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I need a word
I'm working on a cheesy little Gamist pulp fantasy thing that uses Action/Conviction/"do cool stuff or bail yourself out of crappy rolls" Points. They're divided into three different pools -- Vigor, Cunning, and Willpower -- but mostly just for flavor. Aside from a few specific uses of each, the system doesn't "care" what variety of point you spend.
Gaining and spending these points is going to be a pretty major part of the system, and I don't want to say "spend a point of Vigor, Cunning, or Willpower to do X" a hundred times throughout the text. I'm looking for a term that's generic enough to cover all three. If possible, I'd like it to sound cool, too, to give a little extra edge to statements like, "Oh yeah, Mr. GM? Well my guy's got a ton of (whatever) Points saved up. Your puny little ogre is going down, man!"
Any thoughts?
Gaining and spending these points is going to be a pretty major part of the system, and I don't want to say "spend a point of Vigor, Cunning, or Willpower to do X" a hundred times throughout the text. I'm looking for a term that's generic enough to cover all three. If possible, I'd like it to sound cool, too, to give a little extra edge to statements like, "Oh yeah, Mr. GM? Well my guy's got a ton of (whatever) Points saved up. Your puny little ogre is going down, man!"
Any thoughts?
Comments
Cool/Coolness
Authority
Badass
Destiny
Divinity
Artha (hi, Luke!)
Protagonization
...
The word you pick will shape the perception of the mechanic, and the very execution of play, you realize.
p.
Anyway...
Awesome Points (already used in redbox hack)
Trick Points
Wonder Points
The more obvious are "hero points" or "action points", but they sound less powerful to me.
Acts of Evil has a group of stats that contribute to character effectiveness in various types of conflicts with NPCs: Ambition, Rage, and Clarity. Collectively I refer to them as Dispositions.
Paul
The coolest name I have seen for these is:
Ass Saving Points or ASPs
Also, consider
Destiny Points
Drama Points (Spoon!)
Escalation Points
Pool Points (Think SoY)
Cinematic Points
Hope that helps,
Dave M
Author of Leends of Lanasia (Still in Beta)
Renato: The setting is utterly generic swords and sorcery, with any important details (Evil Warlord X is oppressing Kingdom Y, Dragon X demands sacrifices from Village Y, or whatever) to be determined by the group during character/situation creation. The game is going to be about fantasy heroes who achieve specific goals largely through violence, with a tone that could range from the tongue-in-cheek ("Let's drink too much soda and play D&D just like we did in junior high!") to the endearingly cheesy ("Let's play Hawk the Slayer: the Roleplaying Game!")
Uhm. Confidence? Prowess?
Every player tried to max their Resourcefulness Stat in my ghame, so that tells me that it is a good stat name and might be what you are looking for:
Resourcefulness
Magic
Mana
Mojo
Power
Drive
Intensity
Motivation
Hope that helps, good luck man!
Dave M
And you should absolutely differentiate the three more than you're suggesting.
Not "Empowerment Points," just "Empowerment." I think by using the word "Points," you'll be undermining the vibe you seem to be seeking, because it's not particularly strong language.
"Providence" would be a great name... in a different game. Its religious overtones don't fit with this one, and it's a bit too... serious, I guess.
"Prowess" I like a lot, it's got a nice testosterone-fueled heroic fantasy ring to it, but I don't think the three subcategories I have quite fit under it. Maybe I need to rethink them, instead.
"Empowerment"... this is a game about the kind of characters who would punch you in the face and call you a hippie if you dared utter that word around them.
Bounce?
As in, "Oh yeah, GM? You can throw that Double-Tongued Dragon-Naga at me, I've got more bounce than I know what to do with right now." Vigor allows a character to bounce back from exhaustion, and willpower allows a character to bounce back from despair or weak-will, and cunning allows a character to bounce problems aside.
Otherwise, suggestions include:
Rugged ("Oh yeah, GM? You can throw that White-Eyed Knuckle-Shaman at me, I'm more rugged than a thirty-something Clint Eastwood.")
Fixated/Fixation ("I'm too fixated on the treasure to worry about a couple o' Twin-Minded Will-o-Thunders.")
Spit ("I spit on your Ultra-Dark Talonjaw. I'm spending four points o' spit on this challenge.")
...Wait, wrong genre.
How about Threat.
Paul
Edit: Just as I submitted this, for some reason "Fire" also came to mind, like the "fire in men's bellies"
Assiduity? (from thesaurus.com)
I dunno.
Hi Ron,
I feel your pain, man! For Black Cadillacs, I've got three core stats: Hubris, Horror and Valour. I cracked the nut by thinking about how I was using them -- the stats fluctuated when the characters were put in stressful situations.
This led me to the term "Strains". Perhaps a similar methodology will work for you. What are you doing with the stats? How do they get used?
D
(i mean, geez, people...)
Then again, going with the "Gamist pulp fantasy" they could be Curses!
"You think I am defeated Kaaldemorh? I curse you twice! Taste my steel!"
"Agh, curses!"
Awesome
Booyah
Fire is good.
Pulp Points.
Attack Points.
Luck.
Graham
Given that I agree that tacking "Points" onto it is weak (and not in keeping with the sub-sets' terms):
Wherewithal
Means
Capability
Oomph
Force