Somebody necro''ed the Mental Math thread that died a few years ago, but I took a quick browse through it to see what they had come up with back then and came to wonder what we''d think about it today. Since mind has already been covered, lets generalize it. Currently, the general concensus for quantifing character attributes is two or three fold, that is the Generic Stats, the Learned Skills, and maybe the Advantages And Drawbacks. That is, the generic stats are the major parameters in the calculation and represent the body, the learned skills represent the ability and procedural memory, and the advantages/drawbacks represent quirks, stigmas, handicaps, and various other things. Now, I ask the question, what''s lacking and and what''s unnessesary? For example, quantifying intelligence may work for calculating magic damage, but the player is resonsible for figuring out the puzzles, not the character. Is the intelligence stat a misnomer, or are we not correctly using it to interpret the player''s actions?

Fallout (the perfect example for everything!) is once again relevant. It is the quintessential example of this system, and it uses intelligence for something other than magic.

First, you''ve got your seven stats: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Then, you''ve got your skills, like "Small Guns", "Doctor", and "Barter". Next, you''ve got "traits". There are things like "Kamikaze", which makes you a many-armed fury of death at the cost of lower defense, and "One-Handed", which boosts your ability with single-handed weapons, like pistols, while lowering your ability with two-handed weapons, like rifles. Stats are static, skills are increased with XP levels, and traits are static.

One added feature is the ability to "tag" skills, so that they upgrade faster. It''s the equivalent of a talent. Also, there are "perks", which either affect skills, let you alter your "static" attributes, or cause in-game effects, like more frequent friendly encounters, or better stealth at night.

With regard to intelligence, the lack of magic eliminates that possibility, but intelligence affects many skills, and is central to conversation. An intelligent character has access to more options. When Miles the chemist says, "I make gunpowder," a dumb character can say things like "Guns...good" or "I''d like to buy ammunition from you", but a smarter adventurer can strike up a conversation about chemistry. That''s a good, pragmatic, non-combat aplication for intelligence.