Ability Score Framework

[Notafish]

Context: This is part of an idea that I have been kicking around for a while for a 5e hack with no character classes, levels, or skills - basically, just using the ability scores as a shorthand for describing an action-hero character, and adding equipment and subsystems as needed to enable different settings or character concepts. The two implementations I have been considering are a lightweight Voltron/Super Sentai setting, and an ultra-low magic dungeon-crawler.
I'm not sure that using the 5e ability stats is the best choice for an original system, but I and many others are pretty familiar with it. I like DMing "d20+number" systems, but have a slight distaste for the extra delay that comes with waiting for people to see if they are proficient in a skill. It's also always bugged me that 5e stats range from 0-30 without really doing anything with that range (if not for tradition and the leveling system they could just be written as -5 to +10), so this is also a bit of a silly attempt at improving character sheet aesthetics.

The Basics
The 6 ability stats are divided into 3 groups: Reactive stats (Constitution and Wisdom), Action stats (Strength and Dexterity), and Mental stats (Intelligence and Charisma). The Innate statistics represent a character's ability to detect, avoid, and withstand the world around them. The Action stats represent a character's physical abilities and resistances, and the Mental stats represent a character's intellect and emotional intelligence. Player character statistics typically range from 8 to 18.
Most statistics are used in game in two different forms: the Total score (which usually represents a Target Number), and the Modifier (obtained by subtracting 10 from the Total), which is applied as a bodus or penalty to d20 rolls involving that statistic.

The Reactive Stats are presented first, since they are both primarily defensive statistics.


Constitution
Total: Constitution is a measure of endurance and resilience. Your Total Constitution score is your base Hit Point total. While hit points are positive, hits to your character cause superficial damage, or are simply close calls. When your hit points are reduced to 0, your character is Bloodied, which will have different consequences depending on the game you are playing. Being Bloodied might provoke an injury check, or induce new bonus/penalties for the character (including, potentially, death). Equipment like armor can increase your hit point total, and hit points (but not the effects of being Bloodied) regenerate quickly.
Modifier: Your Con modifier is applied to checks made to resist the effects of injury, fatigue or poison.

Wisdom
Total: Your Wisdom score represents awareness of surroundings and ability to remain calm in stressful situations. This translates to, essentially, your base Armor Class - a Target Number that enemies must overcome on their attacks before they can deal damage to you.
Modifier: Your Wis modifier is applied to checks made to locate hidden or obscured creatures or objects. In some fantasy settings or games with horror or intrigue components, it might also be used to resist psychic effects.

The Action Stats have a fair amount of overlap with regard to how they are used, differing mostly in terms of how their effects are described. The main mechanical difference is that Strength offers more options for controlling others in melee, while Dexterity offers more options for fine motor control and balance.


Strength
Total: Strength is a measure of physical ability and stability. The total strength score could translate to some measure of carrying capacity (although that's not something I usually track in my games), Strength can be used as a Target Number that enemies must overcome to force or restrict your movement.
Modifier: Your Str modifier is applied to all melee/thrown attacks, and can be applied to all tests of physical fitness.

Dexterity
Total: Dexterity is a measure of balance and fine motor control, but dextrous action characters usually demonstrate a fair amount of raw athletic ability as well. Dexterity can be used as a target number can be used as a Target Number that enemies must overcome to force or restrict your movement, provided you are capable of movement.
Modifier: Your Dex modifier is applied to all range attacks, light/finesse melee attacks, tests of agility, balance, or manual dexterity, and tests of physical fitness that do not involve moving another creature or a heavy load.


While I suppose Mental Stat totals could be used as defensive numbers in some game settings, the direction I went was to make the suggested use for the Total stat be a roll-under target number to be used for handling questions that would be likely adjudicated as Knowledge or Insight rolls in 5e. This has led me to re-interpret Charisma more as "generalized social competence" rather than "force of personality" or "attractiveness."


Intelligence
Total: Your Intelligence score represents a generalized level of fact-based knowledge. Some settings might have specific deep lore that can only be accessed by certain chaacter backgrounds/classes/builds, but as a general rule, your GM may ask you to roll Intelligence in response to a question related to lore, science, languages, or engineering. If your d20 result is lower than your Intelligence score, the GM will tell you what you know by answering your question truthfully. If your d20 roll is equal or greater to your Intelligence, the GM does not need to tell the truth, but is not required to lie.
Modifier: Your Int modifier is applied to attempts to research, gather, or decipher information.

Charisma
Total: You Charisma score represents an amalgam of social skills and ability to understand others. In situations where you are trying to understand another creature's motivations or intent, your GM may ask you to roll Charisma. If your d20 result is lower than your Intelligence score, the GM will tell you what you know by answering your question truthfully. If your d20 roll is equal or greater to your Charisma, the GM does not need to tell the truth, but is not required to lie.
Modifier: Your Cha modifier is applied to attempts to persuade, perform, or deceive.


Curious about impressions. Would this work as a framework for quick games where you just want to have a name, some stats and a background when making a character?
...or would the potential for lopsided dicerolling be too great?
What would need to be specified in rules built using this framework for player characters?

[Grod_The_Giant]

I wouldn't trust d20+[small number], no--like you said, the potential for lopsided results is too high. Using the full ability score to give you d20+[8-18] would work better. Either that or scale the die size down to a d10 or something.

