Attribute Levels

As you continue with your Journey, you will inevitably improve your attribute scores by persistent training or consistent exposure to different life experiences on Terra. As you improve your attributes one point at a time, you begin to realize that the challenges you face also change. Here is a simplified path of your journey to becoming a hero and saving the world.

RPG Attribute: Charisma

“When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.” Guy Kawasaki

CHA: Charisma (Synthesis)
represents your character's ability to connect with concepts, ideas and other Terrans. Through connections, your character generates goodwill and trust within your spheres of influence. A person's likability is determined by CHA. This attribute also affects the way people react to your words, actions and your overall presence. The extent of your character's auric power is determined by this attribute's score.

Nobody likes you. You like no one.





Your mother forgives you.

Only your mother cares what happens to you. You don't even care.

Everyone suspects you are up to no good. Your so-called friends are social deviants and criminals.

Some people suspect that you might be up to no good most of the time.

A secret few have seen that you're really not a bad person after all, and they are not even your friends.

You have at least one good friend who was there when you needed someone. You also have a few acquaintances who have done you favors. You try to return the favors when you can and if they ask. You are slow to trust strangers.

The first impression people have of you is that you are either aloof or shy. But, you know well enough that you could be fun and likable once they get to know you long enough. You are not good with negotiations so you don't even try. Conflict and arguments make you uncomfortable.

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You are in a transition period. You feel trapped in a cocoon or inside your own shell. You want to break free but you are afraid that it is not yet the right time. You are wondering what is taking so long. You hope to get your wings soon.

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You know that everyone just wants to be happy.  The problem is, people can't agree on the "how." You stopped waiting and break out of your self-imposed chains. You start to join the conversation.

More and more people are starting to listen to you.

You are listening more intently to more people.

You know what it takes to influence others. You see synergy at work.

You identify common goals with everyone you meet or work with. You have stopped looking for win-win situations anymore because with a common goal, a singular win is all everyone needs.

You share everything you know with anyone who needs it without looking for compensation. You realize that there is an unlimited universal flow of resources that cycles and that you are a critical part of. You believe in civility.

You get along with everyone even with people who are not nice. You have no enemies. You always find a pleasant way of working with people. You are highly connected. You know all the right people for anything that anyone needs. You are trusted.

Synthesis is not just influencing people. It also means your capacity to be influenced by great ideas. The malleability of your behavior improves how you are perceived because it reflects your confidence and security with your own values. Take for instance this 4-minute talk. Graham Hill makes a great case for pseudo-vegetarianism or alternatively you may want to call it quasi-carnivorism. How much sway does he have on you? There is no argument against his words. So, listen to your own excuses and think about it for a while.



Photo credits:
Leo Reynolds: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76283671@N00/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/txberiu/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbystevejohnson/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxborrow/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/procsilas/

RPG Attribute: Dexterity

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

DEX (Dexterity) Resilience
Dexterity is a measure of agility and speed, and in The Game we will refer to DEX as a representation of your character's Resilience. It measures how fast you can bounce back from setbacks. It measures your agility when dealing with drastic changes that affect your daily life. This attribute is important for characters who want to thrive during crisis situations and learn as much as they can from moments of failure.

Reflex is a special DEX save from impulsive reactions. During times of uncertainty and unexpected events, our base instincts may take over our actions. Adventurers with low DEX are quick to react to these triggers, while high DEX will give Adventurers enough quick wit to understand all pertinent factors before taking action.

Every time you make a mistake, you are devastated. You learn nothing from your errant ways. When you lose a job or a loved one, you feel like it's the end of the world. And, for you, sometimes it really is.

You are extremely competitive and you want to win because you hate losing.

You are set in your ways and you believe it is futile to change.

You are argumentative and confrontational. You treat discussions and conversations as debates. You see all forms of communication as venues to assert your opinion. All offense against you and and the people you identify with are personal.

It takes little to make you happy. You want to live a simple life without risk and danger. It also takes little to upset you.

You remember regretful times and you wish you could just forget them.

When you lose something or lose at something, it takes a while for you to let go and move on, just like everyone else.




You try to convince yourself that you have no regrets or you don't believe in regrets.

When everything goes wrong, you just know that something has to change somehow. After a number of denials and heartaches, you realize that change can only come from yourself.

