Post by bear on Sept 9, 2015 8:10:40 GMT
The basic measure of your characters physical and mental attributes. They all follow a very simple system:
1 point is given in all Stats at character creation. This what a newborn baby would have, and thus all humans, even the most impaired, get it for for free. Of course, if you LEAVE a Stat at that level, you're going to be able as good as an infant at anything that Stat relates to.
2 points is average. 90% of people you encounter in the wasteland will have a 2 in everything.
3 points means you're either gifted or you've worked hard to improve yourself. 3 points in a physical stat shows some serious training, and 3 points in a mental one represents a fairly good education.
4 points means you're exceptional, with the sort of raw potential that creates Olympic athletes or PhD scientists.
5 points goes beyond even that, into the realm of legend. People like Nikola Tesla or Angus McGaskill had 5 points.
Also, in our system your Stats can give you a couple of free Skill points. If you have 3 points in a Stat, you get a free point in 1 (and only 1) of the Skills connected to it. At 4 points in a Stat, you get 2 free points for a related skill.
Strength: What it says on the tin. Approximately how much you can dead lift, throw, or haul on your back, give or take. Also how hard you can hit or choke.
1: 40 lbs
2: 100 lbs
3: 250 lbs
4: 400 lbs
5: 700 lbs
Agility: A combined measure of both your speed and subtlety. High levels don't just apply to sheer running speed or reaction time; true masters of agility can move like dancers even when dead on their feet. Also applies to 90% of close range rolls, for dodging, melee weapons, hand to hand, throwing, and even simply sprinting across a battlefield safely.
1: You can barely walk, tripping over the smallest things, and your friends all laugh at your clumsiness.
2: Congratulations, you have mastered walking.
3: The balls of your feet are a comfortable place for you
4: You could be a famous dancer, and climbing things is what you do to pass time when you're bored.
5: Ninjas ain't got shit on you, son.
Endurance: How long you can get up and go till your get up is gone. Not merely a measure of your physical stamina and how long you can run, but your mental ability to persevere as well. Applies to "Soaking," damage in bashing form, traveling long distances, surviving in the Wastelands, and going long periods without sleep.
1: A trip across the room has you gasping for lost breath.
2: You can do a lap or two around the block, maybe a few pushups. In other words, you're average.
3: You could satisfy the basic needs of most armies, or put in a hard day's work and still party afterwards.
4: A 30 mile run in the sun with no food or water? 10 hours of hard labor with no breaks? Yep, you can do that.
5: Nothing short of a sustained hail of bullets can stop you, and you can work as hard as John Henry.
Charisma: How James Bond you are (That means suave and smooth, for our younger readers.) High Charisma isn't just being able to talk eloquently, but looking honest and friendly as well. This is different than Appearance, as even models with godly looks can be dicks, while an ugly person can get laid with high charisma.
1: People seem to dislike you, no matter what you do.
2: Sometimes you hit it with people, sometimes you don't. Generally you do okay.
3: People like you a lot, and you almost always make a great first impression.
4: You can inspire people by your mere presence and voice, and you probably have fans in the dozens.
5: Like John F. Kennedy or Adolf Hitler, you have the potential to bend entire nations to your whim by the sheer force of your personality alone.
Manipulation: Similar to but very distinct from Charisma. A true master of manipulation can be hated by the entire world, but still make people do what he wants, because he knows how to push their buttons. Useful for bandit leaders, corrupt officials, and snake oil salesmen.
1: People see right though your attempts to manipulate them, if you even think of a way to try.
2: You can get away with a fib now and then, but there's generally better ways to do what needs done.
3: As an accomplished liar, you can tell huge whoppers with a straight face and have people believe you.
4: You can steer a conversation anywhere you like, and people's emotions are your playthings.
5: You could convince an entire table of best friends to kill each other.
Appearance: How handsome and/or ugly you are. Can be useful for good first impressions, fancy dinner meetings (In the Wasteland? Maybe not...) and getting dates (Now that's more likely.)
1: Actively ugly, perhaps scarred or disfigured in some way, or just plain homely.
