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Welcome to the fifth installment in the Aspects of Role-Playing series I've been constructing for nearly twenty-four years, now. In this part of the series, we'll be exploring Role-Playing Game rule basics and differences, and examining what is wrong with universal role-playing systems such as D20, Palladium, and GURPS. Please forgive me, but I've had to split this into two articles because it became over-long.

GAME RULE BASICS AND DIFFERENCES
Most RPGs (Role-Playing Games) follow a general formula for determining how a game will be played. There are three basic sections to how an RPG functions best, and they are: Character Attributes, Character Makeup, and the Game System. You may be asking, "Why did you include Characters twice, and game mechanics only once?" You would be absolutely right for asking that question, because it's extremely relevant. The answer is relatively simple; RPGs are not about the game system or mechanics, the history of the game, or what manner of neat gadgets your character can have to work with in the game. Rather, RPGs are about you playing the game, and in order to do that you have to have a well-developed character. The system and mechanics are for the GM to worry about, although his story, and those mechanics, must center around your character and the idea that you, the player, are supposed to enjoy the game without being horribly bogged down with everything the GM has to learn and know to run the game.

That being said, let's get started with Character Attributes, which could be considered the absolute core of any role-playing system, whether the system is diceless, like Amber, or horribly complicated, like Role-Master. Character Attributes, which may also be referred to as Characteristics, or even Character Makeup, Essence, or Design, are the very core of the character, what they function on whether they have skills, talents, special abilities, super powers, or anything else that would make them unique from other characters or not. Attributes are where you, as the player, develop your character to be powerful, intelligent, fast, or full of cunning, and all abilities are either derivative of the attributes or require use of the attributes in order to function within the game system.

"Now, I thought you said the game system was designed around my character, so I could have fun?" Quite right, I did, and I'll explain how that works, now. In all of my years of role-playing, to about seven years ago, maybe longer, I had

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