Stats and the Basics of Role Playing Games
Role Playing Games (RPGs) are a game of story telling, but they are also a game of numbers. The story telling makes it fun, weaving together stories of distant times and places. The numbers though make it a game, a game of strategy and tactics. where the numbers try to express the nature of the world of the story. These numbers are called stats and everything in the game world has stats. The stats quantify everything in the system to allow a simple way to compare the nature of things. In your every day life you encounter stats all the time, how much does something weigh, how much does something cost, how high can I drop it from before it breaks, how fast can it move, how many can be made in a day. These are all stats. The system tries to keep things down to the key stats that describe the nature of the characters and the universe around them in broad terms so at to keep things simple. So while a table could be destroyed and an animal could be killed and the physics of damage is a complicated set the system just stores this as a stat called hit points that shows how much damage an item can take before it loses its primary function. But we will cover all of this later. Most of the rules are written in relation to a character. This could be a main character controlled by a player or a supporting or hostile character controlled by the GM. It doesn't matter the rules are the same. As you are probably a player let's assume that this character is your character and you are creating one to play.
Ability Scores
A character's first stats are the ability scores these are 8 values that represent the character's basic abilities. These can be further focus and specialized with skills.
| Type | SubType | Ability Score | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Brawn | Strength | How much physical force the character can muster. Used for power of attacks/lift mod. |
| Endurance | How physically resistant the character is. Used for damage resistance/hold breath. | ||
| Nimbleness | Dexterity | This is a level of manual dexterity the character has. Used for attacks/piloting. | |
| Agility | The character's general flexibility and athleticism. Used for dodge/run/tumble ability. | ||
| Mind | Cool | Presence | How well the character presents himself. Used for seduction/bluff/leadership. |
| Willpower | How mentally resistant the character is. Used for resist mind control/pain. | ||
| Intellect | Knowledge | How smart the character is. Used for science/technology/trivia. | |
| Cunning | How aware the character is. Used for notice/initiative/hide. |
Skills
There are many ways that the above stats may be specialized. A character may be better at running rather then dodging attacks. In the system, this is represented with skills. A character that is better at something has more ranks in that skill than other skills. This leads to the two basic rolls required to perform an action, the skill roll to determine success and the effect roll to determine extent of outcome.
The classic combat example of these rolls is the attack roll (which is a skill roll) and the damage roll (which is an effect roll).
Other Character Statistics
- Size Level
- How big the character is, roughly.
- Level
- A representation of how powerful the character is.
- Karma
- A representation of how well the character's actions align with his goals, the story goals and the mental state that accompanies that
- Improvement Points
- As a character advances they accrue points to get better at the things they have done
- Psi
- The amount of psychic energy the character can tap.
- PSI = Wil + Spirit + Improved Spirit
- Hit Points
- How much damage the character can take.
- 1 per level + (Toughness including End Adj) + (Improved Toughness including End Adj)
: :
- or (Epic Fantasy System)
- (End - 2.5) x Level + 2 x [Toughness(Skill Only) + Improved Toughness(Skill Only) + 1]
: :
- or (Cinematic HP System)
- Base TDP = 2 x End
- TDP per level = 1
- SDP = 3 x (Toughness including End + Improved Toughness including End - 10)
Weights and Measures
This is a collection of unit conversion approximations used in this game.
Mass
- coin ~ 25 grams
- pound ~ 20 coins ~ 2^4 coins
- kilo ~ 2 pounds ~ 2^5 coins*
- ton ~ 1000 kilos ~ 2^15 coins
Distance
- yard ~ 3 feet ~ 1 meter*
- space(linear) ~ 2 yards
- klick ~ 1000 yards
- mile ~ 1600 yards
Area
- space(area) ~ 3-4 square yards
Volume
- pint ~ 500 milliliters
- liter ~ 2 pints ~ 1 quart
- gallon ~ 4 liters
- cubic yard ~ 1000 liters ~ 250 gallons
- space(3D) ~ 4-8 cubic yards
Time
- second
- round ~ 6 seconds ~ 2^3 sec*
- minute ~ 10 rounds ~ 2^6 sec
- hour ~ 60 minutes ~ 2^12 sec
- day ~ 24 hours ~ 2^17 sec
- week ~ 7 days (really closer to 8)
- month ~ 4 weeks ~ 30 days
- year ~ 12 months ~ 48 weeks
Speed
- 1 kph (klicks per hour) ~ .6 mph ~ 5/18 mps ~ 5/3 ypr
- 1 ypr (yards per round) ~ 1/6 mps ~ .6 kph ~ .36 mph*
Money
