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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 6414230" data-attributes="member: 6668292">I actually think the ability to impact the fiction is much, much more reliant on factors other than stats.For example, proactive players have a much higher chance to impact the fiction because they engage with it more.Players that have more robust mechanical options for changing the scope of play (say, the Teleport spell in 3.5 D&D) will have a better chance of impacting the fiction. Of course, I mean when it comes up (Teleport is much more useful in a large sandbox setting than urban campaigns located in a single city).Players that have abilities that match the campaign theme have a much larger chance of impacting the setting than those that don't. Another example: in the past five sessions at my table (about six hours each), there have been three combats. However, there has been ample discussion, investigation, knowledge checks, and the like. Players have a much higher chance to impact the fiction based on skill choice and character build than based on stats. (A player with 6 Int that invested in investigation, negotiation, and knowledge would have a higher chance of impacting the fiction than a 18 Str / 6 Int Warrior with none of the skills listed.)I'm not saying that stats don't matter. But they're only one piece of a huge puzzle that makes up the list of factors that come into play when seeing which player gets to impact the fiction the most. And sure, you can say "all other things being equal, stat generation and distribution matters greatly." While that's theoretically true, that's not how things generally work in a practical sense; all other things aren't equal. Some players enjoy the spotlight and are proactive, others don't mind following along and making less rolls. Some players pick mechanical options that fit their concept regardless of the campaign pitch, even if it's less useful, while others take the campaign pitch to heart and come up with characters with very "relevant" mechanical choices. Some players want something simple ("I hit it in the neck") while others choose something with many mechanical options (Teleport, Plane Shift, etc.).Again, I'm not saying that stats don't matter. I'm just disputing what you've said above.</blockquote>

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