FANGS: Attributes

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.

Attributes

Attributes are abilities derived from Characteristics. They do not change unless the base Characteristics change. There are nine Attributes: Hit Points, Stun Points, Fatigue Points, Power Points, Damage Modifier, Movement, Dodge Rolls, Idea Rolls and Luck Rolls.

• Hit Points or HP-- The amount of physical damage (bleeding & internal damage) your character can take before being killed is Hit Points. HP is equal to the average (rounding fractions up) of CO and SZ, thus the average character has HP of 10. If your character's HP falls below 0, your character has died.

Example: Saul, our first example, has a CO of 12 and a SZ of 11. The average, rounded up, is 12 Hit Points for Saul.

• Stun Points or SP-- This tells the amount of stun damage (bruising & concussion) your character can take before becoming unconscious. Stun Points are CO + the average (rounding fractions up) of ST and SZ, thus an average character has SP of 20. If your character looses half of his SP in a single blow, he may be stunned and be unable to do anything on his next action (either in the same combat round or the next). If the character's SP falls to 0 or below, the character is unconscious.

Example: Again, Saul has a CO of 12, a ST of 14 and a SZ of 11. This gives us 12 + (14 + 11)/2 = 25 Stun Points.

• 'Fatigue Points or'FP-- This is a measure of how tired your character is. FP is the total of ST + CO, thus an average character has FP of 20. Your character loses an FP an hour simply by being awake. An additional FP is lost for each round of combat or strenuous exercise your character does. Your character can also become fatigued if he fails running, swimming, and other skill rolls. While a character's FP is positive, there is no affect on the character, however, for each point that it is negative a penalty is taken off any Skill attempted by your character. FP is regained after a full nights sleep.

Example: Gru, our second example, has a ST of 15 and a CO of 15, giving him 30 Fatigue Points.

• Power Points or PP-- In games that include Magic or Psychic abilities, Power Points can be expended to activate spells. PP can also be used by non-magic or psychic characters to resist the effects of spells or psychic intrusion. Power Points are equal to your character's PW, however, situations may allow for your character to have points in excess of that number. PP is regained after a full night's sleep. And recovery while resting can be pro-rated as recovering the full PP over 24 hours. Thus, a character with a PW of 12 would regain a PP every two hours of rest, which need not be sleep, but cannot be full activity.

Example: Saul has a PW of 11, so he has 11 PP. Gru has a PW of 8, so he has 8 PP.

• Damage Modifier or DM-- If a character is very strong and massive or very weak and puny, hand-to-hand attacks made by the character do more or less damage. Characters who are trolls or large hairy aliens have a greater ST and SZ than human and do even more hand-to-hand damage. The damage modifier is on the following table:

 

Total ST+SZ	Modifier	Total ST+SZ	Modifier
43-to 47	+ 5	23 to 27	+ 1
38 to 42	+ 4	18 to 22	+ 0
33 to 37	+ 3	13 to 17	- 1
28 to 32	+ 2	12 or less	- 2

 

Example: Saul has 14 ST and a SZ of 11. He has a DM of +1. Gru has 15 ST, but is also SZ 11, so his DM is also +1. Jurgo the Troll, on the other hand, has a SZ of 20 and a ST of 25. His DM is +5. Extrapolating from the above table, if Dagonamalix the Dragon had a STR of 40 and a SZ of 40, he would have a DM of +10.

The Damage Modifier is the MAXIMUM DAMAGE a character can add to his hand-to-hand and thrown weapon damage. When determining the actual damage, use some die or combination of dice whose maximum is equal to the DM. If the DM is an odd number, pick dice that can add up to the DM –1 and just add 1 to the result.

Example: Saul is using a Broadsword that does d8+2 damage. His DM allows him to add +1 to that roll, for a total damage of 1d8+3. Jurgo gets to add +5 to his maximum damage, so the simplest way to handle that is to roll an extra d4 along with his weapon damage. If he is using a Greatsword (2d8), the player rolls 2d8+1d4+1 to get the result. Dagonamalix the Dragon adds +10, so the GM decides to do normal claw damage (d6) and add 1d6 and 1d4 (maximum result of 10) to the damage.

