FANGS: Characteristics

File:FANGS-Basic Fangs Logo (small original).gifWelcome to FANGS, the Fantasy Adventure Networked Gaming System. The goal of this roleplaying system is to offer rules that allow for fun, dramatic play without losing too much realism, simple and yet elegant rules, and balanced for different styles of players who wish to game together.

Types of Characteristics

There are 7 Characteristics: three defining innate physical ability (Strength, Agility, and Constitution), two for mental abilities (Intelligence and Power), and two describing external Characteristics (Size and Appeal). Each character starts with a score of 10 in each of these Characteristics.

• Strength or ST -- This is the measure of the physical power and prowess of your character. In the game, ST determines how much your character can lift or carry. ST affects the attributes of Stun Points, Fatigue Points, and skills of combat and agility.

• Agility or AG -- This Characteristic is a combination of nimbleness, speed, body coordination, and dexterity. In melee combat the character with higher AG hits first, and avoids the blows of others. Dodging a fatal trap, or avoiding a fall is governed by AG. AG affects the attribute of Dodge, the skills of combat, agility, manipulation, stealth, and to a lesser extent the skills of craft.

• Constitution or CO -- This covers your character's general state of health, his endurance and resistance to hardship. A character with high CO is more likely to survive being injured and recovers quicker. CO affects the attributes Hit Points, Stun Points, and Fatigue Points, and to a lesser extent it affects skills of perception.

• Intelligence or IN -- This reflects both your character's ability to acquire knowledge and his capacity for good common sense. An IN of 10 is roughly equivalent to an IQ of 100. IN affects the attribute of Idea, and the skills of knowledge, craft, communication, manipulation, magic, perception and psyche.

• Power or PW -- This describes your character's life force and strength of will. In games of magic PW resists the affects of spells cast against your character, or can actually power the spell itself. In games of psyche PW is the fundamental force behind all psychic powers. In all games PW affects the attribute of Luck, and skills of communication and perception. It negatively affects skills of stealth.

• Size or SZ -- This describes your character's height & weight into one figure. A character with a SZ of 10 is of average height & weight. SZ affects Hit Points, Stun Points, skills of combat, and to a lesser extent skills of manipulation. Large SZ negatively affects skills of agility and stealth.

• Appeal or AP -- This is a measure of the relative appearance of your character. This is often reflected in physical beauty, but this is not necessarily so. AP affects skills of communication.

Raising Characteristics

Each character starts with a score of 10 in each Characteristic. This is considered an 'average' character, but average characters don't usually adventure, so you should raise your character's Characteristics.

In order to raise an Characteristic, Character Points are be expended based on the following table:

Characteristic	Cost	Notes
10	0
11	5
12	10
13	20
14	30
15	45
16	60
17	80
18	100	maximum for a starting character
19	130
20	160	human maximum

Anyone with a Characteristic over 13 is powerful, and any Characteristic over 16 is extraordinary. A starting character may not have any Characteristic exceeding 18.

Example of Saul, a warrior:

Characteristic:	ST	AG	CO	IN	PW	SZ	AP
Value:	14	12	12	10	11	11	10
Cost:	30	10	10	0	5	5	0

The total cost of Saul's Characteristics is:

30 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 5 = 60

This leaves Saul 40 Character Points for buying Skills or Advantages.

Lowering Characteristics

It is possible to gain Character Points by lowering a Characteristic.

The points gained are based on the following table:

Characteristic	Cost	Notes
10	0
9	- 5
8	-10
7	-20
6	-30	minimum for a starting character

Anyone with a Characteristic less then 6 is either crippled, not fully adult, or is too feeble to leave the house, thus a starting character may not have any Characteristic lower than 6.

An example of Gru, a dumb but powerful warrior:

Characteristic:	ST	AG	CO	IN	PW	SZ	AP
Value:	15	13	15	7	8	11	8
Cost:	45	20	45	-20	-10	5	-10

The cost of Gru's positive Characteristics is:

45 + 20 + 45 + 5 = 115

Gru's credits for negative Characteristics are:

20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Thus Gru's total cost is:

115 - 40 = 75

Leaving 25 Character Points for Skills or Advantages.