Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Stats. Hate them ? Love them ? Think they can be better ? Or an outdated concept ?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7020553" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p>I wish my DM would do that :/</p><p>I definitely use the combination of character description, demeanor and charisma for a general NPC attitude towards a character. And a charming, handsome bastard can generally get away with more mischief than a numb-looking brute. </p><p></p><p>Anyway, mental stats are (maybe historically) a tough subject in RPGs. Especially when you tend to play roleplay-heavy and resolve most stuff in character. The problem that can arise with mental stats is that you, as a player, don't have the same mental setup as your character. For physical (or even social) stats it doesn't matter that you are, say, a 1,60m, 60 kg frail guy with bad health in real life, you can still convincingly play a 2m tall, muscle-bound barbarian. Even if you are no Miss Universe, you can still imagine playing a character with a maxed out beauty stat. Even if you have a bad relationship to your peers, you can still play a character whose "relationship to highschool friends" stats is high (didn't BESM have such a stat?). </p><p></p><p>But if I was a player who is only of average intelligence (most of us are), who isn't particularly wise or philosophical or empathic or who is rather shy, playing a character with a strong corresponding mental stat is tough. Especially when you don't simply want to roll dice and have the DM tell you that you succeeded in negotiating a delicate deal between two warring duchies. Or to romance the NPC you are interested in. Or to solve a puzzle. </p><p>It may be even tougher on the other end of the spectrum: when it comes to bad mental stats. In my experience, many players simply ignore their character's "mental dump stat". They may have an int score below average, yet still toss foreign words around as if they were nothing, employ their usual quick-thinking and engage normally in int-based problem solving because they, the players, (rightfully?) want to partake in it. Low-cha character players still interact the same with NPC when it comes to information gathering etc. Whereas everyone generally accepts that a low-str character deals less melee damage and a low-con character has less HP than an average char.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7020553, member: 6816692"] I wish my DM would do that :/ I definitely use the combination of character description, demeanor and charisma for a general NPC attitude towards a character. And a charming, handsome bastard can generally get away with more mischief than a numb-looking brute. Anyway, mental stats are (maybe historically) a tough subject in RPGs. Especially when you tend to play roleplay-heavy and resolve most stuff in character. The problem that can arise with mental stats is that you, as a player, don't have the same mental setup as your character. For physical (or even social) stats it doesn't matter that you are, say, a 1,60m, 60 kg frail guy with bad health in real life, you can still convincingly play a 2m tall, muscle-bound barbarian. Even if you are no Miss Universe, you can still imagine playing a character with a maxed out beauty stat. Even if you have a bad relationship to your peers, you can still play a character whose "relationship to highschool friends" stats is high (didn't BESM have such a stat?). But if I was a player who is only of average intelligence (most of us are), who isn't particularly wise or philosophical or empathic or who is rather shy, playing a character with a strong corresponding mental stat is tough. Especially when you don't simply want to roll dice and have the DM tell you that you succeeded in negotiating a delicate deal between two warring duchies. Or to romance the NPC you are interested in. Or to solve a puzzle. It may be even tougher on the other end of the spectrum: when it comes to bad mental stats. In my experience, many players simply ignore their character's "mental dump stat". They may have an int score below average, yet still toss foreign words around as if they were nothing, employ their usual quick-thinking and engage normally in int-based problem solving because they, the players, (rightfully?) want to partake in it. Low-cha character players still interact the same with NPC when it comes to information gathering etc. Whereas everyone generally accepts that a low-str character deals less melee damage and a low-con character has less HP than an average char. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Stats. Hate them ? Love them ? Think they can be better ? Or an outdated concept ?
Top