Attribute (role-playing Games)
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Attribute (role-playing Games)
OR:
Attribute (role-playing Games) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

An attribute is a piece of data (a "
statistic A statistic (singular) or sample statistic is any quantity computed from values in a sample which is considered for a statistical purpose. Statistical purposes include estimating a population parameter, describing a sample, or evaluating a hypo ...
") that describes to what extent a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in a
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice. Some games use different terms to refer to an attribute, such as statistic, (primary) characteristic or ability. A number of role-playing games like ''
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' do not use attributes at all.


The nature of attributes

There is no uniform consensus on what ability scores are, even if many role-playing games have them, but games that use them have a common theme. According to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Cult TV website "''All characters have Attributes — basic physical and mental abilities.''" and in the ''
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game The ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'' is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The first edition extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition ''Dungeons & ...
'' "''Each character has six ability scores that represent his character's most basic attributes. They are his raw talent and prowess. While a character rarely rolls a check using just an ability score, these scores, and the modifiers they create, affect nearly every aspect of a character's skills and abilities.''" In some games, such as older versions of ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' the attribute is used on its own to determine outcomes, whereas in many games, beginning with '' Bunnies & Burrows'' and including more modern versions of D&D, the attribute works with a
skill A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...
to affect the overall outcome.


Common types of attribute system

There is no standard amongst role-playing games as to which attributes are important for the game, though there is a school of design which says you pick the attributes after you decide what the game is about.


Set attribute systems


Dungeons & Dragons

''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' used six attributes (there were brief attempts to add a seventh, Comeliness, in ''
Unearthed Arcana ''Unearthed Arcana'' (abbreviated UA) is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing materi ...
'' and ''Dragon'' magazine, but this was short-lived). The six attributes used in D&D are: ;"Physical" statistics *
Strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals * Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...
- measuring physical power and carrying capacity *
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
- measuring endurance, stamina and good health *
Dexterity Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...
- measuring agility, balance, coordination and reflexes ;"Mental" statistics *
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
- measuring deductive reasoning, cognition, knowledge, memory, logic and rationality *
Wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
- measuring self-awareness, common sense, restraint, perception and insight *
Charisma Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
- measuring force of personality, persuasiveness, leadership and successful planning These range from about 3 to 20 (depending on the edition). The original attribute sequence in D&D was Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma in the original 1974 rules. This listed the three "prime requisites" of the character classes before the "general" stats: strength for fighters, intelligence for magic-users, and wisdom for clerics. The attribute sequence in D&D was changed to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, sometimes referred to as "SIWDCC". This change was made due to the addition of the thief class, which used dexterity as a prime requisite. The current "SDCIWC" sequence was introduced in AD&D 2nd edition in an attempt to divide physical and cognitive traits into two groups.


