DEATH MUNCHKIN! Table of Contents & Legal Notices

2. Attributes

Last updated 4-April-2002

Table of Contents


2.1: Death Munchkin! only uses a certain list of attributes.

There are only 8 attributes used in Death Munchkin!.  They are: Players may make up other attributes, and even pay to raise them above their base levels, but doing so is only useful for bragging rights.  Attributes other than those listed here have no effect in Death Munchkin!.

2.2: Strength measures your physical power.

Strength is a measure of how much force your muscles can generate.  It determines how much weight you can lift and how much weight you can carry comfortably, and more importantly, is one of your offensive damage factors with melee weapons.

Two important numbers derived from your Strength are your Lifting Capacity and your Carrying Capacity.  Your Lifting Capacity at a Strength level of Fair (Scale 0) is 60 kilograms of weight.  (Yes, I know that in the Systeme Internationelle, a kilogram is technically a unit of mass, not a unit of weight.  International commerce blithely ignores the S.I. edicts and does whatever it darned well pleases, including using the kilogram as a unit of weight.  If I have to put up with weights being listed in kg, so do you.)  Each level of Strength above or below Fair (Scale 0) increases or decreases your Lifting Capacity by a factor of 1.5.  Lifting Capacity represents how much weight you are capable of lifting over your head at all, even for a brief moment.  Your Carrying Capacity is equal to half your Lifting Capacity.  For quick reference, you may consult this handy-dandy chart, which has been rounded off to the nearest kilogram:

Strength
(Scale 0)
Carrying
Capacity
Lifting
Capacity
Terrible9 kg18 kg
Poor13 kg27 kg
Mediocre20 kg40 kg
Fair30 kg60 kg
Good45 kg90 kg
Great68 kg135 kg
Superb101 kg203 kg
Legendary152 kg304 kg
Legendary 2nd228 kg456 kg

2.3: Agility measures your ability to maneuver.

Agility is a measure of how well and how quickly you can contort your body.  It determines how well you can accomplish acrobatic feats for which you do not have a specific skill, will be greatly prized should you acquire any sex partners, and more importantly, determines how well you can dodge blows in combat and jump out of the way of attacks spread over an area.

2.4: Willpower measures your mental resistance.

Willpower is a measure of how well you can resist temptation, charms, mind control, and mental attacks.  It is crucial in mental combat.

2.5: Damage Capacity works as detailed in FUDGE section 4.52.

Further details can be found in Section 16: Combat.

2.6: Constitution measures your endurance and your ability to withstand physical trauma other than damage.

Constitution is a measure of your resistance to poison, disease, and other nasties that don't map smoothly into the concept of objective damage.  Poisons and diseases must make an Action Roll against you with a Difficulty Level equal to your Constitution Level in order to be able to affect you.  Constitution also represents your physical stamina for purposes of such feats as going without sleep, withstanding very cold or hot weather, holding up something that weighs close to your maximum lifting capacity for an extended period, running for long periods, et cetera.

2.7: Running Speed measures how fast you can run.

At Speed Scale 0, having a Running Speed of Fair level means you can run at 15 meters per three-second combat round.  Every level of Running Speed above or below this increases or decreases how fast you run by a factor of 1.2 (as detailed in FUDGE section 2.32); thus at Running Speed Good you can run at 18 meters per round, at Running Speed Great you can run at 21-and-a-half meters per round, at Running Speed Superb you can run at 26 meters per round, et cetera.

Note that this represents your speed in a full sprint, such as you might run in the hundred meter dash or a football game or when charging up to a monster to chop its head off.  You cannot sustain this pace for very long.  Your sustainable jogging pace is only 8 meters per round at Running Speed Fair, and it likewise scales up or down by a factor of 1.2 for every level of Running Speed above or below Fair.

2.8: Perception measures your ability to notice things.

Perception usually comes into play when someone is trying to sneak up on you, when you are listening at doors, or when you search for secret doors — the usual garden-variety secret door requires a Good perception roll to detect, and particularly ornery secret doors may require a Great or Superb perception roll to detect.  Note that no amount of Perception will reveal anything that is undetectable to your character — a human cannot detect ultrasonic-frequency sounds, infrared light, radio waves, or the scent markings of a lion, for example.

2.9: Attractiveness measures how good-looking and "charming" you are.

Attractiveness determines how well people respond to your presence, and in particular, how well people respond to your sexual advances and how likely they are to make similar advances on you.  It is listed last here because it's always listed last in fantasy role-playing games.  Attractiveness rarely comes into play in Death Munchkin!, but is useful for bragging rights.


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