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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A discussion of metagame concepts in game design
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7461056" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Neat trick. I ask a question which you answer thus:</p><p>And then having evaded any kind of real answer, in the next sentence you turn around and ask me the very same question in different words:</p><p></p><p>Hmmm...</p><p></p><p>There's certain aspects of a character - particularly the physical ones - that kinda need to be mechanically represented somehow: raw muscle power, endurance, short-term (sprint) and long-term (marathon) stamina, body agility or co-ordination (seen in things like dancing, gymnastics, etc.), manual dexterity (fiddly use of hands, feet, etc.), and appearance/attractiveness are but some. D&D covers these with Str Con Dex and a part of Cha, but it's clunky.</p><p></p><p>Then there's the non-physical aspects of a character, mechanical representation of at least some of which also comes in handy: willpower, learning comprehension, info retention, memory capacity and-or accuracy, cognitive processing (the ability to get C out of A plus B), spiritual fortitude (or, resiliency of the soul), judgment, and - for lack of a better word - radiance. D&D has Int, Wis and some of Cha for these; again vaguely functional but clunky.</p><p></p><p>So, that's about 15 "attributes" - 7 physical and 8 non-physical - which is probably too many to be viable. A few can easily be conjoined; for example learning comprehension, info retention and memory can be concatenated to two: learning prowess and memory. But you're still going to end up with twelve or so:</p><p></p><p>Strength: raw muscle power, carrying capacity, bench press</p><p>Short-term stamina: how well you stand up under short bursts of high exertion e.g. a sprint or short martial combat</p><p>Long-term stamina: how well you stand up to prolonged exertion e.g. a marathon or a lengthy climb (also plays into disease and poison resistance)</p><p>Endurance: how much abuse or pain can your body handle before it gives out; also how fragile are your bones, joints, etc.</p><p>Co-ordination: how clumsy or dextrous are you (this could be broken down into full-body and small-scale co-ordination if desired, I've combined them here)</p><p>Appearance: how physically attractive and-or sexy are you, includes body build/type as well as face</p><p></p><p>Comprehension: how well and how fast do you learn new things, also how quickly do you re-learn things once known but forgotten</p><p>Memory: how well do you remember things, and for how long, and with what accuracy</p><p>Cognitive processing: how good are you at synthesizing information, solving problems, reaching conclusions from data or evidence given, finding patterns or trends</p><p>Willpower: how determined (or stubborn!) are you, also a measure of mental resistance to influence</p><p>Spiritual fortitude: how strong and-or resilient is your soul or spirit (highly relevant (but often overlooked) in games where revival from the dead and-or spiritual travel may occur)</p><p>Radiance: how much personal magnetism do you exude, also how persuasive or captivating are you</p><p></p><p>I intentionally left out judgment as this would normally be reflected in a characters role-played personality rather than mechanical stats.</p><p></p><p>Very conveniently, there's now 12 instead of 6. Intentional? Not really, but I like that it worked out that way. Even better is they remain evenly divided between physical and non-physical - 6 each - though I'm very open to re-jigging of the physical ones. How these would be rolled up during character generation is a topic best left for another time... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>And note the above names are more intened for clarity than in-game use; better ones can be found for about half of them.</p><p></p><p>So, I've given my attempt at an answer - how 'bout you?</p><p></p><p>Lanefan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7461056, member: 29398"] Neat trick. I ask a question which you answer thus: And then having evaded any kind of real answer, in the next sentence you turn around and ask me the very same question in different words: Hmmm... There's certain aspects of a character - particularly the physical ones - that kinda need to be mechanically represented somehow: raw muscle power, endurance, short-term (sprint) and long-term (marathon) stamina, body agility or co-ordination (seen in things like dancing, gymnastics, etc.), manual dexterity (fiddly use of hands, feet, etc.), and appearance/attractiveness are but some. D&D covers these with Str Con Dex and a part of Cha, but it's clunky. Then there's the non-physical aspects of a character, mechanical representation of at least some of which also comes in handy: willpower, learning comprehension, info retention, memory capacity and-or accuracy, cognitive processing (the ability to get C out of A plus B), spiritual fortitude (or, resiliency of the soul), judgment, and - for lack of a better word - radiance. D&D has Int, Wis and some of Cha for these; again vaguely functional but clunky. So, that's about 15 "attributes" - 7 physical and 8 non-physical - which is probably too many to be viable. A few can easily be conjoined; for example learning comprehension, info retention and memory can be concatenated to two: learning prowess and memory. But you're still going to end up with twelve or so: Strength: raw muscle power, carrying capacity, bench press Short-term stamina: how well you stand up under short bursts of high exertion e.g. a sprint or short martial combat Long-term stamina: how well you stand up to prolonged exertion e.g. a marathon or a lengthy climb (also plays into disease and poison resistance) Endurance: how much abuse or pain can your body handle before it gives out; also how fragile are your bones, joints, etc. Co-ordination: how clumsy or dextrous are you (this could be broken down into full-body and small-scale co-ordination if desired, I've combined them here) Appearance: how physically attractive and-or sexy are you, includes body build/type as well as face Comprehension: how well and how fast do you learn new things, also how quickly do you re-learn things once known but forgotten Memory: how well do you remember things, and for how long, and with what accuracy Cognitive processing: how good are you at synthesizing information, solving problems, reaching conclusions from data or evidence given, finding patterns or trends Willpower: how determined (or stubborn!) are you, also a measure of mental resistance to influence Spiritual fortitude: how strong and-or resilient is your soul or spirit (highly relevant (but often overlooked) in games where revival from the dead and-or spiritual travel may occur) Radiance: how much personal magnetism do you exude, also how persuasive or captivating are you I intentionally left out judgment as this would normally be reflected in a characters role-played personality rather than mechanical stats. Very conveniently, there's now 12 instead of 6. Intentional? Not really, but I like that it worked out that way. Even better is they remain evenly divided between physical and non-physical - 6 each - though I'm very open to re-jigging of the physical ones. How these would be rolled up during character generation is a topic best left for another time... :) And note the above names are more intened for clarity than in-game use; better ones can be found for about half of them. So, I've given my attempt at an answer - how 'bout you? Lanefan [/QUOTE]
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