Not all people are alike. Some possess great physical strength, some possess great intellect, some are fortunate enough to possess both, and some possess neither. People also may have different sets of skills from one another; one may be good at fixing vehicles, another at bookkeeping, another at care-giving. Just as no two people are alike, no two characters in SFRPG are exactly alike. Some characters will be good Navigators, some good Doctors, others good politicians or good snipers. In order to tell how good a character is at doing something, each character has a set of
characteristics, which affects the character's
basic combat statistics (see Chapter 2.4), and which is affected by the character's
Skill and
Sub-Discipline scores (
see below). In SFRPG, there are two main types of characteristics,
Disciplines and
Attributes. Attributes and Disciplines are qualities that all characters possess which help dictate how well they perform at certain actions. Every roll made involving a character will be modified by at least one of their attributes.
All characters in SFRPG, regardless of what type of campaign they are playing, have six basic
Discipline scores. These scores reflect the character’s abilities to perform on a starship and their aptitudes in certain sub-fields. A character’s strength in a particular discipline at the onset of the game is directly determined by which species they select for their character
(see Chapter 2.4). Each discipline has ten
sub-disciplines (with the notable exception of
Command). The scores of the sub-disciplines are summed together to directly determine the score of their controlling discipline (this is opposite of most RPGs). The six disciplines in SFRPG are
Command (CMD), Science (SCI), Navigation (NAV), Engineering (ENG), Communications (COM) and
Medicine (MED):
- Command: Command is a measure of the character’s ability to negotiate and to lead others. It is a skill required by those put into leadership positions, and is a useful Discipline for a starship captain or a civil leadership role (though its focus tends to be a little more combat oriented when using RPG-style stats).
- Science: Science is a measure of the character’s understanding of gathering and applying systematic knowledge. While it can be a useful Discipline for any character, it is perhaps best used by science officers. All Science sub-disciplines focus on a particular scientific field, and measure the character's knowledge of that field. The more skilled a character is in Science, the more complete and accurate their sensor readings will be. This information is of vital importance when determining the military capability of an alien vessel or the gravitational force of a planet.
- Navigation: Navigation is a measure of the character’s ability to pilot craft and get people from one place to another without getting lost. This attribute isn’t necessarily limited to starships; persons attempting to use a map and compass will still need to use their Navigation attribute. Navigation is of primary importance to space and land travel; it could easily be argued that Navigation was the single most important skill in the original Starflight games. Navigation is also used to aim and fire vehicle- and starship-scale weaponry.
- Engineering: Engineering is a measure of the character’s ability to acquire and apply scientific and technical knowledge to the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. This one is primarily needed by Engineers, but can also be used by civilian professionals whose jobs require strong knowledge in construction in particular. Characters with high Engineering scores perform faster repairs and make more accurate jumps with jump pods (see Chapter 8.4).
- Communications: Communications is a measure of the character’s ability to exchange information with other characters, their ability to utilize proper equipment during that exchange, and to understand information exchange applications. Almost any character can make good use of Communications sub-disciplines, as this enables the character to speak to alien beings (who are usually a primary source of information). Communications also includes sub-disciplines that can come in handy in critical situations, such as the ability to jam enemy transmissions, send distress calls, and negotiate trades.
- Medicine: Medicine is a measure of the character’s understanding of the science and "art" of maintaining and/or restoring health through study, diagnosis, and treatment. This skill is primarily needed by Doctors. However, any character can benefit from a high score in Medicine, as its two primary sub-disciplines (Intensive Care and Long-Term Care) can be used to pull any character back from the brink of death. The higher the skill level, the more likely it is that healing will be successful, and generally the less time it will take to treat wounds.
If a campaign calls for
Starflight-style stats, then players will have two
Attributes. These two Attributes are
Durability and
Learning Rate. Respectively, these scores reflect the character’s physical strength and toughness (physical aptitude), and their intelligence and ability to acquire and understand new knowledge (mental aptitude). As with
Disciplines, a character’s score in
Durability and
Learning Rate strength is directly determined by which species they select for their character
(see Chapter 2.4). Unlike
Disciplines, there are no sub-groupings for
Durability and
Learning Rate.
If a campaign calls for
RPG-style stats, then players will have six
Attributes. The use of these attributes supersedes the character’s
Durability and
Learning Rate for most functions in game-play, though the character still has these two
Attributes and they still perform a few game functions (notably, they always control the rate at which a character may train up in new sub-disciplines
(see Chapter 12.2) and how long it takes for a character to fully die
(see Chapter 9.2). These attributes behave in the same manner as disciplines, though there are fewer sub-disciplines for attributes and the sub-disciplines are simply known as
skills. Players familiar with other RPGs such as D&D and Serenity will find these attributes somewhat familiar. The six
RPG-style attributes in SFRPG are
Power (PWR), Finesse (FIN), Physique (PHY), Intellect (INT), Acumen (ACU) and Charm (CHA):
- Power: Power is a measure of the character’s muscle and physical strength. It also serves as a limit to the amount and "weight" of equipment a character is capable of carrying (a concept known as encumbrance; see Chapter 5.4). Power affects the character’s Melee Attack Bonus (see Chapter 2.4) and is added directly to the damage caused by any melee or thrown weapons.
- Finesse: Finesse measures the character’s agility, reflex actions, and coordination. Finesse affects several of the character's basic combat statistics, including the character’s HD ratings, the character’s Initiative Bonus, the character’s Ranged Attack Bonus, and the character’s Reflex Save.
- Physique: Physique represents your character’s health, stamina, and recuperative abilities. It indirectly affects the number of HP (hit points, or amount of damage that the character can take before they die) that the character has, and directly affects the character's Fortitude Save.
- Intellect: Intellect measures the character’s ability to learn and reason (this should not be confused with the character's Learning Rate, which determines how much a character learns from training). The character's Intellect level determines the character's raw intelligence, as well as the character’s control of any esper abilities they may have and how well they can withstand psychic assaults, if esper abilities are allowed by the GM for a campaign (esper abilities will not be discussed in this rule set).
- Acumen: Acumen measures the character’s common sense, intuition, and willpower. Intellect is used to analyze information, while Acumen is more being in-tune with the surroundings. It directly affects the character's Willpower Save.
- Charm: Charm measures the character’s force of personality. While it has no direct effect on any of the characters’ other traits, Charm can be an important attribute, as it is the key trait used when the character is attempting to influence others.
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