Strength

Strength is one of the seven Aptitudes, the basic statistics that paint a character in the broadest possible brush strokes (from a mechanical perspective). As an aptitude, it is meant as a coarse representation of the character's capacity to apply physical effort - this is best contrasted against the other two "physical" aptitudes, Agility (their capacity to direct that effort with finesse) and Hardiness (their capacity to sustain that effort over time). Unsurprisingly, it is the statistic used as the basis of a number of physical skills, is used in the combat system to determine bonus damage for melee attacks, and for other benefits, some of which are described below.

Use of Strength Checks

Like all aptitudes, Strength can be used to resolve a challenge as though it was a skill. This is most appropriately done when something is a question of physical strength only, and knowledge or skillset are not a factor. For example, throwing a punch should be covered by a combat skill, but bursting a door or lifting a heavy object would be an appropriate strength check.

Use for Pools

While pools are as varied as the settings that use them, there are a few common pools predefined as starting points that are available to setting developers to include whole-cloth in their settings. Several of these are derived from strength:

• Carry Capacity, a pool to be used for survival games.
• Brutality, a variant version of the melee damage bonus rules.