D&D 5E Characters are not their statistics and abilities

[ccs]

A long-sword does as much more damage over a scimitar as a scimitar does over a dagger. That's not "nearly as effective" or anything like it. The wounds are significantly more grievous, or else the difference wouldn't be worth expressing in the game mechanics.

I'm sorry, I don't belive my character(s) would be able to discern a potential 1.x points worth difference wound-wise between most of these: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=scimitar&FORM=HDRSC2 and most of these: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Medieval+Longsword&FORM=RESTAB. (ignoring all non-sword type images of course)
I'm assuming 1 handed use here.


Either way, mechanically, after about 30-120 seconds of game-time the foe falls over dead once the stabbing begins. So if I'm playing the scimitar wielder it's not terribly important if I'm doing (potentially) 1.x pt less damage per hit than you think I should. And if that 1.x IS that important to you? Then you take this game way too seriously.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

No. You can argue yourself into knots (by stating that this is about roleplaying), but the essence of what you are doing is stating that the in-game characters are required to utilize the items that would be optimal. Which isn't roleplaying ... it's arriving at a conclusion, and reasoning backwards to justify it.

Role-playing is doing what a competent character would do, if you're trying to role-play a competent character. If you're not trying to role-play a competent character, then you have a bit more freedom in how you go about that.

But it's still meta-gaming to make decisions based on information that isn't true within the game world.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[cmad1977]

If I were sitting at a table, and a person nit picked another players weapon choice over 1-2 points of damage, I would mock the nitpicker mercilessly for the duration of the game. What kind of useless person accosts someone over using a scimitar instead of a long sword?


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[ccs]

Role-playing is doing what a competent character would do, if you're trying to role-play a competent character. If you're not trying to role-play a competent character, then you have a bit more freedom in how you go about that.

But it's still meta-gaming to make decisions based on information that isn't true within the game world.

I think you're misspelling Roll-playing.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

1. Claimed that you are all about roleplaying, because roleplayers play competent characters (?), and if you're role-playing a competent character, you're going to make the optimum selection. Therefore, roleplaying = optimization. That's ... impressive!

If you're taking the game seriously, then you're probably playing a competent character, because the game is about serious situations where incompetent characters are likely to be killed. I'm not saying you need to play a competent character, but if you are, then you should role-play that competence.

2. That real meta-gaming is when a person ignores the rules of the games, and makes choices based on what his character would want, because ... the character would intuit the math behind the game world, and always make the optimal selection, and therefore be playing the game in an optimal way. So the only way to not meta-game, is to meta-game (play by being cognizant of, and taking advantage of, the rules).

If you make choices based on things the character can't possibly know, then that is definitionally meta-gaming. Many people who consider themselves to be role-players simply don't realize when they're doing this, because they're caught up in congratulating themselves over not min-maxxing. They make invalid assumptions based on the real world, and ignore the truths that are self-evident within the game world.

 

[ccs]

If I were sitting at a table, and a person nit picked another players weapon choice over 1-2 points of damage, I would mock the nitpicker mercilessly for the duration of the game. What kind of useless person accosts someone over using a scimitar instead of a long sword?

We'd just boot his ass out of the game....

 

[cmad1977]

We'd just boot his ass out of the game....

Well yeah, I'd just make him/her feel silly first.

But I'm not nice.


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[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

We'd just boot his ass out of the game....

If someone did that we'd ask them to stop and then probably have a discussion between sessions how their playstyle doesn't fit with ours, and advise they would probably have more fun with a different group that shares similar preferences.

If someone did that, we'd ask them to stop and if they kept doing it, then we'd ask them to leave right then. D&D is a social game. It's not "serious business". It's a game. If someone is making other people at my table feel uncomfortable, then they are not welcome.