Spycraft 2.0 & Attributes

The game was interesting to say the least. They attempted to shoot out a camera and blow up the location they were sent to investigate. More D&D, less spy so we'll reboot tonight and try again.

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Now, on to more RPG design thoughts:

Attributes

For the games that use them, which is most, attributes represent your characters natural abilities. Games based on d20 use the following six attributes:

Strength - self-evident
Constitution - how resistant to damage / how healthy
Dexterity - how nible / quick
Intelligence - self-evident
Wisdom - governs perception and self control
Charisma - who knows

Seriously, who knows what Charisma means. No one has ever been able to tell me. I know how I use it in my games, but each Game Master (GM) uses it a little bit differently. Some use it as a beauty gauge, others (including me) as a measure of the force of personality.

The Uni-system made popular by Eden Games uses Perception in Place of Wisdom.

Shadowrun 4 uses these:

Strength - self-evident
Body - measure of how tough / how much damage one can adsorb
Agility - how flexible / athletic
Reaction - how quickly the character can react
Charisma - again, who knows; however, there are rules in SR that use it
Willpower - self-evident
Intuition - innate understanding / street smarts
Logic - raw intelligence / book smarts

So what are the ideal number of attributes? Depends on game design. I would suggest that less than 4 is too few and more than 9 is too many. Most games use 6.

More thoughts later, my kids are asking for some help.

Spycraft 2.0

Been sick so no posts. My gaming group sat down and started creating characters for Spycraft 2.0 this weekend. It looks to be a very crunchy (rules heavy) game. I'll keep you posted on how it turn out.

A couple of terms that are useful:

crunch(y) - rules (heavy)
fluff - description / back story

Night

I mistakenly thought that the week after the audit would be easier but, no! Not so much. Anyway, on with the discussion on balance.

I will continue with the Paper, Rock, Scissors analogy because I figure most people are familiar with that game. Imagine for a minute that the game were Paper Rock. That's right no Scissors. It seems balanced - each person has two choices. However, if I consistently play Rock - the equivalent of some characters abilities, I will always draw against a Rock opponent and loose to a Paper opponent. Literally the best that I can do is tie. That is not fun.

Once we had back in Scissors again, I can continue to play Rock and will win approximately 1/3 of the time, tie 1/3 of the time and loose 1/3 of the time. That is much more balanced to my way of thinking. Add in the fact that I can choose my "strategy" and you have the makings of a fun game or a quick way to decide who gets the front seat on a long car trip. Or for my kids, who gets to pick the bowl with a certain cartoon character for breakfast cereal. (Don't laugh, for them, it's not funny. Also there is a World Championship for Rock, Paper, Scissors.)

Anyway, game balance is a tricky thing. What works for one game may not for another. That for one group may not work for another, etc. Have fun and see what works for you.

Thoughts on Balance

Back in the saddle.

Last time I posted anything of note I talked about levels - more specifically character levels as used to "balance" the game. This time I wanted to talk a minute about the elusive concept of balance. What does balance mean? Ask 10 gamers and get 11 answers. Seriously, try it. I'll wait.

...

See, told ya. Thing is it means different things to different people. The best definition that I have ever heard - and one that I agree with - is this: Balance is making sure that all characters in the game, members of the group, etc. are contributing in an equal way. Sometimes this is impossible. Have a crazy axe-murderer after you, then the guy that's good with guns is probably the one to save the day. Need a comrade turned back into a person after Medusa turned him to stone? The wizard is probably your friend. That said, balance is typically lost when one character constantly and/or consistently outshines the others. Sometimes this is a people dynamic. Just let the guy running the game have his girlfriend (or worse, his fiance) play. Your characters just don't matter. This is of course a generalization.

Generalizations aside though. It is one part people skills, one part planning and at least two parts game system design.

Think about the kid's game, Paper, Rock, Scissors for a minute and you can understand at least some idea of balance. I play rock consistently and I will loose to paper and beat scissors every single time. Nothing wrong with it, just pointing it out.

Well, my eyelids have started rebelling, so I must hold off the rest of this thought until tomorrow.

Until then, have a good day.

Back

The audit took more of my time than I thought. Plus my baby has been yelling for several nights in a row. More later.

Random thoughts

It is late Sunday / early Monday morning and I have a full day at work. We have auditors coming and I get to play gopher all day - yeah me!

Anyway, I had another thought about levels yesterday. They are often used as a gauge for when to introduce various magical or technological effects into games that use them. My concern with this is that often the effects can be world altering at high levels. For me it just breaks the Suspension of Disbelief.

Also, levels tend to ramp up the ability of the heroes (or anti-heroes, or whatever) to take punishment that would kill normal people. DnD is perhaps the worst at this. A first level fighter can literally kill a common man with a single blow from a sword or axe. The same blow might kill the fighter - and that is good. By fifth level, not only can he not be killed by the blow but can mow down commoners left and right as if they were butter. For me, that is bad for the game. However, that is also the fantasy hero trope. I happen to like DnD but it just doesn't strike me as realistic. Neither do many movies and they don't stop me from enjoying them either.

Well, good night to all.