[MUD-Dev] Statistics

[Eli Stevens]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Chambers" <bjchamb at bellsouth.net>

> What statistics do you consider necessary to define a character?
> I am planning on using a 100% skill based system, with no levels,
> where the more you do something the better you get at it.  The
> problem is I was hopping that the skills would be defined by the
> host.  The set of skills that seem most logical to me are:

>   Strength - How capable of physical feats this character is
>   Constitution - How resistant to physical damage he is
>   Intelligence - How quickly he learns new skills Wisdom - How
>   well he retains learnt skills

> The problem is I can't figure out where spells and stuff would
> come in.  So I came up with this:

> If you reduce the system down to JUST the capability to learn and
> the retention of what is learned, Strength is no longer a
> statistic, but rather a skill.  The problem is too many things
> would be dependent upon this one skill.  The obvious solution (in
> my mind) is to define a basic skill for each item, and than any
> skill that you perform (attack) uses a modifier for how proficient
> you are with this weapon.  This however becomes to complex again.

> What would happen if we defined TWO types of skills?  I could have
> skills that describe the proficiency with different things, and
> than skills which describe what you can do.  The key is that I
> can't do a jump kick with a magical attack, even if I am
> proficient in magic.

Why not?  Perhaps this isn't te type of atmosphere that you are
looking for - and there is nothing wrong with that - but a tattooed
mystic flying through the air to land a devastating, firey blast
with his or her bare foot seems kinda cool to me.  If a player
doesn't want to make that kind of character, they just leave the
kicking and jumping skills atrophied.

There is also Nathan Yospe's method, which has many tens to hundreds
of str / dex / con / int / wis type scores (specific to body part,
thought process, etc.).  Each skill is just a weighting of stats,
and improving the skill actually means that the stats get better
(meaning that similar skills get improved at the same time).
Swordplay would depend on wrist, elbow and shoulder strength,
dexerity for the same, sense of balance, the mental ability to tell
where a held item's center of gravity is, weight judgement, etc.

Please forgive, as I just got up 10 minutes ago...  I might have
more helpful things to say later (once I am actually awake :).

Until then,
Eli

--
Never use brute force in fighting an exponential.
      -- Andrei Alexandrescu, "Modern C++ Design"


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