Icosahedron's UPP Questionnaire

[Icosahedron]

Following some of the 'interesting' scores you gave yourselves on the recent Real Life Chargen thread, I thought I'd put together something that outlines how I read UPPs.
This will work for you or your characters.


Choose as honestly as you can the statements that apply best to you, then use the letters or numbers in the appropriate group to fine-tune your score depending on whether you think you're approaching the next statement up or down. If you are hesitant about any decision, round down.

Endurance is split into health/stamina and grit/determination. Rate them separately, then use the higher of the two values as your Endurance.

My guess is your scores will be as realistic as your honesty: if anyone gets letters, you're either destined for great things or your nose is growing twigs!

Have fun.

Str:

Mike Tyson is a pussycat! 			DEF
My strength is a local legend. 			9ABC
I'm pretty strong.				5678
I get someone else to do the heavy work.	1234


Dex:

Ha ha ha, he he he, an army of ninjas can't catch me.	DEF
I float like a butterfly, dance like Bruce Lee.		9ABC
I've got fast reactions.				5678
Pick your feet up, butterfingers!			1234


Stam:

My name is Captain Scarlet.				DEF
I'm so unstoppable my friends think I'm on drugs.	9ABC
I'm an active guy.					5678
I'm a couch potato.					1234


Grit:

I'm the Python Black Knight.			DEF
I overcome all obstacles without fail.		9ABC
I'm a pretty determined guy.			5678
Can I stop now? 				1234


Int:

Mensa? Elementary, my dear Watson.			DEF
I've rarely met anyone cleverer than me.		9ABC
I'm a pretty clever guy.				5678
People laugh at my stupidity.				1234


Ed:

I'm pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.	DEF
I'm a walking encyclopaedia.			9ABC
I have a good education.			5678
I never went to school.				1234


Soc:

We're the Joneses, keep up!	9A
White collar worker.		678
Blue collar worker.		345
Spare a penny, guvnor?		12

Feel free to post your ratings.

 

[Icosahedron]

Wot, no comments?

Maybe I should take that as a compliment - The tool is designed to make UPPs realistic and consequently unflattering. We're gaming geeks not pulp action heroes.

If nobody want's to 'expose themselves' with an 'ordinary' UPP, I reckon the tool is probably doing its job quite effectively.

 

[Icosahedron]

Icosahedron: "Hi Icosahedron, how're you doing? That's an interesting UPP generator you have there. My UPP was... I like it beacause..."

Icosahedron: "Really? Glad you like it. Did you find it useful?"

Icosahedron: " Sorry, you two, but after I found my UPP came out to... I figured it was pretty useless, because..."

Icosahedron: "Oh, sorry to hear that, Icosahedron, how do you think it could be improved?"

Icosahedron: "Well, if I'd designed it I would have..."

Icosahedron: "That's an interesting take on the concept, I'll have to think about that. Thanks for the feedback."

...

 

[far-trader]

(gee I feel like I should help but he's talking to himself, that's a bit scary, besides he seems to be enjoying the conversation... )



Hey, I'm with you on the more realistic, and I think mine were ( whadda ya mean G isn't a legal stat score!? ). Others might have embellished, or they may actually be that good. Either way they aren't likely to change the scores. And then you've got all those "other" scores in there too. Might have been off-putting (I don't recognize them all).

Not that it's a bad post, but I think even the other had about run it's course. And some posts just miss, It happens.

 

[Spinward Scout]

"Hi Icosahedron, how're you doing? That's an interesting UPP generator you have there."

Thanks for the pre-generated response!

I made something like this for d20 Modern a while back and when I asked someone if they wanted to game using it, his exact response was: "why would I want to play myself in a game?"

o:

My thought is: when are you ever going to go up against anything like what's in a game in real life?

I'm not sure what 'Grit' is other than the stuff that gets in my eyes because they are re-paving my road, but here's my score:

7 (Average)
7 (Average)
6 (I smoke too much)
? (Too much 'grit' in my eyes)
8 (slightly above average)
9 (some college and technical certs)
7 (Average)

Psi F (Stand Back! I'm going to use my phenomenal psychic power to make you think I'm fooling myself! - See! It worked!)

 

[Icosahedron]

Welcome to the party guys.

Yeah, the 'check your UPP' has probably run its course, but this was also designed as a tool to provide a (hopefully) realistic picture of your in-game characters.
It's probably most useful in a point-buy system.

Grit, as in 'true grit', is a measure of willpower or spirit or (if you must) spunk. It's a determination to see an action through, and is distinct from physical stamina, but will likewise keep you going against the odds.
I figured that failure to endure hardship can occur through either low stamina or lack of will, and so both should contribute to a character's 'Endurance'.

What do you think?

 

[Samules]

This looks useful. Usually stats are just vague ideas that no one really has any idea what they mean but this clears up a lot. They should have this for more gaming systems!

 

[FreeTrav]

454997

INT and EDU are definitely well above average for me, but somewhat unorganized - my formal EDU ends with a Sc.B. degree. Given that, I've taken the lowest above-average rating given, although I do know that I qualify for MENSA (not that I'd have anything to do with most people I've met that have made it a point to tell me that they were MENSAdists).

I give myself the 7 for SOC because I'm in IT, but not a call-center responder, and that still sorta has an "Oooo..." factor associated with it. 8 would be reserved for white-collar managers, IMO. 9+ is for executives.

 

[Horatius]

Ok, so now that we've "rolled" our stats and put them on the character sheet, what do we do next? the New and Improved LBB says we shoudld roll for college, submit for the draft or enlist. Are there new charts so do I use the ones here in the book?

 

[Icosahedron]

Ok, so now that we've "rolled" our stats and put them on the character sheet, what do we do next? the New and Improved LBB says we shoudld roll for college, submit for the draft or enlist. Are there new charts so do I use the ones here in the book?

Hey man, just follow whatever rules turn you on; this is just my houserule to help explain what the UPP means.