Adventure Song: On attributes.
Aug. 22nd, 2014 08:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinAs previously suggested, I'm down to using the standard six (strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma) attributes.
My current scheme is that adventurers of most folk have 70 points to distribute among them with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 18, with one disfavored attribute that costs 2 points for each point above 10 and has a maximum of 14, and then add +2 bonuses to 2. Humans have 75 points to distribute with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 18, no bonus and no disfavored attribute. As much as I dislike the trope of "humans are average in every way, but flexible", it really aids a game system for it to have a "starter type" that doesn't have a lot of moving parts.
The threshold, nature, and even existence of a disfavored attribute are still up in the air. I might switch it to an incentive situation (an extra +1 to one of the bonus'd attributes if the character has a disfavored attribute of 8 or less, or maybe the bonuses shrink and disappear as the disfavored attribute goes up), or I might throw it out and go with an official position of "most elves have low constitution, but adventurers are outliersadn should not have been counted".
But in the absence of an adversarial GM who makes you wring every last point of advantage out of the game to survive (which the guide will discourage, though rules cannot actually prevent), there's no reason a gnomish fighter with a strength of 14 couldn't stand alongside a human fighter with a strength of 18 and a dwarf fighter with a strength of 20. They would have noticeable differences in effectiveness, but such is life.
I'm working on the assumption that every attribute should be useful for every character, so that there are plenty of organic reasons not to take 18 in three stats and dump the rest.
For instance, as previously discussed, your constitution, intelligence, and charisma determine your starting skill selections in the categories of physical, mental, and social, while wisdom gives you bonus selections. Constitution affects not just your HP total but HP recovery. Wisdom determines the frequency with which you gain new skills as you level. Dexterity determines your combat move. The assumption is that while a character with dexterity of 18 isn't necessarily twice as fleet of foot as someone with dexterity 9, coordination becomes essential when moving under combat conditions (hustling from place to place while having to keep your eyes moving all around the field).
The basic idea is that while a character with a low attribute won't be unplayable, there should be noticeable consequences... never a "well, I don't use that, so it doesn't matter if it's 5 or 8 or 10" situation. Even if you never make an active check using an attribute in your entire adventuring career, it will still have some impact on your character.
My current scheme is that adventurers of most folk have 70 points to distribute among them with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 18, with one disfavored attribute that costs 2 points for each point above 10 and has a maximum of 14, and then add +2 bonuses to 2. Humans have 75 points to distribute with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 18, no bonus and no disfavored attribute. As much as I dislike the trope of "humans are average in every way, but flexible", it really aids a game system for it to have a "starter type" that doesn't have a lot of moving parts.
The threshold, nature, and even existence of a disfavored attribute are still up in the air. I might switch it to an incentive situation (an extra +1 to one of the bonus'd attributes if the character has a disfavored attribute of 8 or less, or maybe the bonuses shrink and disappear as the disfavored attribute goes up), or I might throw it out and go with an official position of "most elves have low constitution, but adventurers are outliers
But in the absence of an adversarial GM who makes you wring every last point of advantage out of the game to survive (which the guide will discourage, though rules cannot actually prevent), there's no reason a gnomish fighter with a strength of 14 couldn't stand alongside a human fighter with a strength of 18 and a dwarf fighter with a strength of 20. They would have noticeable differences in effectiveness, but such is life.
I'm working on the assumption that every attribute should be useful for every character, so that there are plenty of organic reasons not to take 18 in three stats and dump the rest.
For instance, as previously discussed, your constitution, intelligence, and charisma determine your starting skill selections in the categories of physical, mental, and social, while wisdom gives you bonus selections. Constitution affects not just your HP total but HP recovery. Wisdom determines the frequency with which you gain new skills as you level. Dexterity determines your combat move. The assumption is that while a character with dexterity of 18 isn't necessarily twice as fleet of foot as someone with dexterity 9, coordination becomes essential when moving under combat conditions (hustling from place to place while having to keep your eyes moving all around the field).
The basic idea is that while a character with a low attribute won't be unplayable, there should be noticeable consequences... never a "well, I don't use that, so it doesn't matter if it's 5 or 8 or 10" situation. Even if you never make an active check using an attribute in your entire adventuring career, it will still have some impact on your character.