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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8189498" data-attributes="member: 467">1. I once used a real life puzzle as a stand in for disarming the nuclear bomb in an RPG. The skill/intelligence check the player made before handing him the puzzle determined which puzzle (ranked in difficulty) I handed him. One a high success by the PC, the player got the easy puzzle.2. I have been gaming too long to have this argument. If players who have been playing D&D for a few years know you need fire to kill a troll, then people who grew up in that world are going to know, too. It just isn't important enough to mess around with. And, If I really want to keep them on their toes I...3. ... wait, there is no 3... I....4. ...create a new monster. or grab one from a resource the players aren't likely to have. or reskin a monster. Whatever. I pick something that trips them up because it is meant to trip them up. it is a much better solution than telling them they don't know things they know.5. How the players portray their characters is not my business. That's their responsibility. I don't care if players speak in first person with a funny accent, or treat their character like a chess piece. I certainly don't care whether they have their 8 Int barbarian speak with an erudite British accent. If something happens where that 8 Int comes into play, the dice are going to reflect it regardless. For myself as a player, if for some reason I want to play by 8 Int barbarian that way, I will probably misuse some big words as a hint to the other players that maybe I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.In general, though, I think the reason we should replace Ability Scores with more broadly defined "Aptitudes" or skills is that the game is already a Gamist approximation of a thing and it doesn't actually benefit from the legacy simulationist elements like Ability Scores. The purpose they serve is purely mechanical and should be separated from whatever personal narrative aspects the player wants to bring to their character.</blockquote>

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