Alternate title: Forgive Me, Gregor, for I have Sinned.
Okay, so I love 3:16. I think it’s the bee’s knees, elbows, and spleen. But my players just aren’t getting into it with the same gusto. Fortunately, one of my players is also my wife, so I have plenty of opportunity to grill her for feedback.
We have determined, after much analysis, that the players don’t really know what they’re able to do (as in non-combat and out-of-combat actions). A large part of that problem is that the game is, in fact, too simple and easy.
Yes, yes, I know, I should have killed them and taken their stuff when I had the chance. But now, by jove, I find myself… agreeing. It just seems that two stats, while quick and easy, just aren’t enough to feel like a fleshed-out RPG to us. Fortunately, I had a nog-fueled epiphany a couple nights ago as I was drifting off to sleep, and have decided upon a hideous solution.
- *FA is divided up into three sub-stats: Gunnery (for all firearms), Explosives (for grenades, TPKs, and Paradise Bombs), and Melee (for all hand weapons).
- NFA is divided up into three sub-stats: Physical (changing range/weapon, any story event that requires lifting or climbing, etc.), Mental (the Dominance roll, any story event that requires spotting, thinking, fixing, etc.), and Social (the Development roll, any story event that requires shmoozing, ordering, bootlicking, etc.).
- FA and NFA are kept around because they are still used for stuff, including determining Level and the Aliens’ AA. Straight NFA is still used for special abilities (Force Weakness, Evac, Orbital Bombardment, etc.).
Characters are generated as normal, with 10 points to split between FA/NFA. Sub-stats are determined from a point pool of 2X the relevant stat. Example: Biffy gives his Trooper an FA of 6 and an NFA of 4. He now has 12 points to divide among Gunnery/Explosives/Melee, and 8 points to divide among Physical/Mental/Social.
One side effect of this mod is that even a 20th-level character will not be maxed in every ability. I consider it a feature, not a bug.
I plan on playtesting this within the next weekend or two. I think it will provide a better handle on PC customization and encourage my players to do stuff outside of combat more often, but the proof is in the pudding.
Comment from Gregor Hutton:
Hey, go for it. I’d be tempted to limit the derived stats to range +-3 from the main stat. Let me know how you get on, and try and see if the split of use between the 3 derived stats is even, or if one becomes a dump stat.
Comment from reptile2k1:
I would use the sub-stats as you suggested but handle initial point distribution differently:
- You start pith 10 points to distribute between FA and NFA.
- Each sub-stat starts with the same rating as the parent stat.
- You may lower any sub-stat by one point to increase another sub-stat of the same parent-stat by one point.
- No sub-stat may differ by more than +-3 from its parent-stat.
This makes character converison a little easier.
I think I won’t put any restrictions on point distribution in sub-stats; if a player really wants to overspecialize, it creates an opportunity for other players (or the GM!) to screw him over by pushing him into situations where he sucks. 
One idea I’m mulling over is to give players an additional +1 to the sub-stat of their choice when they use a flashback. If a player put them all in the same set of sub-stats, it would allow them to max them out (thus making those sub-stats irrelevant), but it would only occur at max level, which isn’t too bad. Perhaps only a +1 for using a Strength, which would still leave them 5 points short of perfection…