NYSRPG:Attributes
In nys, attributes are immutable traits inherent to the character and represent his/her potential.
Possibilities
There are many possible attributes for an RPG system:
- Strength (Arms/Legs)
- Health (Poison and Diseases)
- Agility (Dodge/Balance)
- Dexterity (Hand-eye Coordination)
- Influence (Intimidation, Bluff, Diplomacy, Leadership)
- Beauty
- Resistance (Marathon)
- Intelligence
- Memory
- Will
- Magery
- Charisma
- Alertness
- Senses
- Empathy
- Self-control
- Intuition
- ESP
Simplifications
As you can see, some of these can, and should be, condensed. For example:
- Health + Resistance = Vitality
- Intelligence + Memory = Intellect
- Alertness + Senses + (possibly)Empathy = Perception
- Will + Self-control = Will
While others are situational, and can be put aside:
- Magery and ESP (not every character has supernatural powers)
- Beauty (note that while everyone has a Beauty score, most of the time it doesn't matter)
Choices
The main goal when choosing a set of attributes is to provide one that's balanced, a character with "Vitality-13" has the same power of another with "Intellect-13". While it's impossible to fully describe a person with 10-20 numbers, this set should contain at least sufficient information to run a typical fantasy campaign.
List Candidate
- Strength
- Vitality
- Dexterity
- Perception
- Intellect
- Presence
Issues
- Are jumping, running, and other leg exercises included in Strength? Should I put them under Vitality?
- Presence covers all forms of social interaction and also the character's willpower. Should I split it into Charisma and Resolution?
- Nys won't have an Agility attribute. Which "Agility abilities" should become Dexterity abilities, which should be Perception abilities?
- Hit Points come from Vitality alone? Or Strength+Vitality?
- Mana?
