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Old 03-25-2018, 05:21 AM   #1
CardDiceian
 
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Default TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

To create more rounded characters for NPCs I currently use 11 personality traits. (Mid range rolls don't alter a character much) - but higher or lower stats will determine what they are like to meet on a non combative encounter, and also determines what role they are likely to play in their setting - (ie if they are a store keeper / business person / latrine cleaner or preacher etc.)

These are the traits I currently use:
HONESTY / ATTRACTIVENESS / PATIENCE / GREED / BRAVERY / CLEANLINESS / RACISM / FRIENDLINESS / TEMPERAMENT / LAWFULNESS / RELIGIOUS BELIEF.

I have some modifiers according to races. Some of the stats, (such as patience), can modify other rules such as looking for secret doors . That is a very patient person doesn't suffer the penalty of looking for something multiple times that an impatient character would.

I also like the players to build these traits into their characters too - as that can also determine how they interact.

Are there other traits you feel should be incorporated into this - or does it lead character building to far toward GURPS?
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Old 03-25-2018, 05:47 AM   #2
ecz
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CardDiceian View Post
To create more rounded characters for NPCs I currently use 11 personality traits. (Mid range rolls don't alter a character much) - but higher or lower stats will determine what they are like to meet on a non combative encounter, and also determines what role they are likely to play in their setting - (ie if they are a store keeper / business person / latrine cleaner or preacher etc.)

These are the traits I currently use:
HONESTY / ATTRACTIVENESS / PATIENCE / GREED / BRAVERY / CLEANLINESS / RACISM / FRIENDLINESS / TEMPERAMENT / LAWFULNESS / RELIGIOUS BELIEF.

I have some modifiers according to races. Some of the stats, (such as patience), can modify other rules such as looking for secret doors . That is a very patient person doesn't suffer the penalty of looking for something multiple times that an impatient character would.

I also like the players to build these traits into their characters too - as that can also determine how they interact.

Are there other traits you feel should be incorporated into this - or does it lead character building to far toward GURPS?
in my experience players have more fun when are free to play their characters without too many chains.

I used only bravery, appearence, friendliness and honesty just to allow a general depiction of the character.
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Old 03-25-2018, 08:00 AM   #3
Rick_Smith
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

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Originally Posted by ecz View Post
in my experience players have more fun when are free to play their characters without too many chains.

I used only bravery, appearence, friendliness and honesty just to allow a general depiction of the character.
Hi all, ecz.
I like my players to list their Bravery, Appearance and Desire to Dominate since those three personality numbers affect my game. I use Bravery rolls as part of the Panic / Possession mechanics. Appearance helps you seduce people. And Desire to Dominate modifies Battle of Wills.

Warm regards, Rick.
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Old 03-25-2018, 09:47 AM   #4
larsdangly
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

Anything you give a number and then directly use in play, with some sort of clear rules, is cool. Anything that is just cruft clogging up your character sheet is not.
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Old 03-25-2018, 11:13 AM   #5
Steve Jackson
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

I think that is true for Melee but not necessarily for a RPG. If I say, for instance, that my character is a kind person, I don't need a Kindness stat to roll on . . . I can just be kind in little interactions, and that helps immerse me and my fellow players in the game.
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Old 03-26-2018, 02:37 AM   #6
JLV
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

I think I would rather see those personality traits depicted differently (note: for NPCs and/or solo games, I'm primarily thinking here).

I think it would be better to depict them on a scale from -2 to +2 in terms of their effect on reaction or morale rolls.

Thus, and "unattractive" person might be at -1, while a downright "ugly" one would be at -2 (and the other way around for an attractive person or a beautiful one).

Similarly with Brave versus Cowardly, or Dominant versus Submissive, or Friendly versus Surly.

Because, really, it's not about where you fall on some arbitrary scale, but how whatever the trait is affects your interactions with others. You could even up the ante for truly "outstanding" characters (like maybe Sauron gets a -3 on appearance but a +4 on dominance!) if the GM wants to make special exceptions.

Again, this presupposes that the Reaction rules get a bit of an update/clairification, and that morale rules (again, primarily used for NPCs and/or solitaire games) get put together...

(H/T to Marc Tabyanan for this idea...)
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Old 03-26-2018, 03:11 AM   #7
CardDiceian
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

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Originally Posted by JLV View Post
I think I would rather see those personality traits depicted differently (note: for NPCs and/or solo games, I'm primarily thinking here).

I think it would be better to depict them on a scale from -2 to +2 in terms of their effect on reaction or morale rolls.

Thus, an "unattractive" person might be at -1, while a downright "ugly" one would be at -2 (and the other way around for an attractive person or a beautiful one).

Similarly with Brave versus Cowardly, or Dominant versus Submissive, or Friendly versus Surly.

I agree that the extreme ends of any personality trait should have some affect on reactions etc - which is why I like a wider range. That way a large proportion of an NPCs stats will be in the middle ground, with perhaps just one or 2 being heavily biased to one end, and may still not be extreme.

With a range from 2-12 I can build a much more diverse population than I can with a range of (-2 to +2) effectively 1-5 which would put the majority of people at the extremes.
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Old 03-26-2018, 05:10 AM   #8
marctabyanan
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

I started with the 2-12 range from ITL when I made my online NPC generator. The more I thought about it, though, the more I came to like the idea of using the smaller numbers that could be used for reaction or morale rolls. I set them up using a 3d6 bell curve: +/-2 on 3/4 or 17/18; +/-1 on 5-7/14-16; 0 on the rest. You still get the extremes as outliers, but usable numbers as part of game mechanics.
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Old 03-26-2018, 05:22 AM   #9
CardDiceian
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

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Originally Posted by marctabyanan View Post
I started with the 2-12 range from ITL when I made my online NPC generator. The more I thought about it, though, the more I came to like the idea of using the smaller numbers that could be used for reaction or morale rolls. I set them up using a 3d6 bell curve: +/-2 on 3/4 or 17/18; +/-1 on 5-7/14-16; 0 on the rest. You still get the extremes as outliers, but usable numbers as part of game mechanics.
Nice. I like that.
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Old 03-26-2018, 02:56 PM   #10
larsdangly
 
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Default Re: TFT personality traits (original ITL p7)

There are a lot of great ways to handle this issue ... and some bad ones. Two good, and very different, examples come from the same brain: Pendragon is perhaps the best 'quantitative' treatment of personality traits, with its system of virtues and passions and so forth. And Prince Valiant was an early, and very good, 'qualitative' treatment of the same sorts of issues. We can thank Greg Stafford for both. And they were published within 4 years of each other and were simultaneously in print. So, clearly at least someone out there thinks both approaches can be good ideas!
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