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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9599638" data-attributes="member: 42582">Is being a wood elf or having 7 INT an element of fictional position?A lot of disagreement about how D&amp;D should be played (not all of it) seems to result from the fact that different people answer those questions differently!As I see it, the general trend - but not a universal one - is to treat stats in D&amp;D as mechanical only and not part of the fiction at all (so INT 7 has no more meaning than take a -2 penalty on INT-based rolls); and to treat race/species as not part of fictional position, but as a combo of mere colour (&quot;I'm a wood elf - I have pointy ears&quot;) and mechanics (&quot;I'm a wood elf - the falling rain drops give me the cover I need to invoke the hiding rules&quot;).Once it is agreed that something is a component of fictional position, then it constraints actions. Not just physical location - though in D&amp;D play that often looms very large - but what a character is holding/wielding/wearing, what language they're speaking, perhaps what some other character's attitude is towards them, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9599638, member: 42582"] Is [I]being a wood elf[/I] or [I]having 7 INT[/I] an element of fictional position? A lot of disagreement about how D&D should be played (not all of it) seems to result from the fact that different people answer those questions differently! As I see it, the general trend - but not a universal one - is to treat stats in D&D as [I]mechanical[/I] only and not part of the fiction at all (so INT 7 has no more meaning than [I]take a -2 penalty on INT-based rolls[/i]); and to treat race/species as not part of fictional position, but as a combo of [i]mere[/I] colour ("I'm a wood elf - I have pointy ears") and mechanics ("I'm a wood elf - the falling rain drops give me the cover I need to invoke the hiding rules"). Once it is agreed that something is a component of fictional position, then it constraints actions. Not just physical location - though in D&D play that often looms very large - but what a character is holding/wielding/wearing, what language they're speaking, perhaps what some other character's attitude is towards them, etc. [/QUOTE]

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