Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Chaosmancer" data-source="post: 8370365" data-attributes="member: 6801228">this would be a lot easier if you read the first two sentences, though I admit I was rushing a bit in typing them. I agree no individual is saying that it is impossible, however a model of biological determinism IS saying it is impossible. That is part of the reason to reject that sort of model. You say it is impossible for you to fight through a double team block by the NFL linemen. Would you say that it was impossible for you because your biology was determined at birth and your strength had a hard limit you could never surpass? That no amount of training, diet, excersice or desire to be a football player in your youth would have ever let you achieve a level of strength that could make that possible? Saying "I'm weaker than a lineman now" isn't biological determinism. That is a statement of your current physicality.  Saying "I was born unable to ever be stronger than a lineman" is biological determinism. Your biology determined your limitations.Why not? What makes an axe swung by a gnome into your throat any less deadly? What makes a gnome less able to take a blow? Height alone tells you nothing except height.I know baffles people. It baffled me. But there is a noticeable difference between starting with a +2 and starting with a +3 in your primary. Realistically we think it shouldn't be there, but I've seen it again and again and again and again.And this isn't about min-maxing or powergaming. It isn't. I know people want to make this what this is about, so they can dismiss us for our impure hearts, but that isn't how this works. Heck, we have two people in this thread who said the exact same thing a few months back, who are now saying "you know... it really does open up options to let me play what I want to play."But that only lasts until you start assigning hard numbers to try and force things to conform to those averages. If "Elves are usually graceful" means that they get a +2 Dex, why doesn't a graceful dwarf get +2 Dex? See, part of this issue is a change in what these numbers mean. I can fully accept that back in the original days, the modifiers were meant to shift the bell curve model to model a real-world distribution of stats... but we aren't trying to model population numbers any more. People aren't thinking in those terms. The importance of shifting the bell curve for the population no longer matters, and instead we are focusing on individuals. And if we are looking at individuals, then the modifiers being floating makes the most sense.</blockquote>

Verification