[freeroleplay] Re: [Forge-main] Re: The Ideal Mechanic
- From: Jerry Stratton <jerry@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: freeroleplay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 12:58:11 -0800
At 3:45 PM +0000 on 11/22/03, Ricardo Gladwell wrote:
>of describing relative ability. They do not relate to each other, you do
>not compare Strength with Intelligence. The ranges merely represent a
But players do end up comparing different abilities in any game, and it is nice
if the numbers relate in that sense. That is, you might well end up comparing a
5 Body with a 4 Strength; it would be nice to "know" that a 5 body is "bigger"
than a 4 strength. That a 4 strength can generally keep a 3 agility from
wriggling free. Or that a 4 "Presence" can generally overpower a 3
"intelligence". In the range of skills, a locksmith 3 should generally have
trouble stopping a lockpick 5, all other things being equal.
Generally, the game system will support this, given that whatever a 4
"lockpick" benefits the lock-picking roll, the lock's "4" rating will penalize,
meaning that those numbers are "equal", even though they measure different
things. Same for Body vs. Strength or Intelligence vs. Presence.
I think that innate abilities should be able to be compared to other innate
abilities; learned skills should be able to be compared to other learned
skills. More difficult, but I think useful, is being able to compare even
different kinds of stats, but then we get into "world design". That is, should
a 5 intelligence person with historical scholarship 3 have the same historical
knowledge as a 3 intelligence person with historical scholarship 5?
In some styles they should; in others, they shouldn't. If they shouldn't, you
end up needing conversion methods--that is, you can't simply use addition and
subtraction, because then each has the same score. You have to give the more
learned character an edge (if that's the direction you want) by either
multiplying their skill, dividing their ability, or through some other means
that weights the numbers towards the higher historical scholarship score or
away from the higher intelligence score. (The end points are something like,
should a person with intelligence 6 and historical scholarship 0 have the same
historical knowledge as a person with intelligence 3 and historical knowledge
3; in some styles, absolutely. In others, that's crazy.)
Jerry
--
jerry@xxxxxxxxxx It Isn't Murder If They're Yankees
http://www.ItIsntMurder.com/
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