Character Attributes in Ultima II

Characters in Ultima II have different statistics that affect gameplay. This article will attempt to cover these characteristics.

Hitpoints
Characters have "hitpoints" that determine the maximum number of damage they can recieve. All characters in Ultima II begin with 400 hitpoints, and these are increased by paying tribute to either Lord British or the Lord of Castle Barataria. Note that the higher the hit points are, the lower the gain per unit of gold.

Level
Experience is obtained by killing monsters. One hundred experience points (xp) are needed to go up one level, and a character's level seems to be only a rough gauge of total xp, with no other noticeable effects.

Attributes
Characters in this game have six attributes or stats, each with a rating from 10-99, which govern different aspects of gameplay:


 * Strength - damage done by a character.
 * Agility - chance to hit, and to successfully steal.
 * Stamina - defense against attacks, modified further by armour worn.
 * Charisma - prices in shops.
 * Wisdom - ability to successfully cast spells.
 * Intelligence - both bargaining ability and spellcasting power.

These attributes can be raised (somewhat randomly) by visiting the clerk at the "Desk" of "The Hotel" (California) in New San Antonio in the year 1990 A.D. For a donation of 100 gold, there is a 50% chance of him raising an attribute.

Race
As in Ultima I, the player can choose from several different races, including humans, dwarves, elves, and bobbits. The following table shows the attribute bonuses each race receives (in the IBM-PC version; bonuses in other ports may vary slightly):

Profession
Characters can be one of four professions. The player's choice of profession does not affect choice of weapons or armour, but does determine which spells the character can cast, if any (see Sosarian Magic for details).

The following table shows the attribute bonuses each profession receives (in the IBM-PC version; bonuses in other ports may vary slightly)::

Gender
Ultima II also allows each character to be either male or female. The choice of gender also affects attributes as follows:

Character creation
When creating a new character, the following steps are taken, in order:
 * Distribute 90 points between the six attributes, in order. Each attribute must have at least 10 points allocated to it (but not all points must be spent -- don't short-change yourself!)
 * Choose a gender (M/F)
 * Choose a race (#1-4, see above)
 * Choose a profession ("Type," #1-4, see above).
 * Assign the character a name (maximum of 12 letters).