[Mortal Coil] What's in a Name?

[Brennan Taylor]

One of the comments I got on the last Friday game was that the term for a character's base stats in Mortal Coil, capability, is difficult to use. It doesn't trip off the tongue, and doesn't seem to logically apply to what it describes.

With that in mind, I am open to changing the term. The issue is, what do I change it to? The vocations a character has should stay as "aptitudes," because that seems descriptive and doesn't present the same kind of difficulty.

I want the term to describe what these score are: inherent capabilities of the character. I can only think of a couple other words:

Ability
Attribute


Anyone have any thoughts?

[Matt-M-McElroy]

Hmm,

I tend to agree that "capability" doesn't fit very well, but I'm not sure what I would change it to either...let me think on it a bit and see if I can come up with some suggestions.

Regards,

Matt M McElroy
"What Are You Afraid Of?"
http://www.flamesrising.com

[Valamir]

Well, aside from the obvious (and perhaps overused) "Talent"

How about "knack", or "faculty" depending on the tone you're looking for.

[Brennan Taylor]

Well, aside from the obvious (and perhaps overused) "Talent"

How about "knack", or "faculty" depending on the tone you're looking for.

Faculty might work. I'm not too keen on knack or talent. These stats are things that are not learned, but are in fact inherent traits.

[Valamir]

Faculty might work. I'm not too keen on knack or talent. These stats are things that are not learned, but are in fact inherent traits.

I'm not a fan of Talent either, but that is the standard roleplaying useage (skill for learned, talent for inherent) dating back to at least the original Warhammer FRP.  Its precisely because its been used so many times in that fashion, that I don't care for it.  But if that doesn't bother you and what you're looking for is a word that would make your typical RPGer immediately say "oh, those are innate abilities"...Talent would fit the bill.

I like the flavor of faculty better.

[Brennan Taylor]

I like the flavor of faculty better.

I'm kind of liking it, too. The only issue I might have is that faculty is typically associated with mental ability in common usage, and not so much with physical ability. Regardless, it gets added to my list of terms to consider.

[Matt-M-McElroy]

Qualities - Used in other games on occasion, but kind of gives it a "core ability" feel

Caliber - It means "Quality or Worth" so it fits in that basic sense of the character's ability

Features - Implies a basic description of the character, which fits in a way since all characters have the same four "features" and are customized with their aptitudes

Anyway, there are a couple of ideas...

Regards,

Matt M McElroy
"What Are You Afraid Of?"
http://www.flamesrising.com

[Brennan Taylor]

Thanks, Matt! Of your suggestions, I like qualities the best. I will mull on this, and ask my local group's opinion as well.

[Brennan Taylor]

After some consideration, I have decided to go with "faculties." This trips off the tongue relatively well, and it seems to link to the stats well conceptually. Plus, there are four of them, and I like the alliteration of a character's "four faculties."

[Matt-M-McElroy]

Not bad at all...

It isn't used in many other games (that I know of) and describes the character "trait" in a fitting way.

Regards,

Matt M McElroy
"What Are You Afraid Of?"
http://www.flamesrising.com