Subabilities and d20


Home	AtFantasy	AtFantasy Fiction Archive

Sword's Edge

Table of Contents

Previous Issues

Author: Chris Marlowe

Subabilities and d20

One of the things I really liked in 2e was the whole Skills and Powers stuff. I really liked how I could use those options to sculpt my character. I would have liked to insert a lot of the S&P into 3e, or d20. The traits and disadvantages are cool, but I'm not going to refer to them right now (as d20 already has skills and feats, and adding traits and disadvantages can get really confusing/complex). The one part of S&P that I've maintained in my campaign is the subabilities.

For those of you not familiar with S&Ps subabilities, the six main abilities were each divided into two subabilities, as follows: Strength had Stamina and Muscle; Dexterity had Aim and Balance; Constitution had Health and Fitness; Intelligence had Reason and Knowledge; Wisdom had Intuition and Willpower; Charisma had Leadership and Appearance.

Now, beyond the technical applications of the subabilities, this breakdown of the abilities allowed me to envision more clearly what these numbers meant for my character. So, I could have a ranger and a thief, both with a 15 Dexterity, but the ranger might have a 16 Aim and a 14 Balance while the thief might have a 17 Balance and a 13 Aim. And, of course, it finally broke down what Charisma actually met. That paladin might have a high Leadership while that bard had a high Appearance.

That part maps directly to d20. I don't use subabilities for everything, but sometimes I like to have a character with high Reason but low Knowledge, or high Stamina and low Muscle. It really helps me to envision my character or sculpt a character concept.

Subabilities also have technical applications. The main one is the adjustments. If your character has a high Stamina, that character can carry much, but a high Muscle allows for better combat adjustments. In some cases, this can be used for simply building a technically advanced character, but this is also important for those using subabilities to sculpt a character concept, as the concept the incurs both advantages and disadvantages.

Applying subabilities in d20 also means applying the subabilities to the skills. For example, in d20, the skill Balance is adjusted based on Dexterity. This is an easy one to figure out. Obviously, the Balance skill would be adjusted by the Balance subability. However, what about the Escape Artist skill? Is that Balance or Aim?

When considering a skill like Escape Artist, I look at the actual description of the subability. So, for the Dexterity subabilities, Aim is supposed to represent hand-eye coordination and manual acuity, while Balance is supposed to represent reflexes and overall agility. The Escape Artist skill is supposed to apply to actions like slipping out of bonds or manacles as well as squeezing through tight spaces. To me, this meant that Balance, with its focus on overall agility, would adjust the Escape Artist skill.

However, it is easy to argue that Escape Artist also necessitates manual acuity (which one of my players did!). It makes sense. After a long discussion, while subabilities were retained, sometimes the ability was used to adjust a skill, such as Dexterity for the Escape Artist skill, while the subability was used to adjust others, such as Balance for Balance.

Subabilities also affect Feats in the area of prerequisites. For something like Dodge, it seemed obvious that Balance was the proper subability to use as a prerequisite, while Aim is the subability to use as a prerequisite for Ambidexterity. For some Feats, like Deflect Arrows, the Ability, in that case, Dexterity, was fitting to use as a prerequisite. An individual using the Deflect Arrows feat would use hand-eye coordination, manual acuity and reflexes, and thus, the Ability was applicable.

Finally, the subabilities affected magical adjustments for the various spell-users. In my campaign, wizards' magical adjustments--like Difficulty Class and bonus spells--are based on Intelligence, as my group decided that a wizard's skill with magic is based on both his ability to reason and his overall knowledge. Sorcerers and bards, on the other hand, do not gain magic based on physical attractiveness, so their magical adjustments are based on Leadership.

So, that's a quick overview of how I've taken subabilities from S&P and transferred them into my d20 campaign. So far, it's gone very well, and my players are all pleased with it. A measure of their interest is that the other DM in the group, who'll take over when the players have completed my campaign, is also going to use subabilities in his campaign. Maybe it's something that might add something to yours. Maybe it's too much work for too little advantage, but I've found it adds a lot to both character creation and the use of skills, feats and magic.

-#-

Chris Marlowe doesn't have enough money, time or beer. He plays RPGs, he writes, he reads, and when he has time, he works. He's hiding out at an undisclosed location beneath the Arctic, trying to dodge his student loan payments. Don't tell anyone.

WIZARDS OF THE COAST�; Advanced Dungeons & Dragons�; AD&D�; Dungeons & Dragons�; D&D�; Player's Option TM are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.

THIS LICENSE IS APPROVED FOR GENERAL USE. PERMISSION TO DISTRIBUTE THIS LICENSE IS MADE BY WIZARDS OF THE COAST!

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

1. Definitions: (a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.

2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.

4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.

6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.

10 Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.

12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.

14 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.