When you make mistakes, you admit that you are responsible for what happens next, for how you recover and for how you manage the consequences.

You see the world objectively and know what you want. You start to try to do things and expect the best but prepare for the worst.

You are failing so many times and that's just expected. Frustration is no longer an option. Skepticism, pessimism and sarcasm are concepts you no longer use.

You accept both positive and negative aspects of life. You know that maintaining a cool disposition is important in achieving your goals and improving your overall happiness as well as the well-being of the people around you.

You realize that you have regrets but accept that they are an indisputable part of life.

On rare occasions that errors happen, you have foreseen the scenario and you know exactly what to do to make it better. You then make adjustments so that similar errors do not happen again.

You have made all the mistakes you need and now you can anticipate them before they happen. You expect that failure is a requirement for learning. You know how to take calculated risks and mitigate foreseeable challenges. People see you as brave and daring. You see yourself the same way with the knowledge that you can survive any outcome. You don't gamble.

From disabled to super-abled, Aimee Mullins shows the world how one can exceed limitations beyond anybody expected including herself..




Another Adventurer with exceedingly high DEX, Caroline Casey's resilience gives her a 19 score I think. Here's a side quest for you: Think of an area in your life that you can't do or improve by yourself, an area where you need help. Just one thing. Then approach a random person, from a stranger to a loved one, tell them your problem or challenge and admit to them, "I need help."



Photo credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumberodesign/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niecieden/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quasimondo/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelocesare/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragiletender/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toastforbrekkie/

RPG Attribute: Strength

"Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the sources of action required to manage prospective situations. Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly spawns failure. Even the self-assured will raise their perceived self-efficacy if models teach them better ways of doing things."  Albert Bandura

STR (Strength) Efficacy
Strength measures physical power. In The Game, STR measures results. Not in comparison with other characters, but gauged by your own definition of success. If your aim in doing a quest was to learn from the experience then your success is not measured whether you accomplished the quest objective or not. Your strength lies in how you have understood, mastered and aligned your life with how the universe works.

In improving your STR, you will initially use your existing proficiency and skills. Throughout your journey, you will discover new powers. You have to use those powers to increase your STR. If asking for help from someone who is more adept at doing something, then doing so is a sign of strength and good judgment. Creative and holistic approaches to problem solving and critical thinking is a sure sign of STR maturity. Go forth and start building your character's character.

You are ineffectual.

People are always trying to help you as if you can't help yourself.

You are struggling. People have stopped trying to help.

You are inefficient, but you get things done. Sort of.

You know your faults and you are trying really hard to get better at doing things.

Sometimes you feel that people avoid working with you even though you try your best. Maybe there are better ways for you to do things. Maybe positive thinking might help. There's only one way to find out.

There are things you can and can't do. When yo utry to do things, the results aren't bad. They aren't good either. They are average at best, mediocre at worst. Definitely, you have a great opportunity to do better. A lot better.

 You have more shoulds, coulds and woulds than you care to admit. You just don't think you are good enough yet or it's not the right time or some excuse or reason.

 You are starting to look for ways to do the things you have always wanted to do but couldn't. You now realize that positive action is way better than positive thinking.

 You found your passion. You are now working towards integrating that passion in your life.

 You're getting better at this. You swear.

You are getting the job done. For real. With small successes you are feeling a little more confident each and every day. You try to improve a little bit each time. It's a hit and miss, but you just keep at it.

"I never thought I could achieve this. I'd like to thank everyone who always believed in me." But, you always knew that you could do it. You just weren't audacious enough to admit it. Now, it's perfectly fine to tell the world you are good because you are and the people who matter acknowledge that.

You are effective and efficient. You know how to optimize the use of resources with very little waste. You are fully engaged at what you do. Doing what you do is a lot of fun.


You are autotelic and you work in excellence. You know what quality means and you stick to your own high level of standards.

Anything you do is enjoyable and gets done quickly. Success to you is as common as the sunrise. You know exactly what to do, when to do it and how to do it the best way possible. You define what is best. You also determine how to do it better and better each and every time. You define what is "good enough" for the task at hand.

To improve your strength, you need to improve your standards. It is important to remember that you set your own standards and never compare yourself to anyone else. Better should only mean that you are becoming more and more your true self. Listen to the Hall of Fame player, the Hall of Fame coach, and in my mind, the Hall of Fame teacher of character, strength and success, John Wooden.



