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Author Topic: Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?  (Read 682 times)

Catelf

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« on: November 26, 2014, 10:43:55 PM »
As i'm continuing on my rpg project, I run into the idea of describing stats and similar more in detail.
People that has a copy of any of WW's "Storytelling games" where explaining basic stats practically has its own chapter, knows what I mean.

Is that kind of detail necessary?

Currently I do not have any description of their specifics at all, they are just mentioned by name in the Character creation section.

I also wonder the same thing about Skills/Abilities.
I may not dislike D&D any longer, but I still dislike the Chaos-Lawful/Evil-Good alignment system, as well as the level system.
;)
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rawma

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2014, 12:04:30 AM »
I think it depends on how many and how distinct the stats are. The main reason to go beyond the common meaning with a lot of detail is to indicate which stat is used for a given game purpose.

jibbajibba

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2014, 12:14:03 AM »
Target audience and terms?

hardened RPG players know what Charisma, Dexterity, Constitution, are newbies may not.
If you use Chutzpah, Moxie, Zip, or whatever might be harder for anyone to know what it all means.

Finally, some games have stats that seems to cross over or cause issues and discussions, do Amber has Strength and Warfare, Warfare is used for combat but Strength is used for unarmed combat. Not intuitive at all and needs some explanation.

So really depends :)
D&D Heartbreaker aimed at experienced players, probably a waste of time. Hard SciFi microscopic aliens all shaped like amino acids who attack living organisms, aimed at newbies .... you probably need a section on stats.
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Catelf

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2014, 12:27:31 AM »
Quote from: jibbajibba;801079
Target audience and terms?

hardened RPG players know what Charisma, Dexterity, Constitution, are newbies may not.
If you use Chutzpah, Moxie, Zip, or whatever might be harder for anyone to know what it all means.

Finally, some games have stats that seems to cross over or cause issues and discussions, do Amber has Strength and Warfare, Warfare is used for combat but Strength is used for unarmed combat. Not intuitive at all and needs some explanation.

So really depends :)
D&D Heartbreaker aimed at experienced players, probably a waste of time. Hard SciFi microscopic aliens all shaped like amino acids who attack living organisms, aimed at newbies .... you probably need a section on stats.

Target audience: Any from newbie to experienced that would like to play it.
Stats:
Strength, Body, Agility, Charm, Speed, Senses, Thought, Will, KI,
Measurement 1-8, 2 is normal un-trained human, 5 is normal human max, 8 is max for animal anthros.
I may not dislike D&D any longer, but I still dislike the Chaos-Lawful/Evil-Good alignment system, as well as the level system.
;)
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Link to my wip Ferals 0.8 unfinished but playable on pdf on MediaFire for free download here :
https://www.mediafire.com/?0bwq41g438u939q

rawma

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2014, 12:50:51 AM »
Quote from: Catelf;801082
Stats:
Strength, Body, Agility, Charm, Speed, Senses, Thought, Will, KI,


Strength and Body; Agility and Speed; Thought, Will and KI -- each of these groupings is not obviously distinct things. KI by itself could mean a lot of different things.

S'mon

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2014, 03:48:47 AM »
At least a line or so of description per stat would be good, I think. More realistic stat functions may, counter-intuitively, require more descruption than 'folk stats' which stick close to how people think about the world. For instance D&D Dexterity is a mish-mash of real-world mental and physical attributes; D&D Intelligence typically only covers a small part of real-world general intelligence, D&D Wisdom sometimes but not always cover perception, etc. In real-world combat the most important attribute is Initiative, but very few RPG combat systems recognise this - 2e Twilight: 2000 and its derivative Traveller: The New Era come to mind, and those were not successful games. I think the new Twilight: 2013 game took it further, explicitly using John Boyd's 'OODA Loop' for its combat system - again, not a successful game.

Majus

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2014, 03:50:26 AM »
I'd say that unless the system will be used exclusively by you and people close to you, it would be a good idea to provide at least a brief introduction to the statistics. Maybe you could just focus on the types of things that people can do with those statistics?

Even something like this would be useful for me -- "Body: measures toughness and fitness, used to resist poison or disease. Also used for any tests of endurance, like staying awake all night on watch, running a marathon, or getting through grandma's dinner without needing to sleep afterwards".

jibbajibba

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2014, 05:15:50 AM »
Quote from: Catelf;801082
Target audience: Any from newbie to experienced that would like to play it.
Stats:
Strength, Body, Agility, Charm, Speed, Senses, Thought, Will, KI,
Measurement 1-8, 2 is normal un-trained human, 5 is normal human max, 8 is max for animal anthros.


Strength - 80% proof
Body - Athletic
Agility - Excellent Mental Accuity
Charm - Very Charming
Speed - 30kph
Senses - Eyesight - good, Hearing - weak, Touch - Ticklish, Taste - spicy, Smell - awful
Thought - Intrigued
Will - Strong willed
KI - Key Indicators?

I think you need a section on Stats especially if you are aiming at Newbies.
Even for experienced peeps, Body, Speed, Senses, Thought and Ki might be confusing.
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Catelf

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2014, 08:11:30 AM »
Thank you all for your comments.

It seems like an explanatory section is a necessity, even though I selected the names to actually be more intuitive and correct .... except for KI, which do probably require an explanation anyway.
I may not dislike D&D any longer, but I still dislike the Chaos-Lawful/Evil-Good alignment system, as well as the level system.
;)
________________________________________

Link to my wip Ferals 0.8 unfinished but playable on pdf on MediaFire for free download here :
https://www.mediafire.com/?0bwq41g438u939q

Catelf

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Is a section describing Stats & such a necessity?
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2014, 07:00:15 PM »
I just want to show the result of my decision:

[]
Attributes:
A value of 0 in  any of these is normally only possible for tiny beings that is smaller than 5 cm in length or extreme In other ways.
A value of 2 is standard for an untrained human, and a value of 5 is normally human maximum.
However, for Ferals, this maximum is 8 instead, due to natural affinity, side-effects from experiments, or bionical enhancements.

Strength
This is lifting strength, and also affects the damage you may deal while brawling.
Body
Physical stamina and endurance, and also affects how easily one gets wounded when attacked.
Agility
Mainly affects movement and overall dexterity, but also affects the availability of special attacks.
Charm
This is a measure of things like attraction(including non-sexual such) and leadership.
Speed
How fast you do things, either affects Initiative, or your amount of Actions if using miniature rules.
Senses
The general quality and ability of all your senses, how easily you notice things and so on.
Thought
This is a general mix of IQ, smartness, and wisdom, and how well those things are used.
Will
General willpower, resistance against psychological effects.
KI
Killer Instinct or the mystical force called Chi? No matter, the results is the same, at least in this game.
[]
I may not dislike D&D any longer, but I still dislike the Chaos-Lawful/Evil-Good alignment system, as well as the level system.
;)
________________________________________

Link to my wip Ferals 0.8 unfinished but playable on pdf on MediaFire for free download here :
https://www.mediafire.com/?0bwq41g438u939q