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<blockquote data-quote="Shendorion" data-source="post: 6771236" data-attributes="member: 6804078">I still don't understand the motivation to tell players how they must express their low stats.&nbsp; What purpose does it serve?&nbsp; Are we trying to get people to play the character they rolled, rather than the one they imagined?&nbsp; That's not the sort of D&amp;D I ever want to play.The purpose of stats is to limit the success of each character in a general area of pursuits in the game world.&nbsp; It's not the &quot;how;&quot; it's the &quot;how much.&quot;&nbsp; They're a measure of the character's ability to affect a desired outcome in the game world against opposition from the environment, other creatures, their own limitations and the laws of nature and magic (insofar as those are discrete in your campaign).&nbsp; Telling a player how those scores must be expressed in their character's personality is tyrannical, and contrary to the spirit of pretend play that this system is designed to enable.If you restrict INT to broad spectrum deficiency, you're limiting the variety of people who can exist in your game world.&nbsp; You're precluding the possibility that brilliance can come to nothing.&nbsp; You're ignoring the fact that a very specific weakness can cause a person who is otherwise gifted to be outperformed by someone whose aptitudes, while lower overall, are more evenly distributed.&nbsp; I don't see what good can come of it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Shendorion, post: 6771236, member: 6804078"] I still don't understand the motivation to tell players how they must express their low stats. What purpose does it serve? Are we trying to get people to play the character they rolled, rather than the one they imagined? That's not the sort of D&D I ever want to play. The purpose of stats is to limit the success of each character in a general area of pursuits in the game world. It's not the "how;" it's the "how much." They're a measure of the character's ability to affect a desired outcome in the game world against opposition from the environment, other creatures, their own limitations and the laws of nature and magic (insofar as those are discrete in your campaign). Telling a player how those scores must be expressed in their character's personality is tyrannical, and contrary to the spirit of pretend play that this system is designed to enable. If you restrict INT to broad spectrum deficiency, you're limiting the variety of people who can exist in your game world. You're precluding the possibility that brilliance can come to nothing. You're ignoring the fact that a very specific weakness can cause a person who is otherwise gifted to be outperformed by someone whose aptitudes, while lower overall, are more evenly distributed. I don't see what good can come of it. [/QUOTE]

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