stats

Ideas for handling player stats

-Base Stats-

1. Use a more traditional D&D-style stat set (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, etc). This is pretty 
   time-tested, and covers nearly all bases as far as player actions and attributes are concerned. It 
   also has the advantage of being familiar to players, so they don't have to learn a new stat system.
   Rolling new characters could be handled in the usual way, with limits on repeat rolls and in-game
   leveling bonuses. If we're not totally happy with the names of each stat, it would not be hard to 
   rename it, although we might lose the familiarity aspect. 
   
2. Custom base stats would allow for more creative options to open up as far as describing the way
   the world works and the players roll in it. However, this would also impose on us creating a system
   in which these custom stats could be balanced. 
   
3. Homogenous base stats might be an option as well. All players start out with the same base stats, and
   are free to customize those in various ways as their characters grow. This removes the player having
   to make a game-defining decision in the early levels of their PC, which they may not be 100% satisfied
   with later on, and open up the flexibility of allowing players to change roles as time goes on, the
   way one might switch jobs in the real world, which might help keep the game fresh at later levels. 
   
-Vitality, Magic, and Movement-

1. HP could be handled in the usual way, however, if we handle magic in a way that comes at the cost of 
   HP, we'll need to institute some fairly easy rest and recovery methods so as to not punish the 
   player for wanting to use magic. 
   
2. A seperate pool of points and "mana" for HP and magic, respectively, in the traditional way, though
   we'd likely call them something else. HP could be aptly hamed "Health," or something similarly basic
   and easily translatable as to it's purpose. "Mana" would be a little more tricky, as we'd have to come
   up with some method of describing why it exists in a world that denies magic that could be plausible
   in a scientific sense. So, simply claiming an Akashic Field or something would be difficult, unless
   we drop into the realm of quantum mechanics and explain that field with the transfering of atomic 
   forces, or something a kin to them. Doesn't have to be *actually* scientific, but just enough to retain
   the cohesive deniability of magic. 
   
3. Movement/Endurance should be limited, so that a player cannot simply walk a continent end to end without 
   suffering any effect what-so-ever. The Dreamscapes II MUD that I play on handles this fairly well, allowing
   you a decent amount of movement before your character starts feeling the pains of exhaustion, yet is not
   so small that you feel extremely restricted to how far you can go. It is balanced in a way to encourage
   players to use various alternative forms of transport (in DSII, it is horse-drawn carts and teleportation).