The most popular tabletop RPG attributes

[Ismaul]

Banging

Grunting

Land of Og

Unggghh Points

Og: Unearthed Edition

That OG thing sounds mighty fine. It's Robin D. Laws too!

I might fancy running a caveman game this summer lol.

 

[Old One]

If you put all those traits together you could have a pornography RPG.

 

[Rilmani404]

Which RPG had Mana as a stat? I understand why Magic, Soul, Aura and so-on are more common, but I figured Mana would have a decent amount of popularity.

I suppose my favorite stat on the list is Resolve. I’d use it like Edge in Shadowrun, an ability which could be spent or burned. I like Cypher System’s ability score mechanics which work a bit like that. Recently I’ve gotten interested in Fading Suns (the newest one) and hope to see how exactly Victory Points work with their roll-under system.

 

[FritzedProcess]

Lagole Gon are you going to put in anal circumference and other body measurements?

Brawn or Constitution already covers that.

I see you haven't heard of F.A.T.A.L.

 

[skeletonmeister]

Which RPG had Mana as a stat? I understand why Magic, Soul, Aura and so-on are more common, but I figured Mana would have a decent amount of popularity.

I think Advanced Fighting Fantasy used to call it Mana.

 

[NecroLord]

It makes sense that Strength is number one.
You want to be able to hit things and hit them HARD.

 

[Ismaul]

It makes sense that Strength is number one.
You want to be able to hit things and hit them HARD.

Wouldn't that be Stiffness tho?

 

[Old One]

Girth.

 

[spectre]

So, the original question was what's your favorite attribute? I'd say chutzpah.
How many systems even recognize this one? I think I can vaguely recall Paranoia, or was it one of its derivatives?

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL 8 attribute system:

Strength
Endurance
Agility
Awareness

Intelligence
Willpower
Intuition
Charisma (Character? Personality? Presence?)

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL 7 attribute system:

Strength
Endurance
Agility

Reason
Awareness
Charisma

Intuition

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL ALTERNATIVE 6 attribute system:

Strength (Brawn?)
Agility

Reason
Awareness

Character
Intuition

I... I can't decide.

Which one to pick? I'd say put it to the test by trying to characterize RL or fictional characters and draw conclusions.
If it feels one iteration can meaningfully highlight similarities but also account for differences between characters, that's the one to pick.

Intuition seems to be your pet stat. Care to elaborate on it? What does it do to a character, what are its derived stats, governed skills, if any?
How do you think it describes a person. What would be a high intuition guy? And vice versa (Or, think in terms of archetypes, what's
the go-to cultural archetype for this stat). Might help you cull some stuff from the list. I mean, I can see myself eyeball a guy and easily say:
that's one strong motherfucker; or, that's one charismatic motherfucker. But: that's one intuitive motherfucker?

 

[Denim Destroyer]

What was your methodology? Additionally I would like to see the raw data.

 

[NecroLord]

So, the original question was what's your favorite attribute? I'd say chutzpah.
How many systems even recognize this one? I think I can vaguely recall Paranoia, or was it one of its derivatives?

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL 8 attribute system:

Strength
Endurance
Agility
Awareness

Intelligence
Willpower
Intuition
Charisma (Character? Personality? Presence?)

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL 7 attribute system:

Strength
Endurance
Agility

Reason
Awareness
Charisma

Intuition

Lagole Gon's super cool EXPERIMENTAL ALTERNATIVE 6 attribute system:

Strength (Brawn?)
Agility

Reason
Awareness

Character
Intuition

I... I can't decide.

Which one to pick? I'd say put it to the test by trying to characterize RL or fictional characters and draw conclusions.
If it feels one iteration can meaningfully highlight similarities but also account for differences between characters, that's the one to pick.

Intuition seems to be your pet stat. Care to elaborate on it? What does it do to a character, what are its derived stats, governed skills, if any?
How do you think it describes a person. What would be a high intuition guy? And vice versa (Or, think in terms of archetypes, what's
the go-to cultural archetype for this stat). Might help you cull some stuff from the list. I mean, I can see myself eyeball a guy and easily say:
that's one strong motherfucker; or, that's one charismatic motherfucker. But: that's one intuitive motherfucker?

Yeah.
Intuition or gut feeling. In other words,a very insightful and wise motherfucker with a very strong "sixth sense".
Someone who knows when to act and when to stand down,or even predict the outcome of certain actions.

