Character Sheet and System Terms

For general reference, examples of MEGS System character sheets can be found at Writeups.org and Siskoid’s Collection.

Dexterity (Dex), Strength (Str), and Body are the Physical attributes. They cover physical attacks, physical-based powers and skills, and are what’s usually used to avoid or withstand damage, as well.

Intelligence (Int), Will, and Mind are the Mental attributes. Memory checks, psychic powers, and most kinds of analysis or invention come from this set. Nonlethal weapons such as tasers and gas grenades will sometimes attack Mental stats instead of Physical ones.

Influence (Infl), Aura, and Spirit (Spi) are the Mystical attributes. They don’t get a whole lot of heavy abuse in our campaign, but they’re the basis of any attempt to interrogate, persuade, or terrify a target, as well as the source of animal handling and any artistic skill. A character who can silence a room with a gesture, or rivet attention just by appearing, will put a lot of points into the Mystical set.

Dex, Int, and Infl, the left-most column of the attribute table, are called the “Action Attributes”. They cost a little more per level than the other attributes, but they’re generally the first indicator of whether your skill check or power use or punch will land.

Str, Will, and Aura are Effect Attributes. When battering down a door, clouding a man’s mind, or convincing a witness to share, these stats determine — not so much whether the effort works at all — how well it’s done. A punch in the right spot is great, but if there’s no strength behind it, what good does it do?

Body, Mind, and Spirit are the Resistance Attributes. They provide the three sets of “hit point” categories that determine how much damage a character can take before she drops unconscious, and for that matter, they’re the final determinant on whether a character is able to resist another’s efforts at all. When Silver Banshee tries to drain Superman’s soul, Superman has to rely on his Spirit to resist her magical attack … well, at least, until we change the channel and get back to watching for news articles about the latest crime spree.

However! ...

We’ve got numbers on our character sheet, but not necessarily a referent for what any of them mean. Feral's DEX is 11 and her STR started out at a 2 (because one of the then-GMs wouldn’t let her start at 1, much less a zero), but what does that tell us about the crabby little furball in comparison to the rest of the world?

For all attributes, an average human probably has about a 2. Bear in mind that each number actually covers an entire range of possibilities! Jennie has a 2 Strength, a 2 DEX, and a 2 Aura. So has Chip, the guy from IFGS considered “most likely to be completely harmle_WHO HIT ME?!? HOW COME I’M DEAD!?_”. Therefore, while not all twos are equal, in superpowered combat terms they’re considered close enough for calculation.

Also, as always, remember that each additional AP of measurement is roughly the equivalent of doubling the previous AP level: a weight of 1 AP (up to 100 pounds) is twice as heavy as a weight of 0 APs (up to 50 pounds), while a brick wall (8 APs of Body) is only a quarter as hard as a same-size concrete wall (10 APs of Body).

But! There's more! ...

As you might have noticed or suspected, there are other abbreviations for terms used in the system. They are more or less abbreviations used in gameplay.

Action ( or Attribute ) Points ... called 'APs'. Everything in the system is measured by Action Points ( also referred to as Attribute Points ) or 'APs'. The AP value of something is a generic value that could represent distance, volume, time, and more. It all depends on what the value is for. For example, if you have a character with the ever-popular power of "Energy Blast" with a rating of 5 APs, this stands for two things: the strength of the beam and range.

In our example, that means this character can shoot their energy beam a maximum distance of 5 APs or 320 feet ( 100 yards or 97.5 meters ). The 'strength' part comes in as that is used by the Game Master to determine how much damage the character has done - provided they successfully rolled to hit their target!