Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 9600876" data-attributes="member: 6915329">Many systems (such as D&amp;D) do not have an inherent setting. (They may have a default setting but that's different). Thus, when they say that Whoozits have +2 or -2 to a stat, they're telling me that I have to make my Whoozits be a particular way, no matter what my own setting may be.Stat mods are boring and not particularly realistic. In D&amp;D, at least, a +/-2 to a stat equates to a +/-5%. Your orc is 5% stronger than my human and 10% stronger than another player's halfling. Ooh, scary. I'd much rather have flavorful traits, even negative traits. Give me orcs that startle if exposed to bright light, or elves that become sick if they touch iron. Even a condition that lasts for a single round is more flavorful than a penalty and creates more opportunities for RP.Because stats control a lot of skills, people may think &quot;Whoozits are rude and therefore people think they're jerks, so they get a -2 to Charisma,&quot; without realizing that means that Whoozits are also racially bad at intimidation, acting, and lying. (I recall a letter or forum piece from an old Dragon mag about how, in 3e, a sickly gnome armed with a carrot was more intimidating than an orc barbarian.) A penalty may have made sense back in the AD&amp;D days before skills existed, but not now. It would make a lot more sense for Whoozits to get a penalty on rolls to persuade people. And then, of course, racism, fantasy biology, yadda yadda.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 9600876, member: 6915329"] Many systems (such as D&D) do not have an inherent setting. (They may have a [I]default [/I]setting but that's different). Thus, when they say that Whoozits have +2 or -2 to a stat, they're telling me that I have to make [I]my [/I]Whoozits be a particular way, no matter what my own setting may be. Stat mods are boring and not particularly realistic. In D&D, at least, a +/-2 to a stat equates to a +/-5%. Your orc is 5% stronger than my human and 10% stronger than another player's halfling. Ooh, scary. I'd much rather have flavorful traits, even negative traits. Give me orcs that startle if exposed to bright light, or elves that become sick if they touch iron. Even a condition that lasts for a single round is more flavorful than a penalty and creates more opportunities for RP. Because stats control a lot of skills, people may think "Whoozits are rude and therefore people think they're jerks, so they get a -2 to Charisma," without realizing that means that Whoozits are also racially bad at intimidation, acting, and lying. (I recall a letter or forum piece from an old Dragon mag about how, in 3e, a sickly gnome armed with a carrot was more intimidating than an orc barbarian.) A penalty may have made sense back in the AD&D days before skills existed, but not now. It would make a lot more sense for Whoozits to get a penalty on rolls to persuade people. And then, of course, racism, fantasy biology, yadda yadda. [I][/I] [/QUOTE]

Verification