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5:14am December 13, 2013

Since we’re discussing RPG stats…

Here’s a page that describes D&D stats in simple language.

By those standards… I’m going to stretch the definition of stats a bit because my abilities vary a good deal, and like always, it’s impossible in some areas to say I just have one.  Also these are for my current time of life, not for the past or future.

Strength:

1-6, usually 5.  (I have a condition causing severe muscle weakness at times, to the point sometimes I can’t roll over in bed.  But with meds, I can get up and walk around at least.  I’ve actually torn muscles trying to use large feeding syringes, so I assume my baseline is considerably weaker than average, but I could be up to 8 for all I know.)

Dexterity:

1-25, completely depending on context.  (I have a motor condition that literally puts me at both extremes.  Sometimes I literally can’t move no matter what happens.  Sometimes I have lightning-fast reflexes and can respond to situations perfectly and effortlessly.  Generally, I’m in a situation where if something does not trigger a reaction, I’m at the lower end of the spectrum, but if something does trigger a reaction, I’m at the higher end of the spectrum.  There is little averaging out here.  It’s one end of the scale or the other.)

Constitution:

Generally 5ish.

Intelligence:

Okay I really really hate how this scale is described in general, relying on things like speech and language, or describing things as ‘animalistic’.

But I’d say anywhere from 1-18 depending on the moment, and if I have to go by their descriptions, often several at a time because the world doesn’t work how they assume.

Wisdom:

6-24, not even going to get into the problems with this.

Charisma:

Oh holy crap they lump together “barely conscious” and “heavily autistic”, this is gonna go well.  

(By the way 'autistic’ is not the opposite of 'charismatic’.  And 'charisma’ is not the same as 'social skills’.  Charisma is a property independent of most skills, that involves how people react and respond to you.  Many autistic people have tons and tons of charisma.  Charisma isn’t just 'used car salesman on steroids’.  It’s not popularity.  It’s not something you can quantify in someone on sight based on how popular or interesting they seem.  It’s this innate thing you have that makes people believe you, or want to follow you, or want to do what you are doing.  It’s not something you necessarily have any control over.  It doesn’t make you a good person, or a bad person.  It just is.  And often it’s highly annoying to have, if you have it.)

Anyway by their scale…

1-10.

Which is really funny because I actually have charisma, the real thing.  Not that I have huge huge huge amounts of it.  I’m not Jim Sinclair, who has tons and tons of charisma and is totally unaware of it.  But I do have it:

People take what I say more seriously than they take what other people say.  People look up to me as a leader even when I’m not trying to lead them.  These are two things that can happen when you have charisma, although it’s not the only type of charisma.

If I could rate myself on charisma, I’d probably say 14-16.  Higher than average but not some of the extremes I’ve seen in other people.

Perception:

They don’t rate perception (the RPGs I played, often did, which is why I’m including it), but I would rate mine as my consistently highest stat.  They seem to be working on a 1-25 scale, so I’d say 20-23.

Here’s a description of perception from a game I played:  

“Your perception is the acuity of your senses, your alertness, your ability to notice the right details and pick out the right patterns. It helps you find hidden things (and hidden people), stay on someone’s trail whom you’re chasing, and quickly assess and react to the situation in battle. As a component of your ability to assimilate your experiences, it helps you learn more quickly. It is also a small factor in your spell point capacity.”

So:

Str: 1-6 (usually 5)  Maybe 8 at highest.

Dex: 1-25 (usu. 8 baseline, 20 when something triggers it)

Con: 5ish (dropping rapidly when sick).

Int: 1-18, usually 8-12

Wis: 6-24 (usually 15, by their standards, which I don’t trust)

Chr: 1-10 (but by my standards, 14-15… their standards are just weird)

Per: 20-23 (though they don’t have a scale for it)

The game I played most often had a ridiculously complicated stat system, which I think went at least up to 120.  Unless I’m remembering wrong.  I used to try and figure out what kind of character I would be in real life, in order to create at least reasonably realistic stats… ended up being this obscure dying species called a Slaan, whose beginning stat ranges were:

Strength: 20 to 80 

Intelligence: 40 to 100 

Constitution: 20 to 80

Dexterity: 35 to 95

Willpower: 50 to 120

Charisma: 20 to 80

Perception: 20 to 90

Size:45 to 60

If their perception were somewhat higher (I’d rate mine at 120), it would be a decent fit.  (Note, I don’t know anything about Slaan outside of that specific game, which was often pretty idiosyncratic and incorporated characters from a huge number of worlds.)