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Message: <blockquote data-quote="niklinna" data-source="post: 8403495" data-attributes="member: 71235">Many, many years ago I abstracted abilities out into a drill-down system using the same structure within domains of activity (Physical, Mental, Social, Psychic, Magic, etc.). The 2nd level (open circles) would be most typical, but you didn't have to use the same level for all abilities (or across all domains). So, in the outline below, you could use Interaction (top-level), and then Force and Health (2nd-level). The 3rd-level abilities are differentated by time scale, physical scope, and detail.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Interaction<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Perception<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alertness (something's happening)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Awareness (you know what it is)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Insight (you notice or suss out subtle details)</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Movement<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Speed (initiative, how fast you can do a thing, not how fast you move)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Agility</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Precision (manual dexterity)</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Imposition<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Force<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Power (basically damage, but also movement rate)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strength</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Endurance (how long you can use your Power or Strength)</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Health<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vitality (basically hit points, lose 'em and die)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Toughness (hit points, lose 'em and be KO'ed)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Constitution (resistance to metabolic stresses)</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul>It had cross-cut groupings too: Reflex (Alertness & Speed), Action (Awareness & Agility), Craft (Insight & Precision), Might (Power & Vitality), Brawn (Strength & Toughness), Mettle (Endurance & Constitution). You could combine the 3rd-level attributes in either dimension, or across domains.This was not really for a playable system, but a model to understand how different game systems organized their abilities, and what they considered important to differentiate. Abilities in the Physical domain are usually differentiated the most (in D&D terms, STR, DEX, CON, HP), while Mental are a bit more chunked (INT, WIS), and Social quite often vestigial (CHA). The mapping isn't always straightforward (D&D uses WIS for Perception across all domains, for example), but even so most systems' abilities covered contiguous regions of my model.My model isn't so good for things like acrobatics & athletics, which combine abilities under Perception, Movement, and Health in particular ways and with different emphasis. Agility presumes a certain amount of Strength, after all, just to be able to stand up, jump, and leap, or lift an object to swing or throw. There's only so much reduction to single numbers you can do.</blockquote>

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