• Movement or MV– Movement is dependent on the character’s Strength (ST), Health (Constitution, or CN), and Size (SZ). In this case, SZ is a detriment. The formula is: (ST + CN – SZ). Thus if a character has 12 in each characteristic, he has a movement of 12. When figuring ¼ MV or ½ MV round up in the character’s favor.

Example: Saul has 14 ST, 12 CN and SZ 11. 26-11 = 15. His ¼ move = 4; his ½ move = 8.

• Dodge Roll-- Characters can dodge when they see something coming from a distance, such as a falling rock or charging bear, and concentrate on getting out of the way. Your character's Dodge Roll is the average (rounding up) of his IN, PW, and AG (simulating your ability to perceive the danger, and then take action to avoid it). In certain situations the GM may ask you for a Dodge roll with a modifier. A typical Dodge roll would have no modifier, but a modifier of -5 or -10 may be required for a difficult escape. During combat you can request a Dodge Roll during the "statement of intent" phase of combat or as an emergency response if the character has not yet moved. However, once the character has Dodged, during that combat round the character may not attack (although he may parry) because he is concentrating on avoiding damage.

Example: Saul has IN 10, PW 11, and AG 12, for a total of 33, which means his Dodge is 11. Gru has an IN of 7, a PW of 8, and AG of 13, for a total of 28, which means his Dodge is 10. Remember to always round up in the character's favor.

• Idea Roll-- It is hard to play a smart character if you are not, and it is as hard for a smart person to play a dumb one. The Idea Roll starts as IN, but may increase with education. In certain situations the GM may require you to roll d20 and add it to your IN to use an idea, especially if the idea is given to you by another player whose character is not really in a position to give you the idea. The GM may also roll secretly for you if you are ignorant of facts that your character should know. You cannot ask for an Idea Roll -- use of it is determined by the GM.

Example: Saul has a basic 10, giving him a 50% chance of getting the Idea. With his IN of 7, one does not rely on Gru to have any ideas.

• Luck Roll --Often your character gets into a tight spot, and the Luck Roll may allow your character to get out of it. The Luck Roll starts the same as your character's PW, but may change. Like the Idea Roll, you may not ask the GM for a Luck Roll -- it should only be used in situations where the GM feels that there should be some slight chance for something different to happen. The player rolls d20 and adds it to the Luck Attribute, attempting to make 20 or higher.

Example: Saul, with a PW of 11, has a slightly better than average of being lucky on any particular occasion. Poor Gru, with an 8 Luck Roll, cannot depend on the favor of Dame Fortune.

Increased and Decreased Attributes

It is possible to increase an Attribute such as MV or DM. The cost is variable and depends on the cost of the Characteristics the Attribute is based on. To increase a character’s Attribute by 1, the player must spend character points equal to ½ the cost raising the highest one of the contributing Characteristics by 1.

Example: Saul wants to increase his MV from 15 to 17, which would give him a ½ move of 9 instead of 8. His highest contributing Characteristic is ST, which is 14. To increase his ST to 15 would cost the player 15 character points, which means increasing his MV would cost 7 (rounding in the player’s favor). However, the player wants to increase the movement by 2, so the cost is 14 (based on the cost of one point).

Similarly, a character’s Attribute can be decreased through the same mechanism. The benefit received, however, is based on reducing the Characteristic from its starting point at 10. So even if reducing the effect of a ST 18, the first MV pt reduced would only give 3 Disadvantage points (1/2 of 5, rounded up). However, for decreased Attributes, look at the total benefit of reducing the characteristic and halve that to get the disadvantage points for reducing the attribute.

Example: If Saul was a Dwarf, the player might feel his MV should be reduced. The player decides that reducing the MV from 15 to 11 is appropriate. That’s a reduction of 4 points, which would benefit the character 30 points if it was a reduced characteristic. The player gets 15 Disadvantage points.

Any Attribute can be Increased or Reduced. The GM decides how many points can be increased or decreased on a character. The GM may mandate that certain characters must have increased or decreased Attributes, such as a Dwarf’s movement ability.