I envision character creation in three steps. Main stats, skills and other junk, then background. It may sound flippant however; I pretty much categorized all RPGs this way. Of course, I always think D&D when I hear RPG anyway. I relate everything back to these simple building blocks that for most games, are not simple at all.
It’s been a few months since my last post. As a pet project, I only have so much time to put into it, but I am plugging away.
So let’s think about Stats now. For most of the games I play, stats are numbers that define basic attributes of a player character. Things like physical, mental and social ability are measured by these stats. Later skills and some type of extra ability augment them in both negative and positive ways.
I’ve already stated that I’m sticking to dice stats.
I like my games to be deadly. There is nothing to strive for if death equals a quick trip to the local church can. Stats have to mean something. In Coretex, the base is a d6. Above that and you have above human strength, below that and you are weak. Considering the feats I see happen in my home games and in con games I think this is a little high.
So base d4.
What stats to use?
- Strength – Physical Prowess
- Agility – Speed and balance in Movement
- Intelligence – Mental Prowess
- Stubbornness – Mental Will
- Alertness – ability to notice what is around you
- Health – General Well being.
Nearly all systems use some form of these six. I don’t see any reason to stray from that.
How to get there?
Take a bag of dice (you have that don’t you?) Shake out the first six and assign them to your stats.
Or
Point Method
This always gets me. What is too little? What is too much? If the basis for this system is human, that means the norm is human. I’ve already decided on base d4, so everyone starts with a d4 in each stat. Stat points on a one to one scale means that every stat has two point leeway.
So:
Starting character gets 8 stat points to play with. That’s enough to get two stats to d12. That’s pretty high in Coretex terms. You drop a stat to a d2 or d0 to get some extra points.
Say 2 d10s, a d6, and a d8 a d4 and a d2.
That’s 9 stat points.
Rules for d0
A d0 means you have nothing in a stat. If that is the case you cannot use the stat. Seems obvious? Think about this for a moment. A d0 in strength means you cannot lift, move, walk, eat. You are confined to bed.
D0 in agility means you walk into walls, you fall a lot, any dexterous move ends in disaster. You can’t aim straight or walk with grace. You have a lot of bruises and can be found on the floor in most situations.
D0 in stubbornness means you have no will. You will do anything you are told and cannot resist anything.
D0 in intelligence means you are below any intelligence standard. You cannot communicate; you react on instinct not experience. You have no memory or ability to learn.
D0 in alertness means that you are blindsided a lot. I hate to say it but most pcs I’ve played and have played with spend a lot of time in this zone. You miss important details, don’t catch jokes, you’re last in initiative and tend to be shot like a target on a cement stand.
D0 in health just means you’re dead. Useful if you’re undead..not so much if you’re not.