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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 326641" data-attributes="member: 1645">Tri-StatWhy is it called the Tri-Stat system?&nbsp; Because each character has three primary stats: Body, Mind, and Soul.&nbsp; For D&amp;D players those three stats roughly map to D&amp;D's six as follows:Body -- Str, Dex, and ConMind -- Int, aspects of WisSoul -- Wis, ChaI don't mind (if you'll pardon the pun) Mind and Soul, and I don't mind grouping Str and Con -- honestly, how often is a character concept &quot;big and fragile&quot;? -- but grouping Str, Con, and Dex into one Body stat bothers me.&nbsp; A staple of action stories (in many, many subgenres) is the smaller, more agile fighter defeating the big, slow brute -- technical boxer vs. brawler, little martial artist vs. thug, human vs. ogre, etc.Now, the Tri-Stat system can handle a character who's big and strong but not agile, or witty but not eagle-eyed, or strong-willed but not charismatic.&nbsp; That's what the Less Capable Defect is for.&nbsp; A high Body stat with the Less Capable (Agility) Defect means the character is strong and tough but not agile.&nbsp; Given that one Value of a Stat only costs two Character Points, the Less Capable Defect is a bit coarse for my tastes though.&nbsp; For instance, for one Bonus Point you take a -3 penalty to a Major Aspect (e.g. Agility) or a -6 penalty to a Minor Aspect (e.g. Manual Dexterity).A -6 penalty is quite extreme in a system that goes from 1 (inept), through 4 (adult human average), to 12 (max human potential), then on to 20 (max achievement in the universe).&nbsp; And that's to get one Bonus Point to add to your 175 Character Points you start with (if you're building an average superhero).If you do the math, a &quot;perfect&quot; character -- with no powers -- only costs 120 points, well under the average superhero's point value.&nbsp; The book recommends restricting stats over 12 (max human potential) to one per character, and I didn't notice any sample characters with a stat above 16.&nbsp; At just 2 Character Points per Stat Value and a max Value of just 20, I have to wonder if the designers thought this through though.&nbsp; On the one hand, a character can easily be on a cosmic scale, but on the other, he's still not guaranteed to beat Joe Average in an opposed roll; it's a 2d10 system.(More to come...)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 326641, member: 1645"] [b]Tri-Stat[/b] Why is it called the Tri-Stat system? Because each character has three primary stats: Body, Mind, and Soul. For D&D players those three stats roughly map to D&D's six as follows: Body -- Str, Dex, and Con Mind -- Int, aspects of Wis Soul -- Wis, Cha I don't mind (if you'll pardon the pun) Mind and Soul, and I don't mind grouping Str and Con -- honestly, how often is a character concept "big and fragile"? -- but grouping Str, Con, and Dex into one Body stat bothers me. A staple of action stories (in many, many subgenres) is the smaller, more agile fighter defeating the big, slow brute -- technical boxer vs. brawler, little martial artist vs. thug, human vs. ogre, etc. Now, the Tri-Stat system can handle a character who's big and strong but not agile, or witty but not eagle-eyed, or strong-willed but not charismatic. That's what the Less Capable Defect is for. A high Body stat with the Less Capable (Agility) Defect means the character is strong and tough but not agile. Given that one Value of a Stat only costs two Character Points, the Less Capable Defect is a bit coarse for my tastes though. For instance, for one Bonus Point you take a -3 penalty to a Major Aspect (e.g. Agility) or a -6 penalty to a Minor Aspect (e.g. Manual Dexterity). A -6 penalty is quite extreme in a system that goes from 1 (inept), through 4 (adult human average), to 12 (max human potential), then on to 20 (max achievement in the universe). And that's to get one Bonus Point to add to your 175 Character Points you start with (if you're building an average superhero). If you do the math, a "perfect" character -- with no powers -- only costs 120 points, well under the average superhero's point value. The book recommends restricting stats over 12 (max human potential) to one per character, and I didn't notice any sample characters with a stat above 16. At just 2 Character Points per Stat Value and a max Value of just 20, I have to wonder if the designers thought this through though. On the one hand, a character can easily be on a cosmic scale, but on the other, he's still not guaranteed to beat Joe Average in an opposed roll; it's a 2d10 system. (More to come...) [/QUOTE]

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