Recent content by Maxperson

I'm of the opinion that what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. If NPCs can do it, PCs should be able to do it as well. If PCs can do it, NPCs should be able to do it as well. To really engage with what you are describing, you'd need a classless system, and D&D isn't that kind of...

They clearly don't in 5.5e, because an archmage wizard NPC has different hit points, abilities, etc. than a PC wizard. Both are wizards. The laws of the world are different for them. The laws SHOULD be the same, though.

Then that comes into play with Specific Beats general and they choose those options. Until then, they've stupidly made a pact with some unknown entity and don't find out about who or what it is until later. That's the fiction.

In 5e there are NPCs that do have them. I believe they took it out for 5.5e, but there's no reason a DM can't or shouldn't make NPCs with class levels.

The old dragon magazine doesn't really matter. An 80 IQ is mildly below average. An 8 int is mildly below average. They are equivalent.

You leave Magic Mike out of this!

No. I'm saying the classes and levels are built to match the fiction. In the fiction the fledgling wannabe warlock contacts some unknown entity and blindly makes a pact. The rules call that level 1 warlock and give it the mechanic Level 1 Pact Magic. The fiction and mechanics need to be in...

Right. I'm not talking about whole tables. I was very specifically talking about my table. What a group does over in Nacogdoches, Texas isn't a part of what I am saying. They can make their own determinations about intelligence and roleplay.

How about instead you show me a single example of someone with an 80 IQ in real life who constantly and quickly comes up good suggestions for overcoming a variety of problems.

It was in post #683 at the bottom and while it was not a response directly to you, it is a part of my position on the topic we are discussing. This is a relatively public thread and all of my responses in it are included in my position. It was not just added.

No it's not. It explicitly says mental acuity. No reason other than int in D&D explicitly measures thinking speed. Coming up constantly with quick, good ideas is playing against the low int score. And now you're altering what I am saying. We are discussing players playing themselves coming...

It's how D&D defines it. "Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to reason." A low int is low in all of those, since intelligence measures all of them.

I already told you that directly in my response to you in post #683! :P

What fiction? The three paragraph fiction written in the PHB only mentions single entities. And it does matter, because you are suggesting that the rules and fiction be in conflict. That's bad. They have to match when rules are connected to the fiction like levels are.

The DM has no power over others, though. If I tell one of my players to pick his nose, he's just going to stare at me and tell me where I can go. The only power I have is over the game world, not the players.