Umbral Domains: Paltery Bards Attributes
Paltery Bard's Attributes[edit]
The Paltery Bard attribute system arose from a dissatisfaction I've long nourished for the old Storyteller system's Mental and Social attributes. In my mind Charisma and Appearance will always be fighting over much of the same turf and Manipulation gets the haphazard pieces of whatever's left over. Similarly Wits covers the same ground as Intelligence, only in certain situations. In a game where social interaction supposedly plays a major role there's suprisingly little reference of attributes being used to understanding social situations or to resist mental/social influence. Assumedly these two major areas are lumped under Perception and Willpower (an entirely different scale) respectively.
Physical[edit]
Strength - The amount of physical force you can exert. (unchanged)
Dexterity - Agility and precision in movement. (unchanged)
Stamina - Resistance to adverse physical conditions. (unchanged)
Mental[edit]
Reason - Memory, analytical and deductive ability.
Intuition - Social and qualitative understanding, creativity, and aesthetic sense.
Perception - Ability to pick out and identify the details of sensations. (unchanged)
Social[edit]
Affinity - Social appeal, attracting others and generating sympathy.
Awe - Appearance of power, inspiring respect, fear or courage in others.
Will - Resistance to undesirable social persuasion or self betrayal.
Will vs. Willpower[edit]
Under this system the "Willpower" quality would only be used as a maximum cap for temporary willpower. The Will attribute would be used for all checks where the Storyteller system would normally have used the Willpower quality. Will can be combined with specific abilities (ie. Etiquette, Meditation, Expression, Performance, Subterfuge, etc.) depending on either the activity the character is currently trying to undertake or the type of persuasion being resisted.
Potentially the Will attribute could also be combined with vampiric paths of humanity and other qualities to resist beastial temptations. I'd have to look into it to see if it could work without too much fiddling.
--Peter K. 19:33, 29 April 2006 (PDT)
