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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7061005" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>We know for a fact that NPCs use the same method of ability generation as PCs do, because it's in the rulebook. The specifics vary by edition, but there's never been an edition (that I know of) where their base distribution was <em>worse</em> than 3d6. When you see an NPC with 10s and 11s across the board, that <em>is</em> the average of 3d6, just without the variance.</p><p></p><p>I'm not necessarily talking about commoners, though. Your average commoner <em>isn't </em>equally likely to have Strength 3 or Strength 18. Your average farmer or blacksmith probably has a 16, while your average seamstress or scribe might have a 5. If you're talented enough to have an 18, then you probably have a job where it <em>matters</em>; Strength 18 would make an excellent blacksmith or guard captain. It's only the population <em>as a whole</em> which conforms to the 3d6 distribution.</p><p></p><p>And even then, that lucky blacksmith with Strength 18 isn't as strong as the <em>legendary</em> Conan, because Conan never has <em>just</em> Strength 18. In AD&D, he had 18/00. In 3E, he started with an 18, and raised that to at least 22 over the course of building his legend. In 5E, he quite possibly has a 24. (In 5E, the reason that <em>legendary</em> barbarians can break the 20 cap is likely <em>because</em> Conan is so mighty.)</p><p></p><p>Welcome to Bounded Accuracy. With a hard limit of +5 in most cases, which is easy to reach and nearly-impossible to exceed, stats really <em>aren't</em> that meaningful in most case. In the game I'm currently playing, my character is a halfling rogue with Strength 10, and he single-handedly knocks down mighty orcs and dragon-people in the process of setting up a sneak attack, because his class features completely overwhelm the normal range of ability modifiers. If you want a game where stats really feel meaningful, then 5E isn't it; even AD&D was better about it, since at least then you had to roll <em>under</em> your stat in order to do something, and rolling under 18 was <em>significantly</em> easier than rolling under 10.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7061005, member: 6775031"] We know for a fact that NPCs use the same method of ability generation as PCs do, because it's in the rulebook. The specifics vary by edition, but there's never been an edition (that I know of) where their base distribution was [I]worse[/I] than 3d6. When you see an NPC with 10s and 11s across the board, that [I]is[/I] the average of 3d6, just without the variance. I'm not necessarily talking about commoners, though. Your average commoner [I]isn't [/I]equally likely to have Strength 3 or Strength 18. Your average farmer or blacksmith probably has a 16, while your average seamstress or scribe might have a 5. If you're talented enough to have an 18, then you probably have a job where it [I]matters[/I]; Strength 18 would make an excellent blacksmith or guard captain. It's only the population [I]as a whole[/I] which conforms to the 3d6 distribution. And even then, that lucky blacksmith with Strength 18 isn't as strong as the [I]legendary[/I] Conan, because Conan never has [I]just[/I] Strength 18. In AD&D, he had 18/00. In 3E, he started with an 18, and raised that to at least 22 over the course of building his legend. In 5E, he quite possibly has a 24. (In 5E, the reason that [I]legendary[/I] barbarians can break the 20 cap is likely [I]because[/I] Conan is so mighty.) Welcome to Bounded Accuracy. With a hard limit of +5 in most cases, which is easy to reach and nearly-impossible to exceed, stats really [I]aren't[/I] that meaningful in most case. In the game I'm currently playing, my character is a halfling rogue with Strength 10, and he single-handedly knocks down mighty orcs and dragon-people in the process of setting up a sneak attack, because his class features completely overwhelm the normal range of ability modifiers. If you want a game where stats really feel meaningful, then 5E isn't it; even AD&D was better about it, since at least then you had to roll [I]under[/I] your stat in order to do something, and rolling under 18 was [I]significantly[/I] easier than rolling under 10. [/QUOTE]
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