Base Attributes

[MarkMeredith]

Okay, I'm looking at designing a D100 game (Roll low) but I need some names for Base Attributes. I don't want to pull a STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA on it, because I want the Base Attributes to make up the bulk of the stats. In a D&D sense, I'm wanting the character sheets to be Attributes and Feats. No skills. Your Feats (different name) modify your base Attributes.
Example: You have a Smartness of 67. You also have a MEDIC "feat". You gain +20% when doing Medic stuff. There'd be other Feats of course, not just ones that modify Attributes, but I digress...

Anyway, I just need a big ol' list of Base Attributes, if anyone has any ideas. I can pick and choose from there. Some synonyms of different Base Attribute words.

[TonyLB]

Honestly, I don't want to list attributes at random.  What is your game going to do?  What are players coming to the game looking to do, as players?  What do they want their characters to do?

[MarkMeredith]

I'm looking for a generic game system that uses rules reminiscent of the Inquisitor rules by Games Workshop. The rules will be quick and easy to pick up, and I need like 10 Base Attributes for them to have that everything else plays off of.

[MarkMeredith]

For example, just pulling some Attribute names out of the air...

All are words for your general healthiness:
Toughness
Constitution
Fortitude
Health
Feel-Goodness

That's what I'm talking about. Can anyone help? I'm new at this.

[Eric Provost]

Hiya Mark.  Welcome to the Forge.

You might discover the posts that follow contain a lot of "Yeah, but why?"-type questions.  That's just the way things work around here.  Ya start by figuring out just exactly what you want your game to do then you work on the system that will give you that result.  So you'll find that everyone here is likely to want to know just exactly what you're game goals are before we help.  Because we want to help you get what you want out of the project.

So, could we give you a buncha ideas for attribute names?  Yeah, yeah we could, but a thesaurus could probably do a better job for ya, as we don't have a clue what kind of game you're really trying to make and why.

I suggest checking out a few of the articles, like Ron's essay System Does Matter.  Then take a peek at some of the game design threads.  This place operates differently than most forums, but it's really worthwhile to get in the groove of the place.

So, once again, welcome.  And can you tell us more about what you're trying to achieve with your game?

-Eric

[MarkMeredith]

Thanks. I'll start up a new thread about my game design that I can expand upon once I flesh out the rules more.

[Eric Provost]

Naw...  Don't flesh out any rules yet.  We wanna hear what your game's about.  Are you making it for you & your group?  Are you making it to publish?  What would someone pick your game over, say...  GURPS, or FUDGE, or any of the other functional 'generic' games out there?

[indie guy]

I'm new here, but for what it's worth, here's my opinion (with a disclaimer). I'm really turning your question inside out, it's probably backwards advice, and I'm probably simplifieng it to things you probably tackled. But when I reach writer's block it always helps me to go back to basics, and with a little reinventing it gets me going again. Here it goes:

Attributes do seem like an unavoidable concept in games, because a game needs a way to determine actions that cannot be solved by questioning and deductive reasoning. By questioning what these things are and what they do, I'm able to come up with appropiate names, and it will give you an edge when you pull out the thesaurus.

So when designing attributes for a system, I ask myself questions of what needs to be measuerd so they don't bog down a game during game-play.

Questions of a Physical Nature:

1. How much can a character lift and carry?
2. How fast can a character move?
3. How well can a character see and hear?
4. How much physical trauma can a character withstand?
5. How much coordination is needed for a character to attempt a task?
6. Which character will win an arm-wrestling match (without cheaters)?

I'm not a big fan of attributes that measure personality, because I believe most of it can be role-played, but they come in handy for alot of gamers to determine npc reactions. Among other things I do question about mental abilities are:

1. How likable is a character?
2. How much mental stress can they endure?
3. How suseptable is a character's mind to influence?
4. How adept is a character at learning?
5. Can the character understand complex theories?

Other games that use strange realities may come up with other ideas, but those are dependent upon the laws of that reality, keep in mind how the characters strange body interacts the new reality. It could be anything, some of it could be mental or new abilities that arise.

1. How much of the reality can a character change?
2. How much of this reality can a character percieve?

I hope this is helpful, and not too late. I'm sure more questions can arise. And maybe this could be helpful to someone else, as well.

-Paul

[Jake Richmond]

I think its nice if the attribute names reflect the theme of the game. Intelligence is fine for D & D, but Brains might be better for a pulp WW2 game, and Edjumication might be better for a game about stupid grade schoolers. So if you have a fantasy game, give all the attributes fantasy names. A sex game would have attributes with sex names. Right?

I'm sure that didnt help at all. Sorry.

-Jake

[Eric Provost]

I think that 'too late' may apply here.  Mark made lots of progress on his game and his feelings on game design in another thread.  Check out that thread here.

And welcome to the Forge guys.

-Eric

[Jake Richmond]

thanks




better late then never, I guess

[indie guy]

Edjumication isn't in my thesaurus, that's a real twist lol. hmmmm, I like it!

[Jake Richmond]

my brother suggested it, but I think I spelled it wrong. can you miss spell a fake word? I think I did.

[Resonantg]

To give an example from my game, we use traits as ways of expressing the ability of a character to affect their reality.  Characters in the GAMM-D system have three spheres of reality: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Physical.  These three spheres are divided into five areas that equate to the following aspects of existance and life:

Force: How much brute force and influence does the character have?
Speed: How fast can the character influence this sphere of reality?
Accuracy: How precise can the character apply his influence?
Endurance: How long can the character provide influence?
Toughness: How well can the character resist being influenced by others?

Because our system has to be capable of expanding to allow characters to have multiple versions of themselves in "virtual realities", the spheres are infinitely expandable as well.  Yes that can be a little messy for some player that wants to have a character capable of participating in 20 different virtual realities, but if they want to, hey, it's their paperwork nightmare, not ours or the GMs. ;c)

My best advice is this:

Decide what you NEED the character to be able to influence and do.  Next decide what is game relevant, and pare the list down.  After that, try to break your traits to find weakspots, repair as needed. ;c)

Hope this helps. :c)