Penwick

Aptitudes

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Aptitudes are a broad reflection of your character's capabilities. These capabilities serve as a guideline for what your character can do in threads with other player characters or NPCs. Using aptitudes is not required outside of moderated threads.

There are six aptitudes in total on Penwick:

• Physique
• Intelligence
• Charisma
• Spirit
• Agility
• Sorcery

Each Aptitude is measured on a scale from 0 to 16. When you start a new character, you get to distribute Aptitude Points (AP) across these Aptitudes freely. How many Aptitude Points you start with depends upon the age of your character. This will be discussed in more detail later on.

The Aptitude system is primarily designed for use in moderated threads and sports, where your choice of where you've invested Aptitude Points matters and can affect the outcome. In moderated threads, your character's Aptitude in a given area is added as a modifier to a single roll of a ten-sided die (d10) to determine outcomes. The more AP you have invested in a particular Aptitude, the more likely you are to pass these challenges successfully.

There is a secondary, opt-in use for Aptitudes. In regular (non-moderated) threads, you can choose to use the Aptitudes to resolve conflicts like fights between characters or add an element of luck and chance to your adventures.

In summary: the aim of the Aptitude system is to support and reinforce your character's growth through broad indicators, but "leveling" is not the point of playing or writing on Penwick.

Now, let's have a look at the various Aptitudes.

Physique

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Characters with a high Physique are stronger, more resilient to disease and poison and can endure greater amounts of pain or discomfort for longer stretches of time. This is reflected in RP by the fact that a character's health pool is determined by their Physique. A character's health pool is calculated as: Health Pool = Physique * 100. Your character's health is mainly used in moderated scenarios where it is possible for your character to pass out (reach 0 or negative health) and become incapacitated.

Physique is also used to determine outcomes where a character's strength is measured. However, a character with high Physique does not always have to be muscular. You are free to flavour this accordingly in your RP.


Intelligence

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Intelligence defines your character's ability to process information quickly and accurately. Characters with high intelligence are able to rapidly discern patterns, solve complex problems, often speak multiple languages and are able to plan for contingencies. Intelligence can be thought of as one's reasoning ability but also covers the domain of intuition and observation. A character with high intelligence is more likely to notice things that others might miss in moderated scenarios and has greater resistance against Charisma.

Please note that intelligence does not cover emotional intelligence or social intelligence. These are covered by Charisma.


Charisma

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Charisma defines your character's social skills and their ability to influence others through charm, persuasiveness, likeability, intimidation, and manipulation. Characters with high charisma are capable of influencing other characters though characters with high Intelligence may be able to resist them. You are free to flavour high charisma as being intimidating or manipulative if that better fits your character since the results would be largely the same, but you are expected to be consistent with how you choose to play your character's charisma.


Spirit

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Spirit is defined by your character's inner strength, resolve, focus, and one's mental ability to endure hardship. Characters with high spirits are able to overcome gruelling obstacles, set aside their fears, and push themselves to perform great feats through sheer force of willpower alone. Characters with high Spirit are usually more reliable casters due to their increased focus. They also have greater resistance against intimidation, fear-inducing, or mind-manipulating effects.


Agility

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Agility defines your character's speed, reflexes, ability to dodge as well as their accuracy. Characters with high agility are more nimble and graceful than others, allowing them to move quickly out of harm's way or hit a target with greater accuracy. High Agility may also translate into greater running speed, allowing a character to outpace others.


Sorcery

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Sorcery determines the power and effectiveness of your character's spells. A hex cast by a character with high Sorcery will have a greater effect (do more damage) as opposed to a character with low Sorcery.

Starting A New Character

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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 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 58 Aptitude Points.
• An adult character starting outside of the school system (not a Professor) starts with 58 Aptitude Points.

Supposing you start as a first-year character and divide all 36 AP equally, you'd have 6 AP in each aptitude, which translates into your character being a fully functional, but generally unskilled person. Your character will gain additional Aptitude Points annually (upon graduation in July) ,which you can distribute how you want, thereby increasing their Aptitude scores each year.