2: Just another person on the street, neither ugly nor hot.
3: It's possible that your looks could get you a low-level modeling job.
4: Sex symbol. People who are lucky enough to see you won't forget it, and everybody wants you.
5: You could be famous solely for your looks, because you have the kind of face and body that people will fight wars over. Just try not to start any, okay?
Perception: Your eye sight and general senses, including hearing, touch, taste, even smell. High levels go beyond measurable abilities into the realm of sixth sense; you can't see that sniper, but your skin itself can feel that barrel on you.
1: Legally blind, and probably dead in the harsh Wastes.
2: Maybe you need glasses to read tiny print, but for most things you're perfectly fine.
3: 20/20 vision and sharp hearing, and you could probably feel a feather brush you as it fell.
4: Like a hawk, you can clearly see things hundreds of feet away, and could feel a mosquito land on a clothed arm.
5: Your eyes are better than most rifle scopes, and you can hear a mouse fart through three walls and earplugs.
Intelligence: A general measure of not just your total knowledge, but your ability to learn. Highly intelligent characters have excellent memory, can quickly understand new ideas, and can easily grasp complex mathematics and other problems.
1: There's something seriously wrong with that brain of yours. How can you even talk?
2: You could pass high school if you worked at it, and can grasp most things with a little study.
3: You'd get straight As in college and still be able to party.
4: You'd be teaching in college, and probably have a PhD
5: Like Nikola Tesla and Sir Isaac Newton before you, you have the potential to change the face of human knowledge forever.
Wits: Separate from Intelligence by the fact that it's a measure of mental speed, not strength. A person with low intelligence but high wits may spend years learning to read, but once he masters it, his mind is able to scan entire pages in seconds. It also applies to how well you can keep up with complex conversations, and how fast you can process events happening in combat.
1: He who laughs last, thinks slowest. And then there's you. . .
2: You can hold a good conversation, and even whip out a timely joke occasionally.
3: In a debate, you'd keep someone on their toes. In a conversation, you always have a comeback.
4: You could keep track of four conversations while being shot at.
5: Thinking is a free action, and reaction follows thought instantly.
1 point is given in all Stats at character creation. This what a newborn baby would have, and thus all humans, even the most impaired, get it for for free. Of course, if you LEAVE a Stat at that level, you're going to be able as good as an infant at anything that Stat relates to.
2 points is average. 90% of people you encounter in the wasteland will have a 2 in everything.
3 points means you're either gifted or you've worked hard to improve yourself. 3 points in a physical stat shows some serious training, and 3 points in a mental one represents a fairly good education.
4 points means you're exceptional, with the sort of raw potential that creates Olympic athletes or PhD scientists.
5 points goes beyond even that, into the realm of legend. People like Nikola Tesla or Angus McGaskill had 5 points.
Also, in our system your Stats can give you a couple of free Skill points. If you have 3 points in a Stat, you get a free point in 1 (and only 1) of the Skills connected to it. At 4 points in a Stat, you get 2 free points for a related skill.
Strength: What it says on the tin. Approximately how much you can dead lift, throw, or haul on your back, give or take. Also how hard you can hit or choke.
1: 40 lbs
2: 100 lbs
3: 250 lbs
4: 400 lbs
5: 700 lbs
Agility: A combined measure of both your speed and subtlety. High levels don't just apply to sheer running speed or reaction time; true masters of agility can move like dancers even when dead on their feet. Also applies to 90% of close range rolls, for dodging, melee weapons, hand to hand, throwing, and even simply sprinting across a battlefield safely.
1: You can barely walk, tripping over the smallest things, and your friends all laugh at your clumsiness.
2: Congratulations, you have mastered walking.
3: The balls of your feet are a comfortable place for you
4: You could be a famous dancer, and climbing things is what you do to pass time when you're bored.
5: Ninjas ain't got shit on you, son.
Endurance: How long you can get up and go till your get up is gone. Not merely a measure of your physical stamina and how long you can run, but your mental ability to persevere as well. Applies to "Soaking," damage in bashing form, traveling long distances, surviving in the Wastelands, and going long periods without sleep.
