Wise Turtle Publishing

What follows is a list of potential attribute name revisions if I were to revise the game. OVA is a bit inconsistent in the "style" of its attributes...some are structured as adjectives, others aren't. This list is a bit more consistent and easier to use. But I'd like to know what everyone thinks about these changes, and if they are against any/can suggest more.

Abilities
Acrobatics -> Acrobat
Animal Companion -> Combine with Servant
Armor -> Armored
Art of Invisibility -> Stealth? I like the old name, but it's not intuitive.
Charisma -> Charismatic
Filthy Rich -> Wealthy
Hobby -> Knowledge
Intimidation -> Intimidating
Invention -> Inventor
Servant -> Ally? Companion?
Vitality -> Vital? Energetic?
Willpower -> Strong-willed?

Weaknesses
Boorish -> Rude? Not sure if necessary to change.
Damage Magnet -> Unlucky? Ditto
Dependency -> Dependent? Ditto squared
Dumb -> Stupid? Dumb can also mean mute. Does it matter?
Focus -> Requirement? Equipment? Item-based?
Girl/Guy Magnet -> Love Magnet?
Languorous -> Another word people have actually heard of?
Pariah -> Outcast
Short Temper -> Short Tempered
Size -> Awkward Size?
Room for Two -> Combine with Split Personality?

Power Perks and Flaws -> Ability Perks and Flaws
Extra Damage -> Damaging
Extra Knockback -> Mighty Blow, Strong Blow, Full-Force?

Decreased Damage -> ?
No Knockback -> ?
Slow -> Delayed (To differentiate from the Weakness Slow)

While the current names might not be consistent, they have a certain amount of charm and at least the current players are used to them (well, I'm used to them!). Actually, in general I think I like the current terms better than their suggested replacements; for example, Acrobatics +3 sounds more natural to me than Acrobat +3. One exception: replacing Hobby with Knowledge (or even Special Knowledge) seems like a good idea, as it seems to have grown from its original use. One the other hand, anime characters do often have various odd hobbies... I would think that changing Damage Magnet to Unlucky would be confusing, as a casual reader might expect it to provide some sort of Drama Die penalty. And if you're looking for a replacement for Languorous, why not Lazy?

Fair enough, FoD. I have a few mixed feelings about Acrobat and Inventor myself, which is why I've posted this list for perusal.

Armor to Armored and Charisma to Charismatic will probably be changed, though. They're similar enough, and sound better over-all. (To me, anyway.)

Another potential name change, and a biggie of sorts: Damage Total (DT). Although I've heard less about it in the past year, this was a big point of confusion among Players early on. It's not really a "total" of anything, and I'm not sure why it's named such. Perhaps something like Damage Multiplier (DM) would be better?

I can see where you are coming from. Consistency is a good goal. I've seen this problem in other people's game design.

Some games make a great effort to either go with adjectives as much as possible (Quick, Strong, Charismatic, Nimble, Clever, and so on) or with nouns (Quickness, Strength, Charisma, Agility, Cleverness, and so on).

Out of your list so far, I support the idea of replacing the term "Hobby" with Knowledge or maybe Specialist.

Art of Invisibility has a lot more flavor than the tired old Stealth, which is a skill name in many other RPGs.

I LOVE the words Damage Magnet and Girl/Guy Magnet. Unlucky would work too, but that is more like having unfortunate things happen to you, not necessarily physical damage (and comedic damage). "Damage Magnet" connotes a lot more Tom & Jerry slapstick stuff and is just funnier. I like those evocative and folksy names, terms that just speak for themselves: you act like a magnet for damage, hence Damage Magnet.

Girl/Guy Magnet sounds better than Love Magnet and is also more appropriate to comedic anime: In fact what you see happening there is often a lot more unwanted attention or lewdness than "love," or immature infatuation.

By the way, if the character is attractive to both genders for some reason, you could pick Girl Magnet and Guy Magnet as two separate Weaknesses. Ranma 1/2, a classic gender-changing hero, has a remote love interest in his boy identity, but is a Guy Magnet in his girl shape.

I agree with the others so far, especially about Damage Magnet, Girl/Guy Magnet and Art of Invisibility. Damage Magnet is more fun, Girl/Guy Magnet is a classic anime ability name, and Art of Invisibility really brings the anime styled Ninja image to life.

