5 |
52 (46 if starting here) |
13 |
+4 |
| 6 |
56 |
13 |
+4 |
| 7 |
60 |
13 |
+4 |
The progression table for
Sigerth Students is as follows:
| Year |
Apt. Points |
Apt. Cap |
Annual Gain |
| 1 |
63 |
13 |
+3 |
| 2 |
66 |
13 |
+3 |
| 3 |
69 |
13 |
+3 |
| 4 |
72 |
13 |
+3 |
The progression for
Adult characters is simple: you earn 1 Aptitude Point per year until you reach the hard limit of 96 Aptitude points total. If you do not have any cap-breaking abilities and can only invest 13 points in each Aptitude, your adult character will be limited to 78 Aptitude Points (13*16) in total and your annual Aptitude Point will simply be discarded.
The progression table for
Adult Professors is yet to be determined.
Closing Remarks
The aptitude points for each character can be viewed on their profile and even on their mini-profile with every post they make. As an anti-cheating measure, you cannot change or edit your Aptitude points directly yourself. Instead, you must specify at character creation how you wish to distribute your starting points and a moderator will assign and allocate these to your in-character account.
When you earn new Aptitude points after character creation, you will have to submit an application to claim them. When the application has been processed by staff, your character's profile will be updated to reflect the requested change.
