What system has your favorite Attributes/Stats setup?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I've been toying with the idea of stats which have sub-stats that combine to support the main stat.

For example: the primary "Mental" stat consists of the secondary stats of Intellect, Perception, and Willpower, each of which have a score of 1-6; hence "Mental" is 3-18. Individual skill checks use the secondary-stat score as a modifier; more global checks or actions use modifiers based on the primary stat score.

It's a gimmick, though -- I find the D&D approach generally works pretty well. If I need more granular, d% systems become the option of choice.

 

[grufflehead]

All of these have been said already, but...

HERO, although stat heavy, covers pretty much everything.

Earthdawn, shows how you can have something that is superficially like D&D in terms of stats, but much, much better integrated into the system. Stats give you not only physical defense, but also spell defense and social defense, so none of this 'I'm going to give my PC a CHA 7 then all I have to do is stuff points into Diplomacy and everything will be fine crap' that's the largest of the bees currently attempting to escape from my bonnet. Dump stats at your peril!

Savage Worlds is another where all 5 stats are important. Want to hit things? Agility required. Warrior and want to be able to do big damage? Better put up your Strength then. But you'll need Vigour to shake off wounds too. And Spirit and Smarts help defend you against mental attacks even if you aren't a spellcaster. It's not part of the core, but I have to say Realms of Cthulhu's sanity mechanism may be the most elegant and well integrated rule I've seen in a product all year. Very easy to transplant if you want to add a horror component to almost any other style of game.

Other games I like the look of but haven't played include ORE (one roll really does do it all), a fairly obscure game called Fireborn where your 4 stats correspond to the 4 elements, but in play you can trade off one against another to achieve actions, but run the risk that the traded off stat will be the one you need to defend against something else, and Cortex where although it is skill + stat to achieve success, the skill and stat combo is not fixed, so you could roll STR + Acrobatics one time, then DEX then next. Allows for a bit of player creativity and flexibility.

 

[Wik]

Earthdawn, shows how you can have something that is superficially like D&D in terms of stats, but much, much better integrated into the system. Stats give you not only physical defense, but also spell defense and social defense, so none of this 'I'm going to give my PC a CHA 7 then all I have to do is stuff points into Diplomacy and everything will be fine crap' that's the largest of the bees currently attempting to escape from my bonnet. Dump stats at your peril!

I love Earthdawn's Step System - it really is great. And the attributes are an excellent set-up. But the more I look at it, the more I see some of the major flaws in the system - essentially, that the die codes change each step. What this means is that the average number rolled corresponds to the step, but the minimum and rough maximum (not accounting for exploding dice) change with each step value. In other words, some step values are a lot more "swingy" than other step values, and that sort of bugs me.

Really, the higher level you become, the swingier your rolls are. Some people might love that, while others will look at is a huge drawback.

 

[Jhaelen]

Really, the higher level you become, the swingier your rolls are. Some people might love that, while others will look at is a huge drawback.

Well, thing have become a lot better since 2nd ed. Even in our 1e games we eliminated the d20, creating our own custom table which is now the standard.

Earthdawn's system gets my specialty award for beautiful math

Regarding the attributes chosen to describe a character, oWoD is close to being my favorite. I like the three times three approach using the body/mind/social division. I also like that every ability can be combined with every skill/talent. The dice pools themselves are a matter of taste, though.

Another system deserves special mention: Runequest uses Size as one of the main attributes. While at first it seems like an odd choice, it is really well integrated into the system and manages to avoid the problems that e.g. D&D has with explaining why monsters like giants or colossal dragons don't do more damage or why the (4e) mounts have such a ridiculous carrying capacity.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Warhammer v2 RPG for me - WS, BS, S, T, Ag, Int, WP & Fel for the prime stats and then your secondary traits.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Actually, DC Adventures (aka DCA, or Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition) gets a nod too...

Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Agility, Fighting, Intellect, Awareness, Presence. These start at a base of 0, and go up to, well, whatever. Or down, to -5.

Very neat, in theory and practise. Oh, and in place of 1st and 2nd ed's Saves, you have the following Defences: Dodge, Fortitude, Parry, Toughness, and Will.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

I'm a big fan of 7th Sea's system as it can easily be applied to things beyond humans, like ships. Each stat is combat relevant.

• Brawn - Partially determines damage and used for soaking damage
• Finesse - Accuracy in combat
• Wits - Active Defenses in combat
• Resolve - How much damage you can take
• Panache - How many actions you take during a round

 

[MortonStromgal]

For Attributes
New World of Darkness
Physical, Mental, Social x Power, Finesse, Resistance (ie 3x3)

For Attribute to Skill Relation
Ubiquity
Attribute 1-6 + Skill 1-12+

For Skills
Anything with broad skills like Firearms.

 

[Filcher]

Legend of the 5 Rings. Masterfully balanced and in genre.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Dread.

Although I have a fondness for any game where the social stat is Chutzpah (Paranoia).