Other games

Many other notable games have followed suit while slightly varying the attributes, like '' Traveller'' (Strength, Dexterity,
Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...
, Intelligence,
Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
Social Standing Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As su ...
) or like
Cortex System The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games. Its most recent iteration, ''Cortex Prime,'' was designed by Cam Banks and published by Fandom Tabletop. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margare ...
games such as the '' Serenity RPG'' and the
Cortex Plus The Cortex Plus System is a toolkit RPG system that evolved from Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Cortex System. It has been used for four published games and one published preview to date, and the design principles are in the ''Cortex Plus Hack ...
''
Leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...
'' with
Agility Agility or nimbleness is an ability to change the body's list of human positions, position quickly and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance (ability), balance, coordination (physiology), coordination ...
,
Alertness Alertness is the state of active attention by high sensory awareness such as being watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency, or being quick to perceive and act. It is related for psychology . A lack of alertness is a symptom of a ...
, Intelligence, Strength,
Vitality Vitality (, , ) is the capacity to live, grow, or develop. More simply it is the property of having life. The perception of vitality is regarded as a basic psychological drive and, in philosophy, a component to the will to live. As such, peopl ...
, and Willpower. Others use more, some fewer.
Tri-Stat dX Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired '' Big Eyes, Small Mouth''. In 2006 Gu ...
(including '' Big Eyes, Small Mouth''), as the name would suggest, uses three (
Body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
,
Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
, and
Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
), whereas a more common division of three, and used in the Cortex Plus game ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' is
Physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
, Mental, and
Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
, but expands with the
Storyteller System The ''Storytelling System'' is a role-playing game system created by White Wolf, Inc. for the Chronicles of Darkness (formerly known as the New World of Darkness), a game world with several pen and paper games tied in. The Storytelling System ...
's attributes. SPECIAL is an
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
statistics system developed specifically for the ''Fallout'' series, representing the seven attributes used to define ''Fallout''
characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck. SPECIAL is heavily based on
GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems w ...
, which was originally intended to be the character system used in the game. Some games have used particularly complex systems. For instance, '' F.A.T.A.L.'' uses a system of five attributes with four sub-attributes each, resulting in twenty total statistics to roll. This system was criticised for its complexity and for the lack of correlation between related sub-statistics, resulting in oddities such as a character with a higher Average Speech Rate than Maximum Speech Rate.


Classifications

The first three editions of ''
Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspir ...
'' had three separate headings of Physical attributes, Mental Attributes, and Special Attributes, with three stats in each. With the six non-special attributes being
Strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals * Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...
,
Agility Agility or nimbleness is an ability to change the body's list of human positions, position quickly and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance (ability), balance, coordination (physiology), coordination ...
, Body,
Charisma Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
,
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
, and Willpower, and two of the three special attributes relating to magic and the third being derived, this is arguably a six attribute system. The
Storyteller System The ''Storytelling System'' is a role-playing game system created by White Wolf, Inc. for the Chronicles of Darkness (formerly known as the New World of Darkness), a game world with several pen and paper games tied in. The Storytelling System ...
used in games like '' Vampire: The Masquerade'' took this one step further, breaking the attributes down into three by three classifications.
Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...
,
Finesse In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. The player a ...
, and Resistance, and Mental, Physical, and
Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
, leading to nine different combinations each of which has a separate name with, for example, ''Mental Finesse'' being the attribute Wits and ''Social Resistance'' being Composure.Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition


Stats and substats

Some games think that attributes are not and should not be treated as entirely independent, and therefore make a lot of their attributes dependent on others.
GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems w ...
uses two levels of statistic: four primary statistics (
Strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals * Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...
,
Dexterity Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...
,
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
,
Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
) and four statistics derived directly from those (
Fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...
, which defaults to strength or health (depending on edition),
Hit Points Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...
, which defaults to health or strength (depending on edition), Willpower, which defaults to intelligence, and
Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
, which defaults to half the
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
of health and dexterity. Hero System 5th edition has eight primary statistics, and a further five derived from them.


Fitting the setting

Some game systems such as those using the
Cortex Plus The Cortex Plus System is a toolkit RPG system that evolved from Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Cortex System. It has been used for four published games and one published preview to date, and the design principles are in the ''Cortex Plus Hack ...
system or those
Powered by the Apocalypse Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game ''Apocalypse World'' and later used for ''Dungeon World'', ''Monsterhearts'' and numerous other RPGs. ...
work on the basis that the attributes should emphasise elements of the setting thus making them different from game to game even within the same family. So, for example, ''
Dungeon World ''Dungeon World'' is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game created by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. The game uses the Powered by the Apocalypse engine originally designed for ''Apocalypse World'' and used in ''Monsterhearts'' and other games. Th ...
'' is meant to resemble a game of ''D&D'' so it uses the same statistics as above, whereas ''
Monsterhearts ''Monsterhearts'' is a role-playing game about "the messy lives of teenage monsters", developed from '' Apocalypse World''. It is known for its handling of sexuality and LGBT content.
'', with its mix of
teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
and
paranormal romance Paranormal romance is a subgenre of both romantic fiction and speculative fiction. Paranormal romance focuses on romantic love and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the speculative fiction ...
uses the statistics
Hot Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places * Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...
, Cold,
Violent Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened o ...
, and Dark.