 

[spectre]

The dictionary definition is beside the point, because everyone (I assume) knows what it is. I was asking how it fits as a character-defining parameter and there will noticeable differences between characters of low, average and high Intuition, and what's the difference between a char with Intuition of 5 and a char with an Intuition of 6. Sometimes it's easy to fall into this trap of putting something on a scale, but it's more of a "you have it or you don't" thing, i.e. trait or perk.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

What was your methodology? Additionally I would like to see the raw data.

it wasn't mine, I just stumbled upon it at the time and decided to post it because it was interesting

 

[Lt Broccoli]

Favourite Attributes from your list hands down:

Lust
Position
Bonk
Hand
Face
Vigour
Smell-Taste
Purdiness
Talking Trash

 

[Norfleet]

The dictionary definition is beside the point, because everyone (I assume) knows what it is. I was asking how it fits as a character-defining parameter and there will noticeable differences between characters of low, average and high Intuition, and what's the difference between a char with Intuition of 5 and a char with an Intuition of 6.

Obviously, the answer is that a character with an Intuition of 6 still passes their Intuition Check on a roll of 6, whereas the character with a 5 fails it, because his skill is not enough.

 

[NecroLord]

Way I see it:
Strength - You want to be able to punch or chop someone's head clean off. Also carry a lot of shit without being encumbered.
Dexterity - "Gotta go fast!" Also reaction time and overall agility.
Constitution - Poison, Disease? Haha, no! Also overall health and physical fitness.
Intelligence - You want to know how to read, write, do math and complex astrophysics while the party barbarian is busy wrecking faces.
Wisdom - You want to understand the whole picture and not be lied, manipulated or mind controlled.
Charisma - You want to be a smooth talker and charm your way into that hot tavern wench's panties.

 

[Trithne]

A while back I did a hack of West End Games' D6 system for personal use, the stat spread I ended up going with there was:

Reflexes
Coordination
Physique
Knowledge
Willpower
Charisma

Basically merging Str and Con from the classic spread, and separating Dex into two - One for fine motor skills and one for more full-body reactions.

 

[Norfleet]

Strength - You want to be able to punch or chop someone's head clean off. Also carry a lot of shit without being encumbered.
Dexterity - "Gotta go fast!" Also reaction time and overall agility.

The main issue with linking Dexterity with speed is that F=ma is a thing, so strong people can also move very fast.

 

[NecroLord]

Strength - You want to be able to punch or chop someone's head clean off. Also carry a lot of shit without being encumbered.
Dexterity - "Gotta go fast!" Also reaction time and overall agility.

The main issue with linking Dexterity with speed is that F=ma is a thing, so strong people can also move very fast.

That's true.

 

[Norfleet]

So the result of this is that it becomes relegated to coordination and reaction...but only in the sense that you're immediately aware that you're about to be punched in the face: without the strength to accelerate out of the way, you can't actually do anything about it. So you have high inititiative order, with which you probably get to wait until someone else goes first, otherwise you will be in front, getting punched in the face.

 

[Butter]

Wisdom and Intelligence have never been sufficiently differentiated, and Wisdom is frankly a shite attribute in general.

 

[Faarbaute]

Wisdom and Intelligence have never been sufficiently differentiated, and Wisdom is frankly a shite attribute in general.

I always liked the inclusion of both Wisdom and Intelligence, mostly for the reason that I like their accompanying stereotypes.

 

[catfood]

Power cuz it helps with those sanity checks.

 

[NecroLord]

Wisdom and Intelligence have never been sufficiently differentiated, and Wisdom is frankly a shite attribute in general.

Not in D&D 3E and 3.5 it isn't.
You get bonus to Will saves and it's your main attribute if you are playing a divine caster.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

A while back I did a hack of West End Games' D6 system for personal use, the stat spread I ended up going with there was:

Reflexes
Coordination
Physique
Knowledge
Willpower
Charisma

Basically merging Str and Con from the classic spread, and separating Dex into two - One for fine motor skills and one for more full-body reactions.

I tried merging Strength & Constitution for a homebrew system, but it over-values the stat. It also has a granularity problem where something can't be physically resilient/healthy without also being musclebound. For overall elegance, I really like how Arcanum's stats are conceptualized. I think they could have utilized them a bit better, but it's still a great setup. Only Beauty suffers from being a bit too narrow.

	Physical​	Cerebral​
Power	Strength	Intelligence
Resistance	Constitution	Will
Prowess	Dexterity	Perception
Appearance	Beauty	Charisma