History Main / TheSixStats

** In addition, if systems play with this system to add a seventh stat, it is usually "luck" or some variant.

* '''Wisdom'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence, common sense, and street-smarts, and sometimes how good their imagination and lateral thinking ability is. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor or a DitzyGenius is high in Intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise. Meanwhile, any shade of ThePhilosopher tends to rank high in both Intelligence and Wisdom.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate''
* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' uses five of the six: Strength for large melee weapon damage and carrying capacity; Finesse for light weapon and bow damage; Constitution for HitPoints; Intelligence for spell damage; and Wits for perceptiveness, [[ActionInitiative Initiative]], and CriticalHit chance. Charisma is replaced by a "Memory" stat for how many known Skills a character can access in one fight; the closest equivalent are the optional Civil Abilities "Persuasion" and "Bargaining".

* '''Wisdom'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts, and sometimes how good their imagination and lateral thinking ability is. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor or a DitzyGenius is high in Intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise. Meanwhile, any shade of ThePhilosopher tends to rank high in both Intelligence and Wisdom.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]

* '''Intelligence'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Mind, IQ, or Intellect in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing how smart a character is. Used to show how skilled a person is, how quickly they learn, how good their long term memory is, how many languages they can speak, etc. Used by mostly arcane magic classes.

* '''Intelligence'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Mind, IQ, or Intellect in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing how smart a character is. Used to show how skilled a person is, how quickly they learn, how good their long-term memory is, how many languages they can speak, etc. Used by mostly arcane magic classes.
* '''Wisdom'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor or a DitzyGenius is high in Intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise. Meanwhile, any shade of ThePhilosopher tends to rank high in both Intelligence and Wisdom.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]

* '''Intelligence'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Mind, IQ, or Intellect in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing how smart a character is. Used to show how skilled a person is, how quickly they learn, how many languages they can speak, etc. Used by mostly arcane magic classes.

* '''Wisdom'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor or a DitzyGenius is high in intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]

* '''Wisdom'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor is high in intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]

** In fifth edition, starting charaters rank from 3 (minimum die roll; racial penalties don't exist) to 20 (maximum die roll and racial bonus). Characters have a hard cap of 20, so it's entirely possible to start at this cap and never improve.

* Most if not all ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' action figures come with [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Tech_Spec Tech Specs]], which consist of Strength, Intelligence, Speed, Endurance, Rank, Courage, Fireblast, and Skill

* '''{{Strength}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be called Prowess in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat that represents a person's physical power. Used to determine how strong they are and how hard they hit. Used by mostly martial classes.[[note]]Since the usefulness of this stat drastically drops in systems that aren't heavily HackAndSlash, its sometimes collapsed in with Constitution in variant systems.[[/note]]
* '''{{Dexterity}}'''[[labelnote:*]]Also known as Agility in some systems[[/labelnote]] - Dexterity represents a person's physical nimbleness. Used to determine fine motor skills, reaction time, and aiming. May or may not turn out to be [[OneStatToRuleThemAll The God Stat]], particularly for combat purposes. Used by mostly stealth or ranged classes.[[note]]Due to its reputation as [[OneStatToRuleThemAll The God Stat]], this one is occasionally split into two in variant systems, splitting up its duties between them in some combination.[[/note]]
* '''{{Constitution}}'''[[labelnote:*]]Also known as Endurance, Toughness, or Vitality in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a character's physical toughness. Used to determine how much damage someone can take and how well they resist poisons, illnesses, etc. Used almost universally by all classes (everybody wants HitPoints), but mostly focused on by those that use endurance. Also often associated with a particular form of willpower, namely the ability to [[NoSell take a hit without even flinching]] or to go [[{{Determinator}} far far longer than anyone really should be able to by sheer force of stubborness]].
* '''{{Intelligence}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Mind, IQ, or Intellect in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing how smart a character is. Used to show how skilled a person is, how quickly they learn, how many languages they can speak, etc. Used by mostly arcane magic classes.
* '''{{Wisdom}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor is high in intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter or StreetSmart is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]
* '''{{Charisma}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Personality in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's force of personality. Used to determine how well someone can influence others by speeches, diplomacy, fear, lying, etc. To a player whose preferred solution is HackAndSlash, this is a DumpStat; to a player who likes to roleplay, or wants to run a [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative]] / MagnificentBastard, it's the stat of choice. If social situations are at all important, this will be the stat for them. Asking whether or not this stat includes personal appearance or beauty is a good way to start a FlameWar in certain circles. As the poster child of the DumpStat, this is the first stat to go in many variant systems, although some systems instead handle its reputation by broadening its scope, to things as esoteric as "luck" or "stability of the soul".

