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Anattribute is a piece of data (a "statistic") that describes to what extent a fictional character in arole-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-borncharacteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, aset of dice. Some games use different terms to refer to an attribute, such asstatistic, (primary)characteristic orability. A number of role-playing games likeFate do not use attributes at all.
There is no uniform consensus on what ability scores are, even if many role-playing games have them, but games that use them have a common theme. According to theBBC Cult TV website "All characters have Attributes — basic physical and mental abilities."[1] and in thePathfinder Roleplaying Game "Each character has six ability scores that represent his character's most basic attributes. They are his raw talent and prowess. While a character rarely rolls a check using just an ability score, these scores, and the modifiers they create, affect nearly every aspect of a character's skills and abilities."[2] In some games, such as older versions ofDungeons & Dragons the attribute is used on its own to determine outcomes, whereas in many games, beginning withBunnies & Burrows[3] and including more modern versions of D&D, the attribute works with askill to affect the overall outcome.
There is no standard amongst role-playing games as to which attributes are important for the game, though there is a school of design which says you pick the attributes after you decide what the game is about.
Dungeons & Dragons used six attributes (there were brief attempts to add a seventh,Comeliness, inUnearthed Arcana andDragon magazine, but this was short-lived[4]). The six attributes used in D&D are:
These range from about 3 to 20 (depending on the edition).[5][6][7]
The original attribute sequence in D&D was Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma in the original 1974 rules.[8] This listed the three "prime requisites" of the character classes before the "general" stats: strength for fighters, intelligence for magic-users, and wisdom for clerics.
The attribute sequence in D&D was changed to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, sometimes referred to as "SIWDCC".[9] This change was made due to the addition of the thief class, which used dexterity as a prime requisite.
The current "SDCIWC" sequence was introduced in AD&D 2nd edition in an attempt to divide physical and cognitive traits into two groups.
Many other notable games have followed suit while slightly varying the attributes, likeTraveller (Strength, Dexterity,Endurance, Intelligence,Education,Social Standing) or likeCortex System games such as theSerenity RPG and theCortex PlusLeverage withAgility,Alertness, Intelligence, Strength,Vitality, andWillpower.[10][11]
Others use more, some fewer.Tri-Stat dX (includingBig Eyes, Small Mouth), as the name would suggest, uses three (Body,Mind, andSoul), whereas a more common division of three, and used in the Cortex Plus gameFirefly isPhysical, Mental, andSocial, but expands with theStoryteller System's attributes.
SPECIAL is anacronym statistics system developed specifically for theFallout series, representing the seven attributes used to defineFallout characters:Strength,Perception,Endurance,Charisma,Intelligence,Agility andLuck. SPECIAL is heavily based onGURPS,[12] which was originally intended to be the character system used in the game.
Some games have used particularly complex systems. For instance,F.A.T.A.L. uses a system of five attributes with four sub-attributes each, resulting in twenty total statistics to roll. This system was criticised for its complexity and for the lack of correlation between related sub-statistics, resulting in oddities such as a character with a higher Average Speech Rate than Maximum Speech Rate.[13]
The first three editions ofShadowrun had three separate headings of Physical attributes, Mental Attributes, and Special Attributes, with three stats in each. With the six non-special attributes beingStrength,Agility, Body,Charisma,Intelligence, and Willpower, and two of the three special attributes relating to magic and the third being derived, this is arguably a six attribute system.
TheStoryteller System used in games likeVampire: The Masquerade took this one step further, breaking the attributes down into three by three classifications.Power,Finesse, and Resistance, and Mental, Physical, andSocial, leading to nine different combinations each of which has a separate name with, for example,Mental Finesse being the attributeWits andSocial Resistance beingComposure.[14]
Some games think that attributes are not and should not be treated as entirely independent, and therefore make a lot of their attributes dependent on others.
GURPS uses two levels of statistic: four primary statistics (Strength,Dexterity,Intelligence,Health) and four statistics derived directly from thoseFatigue, which defaults to strength or health (depending on edition);Hit Points, which defaults to health or strength (depending on edition); Willpower, which defaults to intelligence; andSpeed, which defaults to half theaverage of health and dexterity.
Hero System 5th edition has eight primary statistics, and a further five derived from them.
Some game systems such as those using theCortex Plus system or thosePowered by the Apocalypse work on the basis that the attributes should emphasise elements of the setting thus making them different from game to game even within the same family. So, for example,Dungeon World is meant to resemble a game ofD&D so it uses the same statistics as above, whereasMonsterhearts, with its mix ofteen drama andparanormal romance uses the statisticsHot, Cold,Violent, and Dark.
Attributes are commonly referred to by a three letter abbreviation (Str, Int, etc.).