Character Creation: The Basics - Part One

Almost Lost My Spoons!
Character Creation: The Basics

So, our Chaotic Good Ace needs some "stats." In a table top RPG, a player character has a set of statistics that determines what he/she can do.  There are a variety of ways to break down the basic "stats" such as Pathfinder and D&Ds' six "ability scores:" Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
Other RPG's use different systems, but they all get the same point across: what are your characters' physical and mental attributes?
Age is also a stat, so keep an age range in mind while creating a character.

Our Chaotic Good Ace is probably in his mid-twenties and is good with close-combat. This means he probably has a high strength and constitution in order to push enemies back and be able to take hits. He's probably not very dexterous because he's not leaping over battlefields or climbing walls during combat.
Because he's a tactician and a strategist, he has a high wisdom, but a medium intelligence.

*The difference between Intelligence and Wisdom is ( as it was explained to me ) Intelligence is book-smart vs Wisdom which is street-smart. Intelligence is how fast your character learns and reasons whereas Wisdom describes a character's willpower, common sense, awareness and intuition.

Charisma is probably not high with this character -- at least in the beginning.

We could assign numerical values to each category, and you can if that's helpful to you. You can do 1 to 10 or 1 to 20 or 1 to 5, so on and so on; do what feels right for you. If putting a number to a word will help you remember what you were thinking about that character, do it!

However, it's nice to keep in mind an age range for characters.  A 87-year-old will probably not have a high strength and dexterity "score" and a 6-year-old is probably not going to be as smart as a 36-year-old. And, with your numbers, be sure to prescribe what each number means and keep your scale the same and consistent.

Upcoming: Character Creation: The Basics - Part Two

Thanks and have a pleasant day!

Tay Alexiel
But I Found the Forks!