drawrygon

Problem

Generally, problem means aggression or impulsivity in general, but also represents deeper issues, as in the latent ability to cause problems. Ishmael’s violent obsession, Rodya's issues under her chatty facade, and Sinclair’s repressed bloodthirst are all examples of “problem”. When high, like in Don and Heathcliff, characters become known for their tendency to cause problems for the people around them. I know the sizes of the bars is vague at best, so just take it at a general scale.

Negative problem is pretty much just the character not being one to start shit. Typically, if a character is practical (especially in high levels), they aren’t going to be causing issues. Ishmael is a notable exception, with her being very very capable, perceptive, and rational (most of the time), but also just going totally off the rails under certain conditions. She has the capacity to cause problems, but for the most part doesn’t.

Practical

Practical is way more than just intelligence, because there's WAY more to solving issues than being smart. Sometimes it's diffusing tension or being watchful or just paying attention to the things around you. They're all going to do it in different ways too, and just because someone has practical ability doesn't necessarily mean they WILL solve an issue (like ryoshu). 

Negative practical is where it gets interesting, it’s really a case-by-case basis.

For Don especially, negative practical essentially translates to her meaning well when she impulsively decides to slaughter Ryoshu right at the start. Like yeah girl! Youuuu did it! Good job! That wasn't very good to do actually! This applies to most of her early behavior, just really recklessly charging ahead because she WANTS to help, she WANTS to solve issues, but the way she's doing it actively makes things worse.

Heathcliff is neg practical because he really isn't giving a fuck what happens because of his outbursts, nor does he really care about helping the team in any way beyond hitting things til they die. 

Rodya is neg practical because she is so self absorbed and isn't really thinking about much else other than her guilt. It comes down to rationality, really. Would you trust Canto 1 Rodya to really take it to heart if you vented to her? No, it’d probably make her uncomfortable and she’d try to worm out of it because she’s not in a good place emotionally herself. 

Social

Social is pretty easy to understand. It’s NOT a measure of a character’s social abilities, but a measure of how eager they are to socialize at all. This is why Outis has negative social despite being very good with people. In her case, her abilities to read and command others would go under practical, and she has neg social because she isn’t interested in speaking to the Sinners at all.

Don is highly social because she’s chatty and exuberant and wants to ramble, Greg and Rodya both have it as their highest because they’re both eager to mingle as well, you get the idea. Negative social represents any kind of unwillingness to socialize.

Outliers and Other Observations

Honglu is weird as hell. Every other character is at least problem- or practical-type in a way that makes sense, but he isn’t either. He’s just social. He’s not like Yisang, who functionally does not exist in the early game. I made Yisang have all negatives because he’s just too apathetic to do anything at all at the start, and that makes sense, yeah. But Honglu? At first I had him all negative too, but that didn’t feel right. Sure, he’s not exactly going out of his way to socialize, but he is present and curious. I think Honglu is the only way you could write a purely social character, actually. He’s not going to start shit, but he’s not fixing shit, either. If you vent to him he’ll listen but he’s not going to care, he’s too 💖💖✨😊for that.

Generally, it seems like characters who are low in all of the stats (like Greg and Sinclair) end up being more meek or laid back. They most certainly have the capability to be an issue, though, don’t forget.