I do like the idea of Knowledge rather than Hobby, as having a knowledge of the proper use of a knife seems more dangerous than wielding a knife as a hobby.

A couple that no one has touched on yet.

Combining Animal Companion with Servant... not a good idea. While they seem similar, Servants can do more for you than animals can. Even if an animal can speak, they usually don't do so to anyone but the person it is tied to, while a servant can go to a store and get things for you easily.

Combining Room for Two with Split Personality is another. One means there are actually two people living in one body. The other is still the same person, but instead of showing their emotions through their words and actions, they show them through a change of person. Room for Two allows for fun things like the people fighting over the body, with one person controlling one side while the other controls... well... the other. Split Personalities are like Agito/Akito in Air Gear. Switch an eye patch and BLAM!!!! Shounen-Ai cutie pie turns into Evil Death Dealing Stormrider, but they can't interact with each other.

It's early yet, so I'll think on the others. Consistency is good, but I wouldn't change too many words. It may get confusing.

Clay wrote:What follows is a list of potential attribute name revisions if I were to revise the game. OVA is a bit inconsistent in the "style" of its attributes...some are structured as adjectives, others aren't. This list is a bit more consistent and easier to use. But I'd like to know what everyone thinks about these changes, and if they are against any/can suggest more.

Abilities
Acrobatics -> Acrobat
Animal Companion -> Combine with Servant

Animal Companion and Servant can probably be combined into one.
Nevertheless, the fact that they are distinct has never bothered me so far.

Armor -> Armored

If you really want to go with adjective forms as much as possible, then yes, Armored would be appropriate.

Art of Invisibility -> Stealth? I like the old name, but it's not intuitive.

Yes, but like another fan just said, it is the NINJA technical term and kind of entrenched in Oriental-themed roleplaying adventures.

Charisma -> Charismatic
Filthy Rich -> Wealthy
Hobby -> Knowledge
Intimidation -> Intimidating
Invention -> Inventor

Knowledge for Hobby, that would be good. But it's "no biggie" as they say.

Invention should definitely be named Inventor, as "Invention" stands for the gadget or machine itself, not for the person or the ability.

By the way, is there an Item of Power ability in OVA?

Servant -> Ally? Companion?
Vitality -> Vital? Energetic?

I'm not sure about Vital for Vitality ... I'm a foreigner who doesn't have English as his first language, but as far as I know, "vital" can also mean "important."

Willpower -> Strong-willed?

... shouldn't be confused with the Weakness called Stubborn.

Weaknesses
Boorish -> Rude? Not sure if necessary to change.

I like "Boorish" ... might not be politically correct, but it's a more flavorful word that few people use in day-to-day life.

Damage Magnet -> Unlucky? Ditto

See my comments above. I support keeping Damage Magnet.

Dependency -> Dependent? Ditto squared
Dumb -> Stupid? Dumb can also mean mute. Does it matter?
Focus -> Requirement? Equipment? Item-based?

I'd prefer the old term Focus, by merit of the fact that it is simply a shorter word. "Item" or "Accessory" are also possible.

Girl/Guy Magnet -> Love Magnet?

See above!

Languorous -> Another word people have actually heard of?
Pariah -> Outcast
Short Temper -> Short Tempered
Size -> Awkward Size?
Room for Two -> Combine with Split Personality?

Power Perks and Flaws -> Ability Perks and Flaws
Extra Damage -> Damaging

The latter sounds as if the ability or power or attack etc. was not damaging at all before adding this perk to it (i.e. you need the perk to make it Damaging in the first place).

Extra Knockback -> Mighty Blow, Strong Blow, Full-Force?

"Mighty Blow" is my instant favorite, since it sounds so old-school comicbook-like. Knockback, apart from being an old Hero System term, wasn't that bad, though.

Decreased Damage -> ?
No Knockback -> ?
Slow -> Delayed (To differentiate from the Weakness Slow)

Decreased Damage -> Dampened, Less Damage, Less Harmful
No Knockback -> Stationary Attack? Zero Force? No-Blow?

"Delayed" for Slow is a good choice, in my opinion, for the very reason you pointed out.

If you're going to change things, there should be a purpose. This just feels like change for change's sake. Combine the abilities/weaknesses if you see fit, but it seems unnecessary to convert all the names so they fit a part of speech. (And I was raised by an English/Reading teacher)

Oh, and how about apathetic instead of langorous?

