The Skin of Naranpelo 5
So, I was thinking about statistics.
I don't think I really want to have any. Not only do I consider Rob Donoghue's advice in Not Amber: Stats where he says,
As marginal bonuses in arbitrary categories, they can add unnecessary complication, and if they're just really broad skills, that calls into question the need for them at all.
but I thought for a while of breaking them down and kept running into a few contrary points.
Let's start with the Strength/Body statistic:
Most body statistics seem to be invented for a few purposes that do not relate to the game I want to run (because they don't relate to the game I want to play...)
The first is to suggesting the chance that the characters are not in peak physical condition, e.g., puny magic users using it as a dump stat for low rolls, characters that are smaller than regular humans, and any flavour to gain "disadvantage points," that usually make up for it.
The second purpose is to add to your bookkeeping. These are things like measuring how much you can carry (encumbrance), how long you can go without needing rest (endurance), and even your ability to be put to peril (hit points ... which will be dealt with later).
The third is to add challenges related to this statistic, like lifting heavy things, bending bars, breaking through walls when you can't pick the door lock... that sort of thing. The kinds of things that people in dungeons needed to do. (How many campaigns have I played in where the rule really was, "Take everything that isn't nailed down, and, oh by the way, I have a crowbar?")
On the other hand, I want people to be able to make calls on their aspects that apply specifically to their physical form. The net zero situation is like I said about age - you're presumed to be in peak physical condition.
So I see two choices I like. One, I can specify that you get one or two "free" dice-based aspects for the statistics. For example, I could break it down to, "You have 8 potential stats, and 10 dice, but each of these dice actually relate to a special detail about these statistics."
Or two, drop stats entirely and let the players spend regular "Aspect" dice on stats only if they want to use them.
I've got mixed feelings about both.
I'm still looking for elegant names for the eight potential stats, and for the stats themselves (I just pulled the number 8 out of the air), brainstorming gives me these:
- Endure/Lift/Carry & Overcome (Physical)
- Endure/Overcome (Mental/Magical)
- Grace (Social)
- Agility/Grace (Physical)
- Lore (Mental/Magical)
- Muscle Memory (Physical)
- ...and I'm kind of out of ideas.
OK, maybe 8 isn't the right number. I thought of "Luck," but I don't see that as a reasonable statistic - I am already using dice.
I also note that I'm already using the same couplets for different perspectives that could use the aspect dice (d6) to specify.
The idea would be that you could, say, put an aspect on your Grace (Social) die that says, "All the ladies love me...anyway."
The preliminary poll of potential players says they like the attribute idea, but I'll need to work on better attributes.