Should Luck be an Attribute in RPGs?

Fallout had it (was it just so they could call it S-P-E-C-I-A-L?). So did Morrowind. I think Quest for Glory did too.

Always thought it was weird for the Sniper perk to make a check against Luck. Why, I thought it was skill that made you so good at crits. Morrowind at least made it an attribute that increased veeeery slowly if you tried to raise it. But how exactly does one get luckier?

So? Is there a need for a dump stat that "affects a little bit of everything" when you play a game?

This could become a discussion on which attribute system is the best - in that case it would be Arcanum for me!

 

I voted yes, though I'm not too sure why I feel that way. I just like the idea of being lucky I guess.

 

well i mean, how lucky would the lucky stat make you?
if it made you TOO lucky the game would be boring... critical successes would become mundane
but then if the stat were too weak then what would be the point in putting points into it? i guess there would have to be some delicate balance with these things.

also, what if luck wasnt just good luck? like the "born under a sign" background? as in, the more luck you have the more badluck you get, so it wouldnt just help you get Lucky, instead it would simply cause a more extreme negative/positive reaction whenever a negative or positive reaction was called for?!! in that case though it wouldnt really be a very good stat because it could hurt as well as help so youd just be better off not putting points into it, BUT! i do think it could make the game more interesting if this was a fixed thing you could choose before you began the game! it could really affect how exciting the game is/becomes!
for example, you walk into a bar, someone challenges you to a game of dice, you get a critical success but he accuses you of cheating and whips out his steam-powered repeater rifle and opens fire, you then have a critical failure to dodge and fall face first out of a window as the shot propels you backwards taking a large amount of damage, you then dodge the next hit, fire with your own weapon (or cast magic i guess) and do moderate damage, you take another hit, and dodge two more, you then seam to have a critical failure with your own attack, but then you realise you accidentally shot the chandelier your enemy was standing under, and he is crushed by it! but unfortunately you were scarred by your opponents critical success.

so there you go, an extremely complex (exagerated?) but i think potentially RIVITING piece of gameplay that could result from the ability to adjust the degree of luck / unluck you are the subject of in the game

 

As stupid as this sounds, I make Luck the least-valued attribute in both Fallout games right next to Charisma.

 

Sleek, I would hate playing in a game with your example :-?. It would suck to put points into skills and have everything for naught because of Luck.

If anything I would prefer criticals to reflect your actual prowess in a weapon or skill rather than some stroke of luck - although the occasional (repeat, occasional) fumble or crit. success does perk up the game every now and then.

 

I really liked the idea of joss in the kindred of the east book, Dhampyr


instead of having luck as a mere static trait that resulted in bonuses, joss (luck) took A life of it's own in the forms of dark joss (corrupted joss that resulted in friends accidently takes a bullet for you etc.. good luck that is also a curse) and vanilla joss which generally works in your favour but always :edit: results in a life that always tries to make itself interesting:editeg. having your luggage switched finding switched for a million dollars in drug money and results in a multinational race around the world for the cash, when the boss finds you he only asks for half the money because he thinks the rest of it was stolen by the courier.
or receiving a phone call where the caller merely states, "bring the money to the east side docks or the ambassader gets it decker" and hangs up.)



dam, I mean oops

massive mistake

 

That would be interesting, but I don't much care of the idea of one of my friends gettin shot instead of me.