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View Full Version : Attributes: Measuring and Advancing



Ozfer
2013-02-09, 02:40 PM
Hello. I am pondering how attributes fit into a typical RPG (I am attempting to write a ramshackle system, as you may know from my other thread), and I was hoping I could get some input from the playground.

Some specific questions are:

What is the scale you feel is optimal for attributes to be measured by? What system do you feel does this best? If the scale is too small, does this make characters too vague?

How do you feel about advancing attributes? Does this system lose something if your attributes stay the same?

Thanks for your help (Again) :smallsmile:. I hope no one minds me starting a new thread.

Slipperychicken
2013-02-09, 02:48 PM
It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you want a grittier, more "realistic" game based on humans, attributes themselves might have a relatively small impact and be almost impossible to change, while one's training, luck, and equipment makes all the difference. A more fantastical game might give attributes greater weight or allow them to increase more rapidly, to allow naked super-strong guys to beat the snot out of well-equipped but less muscly foes.

Ozfer
2013-02-09, 02:51 PM
Huh. I'm surprised at that answer. I have a follow-up though: In the real world, people exercise to increase their strength. Meditate to increase their wisdom. Study to increase their intelligence. A body is never stagnant. In a gritty and realistic system, would this gap bother you?

Grinner
2013-02-09, 03:19 PM
Huh. I'm surprised at that answer. I have a follow-up though: In the real world, people exercise to increase their strength. Meditate to increase their wisdom. Study to increase their intelligence. A body is never stagnant. In a gritty and realistic system, would this gap bother you?

I don't care. In any system, I'd be more concerned as to how this affects the flow of gameplay. You need to remember that the system is just the means of facilitating and resolving conflict. It is not the game in and of itself.

Edit: Basically, you need to consider what kind of game atmosphere you want to make and make rules that encourage that kind of atmosphere. In a gritty system, the character's attributes don't matter so much as the player's in-game decisions.

Ozfer
2013-02-09, 03:22 PM
Ok, that too, is interesting.

EDIT for your EDIT: That's true. Do you find systems incongruous if skills advance, but attributes are frozen?

ArcturusV
2013-02-09, 03:44 PM
Well, I'm an old gamer... and I've kitbashed a lot. So I can say the one I think I liked the best...

I had stats on a fixed 1-10 scale. Various stats covering obvious stuff like Strength, Coordination, Toughness, Intelligence, etc. The two "Weird" stats I had were "Martial Aptitude" and "Magical Aptitude", which was basically a "gearing" of your body, mind, and reflexes to reflect natural talents. People with high Martial Aptitude would have natural reflexes and instinctual combative responses.

Now in this system. Stats were fixed. They didn't raise. What I did do however was as you leveled you got Leveling Bonuses and Training Bonuses. As I recall (Been... geeze, almost two decades?) the Leveling Bonuses were generic and applied to a wide range. But the Training Bonuses were specific. It was designed so that it applied based on how you RPed your character, and would give you a specific bonus to certain actions.

But the fixed stats, the base (Which mattered and quite a bit as you leveled up as all the bonuses and so forth are derived by multiples off the base stats) never changed. This was because it represented your innate talents. Of course with dedication, the Training Bonuses could help compensate. Or if you played to your natural talents can make you outstrip similar, lesser talented, characters of a similar level.

Grinner
2013-02-09, 04:02 PM
EDIT for your EDIT: That's true. Do you find systems incongruous if skills advance, but attributes are frozen?

Depends. In most cases, yes. Certain games have settings which necessitate otherwise, however.

Then there's Wushu, where characters can only have so many points total. It does so with the explanation "After all, no one just gets better and better at things all the time. Expertise requires practice and there are only enough hours in the day to be an expert at so many things!"

FreakyCheeseMan
2013-02-09, 04:35 PM
In my own weird little homebrew, I use a three-stat system of Strength, Agility and Intelligence. These have very few direct numerical consequences; instead, they just serve as prerequisites for assorted feats and spells.

Ozfer
2013-02-09, 04:39 PM
Thanks for you insight Grimmer. I know it's with n, not m, but I'm using a kindle and it autoworkers. Like that.

Arcturus, that's very helpful. My system is actually rather similar with the training bonuses, but most stats do raise.

And freaky, that's certainly one way to do it.