Writing a ttRPG - Wyverns & Warrens (Pt 7 - What Defines A Character, First Draft: Attributes) (Patreon)

(This article is not part of this blog's content that is covered by the OGL 1.0a.)

I'm designing Wyverns & Warrens (WyvWar), an effort at a short, easy-to-learn, easy-to-play, fast-paced fantasy ttRPG that still has a depth of options. And I am doing that in weekly installments, exclusively for my paying Patrons! You can check out the earlier articles at the links below.

First Look - Wyverns & Warrens Fantasy ttRPGPreview 01 - When Are Hit Points Not Hit Points?Preview 02 - Paths & EdgesPt. 1 Writing and RPG (How We Got Here)Pt 2. First Outline DraftPt. 3 - Core Mechanic, Attacks, and DamagePt. 4 - Target NumbersPt 5 - Damage and BenchmarksPt 6 - Time, Space, Scale, Distance, Movement, and Range

With some of the basic systems and measurements in place, I can finally begin thinking about how this game will define a character in game mechanical terms. Once I know what attributes the game defines a character, I can begin to build the systems that give you those attributes. And by "attributes" I don't mean just things like natural characteristics (the classic "Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma" being well-known examples, though many games have fewer or many, many more characteristics). I mean it's time to think about every element of a character that interacts with game rules in any way.

However, I don't want to try to be exhaustive here. As the game evolves and grows, I'll want to iterate concepts, and have left myself room to have new ideas. So, I am going to start with a very basic set of attributes. Just enough to have a framework to build off of and, as the ideas come to me, expand. And before I start throwing out things that will have game numbers, I want to think about what KIND of things I want to give values in WyvWar.

("So what skill is it to ride a pterosaur?" "Aaaaahhhhhhhhh... Cunning?" Art by Dean Spencer, used under license.)

I'm going to start by deciding if I am going to have descriptors for a character's natural abilities and aptitudes (let's call them "characteristics" for now), separate from their learned skills, supernatural powers, instincts, and so on. This is a fairly common option, where you note (for example) what a character's Strength is, to determine their ability to lift, carry, and apply force. In some systems, Strength then modifies strength-based skills you can increase separately from the Strength score, such as climbing, throwing things, and hitting things with a fist or sword.

At one level that makes sense. The stronger you are, the farther you can throw something, right? Well... only kinda. Olympic weight-lifters aren't the same people as Olympic javelin throwers. In fact, none of the Olympic throwing events (which also include discus, hammer throw, and shot put) are won by world-class weight lifters. Of course these athletes are strong, but just being stronger isn't enough to be better. Clearly, there are a lot of factors, with skill at the top of the list, but also including stamina, agility, height, arm length, eyesight, and so on. And sure, I COULD design a game that had all of those as characteristics that add to a character's final 'throw' score, but that is NOT going to be the fast and easy game I want!

Having a set of natural characteristics that modify skills and other game values has some other potential complications as well. First, it can penalize a player who has a perfectly reasonable concept that doesn't happen to match how the game uses characteristics. Obviously there are a lot of fighters who use powerful strength to apply more damage to a punch or weapon blow... but equally obviously there are great melee combatants who aren't at the upper end of possible human strength. So if I create a Strength characteristic that adds to melee damage, do I create a different option for people who want to have characters that use speed and agility, or cunning out-thinking of opponents, or supernatural power to be great melee fighters? And if I do, how much complexity am I adding, and what are the odds one method won't be notably more effective than the others?

I play, and enjoy, a LOT of games that use the six characteristics I mentioned at the beginning of this article, so there's a part of my brain that wants to just default to those. I know them, I understand them, I can be sure a game using them can be a game I find fun. But by the same token, I've seen a lot of the drawbacks of those systems as well. And I need to keep in mind that there are things I find extremely easy to use and understand because I've been playing with similar systems in games for 43 years. If someone comes to WyvWar from Cypher, Ten Candles, or Lasers & Feelings, or a hundred other ttRPGs, they won't have built-in familiarity with game systems I know well. And that goes double if someone actually tries WyvWar as their very first ttRPG.

There are arguments for and against having characteristics that then modify skills and combat options, but in my analysis having a player calculate A, then use A to calculate X, Y, and isn't either fast or easy.

So, I am instead going to try to just have attributes that stand on their own. A character's Strength won't impact their attack or damage. Instead, I'll have an attack attribute (maybe two -- melee attack and ranged attack). One of the things I know from running thousands of games, scores of which were new system playtests, is that the longest the list of skills/attributes/characteristics you have, the more intimidating it is to a new player, and the more likely it is the game will slow down as Gm and players try to figure pout what the right option is for a given task.

So, I'm going to start with ten. Given I am blending characteristics, combat values, and learned skills, I am almost certainly going to have to either expand this or have some sort of specialization system (for example, a character might have an Attack value of +2, but specialize for melee attacks to be +3, or a character might have a Cunning of +0, but specialize for Disable Mechanism to be +2).

So this isn't by any means complete. It's just a start... but it's a start that does most of the things I want a ttRPG character to be able to do.

AttackCunningDodgeHealthPerceptionSocial InteractionSpeedSpiritStealthStrength

Next Week: Hero McHeroface