Topic: Stats #1

Stats are the attributes that players raise by using up experience points,
as opposed to skills which are improved by doing the skill-action itself.

The actual act of raising stats is totally mud implementation dependant.
A traditional Adventure's Guild setup, special trainers or anything else
the imagination brings to mind can be coded as a player interface to raise
stats.

Since stats by their nature effect a lot of the game code, we need to settle
at the beginning on the number of stats and their basic utility. We can
tweak their effect on things as we develop, but I think its impractical to
try to code too general a case for adding and using new stats. Rather, as
we code things like combat and other stats dependant features, we should
document clearly which stats are used in a given code object.

I also think we should implement the concept of effective_stats, where this
is calculated for each stat by adding a base_stat and a bonus_stat.
For example, eff_strength = base_strength + bonus_strength. The base_stat
would be the permanently stored value that the player has obtained thru
expending acquired experience. The bonus_stat would be a temprary increase
in a given stat that the player obtains by getting items or things during
a single play session. Bonus_stats are not saved and go back to zero as
soon as the player goes off line.

The idea of the effective stat makes doing magic effects alot easier, things
like Potions of Strength become trivial to do and need little policing.

On the City mud, we toyed with this idea. The BASE stat maximum was to be
60 and the BONUS stat maximum 39, yielding an EFFECTIVE stat maximum of 99.
Also, it was suggested that the BONUS be fairly easy to raise to about 20,
but then get progressively harder to increase after that. We were assuming
that an average player would have stats in the 30's, so a bonus of roughly
20 would mean we should balance the game for players with effective stats
roughly in the 50's.

On the city we only had one race to deal with, that being humans. I think
we can use this effective stat idea to good end with the various races
that the GurbaLIB supports. We would use the existing idea of racial
stat maximums and minimums for both base and bonus stats. Actually, this
could be quite fun. Consider a troll race for example. Perhaps we set
its base stat maximums and minimums quite high, but NOT allow it to raise
the bonus stat numbers very much. Obviously, i think the idea of races
being differentiate at least in part by stats is a good one. Also,
that the idea of maximum and minimum stat values is very useful too.

That all said, here are my first suggestions for stats and their basic
effects:

    str : strength;     // strength
    con : constitution; // hit points, resistance to physical harm
    end : endurance;    // move points, how long player can do things
    dex : dexterity;    // hand speed
    agl : agility;      // foot speed, perhaps effects escaping fights
    aim : aim;          // hand-eye coordination
    int : intelligence; // spell points, raw mental or psi ability
    wis : wisdom;       // book or acquried learning
    per : perception;   // intuition, attention to detail
    cha : charisma;     // force of personality, charm
    luc : luck;         // luck, karma, fate
    spr : spirituality; // religous ability
    
These 12 stats cover alot of ground. I cant really see a need for more 
stats than about this. They fall into 4 basic catagories that I have
assigned working names to to aid in getting a better feel for how they
should be used. These catagories are:

1) BODY: str, con, end  
   Things that effect the body or are effected by physical
   exertion might use these.
         
2) COORDINATION: dex, agl, aim
   This will probably be used in conjunction with weapon skills alot,
   but they have a host of other uses too. Like running away. ;)
   
3) MIND: int, wis, per
   Int would be involved in various mental powers, like spells and psi
   abilities. Wis perhaps in learning new trades or skills. Per could
   be used in searches, noticing hidden items, stuff like that.
   
4) SOUL: cha, luc, spr
   These struck me as semi-inate characteristic in people in real life.
   I think they should be LESS under player control than the other stats.
   Wouldn't it be funny if a fairly strong player is the unluckiest on the
   mud? I mean, tripping over cobblestones all the time, getting hit by
   all the traps... ;)
   
Well, that's my first draft on stats.