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 for this. 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 AP allotted to them, but you should be aware that choosing to assign 0 AP 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 unconscious.
• 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

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When you create a new character, you will get a number of Aptitude Points to start with. You may then distribute these AP 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 AP in any given Aptitude.
• A second-year Penwick student may have no more than 10 AP in any given Aptitude.
• A third-year Penwick student or higher may have no more than 13 AP in any given Aptitude.
• Adult character may have no more than 13 AP in any given Aptitude.
• Only characters who have taken cap-breaking abilities may have more than 13 AP (up to 16) in a given Aptitude.

All characters from third-year on are unrestrained to go up to 13 AP in any aptitude. A character can only reach 14, 15 or 16 AP in a given Aptitude by taking a special ability that 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 AP in other areas.


Earning More Aptitude Points

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Each year, as your character graduates into their next year at Penwick or simply exists for another year as an adult, you will gain additional Aptitude Points.

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 (50 if started in fifth year)	13	+4
7	60 (54 if started in fifth year)	13	+4
Upon graduating	64 (58 if started in fifth year)	13	-

Adult characters, whether they attend Sigerth or not, start with 58AP and gain +3AP annually (on July 1st) until the hard cap of 96AP is reached.
If you do not have any cap-breaking abilities and can only invest 13 AP in each Aptitude, your adult character will be soft-locked when they reach 78 Aptitude Points, as there won't be any aptitudes left to invest in. This means that your annual +3AP will be discarded until you take a cap-breaking ability.

The progression for Adult Professors is the same as any adult, with one difference. You gain +3AP per year like every other adult character, but Adult Professors start with 70AP from the get-go. If a veteran character who already has more than 70AP becomes a Professor, they simply keep however many AP they already have.

Closing Remarks

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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 AP, 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.

Rank

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A character's rank is calculated by summing all their invested Aptitude Points together. Rank is not an absolute measure of a character's capabilities and say nothing about the outcomes of conflicts since dice rolls provide and element of luck/chance which can change the balance of power. That said, rank is useful to have a rough idea of where characters sit in relation to one another.

The Aptitude system has a few hard limits built into it. These are:

• The hard limit for player controlled characters is a rank of 96. Under no circumstances can this limit ever be breached, even if some loophole were to be discovered which would permit it, this hard limit overrules it. The number 96 is calculated from 6 Aptitudes with a maximum of 16 points in each (6*16).
• The hard limit for moderator controlled characters is a rank of 99.
• A character with a rank of 100 would be a God. This is out of reach of players and out of reach of moderator created story NPCs. In other words, you will never see a character with a 100 Aptitude points invested.

It should be noted that a well-educated adult in this setting who has gone both through school and university would likely wind up with a rank in the low 70s. Player characters are the exception in this setting, they are the ones who can (through hard work and dedication) reach into 90s territory. Legendary NPCs like the founders of Penwick and staples of HP lore like Grindewald, Merlin, Voldemort and Dumbledore all rank high, but even they barely manage to rank into 90s territory.

You are not obligated to list your character's rank or think much about it. Rank is merely meant as a quick and dirty indicator in moderator scenarios of the level of threat players might be facing.

Aptitude Points Table

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Below you can get a rough indication of what having X amount of Aptitude Points invested in an Aptitude translates into. This is not exact and should merely be read as a rough indication.

Points	Tier	Description
0	Incapable	You are completely untrained or naturally deficient in this area.
1	Feeble	You struggle even with basic tasks and often fall short of expectations.
2	Very Poor	You show minimal ability and are often outclassed by others.
3	Poor	You’re noticeably below average and easily challenged in this area.
4	Below Average	You show some competence but lack reliability.
5	Average	You meet general expectations for someone your age.
6	Competent	You handle most common situations with confidence and consistency.
7	Capable	You are above average and show promise beyond basic expectations.
8	Skilled	You are well-practiced and perform impressively in standard situations.
9	Talented	You stand out among peers and can perform well even in high-pressure scenarios.
10	Excellent	You are highly impressive and frequently relied upon for your ability.
11	Exceptional	Your prowess is rare, often admired or respected by others.
12	Extraordinary	You exceed almost all others in this field and are frequently superior.
13	Heroic	You are renowned for your skill and at the limits of what most people think possible.
14	Masterful	You are so masterful that you make it look easy.
15	Prodigal	You are a once-in-a-generation talent. Tales are told about people like you.
16	Legendary	You are at the peak of mortal potential and nearly mythic in capability.