Photo credits: Dominic van Berkel

RPG Attribute: Intelligence

"The reaction, the response of your relationship with other people, may be external; but that response is the outcome of an inward suspense, an inward anxiety, an inward fear. The outward awareness and the inward awareness bring about a total integration of human understanding."  Krishnamurti

INT (Intelligence) Open-Mindedness
The level of development of your INT will come from the level of your Acceptance of what is. All adventurers have the same capacity for accepting and retaining information. The main difference is determined by how much tolerance you have for new things, different perspectives and the humility to accept the great possibility that you might not know. The higher your INT the less barriers you place to create change. Seers, Bards and Champions will have a natural affinity to this attribute as they are continuously exposed to the entropic qualities  of reality.

The Game interprets INT as acceptance of the external world and the allowance of meaning into one's consciousness. Remember, everyone has the same capability to accept and allow. The only reason the commoners think that they are not intelligent enough is that they resist and deny the existence of what is. They would rather "believe" what they read or what others say than think for themselves.

At the onset of your development, you will feel stupid. Then, you will feel silly for feeling stupid. Then, you start laughing at yourself for putting yourself down. At some point, you will find that self-deprecation is a very good learning tool. At this point, you will find that you know very little of the universe at large and your combined awareness and acceptance leads to an overwhelming humility.

What little you know is based on what others say or what you have read in ancient tomes with long forgotten authors. You believe. You accept what your superiors tell you without question. Your opinions are based on what is popular and fashionable. You are superstitious and suspicious of people who think of new ideas that are different from yours.

You have seen how bad the world can be and you are afraid, angry or depressed. You blame others especially the authorities and power brokers for everything that is wrong, cannot accept or cannot control.

You resist external change. You wish the world would remain as it is or go back to what it was. In your mind, development is a bad word. It brings out the worst in people and only produces waste and ugliness.

You know that universal truths are absolute. Everything is either black or white, there are no gray areas. You believe that if someone is right, they cannot be wrong. You hold on to promises and rules as if they are unbreakable laws of the universe.

You are confused and desperate. You claim ownership of things you have and people you love. You attach yourself to ideas as if they are essential to your existence and identity.

You learn a few things that you never thought you could because you let it happen. You tried something new and liked it. You found out what confidence really means. You begin to think that you want more of it.

There are things you know. There are things you don't know. There are also things in between that you can't quite figure out. Although, you think you might, if you take the time to really try.

You admit your mistakes and explain your reasons. Some people think you are just making excuses. They could be right.

You realize that some people know more than you. You recall your past mistakes and understand how the situation could be better.

You feel that you can learn anything new if you are really interested or if you work hard for it. You are grateful to your teachers, guides and mentors who have taught you lessons in life. You are also grateful to those who have shown you your mistakes so you can learn from them.

You now know that you don't really know anything at all. Nobody really does. Every piece of information comes as a marvelous curiosity. You understand that you can only interpret based on your past experiences. But, a big part of reality is still hidden in plain sight because you do not have the ability to sense it yet.

You are now in the process of taking an inventory of your knowledge, skills and abilities. You take note of what you can and cannot yet do. You want to develop your strengths further and find ways to complement or strengthen your weaknesses.

You relate everything you experience to everything else. You see a pattern emerging in all the chaos of nature and the synthetic order of civilization. You know that belief is a concept created for keeping people from thinking for themselves.

In the process of looking for your identity, you completely lost your sense of self. You have found your humanity. Now, you clearly know who you are in relation to the universe and all of life.

You have applied your knowledge and powers to achieve your goals. You assist other people in their own endeavors. You are guiding others in developing their own set of powers.

You are pellucid. You are hyperaware and know what is happening with anything, anywhere at any time, all the time. Everything is accounted for. People around you think you have supernatural powers because of your seeming omniscience. Your chaotic universe is well organized and well documented.

Now, you know the path to Intelligence. Take this guide and go forth on your journey to Acceptance. The video below is an exercise in acceptance. Try to hold on to two contradicting thoughts, ideas or concepts long enough to validate the possibility of the existence of both. See where that leads you.



Photo credits: Kirsty Hall