As for stat choice... the D&D six aren't terrible, honestly, but I'd say that they have two main issues:

Constitution is conceptually redundant with Strength. Balance-wise there's a reason to separate them, but in terms of roleplaying, how often do you find a character who's strong but not sturdy, or tough but not strong? A lot less often than "strong and tough, that's for sure. It's also obligatory for everyone to have at least a decent score in Con, which is depressing.
Charisma is too broad--one stat for all social interactions makes it much harder to differentiate talk-y characters, and means that (for example) the Paladin is just as good at lying as the Bard. I'm a fan of splitting it in half and moving deception and manipulation-type stuff to a new stat (Guile?). That also mirrors the Str/Dex split better-- Charisma represents your "social strength," your raw presence and appeal, and the new stat represents your "social dexterity," your ability to be slippery and tricky.


ALSO.

You might or might not be interested to know that I designed more-or-less this exact system (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/268061/STaRS-The-Simple-Tabletop-Roleplaying-System) a few years ago, where characters are defined by their stats and little else and math is minimized. If nothing else, it might give you some inspiration. Fate Accelerated (https://evilhat.com/product/fate-accelerated-edition/) is also built along similar lines, with characters statted out based on "approaches" to problem-solving rather than specific abilities or skills. (IE, my character might have a +4 bonus on checks that involve being Forceful, like intimidating someone or forcing open a locked door, but no bonus at all on checks that involve being Clever, like solving puzzles or spotting inconsistencies.)

[Notafish]

I wouldn't trust d20+[small number], no--like you said, the potential for lopsided results is too high. Using the full ability score to give you d20+[8-18] would work better. Either that or scale the die size down to a d10 or something.



Thanks for the comments!

I was certainly inspired by your work when drafting this (although not really thinking about where, specifically, I pulled different ideas) - I promise to cite you if I ever turn this into a self-published thing.

While I suggested roll-under for some applications of the mental stats (like in STaRS, I think), I like the metaphor of rolling higher for overcoming external obstacles, such as an opponent that I'm fighting. d20 + [-2 to 8] felt like it would align more or less with mid-level 5e, where I think the range is d20 + [-1 to 9]. If that's right, maybe lowering DC/AC-equivalents slightly might help.
d20 + [total ability] feels like I'm pushing expected dice results into 3e territory, which has too much of a spread for me to deal with when it's a weeknight and I'm making up DCs on the fly.


As for stat choice... the D&D six aren't terrible, honestly, but I'd say that they have two main issues:

Constitution is conceptually redundant with Strength. Balance-wise there's a reason to separate them, but in terms of roleplaying, how often do you find a character who's strong but not sturdy, or tough but not strong? A lot less often than "strong and tough, that's for sure. It's also obligatory for everyone to have at least a decent score in Con, which is depressing.
Charisma is too broad--one stat for all social interactions makes it much harder to differentiate talk-y characters, and means that (for example) the Paladin is just as good at lying as the Bard. I'm a fan of splitting it in half and moving deception and manipulation-type stuff to a new stat (Guile?). That also mirrors the Str/Dex split better-- Charisma represents your "social strength," your raw presence and appeal, and the new stat represents your "social dexterity," your ability to be slippery and tricky.


Yeah, agreed on those two, for the most part - I have suggested eliminating Con to groups in the past. In defense of separating Str and Con, including Con opens up options like the "surprisingly resilient bookworm" and the "glass cannon strongman." Wisdom is tricky, too - I think it would also be read as a "tax option" in this system. I also think that acrobatics and sleight-of-hand should likely key off of different abilities if I'm leaning on the character sheet to be a record of my character's life and training, rather than a sketch of an action hero. And if the game was oriented toward heist planning, it might make sense to have all 6 or 10 attributes be different flavors of slippery...

Here, I was sticking with the "D&D six" mostly out of familiarity and Con could likely be replaced with just a standard number of hitpoints for player characters. If player characters got a default 13 in Wis and Con (in a point-buy character creation system), it might help make those stats feel less tax-y.

[Maat Mons]

So, Dexterity is never rolled in a reactive capacity? No rolling to dodge traps? No rolling to slip out of a bigger creature’s grip?

With 6 ability scores, you could set them up to be active brawn (Str), passive/reactive brawn (Con), active skill (half of Dex), passive/reactive skill (other half of Dex), active wits (Int and Cha merged), and passive/reactive wits (Wis). This would put you back in the pre-5e model of having 3 defenses (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will). I always thought 6 defenses were too many.

[Grod_The_Giant]

True. Though keep in mind that the thing that made 3e numbers dangerous was the way characters could scale at complexly different rates-- one guy is rolling Hide at +2, the next at +20. If you keep the range of potential bonuses reasonable, there's no real difference between d20+[0 to 5] and d20+[10 to 15].

What IS different is the feel. If your bonus is +15 and you're rolling 1d20, it'll contribute proportionately more to the result--which, in turn, means that it "feels" like your character's skills have more influence than random luck.


Also, seriously, no worries about citing STaRS or anything. My ideas there were hardly original; I stole half the mechanics directly from Fudge/Fate.

[Notafish]

So, Dexterity is never rolled in a reactive capacity? No rolling to dodge traps? No rolling to slip out of a bigger creature’s grip?

With 6 ability scores, you could set them up to be active brawn (Str), passive/reactive brawn (Con), active skill (half of Dex), passive/reactive skill (other half of Dex), active wits (Int and Cha merged), and passive/reactive wits (Wis). This would put you back in the pre-5e model of having 3 defenses (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will). I always thought 6 defenses were too many.

Yes, my initial thought was to have all or mostly passive defenses, but to offer lots of options for reactions.

Grappling is an interesting case - I think opposed rolls are more apt for describing a grapple attempt, so this is a point against leaving the descriptions as-is.