An
attribute is a piece of data (a "
statistic") that describes to what extent a
fictional character in a
role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born
characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a
set of dice. Some games use different terms to refer to an attribute, such as
statistic, (
primary)
characteristic or
ability. A number of role-playing games like
Fate do not use attributes at all.