Stats are usually measured in single-to-double digit numbers, ranging from 1 to 23 as the "human" levels of stats, 1 being the bare minimum and 23 being the utmost attainable after a lifetime of effort and overspecialization; 18 is the peak of "average human" potential. Anything from 24 and up is considered greater-than-mortal.

In order to list examples on the wiki, the stats have been broken down into varying tiers as follows

* '''12-15''' - Above Average. Characters whose stats fall into this stat-tier are better than most "normals", meaning they're better than, say, 50% of everyone else out there.
* '''16-19''' - Genius-level. Characters whose stats fall into this stat-tier are considered geniuses, savants, "gifted," what have you. These are your Olympic-level athletes, chess masters, etc.
* '''20-23''' - Superhuman. Characters who stats fall into this stat-tier are pushing the boundaries of "realistic" to the extreme. Expect movie physics to be evoked for physical feats, while characters on the more intellectual end fall into MagnificentBastard and ManipulativeBastard territories.
* '''24+''' - These characters are just too uber to be real. These are characters who are the paragons of their stats, and who first come to mind when mentioning a stat. Of course, statted characters from e.g. roleplaying textbooks easily go up to 40.
* '''40+''' - cosmic-scale or EldritchAbomination monsters, demon overlords, TheArchmage, and so forth: these kind of epic characters will usually have a 40 strength, charisma, or intelligence respectively.

This scale is based on 3rd edition DungeonsAndDragons. Other editions of D&D have different scales (2-25, 5-60, 8-30, and 3-20); see below.

Note that 11 on down aren't even listed, as "normal" is just too broad a range to cover. For characters whose weakest stat ranges from about 1-5, check DumpStat.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the TropeMaker. Early editions commonly houseruled in two additional stats, i.e. perception and appearance.

* '''40+''' - cosmic-scale or EldrtichAbomination monsters, demon overlords, TheArchmage, and so forth: these kind of epic characters will usually have a 40 strength, charisma, or intelligence respectively.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout'' uses the SPECIAL system, which is likewise these six stats plus a luck stat.

* '''{{Charisma}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Personality in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's force of personality. Used to determine how well someone can influence others by speeches, diplomacy, fear, lying, etc. To a player whose preferred solution is HackAndSlash, this is a DumpStat; to a player who likes to roleplay, or wants to run a [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative]] / MagnificentBastard, it's the stat of choice. If social situations are at all important, this will be the stat for them. Asking whether or not this stat includes personal appearance or beauty is a good way to start a FlameWar in certain circles.[[note]]As the poster child of the DumpStat, this is the first stat to go in many variant systems, although some systems instead handle its reputation by broadening its scope, to things as esoteric as "luck" or "stability of the soul".[[/note]]

* '''24+''' - These characters are just too uber to be real. These are characters who are the paragons of their stats, and who first come to mind when mentioning a stat.

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* '''{{Wisdom}}'''[[labelnote:*]]May be known as Will in some systems[[/labelnote]] - The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Used by mostly divine classes, and so sometimes associated with piety as well. Also often used as a [[SanityMeter measure of sanity]]. For comparison, an AbsentMindedProfessor is high in intelligence but low in Wisdom, while someone with WisdomFromTheGutter is often not that intelligent, but is quite wise.[[note]]As the vaguest and least cohesive of the stats, variant systems often rename it, usually into some variation of "perception" or "willpower", depending on what aspect of it the system wants to focus on, although [[TakeAThirdOption splitting the stat into both]] is not unheard of either.[[/note]]