- $1 ~ 25g silver ~ 1 US silver dollar ~ 1 thaler ~ 1 Spanish dollar ~ 1 silver yen ~ 1 silver yaun ~ 1 silver trade coin*
Size
| Size | Height | Weight | Space(Radius) | Reach | Attack | Damage | Grapple | Stealth | Rugged | Str/End | Dex/Agi | Slam | Bite | Claw | Gore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -10 | 1/16 | 5g | 1/512 | 0 | +10 | -10 | -20 | +20 | 0 | -5 | +5 | -8 | -7 | -8 | -7 |
| -9 | 1/12 | 15g | 1/256 | 0 | +9 | -9 | -18 | +18 | 0 | -4 | +4 | -7 | -6 | -7 | -6 |
| -8 | 1/8 | 40g | 1/128 | 0 | +8 | -8 | -16 | +16 | 0 | -4 | +4 | -6 | -5 | -6 | -5 |
| -7 | 1/6 | 120g | 1/64 | 0 | +7 | -7 | -14 | +14 | 0 | -3 | +4 | -5 | -4 | -5 | -4 |
| -6 | 1/4 | 320g | 1/32 | 0 | +6 | -6 | -12 | +12 | 0 | -3 | +3 | -4 | -3 | -4 | -3 |
| -5 | 1/3 | 900g | 1/16 | 0 | +5 | -5 | -10 | +10 | 0 | -2 | +2 | -3 | -2 | -3 | -2 |
| -4 | 1/2 | 2.5k | 1/8 | 0 | +4 | -4 | -8 | +8 | 0 | -2 | +2 | -2 | -1 | -2 | -1 |
| -3 | 2/3 | 7k | 1/4 | 1 | +3 | -3 | -6 | +6 | 0 | -1 | +1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| -2 | 1 | 20k | 1/2 | 1 | +2 | -2 | -4 | +4 | 0 | -1 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| -1 | 1.5 | 60k | 1/1 | 2 | +1 | -1 | -2 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 0 | 2 | 160k | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| +1 | 3 | 450k | 1 | 3 | -1 | +1 | +2 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| +2 | 4 | 1.3t | 2 | 4 | -2 | +2 | +4 | -4 | 2 | +1 | -1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| +3 | 6 | 4t | 3 | 6 | -3 | +3 | +6 | -6 | 4 | +1 | -1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| +4 | 8 | 10t | 4 | 8 | -4 | +4 | +8 | -8 | 6 | +2 | -2 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| +5 | 12 | 30t | 6 | 12 | -5 | +5 | +10 | -10 | 8 | +2 | -2 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| +6 | 16 | 80t | 8 | 16 | -6 | +6 | +12 | -12 | 10 | +3 | -3 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| +7 | 24 | 240t | 12 | 24 | -7 | +7 | +14 | -14 | 12 | +3 | -3 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| +8 | 32 | 640t | 16 | 32 | -8 | +8 | +16 | -16 | 14 | +4 | -4 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| +9 | 48 | 2Kt | 24 | 48 | -9 | +9 | +18 | -18 | 16 | +4 | -4 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
| +10 | 64 | 5Kt | 32 | 64 | -10 | +10 | +20 | -20 | 18 | +5 | -5 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| +11 | 96 | 16Kt | 48 | 96 | -11 | +11 | +22 | -22 | 20 | +5 | -5 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 |
| +12 | 130 | 40Kt | 65 | 130 | -12 | +12 | +24 | -24 | 22 | +6 | -6 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
| +13 | 200 | 130Kt | 100 | 200 | -13 | +13 | +26 | -26 | 24 | +6 | -6 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| +14 | 250 | 320Kt | 125 | 250 | -14 | +14 | +28 | -28 | 26 | +7 | -7 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 |
| +15 | 400 | 1Mt | 200 | 400 | -15 | +15 | +30 | -30 | 28 | +7 | -7 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| +16 | 500 | 2.5Mt | 250 | 500 | -16 | +16 | +32 | -32 | 30 | +8 | -8 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| +17 | 800 | 8Mt | 400 | 800 | -17 | +17 | +34 | -34 | 32 | +8 | -8 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 |
| +18 | 1000 | 23Mt | 500 | 1000 | -18 | +18 | +36 | -36 | 34 | +9 | -9 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 21 |
| +19 | 1600 | 64Mt | 800 | 1600 | -19 | +19 | +38 | -38 | 36 | +9 | -9 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| +20 | 2000 | 180Mt | 1000 | 2000 | -20 | +20 | +40 | -40 | 38 | +10 | -10 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 23 |
- Size
- The size category and base modifier
- Height
- Approximate maximum for longest dimension
- Weight
- Approximate weight/mass
- Space
- Radius (in yards of occupied space) (thus a character with a radius 1 would occupy a 2 yards diameter space, a character with 2 would occupy 3 hexes or 4 squares). For fractional entries of the form 1/X, X denotes number of characters that can chare a space 1 yard in radius.
- Reach
- Distance out the characters melee range extends, if humanoid or has a long body type. In practice many creatures are half this. A reach of 0 indicates they can only attach into there own space.
- Attack
- Attack and defense modifier
- Damage
- Damage and Natural DR modifier, This should already be factored into appropriately sized weapon damages. A negative DR means the character takes
- extra damage from attacks.
- Grapple
- Grapple/Overrun/BullRush check modifiers
- Stealth
- Stealth/Notice check modifiers
- Rugged
- Minimum number of times a character of this size should have the Rugged Feat.
- Str/End
- Str/End ability score modifiers (applied after stat buy)
- Dex/Agi
- Dex/Agi ability score modifiers (applied after stat buy)
- Slam
- Slam or tentacle attack CD
- Bite
- Bite attack CD/BD
- Claw
- Claw or sting attack BD
- Gore
- Gore or tail attack CD