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__TOC__ Most RPGs use attributes to describe characters’ physical and mental characteristics, for example their Strength or Wisdom . They often influence the chance to succeed in Skill or other tests by addition to a die roll or by determining the number of dice to be thrown. As a consequence, usually a higher number is better, and ranges can be as small as 1–5 (for numbers of dice) or as great as 1–100 (when adding to results of Percentile Dice ). Some games work with only a few attributes (such as “Physical” or “Mental”), while others would go into more detail. Having too many attributes is considered to be a sign of undue complexity in a game; most games have about 4–10 of them. Most games try to give all attributes about the same usefulness to a character. Therefore, certain characteristics might be merged (such as merging a Charisma-type and a Willpower-type attribute into a single Personality attribute), or split into more attributes (such as splitting out physical Comeliness from Charisma in the original Unearthed Arcana ), or even ignored altogether (for example, Intelligence and Charisma in a Hack And Slash adventure). In many games, a small set of primary attributes control a larger number of Derived Statistic s such as Armor Class or Magic Point s. During Character Creation , attribute scores are usually determined either randomly (by rolling Dice ) or by distributing Character Point s. Because they represent common, in-born characteristics and not learned capabilities (as Skill s do), in many games they are fixed for the duration of the game. However, in some games they can be increased by spending Experience Points gained during the game, or as part of the process of Levelling Up . COMMON ATTRIBUTE NAMES Attributes are commonly referred to by their first two or three initials. ;Strength '' Body, Might, Brawl, ...'' :A measure of how physically strong a character is. Strength often controls the maximum weight the character can carry, melee attack and/or damage, and sometimes Hit Point s. Armor and weapons might also have a Strength requirement. ;Constitution ''aka Stamina, Endurance, Vitality, ...'' :A measure of how resilient a character is. Constitution often influences Hit Point s, resistances for special types of damage (poisons, illness, heat etc.) and fatigue. Many games combine Constitution and Strength. ;Dexterity ''aka Agility, Reflexes, Speed, ...'' :A measure of how agile a character is. Dexterity controls attack and movement speed and accuracy, as well as the difficulty of an opponent's attack (see Armor Class ). ;Intelligence ''aka Intellect, Mind, Brains, Smarts, ... :A measure of a character's problem-solving ability. Intelligence often controls a character's ability to comprehend foreign languages and their skill in magic. In some cases, intelligence controls how many skill points the character gets at "level up". In some games, it controls the rate at which Experience Point s are earned, or the amount needed to level up. ;Charisma ''aka Presence, Charm, Social, ... :A measure of a character's social skills, and sometimes their physical appearance. Charisma generally influences prices while trading, and NPC reactions. ;Wisdom ''aka Spirit, Psyche, Sense, ...'' :A measure of a character's common sense and/or spirituality and/or ability to perceive surroundings. Wisdom often controls a character's ability to cast certain spells, communicate to mystical entities, or hear something in the distance. ;Willpower ''aka Sanity, Personality, Ego, ...'' :A measure of the character's mental resistance (against pain, fear etc.) when falling victim to mind-altering, torture, or insanity. Some games combine willpower and wisdom. ;Perception ''aka Alertness, Awareness, Cautiousness, ...'' :A measure of a character's openness of their surroundings. Perception controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps, or hiding enemies, and might influence combat sequence, or the accuracy of ranged attacks. Perception-type attributes are more common in more modern games. Sometimes combined with wisdom. ;Luck ''aka Fate, Good Stuff, ...'' :A measure of a character's Luck . Luck might influence anything, but mostly random items, encounters and outstanding successes/failures (such as Critical Hit s). ATTRIBUTES IN COMMON SYSTEMS '' Dungeons & Dragons '' and the D20 System D&D uses six ''ability scores'':
Scores are usually rolled randomly, range from 3-18 for most human characters, and can go as high as 25 for deities. Basic Role-Playing
and ''one'' of:
Scores are usually rolled randomly, and range from 3-18 for most beginning human characters, except SIZ and INT which range from 8-18 in most versions. Non-human character score ranges can vary more widely. GURPS GURPS uses four (basic) '''attributes''' as well as a number of '''secondary characteristics''' that are derived from the attributes. Scores for basic attributes are bought or sold during character generation, starting at 10 each for base characters. Secondary characteristics can be modified relative to the primary attribute they are based upon. Skill values are based directly on a specific attribute; most skill rolls are based on 3d6 compared against the skill number. The four basic attributes are:
The four major secondary characteristics are each directly based on a single attribute:
The other secondary characteristics (such as running speed) are calculated from one or more attribute values using individual Table s or Formula e. Hero System The ''primary characteristics'' are:
Scores start at 10 each for base characters and are bought or sold during character generation at the listed cost per point. Normal human maxima are usually defined to be 20 for each. Another set of ''secondary characteristics'' are derived from the above, though can be bought separately. They do not follow the same scale, rather directly influence game mechanics. These are:
Storyteller System Storyteller characters have nine Attributes (or '''Traits''') in three ''Groups'' and from three ''Use Categories'', as follows:
Each Attribute is measured with one to five ''Dots'': With one Dot, a character is “poor” in that Attribute, with five Dots, they are “outstanding”. Each Dot represents one Die the Attribute gets to its ''Dice Pool''. Starting characters get 12 points to add to their Attributes: The first Dot in an Attribute is free, the 2nd to 4th Dots cost one point each, and the 5th Dot costs 2 points to fill in. The player must assign 5, 4, and 3 points, respectively, to each of the Use Categories, prioritizing as they choose. Shadowrun In the first three editions of Shadowrun , the game system used nine attributes in three categories:
In an interesting mechanic, magical and astral plane combat used the Mental attributes in the same way the Physical attributes where used to resolve physical confrontations: Charisma acted as Astral Strength, Intelligence as Quickness, and Willpower as the Mental equivalent of Body.
However, in the fourth edition, the attributes where rearranged. Quickness was split and renamed Agility, and covered Fine Motor Skills , while Reaction became a base attribute and covered Gross Motor Skills such as movement. As a result, Intelligence was also split in two, with Logic and Intuition becoming the Mental equivalents of Agility and Reaction. Magic no longer started at a six and required starting characters to allocate character points to the statistic as just another attribute. EXTERNAL LINKS
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