Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Four Ability Scores
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 7826251" data-attributes="member: 6704184"><p>The thread is about 5e. If you assume that I am only talking about 5e unless I specify otherwise, you’ll almost always be right. </p><p></p><p>I don’t care if other editions had dump stats and ivory tower design. 5e doesn’t, so this concern is unnecessary and the proposed solution would be to the detriment of the game. </p><p></p><p>2-3 stats can work for a general game. 4 can work for a game with specific enough tone that “Cool” and “Weird” can be a stat. </p><p></p><p>In a game like dnd, 5-7 stats is probably the sweet spot, and 6 works really, really, well. </p><p></p><p>Having 3 physical stats allows for differentiation between types of physicality without getting bogged down in excessively branching delineation to the point people get confused with casual system use. </p><p></p><p>Having 3 mental stats does the same, but differentiates different broad types of inner/social behavioral methodology. </p><p></p><p>People can grok the 6 stats without having ever played any sort of RPG. I taught an 8 year old I’d never met before how to play 5e yesterday, at a game at my public library. He understood the 6 stats well enough to just dig into making an elf rogue and playing the game. </p><p></p><p>IME, people who don’t spend a lot of time analyzing game design just get it, and that is more important than whether it makes sense to folks like you and I. By far. I’d go so far as to say that it <em>only</em> actually matters if they get it. </p><p></p><p>I happen to also think the 5e take on the stats works even under examination, though. You just have to not try to force the stats to be hyper-literal. That’s it.</p><p></p><p> A Dex 20/Str 10/Con 12 character with Acrobatics Expertise has well defined musculature/is pretty strong in IRL usage of the term strong, solid metabolism, and good stamina under normal circumstances. How do I know this? Because they are extremely good at activities that require a person to be in that condition. </p><p></p><p>So, why not just make Strength and Dex a single stat, or put all “purely physical” prowess into one stat? Because the game benefits from delineating between characters who focus on agility and related traits, vs characters who focus on physical power and related traits. People expect, even those who’ve never played an RPG, to have the quick nimble guy and the powerful bruiser type, to be different mechanically. </p><p></p><p>You could go Body/Wits/Will or Heart and move that differentiation entirely to other parts of the game, but the proposed breakdown ends up awkward for trying to hold the same place as DnD’s stats.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="doctorbadwolf, post: 7826251, member: 6704184"] The thread is about 5e. If you assume that I am only talking about 5e unless I specify otherwise, you’ll almost always be right. I don’t care if other editions had dump stats and ivory tower design. 5e doesn’t, so this concern is unnecessary and the proposed solution would be to the detriment of the game. 2-3 stats can work for a general game. 4 can work for a game with specific enough tone that “Cool” and “Weird” can be a stat. In a game like dnd, 5-7 stats is probably the sweet spot, and 6 works really, really, well. Having 3 physical stats allows for differentiation between types of physicality without getting bogged down in excessively branching delineation to the point people get confused with casual system use. Having 3 mental stats does the same, but differentiates different broad types of inner/social behavioral methodology. People can grok the 6 stats without having ever played any sort of RPG. I taught an 8 year old I’d never met before how to play 5e yesterday, at a game at my public library. He understood the 6 stats well enough to just dig into making an elf rogue and playing the game. IME, people who don’t spend a lot of time analyzing game design just get it, and that is more important than whether it makes sense to folks like you and I. By far. I’d go so far as to say that it [I]only[/I] actually matters if they get it. I happen to also think the 5e take on the stats works even under examination, though. You just have to not try to force the stats to be hyper-literal. That’s it. A Dex 20/Str 10/Con 12 character with Acrobatics Expertise has well defined musculature/is pretty strong in IRL usage of the term strong, solid metabolism, and good stamina under normal circumstances. How do I know this? Because they are extremely good at activities that require a person to be in that condition. So, why not just make Strength and Dex a single stat, or put all “purely physical” prowess into one stat? Because the game benefits from delineating between characters who focus on agility and related traits, vs characters who focus on physical power and related traits. People expect, even those who’ve never played an RPG, to have the quick nimble guy and the powerful bruiser type, to be different mechanically. You could go Body/Wits/Will or Heart and move that differentiation entirely to other parts of the game, but the proposed breakdown ends up awkward for trying to hold the same place as DnD’s stats. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Four Ability Scores
Top