Common attribute names

Attributes are commonly referred to by a three letter abbreviation (Str, Int, etc.).


''Hard'' statistics

Hard statistics are those statistics which are generally physical in nature, and are often used to represent physical characteristics of a character. ;Strength '' aka Body, Might, Brawn, Power ...'' :A measure of how physically strong a character is. Strength often controls the power and/or damage of
melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
attacks, the maximum weight the character can carry, and sometimes
hit point Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...
s. Armor and weapons might also have a Strength requirement to use them. ;Constitution ''aka Stamina, Endurance, Vitality, Recovery ...'' :A measure of how sturdy a character is. Constitution often influences
hit point Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...
s, resistances for special types of damage (poisons, illness, heat etc.) and fatigue. ;Defense ''aka Resistance, Fortitude, Resilience, ...'' :A measure of how resilient a character is. Defense usually decreases taken damage by either a percentage or a fixed amount per hit. Occasionally combined with Constitution. ;Dexterity ''aka Agility, Reflexes, Quickness, ...'' :A measure of how agile a character is. Dexterity controls attack and movement speed and accuracy, as well as evading an opponent's attack (see
Armor Class Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...
).


''Soft'' statistics

Soft statistics are those statistics which are generally cognitive in nature, and are often used to represent nonphysical characteristics of a character. Alternatively, instead of being mental statistics, they may also represent certain nonphysical effects on a character, as with attributes such as Luck, seen below. ;Intelligence ''aka Intellect, Mind, Knowledge, ...'' :A measure of a character's problem-solving ability. Intelligence often controls a character's ability to comprehend foreign languages and their skill in magic. In some cases, intelligence controls how many skill points the character gets at "level up". In some games, it controls the rate at which
experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experi ...
s are earned, or the amount needed to level up. Under certain circumstances, this skill can also negate combat actions between players and NPC enemies. This is sometimes combined with wisdom and/or willpower. ;Charisma ''aka Presence, Charm, Social, ...'' :A measure of a character's social skills, and sometimes their physical appearance. Charisma generally influences prices while trading and NPC reactions. Under certain circumstances, this skill can negate combat actions between players and NPC enemies. ;Wisdom ''aka Spirit, Wits, Psyche, Sense, ...'' :A measure of a character's common sense and/or spirituality. Wisdom often controls a character's ability to cast certain spells, communicate to mystical entities, or discern other characters' motives or feelings. ;Willpower ''aka Sanity, Personality, Ego, Resolve, ...'' :A measure of the character's mental resistance (against pain, fear etc.) when falling victim to mind-altering magic, torture, or insanity. Many games combine willpower and wisdom. ;Perception ''aka Alertness, Awareness, Cautiousness, ...'' :A measure of a character's openness to their surroundings. Perception controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps or hiding enemies, and might influence combat sequence or the accuracy of ranged attacks. Perception-type attributes are more common in more modern games. Note that this skill is usually understood only to apply to what a character can perceive with their established senses (i.e. sight, sound, smell, etc), and does not usually include
extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universi ...
or other forms of mental
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
or
telekinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
in the given game unless the character's specific attributes expressly include such abilities (such as
the Force The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...
in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''). Sometimes combined with wisdom. ;Luck ''aka Fate, Chance, ...'' :A measure of a character's
luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...
. Luck might influence anything, but mostly random items, encounters and outstanding successes/failures (such as
critical hit In many role-playing games and video games, a critical hit (or crit) is a chance that a successful attack will deal more damage than a normal blow. Origin Critical hits originate from the Reiswitzian ''Kriegsspiel'', which they were added into sh ...
s).


References

{{D&D topics Role-playing game terminology