A Guardian is not a stat block that grew a story. It's a story that earned a stat block.

Before you touch a number, answer three questions:

• Who were you when the Eversor came — or in the 257 years since?
• Why do you fight — duty, debt, curiosity, revenge, love?
• What's your edge — steel, spell, mind, machine?

Everything downstream — attributes, skills, Path — is those three answers wearing numbers. The forge only shapes what you bring to it.

Why this matters: Tables that build concept-first get characters whose numbers explain themselves. Tables that build numbers-first get spreadsheets with a name field.

🕷 Tela whispers: Jane's concept was four words: “the last fencing teacher.” Every number on her sheet is those four words, sharpened.

📖 Core Rule Book — The World, p. 8; Attributes, p. 9.

Eight core Attributes define every Guardian — body, mind, and presence:

The scale runs from 1 (below average) with 3–4 as a normal adult, up through Exceptional, Superhuman, and Legendary. The book's table climbs to 12 — Godlike, the tier of myths — but player Guardians cap at 10. Ten is Sherlock Holmes, an Olympian, King Solomon. Godlike is not for sale at the forge.

Why this matters: Because Dex and Per feed Speed Bonus and Dex/Int/Per can carry your AP, attributes aren't just power — they're tempo. Two Guardians with the same totals can play at completely different speeds.

🕷 Tela whispers: A 9 or 10 means legends tell stories about you. Please act accordingly. Mylo does not act accordingly.

📖 Core Rule Book — Attribute Table & Descriptions, p. 9–11. Playable cap 10 per the designer's ruling; 11–12 (Godlike) is beyond player reach.

Attributes are the metal; skills are the edge. Every roll you met in the Dice lesson is attribute + skill — Lockpicking sharpens Dex at a lock, Climb sharpens Str on a wall, Weapon skills sharpen Dex in a fight, and Dodge, Parry, and Toughness build the numbers that keep you alive.

One skill deserves its own paragraph:

You met it in the Round: AP per round = 10 + Chosen Speed Attribute + Action Skill, and Speed Bonus = ⌊(Dex + Per)/2⌋ + Action Skill. It is the single most tempo-dense number on your sheet.

Your Chosen Speed Attribute (Dex, Int, or Per) is fixed at creation — a duelist runs on Dex, a battle-scholar on Int, a scout on Per. Choose it to match your concept; it doesn't change unless a Path says so.

The full skill lists, costs, and advancement live in the Character Building Guide (PDF) — your table's law for how many points you get and where they may go.

Why this matters: Point-for-point, Action Skill buys more turns-that-matter than anything else at the forge: it makes your pool deeper AND your actions land earlier. Concept decides where the rest goes.

🕷 Tela whispers: Archi maxed Action Skill before anything else. Textus maxed Toughness. They have the same argument about it every decade, and they are both still here — so perhaps they are both right.

📖 Core Rule Book — Attribute Descriptions (skills per attribute), p. 9–11; Derived Mechanics Summary, p. 11.

Set your attributes and skills, and the sheet computes itself:

Your Defense TN grows from the defensive rolls you met in the Round — Dodge and Parry add into it (armor bonus subtracts from them), and armor pays you back by reducing damage.

Want to feel the tempo side live? The AP & Tempo calculator is these formulas in living ink.

Why this matters: Nothing on this table is a new decision — it's your earlier decisions echoing. That's why concept-first works: by the time you reach the derived block, the sheet is already telling your story back to you.

🕷 Tela whispers: Life Points are 15 plus what you brought. The 15 is the world giving everyone one free chance to learn better.

📖 Core Rule Book — Derived Mechanics Summary, p. 11; defensive rolls, p. 12.

Paths are how a Guardian's power grows — martial disciplines, Magic traditions, Psychic awakenings, Tech mastery. Your first Path is the biggest choice at the forge after concept itself.

For Magic Paths, the gate is written in your attributes:

And your repertoire scales from the same source: you can know 2 × the lower of the Path's two key attributes in effects (basic effects and Enhancements don't count against it).

Psychics walk a different road entirely — no Paths, but Focus attributes and a life-tethered pool. Their door opens in a later lesson.

