>What attributes do your game use?VitalityConstitutionStrengthAgilityDexterityCharismaAwarenessIntelligenceWisdom...>How do you use them?Myself, I'm brewing something where I want them used by pair, using Charisma+Intelligence for persuasion or using Constitution+Charisma to intimidate, so you aren't totally doomed if you didn't put points in one skill.>How many before it become too many?>How few before it is not enough?I find it tricky to decide which ones cover every action a character will do.>What alternative is there?Feel free to discuss any alternative.
>>96465923>How few before it is not enough?>How many before it become too many?There should be between 3 and 7.2 stats stop being stats, they're just two metres like Health/Mana.8 and more become hard to remember... unless they're arranged in an easy to get grid, f.e.>three categories: physical, cerebral, social>each category has a straight-forward, a subtle, and a defensive statOr>four stats used together with skills>four stats that don't have skills but are used as thresholds or determine secondary valuesCyberpunk gets away with 10 stats, but three of those aren't used for skill checks (BODY, MOVE, LUCK), and one (EMP) serves mostly as mental health metre rather than a roll bonus.
>>96465923Tinkering with a Pokemon system on the side. I'll answer.>What attributes do your game use?Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. The Stats from the games.>How do you use them?4 skills each. Each Stat has a social skill so no one is a complete social retard. I also wanted a knowledge skill for every stat but it was hard to find them. You get two Major Skills depending on the classes you pick, and about four Minor Skills? Minor Skills are 2d6+Modifier and Major Skills are 3d6+Modifiers. Generally? Attack is for physical power and presence. Defense is for physical toughness and ability to survive. Special Attack is your mental power and general intelligence. Special Defense is for empathy and acuity. Speed is for reflexes and quickness of body.>How many before it become too many?>How few before it is not enough?KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. 4-6 Stats are generally enough if you have a skill system.
>>96465923GURPS has 4 main stats, and a multitude of secondary stats derived from the main 4.The main 4 are:Strength, which determines your damage with muscle powered weapons, your hit points, and your capacity to lift/carry weight.Dexterity, which determines the speed you react/act in initiative, how fast you move, and your ability to use dexterity skills (any skill requiring the use of your hands or other extermities). Intelligence, which effects your Perception, Willpower, and ability to use Mental skills.Health, which effects your fatigue points, ability to resist being stunned or poisoned, and is used for a few niche skills like Hiking.GURPS separates what would be the "charisma" attribute into multiple constituent advantages/disadvantages, including your Voice, Appearance, Charisma (word choice), your skill at certain influence skills (diplomacy, fast talk, intimidation, sex appeal), your social status, and your reputation.
>>96465923Fighting Fantasy has Skill, Luck, Stamina, with Stamina being hit points and Luck is somewhere between a stat and a meta-currency. Some have none at all but that gets into "barely a game" territory.I'm trying to go with Bile, Melancholy, Blood, and Phlegm, with the idea being that their personality is more important than their physical or mental capacity.
>>96465923As soon as you get to like 9 or more stats, you're probably better off asking yourself if your game should just be focused on a skill list instead. And if you only have 2 stats, then you've basically reduced your game to something like pic related where the stats are just treated as inverses of eachother. Helpful for a one-page RPG that needs to keep things simple. Less so for anything robust.For what you're asking for, 4-5 is probably better to aim for, especially in the context of every roll being a combination of two stats. The thing to keep in mind there is that the more stats you have, the more combinations you need to account for in terms of what they mean.For instance, what would be the distinction between using Strength+Charisma and Constitution+Charisma? If certain pairings end up redundant, that's probably an indication that you need to meld some things together. A more generalized Brawn stat would likely be more useful in that context. And just as a whole for that sort of system, stats that sound more broad make it easier to find a pairing that suits the situation and make judgement calls on the fly.
>>96465923My main Attributes are:>Agility - a combination of flexibility & snap-decision making>Strength - an abstraction of both physical burst strength & magical might>Vitality - combines endurance, fighting stamina, & luck into one abstract factorEach Attribute has a slightly different behavior depending on each Feature, too:• Head>AGI: Every 1.00 applies +1 RFX to Action & Reaction Skills>STR: Applies its value to the base Power of Thrown Skills>VIT: Every 0.25 contributes 1/4 HP to the Head Feature• Body> AGI: Every 1.00 applies +1 Chance to the character's Control Checks & -1 Chance to incoming Zoning Effects> STR: Applies its value to the base Power of Melee Skills> VIT: Every 0.25 contributes 1/4 HP to the Body Feature• Arms> AGI: Every 1.00 increases Throw Range by 1 Space> STR: Applies its value to the Power of Skills used by the Arms> VIT: Every 0.25 contributes 1/4 HP to the Arms Feature• Legs> AGI: Every 1.00 increases Move Range by 1 Space> STR: Applies its value to the Power of Skills used by the Legs > VIT: Every 0.25 contributes 1/4 HP to the Legs FeatureThen, there are the secondary Attributes:>Armor: A Feature's Durability is equal to its ([STR]+[VIT])×[ArmorMod]. Armor Modifier is determined by character generation options.>Health: How much abuse the character can sustain before succumbing. Equal to the total HP of all Features, divided by 5. Health is reduced by some Ailments or when an Injured Feature would take Damage.The character's Current Health applies -1 Chance to incoming Ailments.>waaah too complex waaah vidya gaemsIt's part of my game, that you'll never have to play.I wrote what I wanted, & I enjoy these mechanics. That's what TTRPGs are about; finding/making games that one enjoys, with mechanics and/or challenges one enjoys.Rewrite what you don't like means there's no such thing as a bad TTRPG.
I'm wondering if I have the right stats because I intend to combine all of them, never use them alone.Medieval fantasy with focus on infiltration/escaping/disabling traps & magic + social conspiracyStrength is not needed because magic>Willpowerto combine with Vitality to resist torture to combine with Charisma to resist intimidation>Vitality (boost hitpoint or poisons resist)to combine with Charisma to Intimidate>Agility>Dexteritycan't decide if I need bothAgility is about agile body, meant to combine with Vitality if you need basic movementDexterity is about skills, meant to combine with Agility to avoid traps, or with Intelligence to disarm trap, or with Charisma to manipulateif I don't have both, it bothers me to not differentiate basic and skillful actions,>Charismasocial skills, inevitable>Intelligenceknowledge, inevitableAnd now I'm wondering if I need "Awareness/Perception"because I suddenly realized I had nothing to combine to notice traps or even ambush in a damn infiltration/backstabbing gameThat would make 7 attributes, or 6 if I can remove one.>funny filename I wish I had more joke pic about stats