Beli: Simply make a servant with the appropriate Weaknesses, no?

Jandar: No, there's no Item or Item of Power ability. I always found it a completely useless attribute. Create the Ability you want and tack "Focus" onto it. Item of Power has no meaning whatsoever.

Then again, I suppose you could make complex items with multiple Abilities in the same way someone would construct a servant or mecha...Hmm...Anyone else feel this is necessary or worthy edition? Just seems like it might over-complicate things to me. Flexibility is good, but more than a couple of ways to accomplish the same thing can feel overwhelming.

Joe: You have a point. With this, and other suggestions, I've made a new list. It only includes changes I think improve clarity, or are of such minute difference that it will not throw current Players.

Acrobatics -> Acrobat (I know someone didn't like this, but it does go with Inventor...)
Animal Companion -> Combine with Servant
Armor -> Armored
Charisma -> Charismatic
Filthy Rich -> Wealthy (Besides the fact Filthy Rich can be difficult to find, you'd either look for Rich or Wealthy, after all, Filthy Rich doesn't describe the lower ranks of the Ability well.)
Hobby -> Knowledge
Intimidation -> Intimidating
Invention -> Inventor
Servant -> Ally? Companion?

Weaknesses
Pariah -> Outcast
Short Temper -> Short Tempered

Power Perks and Flaws -> Ability Perks and Flaws
Extra Knockback -> Mighty Blow, Strong Blow, Full-Force?

No Knockback -> ?
Slow -> Delayed (To differentiate from the Weakness Slow)

Other Terms:

Damage Total - Damage Multiplier, Damage Index, Damage Level
Knockback - A term I didn't lift from Hero? *laughs*

I really like:

Hobby -> Knowledge

Hobby sounds too "low powered" and doesn't sound quite right for some characters: Darth Vader has a hobby of Sith Lore. lol

Armor -> Armored is a really nice change. It sounds right across characters, genres, and applications.

Filthy Rich -> Wealthy is a nice change. Same reasons as above.

Intimidation -> Intimidating A perfect change.

Animal Companion -> (combination) Servant I'm not so keen on this one.

Though the proposed change of Servant -> Companion would be a nice change if the two concepts of animals and people/whatever were combined. In my games, characters whose general concept require an animal mount, I use Animal Companion.

For weaknesses, Pariah -> Outcast is cool. I like both terms really.

Short Temper -> Short Tempered is a nice change.

Power Perks and Flaws -> Ability Perks and Flaws definitely makes the terms more flexible across differing games.

Extra Knockback -> No change. To be honest, it's short, sweet and perfectly descriptive. Same for No Knockback.

For Other Terms:

Damage Multiplier is perfect IMO.

One problem with Damage Multiplier I've since realized...

DM, DN.

Does anyone else see them being awfully similar? Even more confusion, oi.

How about just Damage?

Clay wrote:One problem with Damage Multiplier I've since realized...

DM, DN.

Does anyone else see them being awfully similar? Even more confusion, oi.

Good point.

Perhaps express damage like this:

5x

Then it is implicit that it's a multiplier without relying on an acronym.

Joe_Mello wrote:How about just Damage?

Because Damage is, ironically, what the total Damage is referred to.

Guy A hits guy B by two points with a DT/DM/Detc. of 3. He does 6 Damage.

I could, in turn, make Damage "Damage Total," but that opens up a whole new can of confusion.

Using an "x" also doesn't sit well, since you still need to refer to it as something, and everyone abbreviates everything so DM is going to get used colloquially anyway. *takes breath*

But thanks for the ideas.

Clay wrote: Using an "x" also doesn't sit well, since you still need to refer to it as something, and everyone abbreviates everything so DM is going to get used colloquially anyway. *takes breath*

But thanks for the ideas.

Just as an FYI, Silcore uses the 'x' quite successfully. In a possible "glob" of numbers, it becomes quite clear what it is.

Suddenly I have my own suggestions for a few names.

Instead of the old Vitality, you could also use "Vigor" or "Stamina", or rather, "vigorous" if you want adjectives.

Since Martial Arts is likely to be summed up in the new "Attack" ability, there will only be the all-purpose Combat Skill, and/or Knowledge: Kung Fu, Knowledge: Aikido, Knowledge: Greco-Roman Wrestling, etc.