The full catalogue — every Path, its keys, its ranks — is The Book of Paths (PDF), free like everything else in the Armory.

Why this matters: The ≥6 gate is gentle by design — two normal-adult 3s open a door. Depth, not entry, is where the attributes bite: your repertoire ceiling is set by your WEAKER key. Balanced keys make broad casters.

🕷 Tela whispers: Everyone asks which Path is strongest. The Book of Paths is four hundred pages of the same answer: the one your concept was already walking.

📖 Core Rule Book — Magic & Psychic v1.2, p. 24 (§2.1 Access, Known Effects); The Book of Paths (companion volume).

Here are three honest builds — same-sized arrays, three different tempos. Numbers below are computed straight from the formulas you just learned (Toughness 2 and Athletics 4 assumed for Life Points; check each derivation yourself — that's the exercise).

Pick a shape and read its numbers:

▸ The Duelist (Dex-runner)

Str 4 · Dex 7 · Sta 5 · Int 4 · Wis 4 · Per 6 · Chr 4 · App 4 — Action Skill 4, Speed Attribute: Dex.

AP = 10 + 7 + 4 = 21 · Speed Bonus = ⌊(7+6)/2⌋ + 4 = 10 · LP = 15 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 24 · Reflex 7 · Body 9.

Rapier maths: an armed attack at weapon speed 2 costs 7 AP → initiative d20 + 7 − 10 = d20 − 3. Three strikes a round, all of them early. Glass moves fast.

▸ The Battle-Scholar (Int-runner)

Str 3 · Dex 4 · Sta 4 · Int 7 · Wis 6 · Per 5 · Chr 5 · App 4 — Action Skill 3, Speed Attribute: Int.

AP = 10 + 7 + 3 = 20 · Speed Bonus = ⌊(4+5)/2⌋ + 3 = 7 · LP = 15 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 23 · Mana = ⌊(7+6+5)/2⌋ + 7 + 1 Mastery = 17.

A Snap spell costs 5 AP → initiative d20 − 2. The mind runs the clock here: Int carries both the pool and the casting roll. Path gate: any Path keyed on Int pairs opens easily (7 + anything ≥ 6... comfortably).

▸ The Scout (Per-runner)

Str 4 · Dex 6 · Sta 5 · Int 4 · Wis 5 · Per 7 · Chr 4 · App 3 — Action Skill 4, Speed Attribute: Per.

AP = 10 + 7 + 4 = 21 · Speed Bonus = ⌊(6+7)/2⌋ + 4 = 10 · LP = 15 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 24 · Reflex 6.

Shortbow at Short range: d20 + Dex 6 + skill − 2. The scout's real weapon is the range-band table from the Dice lesson — Per spots the shot, position buys the bonus, and Speed Bonus 10 means the arrow flies before anyone closes.

Why this matters: Three builds, three tempos, one lesson: the Chosen Speed Attribute isn't a formality — it decides which of your virtues sets the pace of every fight you'll ever be in.

🕷 Tela whispers: The duelist strikes first, the scholar strikes strangest, the scout strikes from where you forgot to look. I have outlived all three kinds. Choose warmly.

📖 All derivations: Core Rule Book — Derived Mechanics Summary, p. 11; costs & initiative, Combat v1.2, p. 15–16. Arrays are sample shapes; your table's point budget lives in the Character Building Guide.

Concept → attributes (cap 10 — Godlike is not for sale) → skills, with Action Skill as the tempo engine → derived numbers that echo your choices → a Path whose gate is the sum of two keys ≥ 6.

Take the anvil home:

• Character Sheet (PDF) — the page your story wears.
• Character Building Guide (PDF) — points, costs, advancement.
• The Book of Paths (PDF) — every door, keyed and ranked.

Last lesson on the track: First Spell. Bring the Battle-Scholar — or bring your own.

🕷 Tela whispers: Every Guardian remembers the day the sheet stopped being numbers and started being them. Yours is close now. I can tell.

📖 Core Rule Book — Attributes p. 9–11; Magic & Psychic v1.2, p. 24.