1: A trip across the room has you gasping for lost breath.
2: You can do a lap or two around the block, maybe a few pushups. In other words, you're average.
3: You could satisfy the basic needs of most armies, or put in a hard day's work and still party afterwards.
4: A 30 mile run in the sun with no food or water? 10 hours of hard labor with no breaks? Yep, you can do that.
5: Nothing short of a sustained hail of bullets can stop you, and you can work as hard as John Henry.
Charisma: How James Bond you are (That means suave and smooth, for our younger readers.) High Charisma isn't just being able to talk eloquently, but looking honest and friendly as well. This is different than Appearance, as even models with godly looks can be dicks, while an ugly person can get laid with high charisma.
1: People seem to dislike you, no matter what you do.
2: Sometimes you hit it with people, sometimes you don't. Generally you do okay.
3: People like you a lot, and you almost always make a great first impression.
4: You can inspire people by your mere presence and voice, and you probably have fans in the dozens.
5: Like John F. Kennedy or Adolf Hitler, you have the potential to bend entire nations to your whim by the sheer force of your personality alone.
Manipulation: Similar to but very distinct from Charisma. A true master of manipulation can be hated by the entire world, but still make people do what he wants, because he knows how to push their buttons. Useful for bandit leaders, corrupt officials, and snake oil salesmen.
1: People see right though your attempts to manipulate them, if you even think of a way to try.
2: You can get away with a fib now and then, but there's generally better ways to do what needs done.
3: As an accomplished liar, you can tell huge whoppers with a straight face and have people believe you.
4: You can steer a conversation anywhere you like, and people's emotions are your playthings.
5: You could convince an entire table of best friends to kill each other.
Appearance: How handsome and/or ugly you are. Can be useful for good first impressions, fancy dinner meetings (In the Wasteland? Maybe not...) and getting dates (Now that's more likely.)
1: Actively ugly, perhaps scarred or disfigured in some way, or just plain homely.
2: Just another person on the street, neither ugly nor hot.
3: It's possible that your looks could get you a low-level modeling job.
4: Sex symbol. People who are lucky enough to see you won't forget it, and everybody wants you.
5: You could be famous solely for your looks, because you have the kind of face and body that people will fight wars over. Just try not to start any, okay?
Perception: Your eye sight and general senses, including hearing, touch, taste, even smell. High levels go beyond measurable abilities into the realm of sixth sense; you can't see that sniper, but your skin itself can feel that barrel on you.
1: Legally blind, and probably dead in the harsh Wastes.
2: Maybe you need glasses to read tiny print, but for most things you're perfectly fine.
3: 20/20 vision and sharp hearing, and you could probably feel a feather brush you as it fell.
4: Like a hawk, you can clearly see things hundreds of feet away, and could feel a mosquito land on a clothed arm.
5: Your eyes are better than most rifle scopes, and you can hear a mouse fart through three walls and earplugs.
Intelligence: A general measure of not just your total knowledge, but your ability to learn. Highly intelligent characters have excellent memory, can quickly understand new ideas, and can easily grasp complex mathematics and other problems.
1: There's something seriously wrong with that brain of yours. How can you even talk?
2: You could pass high school if you worked at it, and can grasp most things with a little study.
3: You'd get straight As in college and still be able to party.
4: You'd be teaching in college, and probably have a PhD
5: Like Nikola Tesla and Sir Isaac Newton before you, you have the potential to change the face of human knowledge forever.
Wits: Separate from Intelligence by the fact that it's a measure of mental speed, not strength. A person with low intelligence but high wits may spend years learning to read, but once he masters it, his mind is able to scan entire pages in seconds. It also applies to how well you can keep up with complex conversations, and how fast you can process events happening in combat.
1: He who laughs last, thinks slowest. And then there's you. . .
2: You can hold a good conversation, and even whip out a timely joke occasionally.
3: In a debate, you'd keep someone on their toes. In a conversation, you always have a comeback.
4: You could keep track of four conversations while being shot at.
5: Thinking is a free action, and reaction follows thought instantly.