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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 5680831" data-attributes="member: 19675">Not merely anecdotal: any pro athlete goes through a winnowing process that narrows the talent pool from hundreds of thousands or even millions to just a few hundred in a given league. I personally know a NY Yankee draftee who never played a game for them- he blew up his knee between being brought into the organization and opening day of the next season.One of my clients is a talented rapper and protegee of Erykah Badu- he called in all of his favors to get a gig in a Dallas nightclub in order to showcase his talent to a Sony Records exec.  Hours before his show, the club was hit and all of the electronic gear was stolen: the Sony bigwig didn't feel like staying for a rap show without lights, microphones, speakers or turntables to supply music for my client to rap over.  That was in 1995- his window of opportunity is closed.And I wasn't kidding about my buddy the bass player, nor exaggerating my abilities with stringed instruments or cooking.  Carpal tunnel syndrome took away his shot, and I chose to do other things. Because it is another reason why an otherwise talented person would turn his back on something he's good at without looking for "setting-specific reasons why casters aren't chosen more often by NPCs."  Simple everyday life and decision-making will keep many talents away from study of the arcane.  Hell, someone may simply be risk averse. NPCs gotta eat.  If you can't make money as a wizard but you CAN as a merchant, you're going to become a merchant.Why can't you make money as a wizard if you're so smart?  Maybe you live someplace where you can't get the material components for the few spells you may know and still make a profit selling your skills.  And if you don't care for the adventuring life, that means you need to find another way to make money. True- and likewise, just because you have the Int, Wis or Cha to become a spellcaster doesn't mean you'll get the opportunity to learn the basics to start down that road.Say you're one of the 4 brightest people in the county, and a Wizard has come around looking for an apprentice.  You're in the running, but eventually, the Wizard chooses your closest rival, the son of an aristocrat who had political pull and money to make the Wizard's life a bit easier.  You were smarter, but your rival's "total package" was better.  You don't even get to learn Read Magic.  Oh well, there's always the next Wizard, right?Well, no Wizard comes around looking for an apprentice for the next 23 years.  By this time, you're a leader in the community and you have a wife and kids, including a daughter who is every bit as smart as you are.  Do you compete against her (and the others) for the apprenticeship, or do you do for your daughter what your rival's father did for him? MJ's height is one of very few things we can look at and say it gives him an advantage.There are very few players in the NBA under 6' tall- Muggsy Bogues, Allen Iverson, Avery Johnson and Spud Webb are among the most famous- the league's average height is 6'3".  So while its not directly corollary, it IS one of those things that coaches will use to sort out who gets to play and who doesn't.  IOW, it directly influences opportunitiesAs for his reflexes, those, while not on record as being measured under lab conditions, were repeatedly in evidence on the b-ball courts season after season.  MJ was noted for practicing for hours after regular practices were over.  Most people don't have that opportunity: as a kid, they have homework or a job to go to, and as they age, there are more demands on their time. 1) Maybe when you played, but not me.  Most of my characters were multiclassed, and when I could, my Humans tended to be dual-classed.  I even played a Bard or 2. Again, the "drive" is implicit in taking the levels in the first place.  Someone who doesn't have the drive to be a Wizard will not take the steps to become one- he will not study spellbooks, he will not acquire (pricey or dangerous to acquire) material components.Someone with a Int 19 may think to himself- "Its pretty damn foolish for me to go adventuring in dark, dank and dangerous dungeons just so I can bankroll my fantasy about being a Mage- I think I'll just use my intellect to make my family's business the biggest in the region."IOW, that person lacks the drive to be a mage, despite his raw talent.</blockquote>

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