Fantasy AGE - Determining Starting Ability Scores

Determining starting ability scores is step two of the Fantasy AGE character creation process. The core rules list a few options and I have a couple of suggestions myself.

Class Selection

While selecting your character's class is technically the fifth step you should pick it as part of the step one character concept. You don't need to make any decisions with in the class but you may need to be aware of the classes primary and secondary abilities in order to make informed decisions when determining starting ability scores.

Rolling Ability Scores

In first edition this was suggested method but offers the least amount of control over your characters ability scores. Go through the list of ability scores alphabetically and assign the result of a 3d6 roll from the starting ability table.

Arranging Ability Scores

This method still requires rolling dice but you assign which result is matched to an ability. This way you can at least put the highest scores on your primary abilities for your class.

Standard Array (10) for Fantasy AGE (House Rule)

If you want your ability score to follow the intentions of rolling abilities but dislike the randomness you can take a DnD approach and use the following list of ability scores. It was calculated using a spreadsheet of 370 simulated starting ability rolls that were sorted into nine ability columns from greatest to least. The median for each column was measured to find what is the middle common result for that column. The resulting standard array for Fantasy AGE is:

  • 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0

Use that array and arrange them to your characters liking. This array has a total of 11 ability scores. In Fantasy AGE second edition the rules recommend a total across all abilities to add up to 13. To accommodate this recommendation start with the array and add two more ability points. You would probably benefit the most by adding them to increase the two scores of 2 to 3.

Starting Ability Table for 13 Abilities (House Rule)

The included table only give you 10 abilities when rolling on average. We can create a slightly different table to get 13 on average/median. This table has an average of 1.5 and thus total of 13.5 which is a little higher than 1.44444 needed for a perfect 13. To stay inline with the "Buying Abilities" rules below we can remove one from the 4 and improve the -1.

  • Table (from 3 to 18): -2. -2, -1, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5
  • Array: 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, -1
  • Modified Array: 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0

Buying Abilities

This was an alternate option in first edition and allowed the player to allocate abilities up to a total of 10. In second edition this has been increased to 13. Both editions have constraints that you are not allowed to allocate abilities higher than a value of 3. A value of 4 is reserved for those you take a chance at rolling. This method is recommended in the second edition. The main difference in this method between the editions is that first edition did not allow you to take negative ability scores. In second edition this is allowed for character flavor but the negative attribute does not allow you to spend more in other ability categories. In other words all other positive ability scores must total to 13.

Buying Abilities The Easy Way

Do you want an easy template for abilities to reduce decision fatigue? Apply an ability score of 2 to your classes primary abilities and apply an ability score of 1 to the secondary abilities. Since there are 4 primary and 5 secondary abilities this adds up to 4*2 + 5 = 13. This is a nice balanced approach where you can make customization during level advancements and keep the character creation process quick.

You can also uses this as an easy starting point for abilities and then target a pair of abilities to increase and decrease at the same time.

Alternate Starting Ability Tables (House Rule)

The given starting ability table in AGE works fine but there are a couple of thing that I would change. First is to round out the average for the table. The official table has an average ability score of 1.16 and I kind of just want to make it a round number. You can do this by change one of the 3s into a 1 such that are only two 3s and 4 1s. This makes the top end mirror the bottom end. You end up with the following table and standard array:

  • Table (from 3 to 18): -2. -1, -1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1. 1. 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4
  • Array: 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0

Easily subtract one from every entry in the array to get an array that averages zero which would make a more interesting default zero character as the second edition recommends.

  • Table (from 3 to 18): -3, -2, -2, -1, -1, -1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3
  • Array: 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, -1, -1

Lastly, you can use a symmetric table like above but include the larger +4 value and also add up to a -4 value to compensate. This is actually the same starting ability table as DnD and gives a bit more variety to the results. Use this for more interesting but still zero ability NPCs:

  • Table (from 3 to 18): -4, -3, -3, -2, -2, - 1, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4
  • Array: 2, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, -1, -1, -2

Personal Recommendations

As I was creating a character for second edition I ended up using the easy method to buy abilities. I was a bit trapped trying to figure out what might be the best allocation given the warrior class choice. Once I realized I could apply just 2s and 1s I was able to get on with the process.

For designing NPC I would recommend using a mix of full zeros as well as the two symmetric arrays from above. 

Gritty, Pulpy, and Cinematic Ability Scores (House Rule)

Modern AGE introduced three different modes to play AGE each one representing a different level of danger to the characters. While that system only referred to health I think you can do a similar thing with ability scores.

Start with the DnD ability score table and use it as the gritty table. This gives characters no ability advantage but some pluses and minus. For pulpy just add one to every roll and this gives an average ability score of 1 instead of 0. For cinematic add one more for an average of 2. Yes that cinematic table has an ability score of 7 on it but it's a 1 in 216 chance. The standard array maxes out at 4 anyway (you can add two the DnD standard array and it is still correct).

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