Talk:Attribute (role-playing games)

Merge
Ability score describes the same concept under a different name (the one used in D&D). The term attribute seems more general to me and is apparently used by most game systems that have this concept. — TowerDragon 08:29, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree a merge is called for, but think the other article actually covers the area in more depth. You're quite right that "attribute" is more general, but I think it is, in fact, overly general. Anything can have attributes - "name", "level", "race", "height" are "character attributes", but they're not "ability scores". GRuban 13:59, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I must concur that some editing may be needed. I am commenting over a decade later as well, when many game systems have shifted to using Attribute in a much more general way.  If I get time, I will look at it. I'm not making any promises though, so if anyone else has the time to play around with this article, I think it needs a little love. :-) Emry (talk) 22:36, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

Post-merge
I've just performed the merge, and made this the main page for because this page had mergefrom while the other one had merge. GRuban called me on this, but I thought (and still think) that the templates were the right way round, so I'll say what I think here:

I think Attribute (RPG) is the right page because, to my mind, it's better to use the term most RPGs use than the D&D specific one. I take GRuban's point that level and race are "attributes" in the sense of "an abstraction characteristic of an entity", but I don't think they're attributes in the way the term is used in RPGs, which is the sense of the page Attribute (role-playing games). Race and name are excluded by not being numbers; I've added the word "abstract" to exclude height and weight. What distinguishes an attribute from level, or from a skill score, is an interesting question, which merits at least another paragraph in the article.

I think Ability score isn't the right page because I don't think it conveys that the page is about an RPG term as opposed to, say, SAT scores or scores in other standardised tests. However, it might be sensible to have it as a disambig page pointing users to both concepts. I also don't think that "ability score" is sufficiently general - luck's not an ability; yet it's an attribute in many games - and Serenity (RPG) and Dogs in the Vineyard use pools of dice rather than a single score for their attributes.

All that said, I don't mind hugely. So many games use so many different words for the terms that it's really just a matter of picking one. Percy Snoodle 14:17, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, that's a point too. I still think something more specific is called for, but I'll hold off until someone else comes along with a supporting opinion. GRuban 14:45, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Maybe we could add the specific terms to the systems mentioned at Attributes in common systems? -- Genesis 11:27, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

SPECIAL System?
I deleted the section about the SPECIAL system: (1) It is only used for a few computer RPGs, and apparently no pen-and-paper RPGs, and (2) it is just a list of most of the common attribute names (except Wisdom and Willpower). Perhaps some of the descriptions could have been incorporated in the Common attribute names section, but otherwise, it didn’t add any useful information to this general article. — TowerDragon 00:24, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

“Usually a higher number is better, but not always.” — Example(s)?
Errm… Could anyone give an example where a higher number indeed is not better? OK, you should never say never, but without any examples, I think we should at least delete the phrase “but not always” --TowerDragon 23:43, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
 * negative attributes like fears used in some editions of The Dark Eye --Echosmoke (talk) 20:57, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

Hard stats
Dexterity aka Agility, Reflexes, Quickness, ...
 * DEX not AGI

In some games dexterity is not the same as agility (both are available as stats). In that case agility refers more to pure speed and reflexes.

Constitution aka Stamina, Endurance, Vitality, ... Defense aka Resistance, Fortitude, Resilience, ...
 * VIT is DEF

Some have Vitality equivalent to Defense or better to say it (VIT) represents "defensive" attribute.

see agility/dexterity above; it seems (based on the context) it refers more to pure speed than to dexterity segment. Setenzatsu.2 (talk) 21:02, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Speed stat

Negative attributes
This should also be included. Attributes where more points mean worse performance. Setenzatsu.2 (talk) 21:02, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

Non-game attributes

 * Trick attribute (manga unORDINARY). It shows how versatile an ability is. Setenzatsu.2 (talk) 21:02, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

Radar chart
Used to represent attributes covered in the article. Should be added. Setenzatsu.2 (talk) 21:02, 13 February 2020 (UTC)