D&D 5E How do you determine your initial Attributes?

[Maxperson]

And yet the mental skills outnumber the physical skills 14 to 4 when we consider ability checks with proficiency.

This is a flaw in the system. Athletics encompasses too much. It really should be split into about 4 skills. And if we applied the same standard to intelligence skills, there would only be two skills there, since arcana, religion, history and nature are all the skill Knowledge.

 

[Maxperson]

But I digress. If 10 is considered average, and if players play using the 27 point by or more so, the Std Array, every single char is going to be "below average" in some manner, if they max min their chars. That is hardly "ableist".

That's false. You can in fact make a PC that is not below average anywhere. 12 points will give you straight 10's, and then you have 15 more points to raise stats from there. 15, 15, 11, 10, 10, 10 is 27 points, as is the example 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12 which is explicitly above average. So 12 by RAW is not high average. It's above average. Similarly 9 is below average. Average in 5e is 10-11.

And no, I do not play chars with low Int. You have no reason to believe me, but I have separate degrees in Economics and Physics. I could not RP a low Int char to save my life, the same way I can't RP a high CHA char. Like anyone else, I can play either mechanically, which was the first and only intent of the rules. But to ACT (which is the modern definition of Role-Playing) inside a D&D game...nope.

I have no reason not to believe you, but your degrees are irrelevant to whether or not you can roleplay a low intelligence. And you're still trying to conflate low scores with high scores. They aren't the same. You can easily roleplay a score lower than your own, but will find it impossible to roleplay a score higher than your own.

And the modern definition of roleplay is simply, playing a role. That's it. Acting is only one method of playing a role.

Edit: Minor math correction.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I have no reason not to believe you, but your degrees are irrelevant to whether or not you can roleplay a low intelligence. And your still trying to conflate low scores with high scores. They aren't the same. You can easily roleplay a score lower than your own, but will find it impossible to roleplay a score higher than your own.

And the modern definition of roleplay is simply, playing a role. That's it. Acting is only one method of playing a role.

Wait, we have scores in real life???

 

[Maxperson]

Wait, we have scores in real life???

You know what I mean

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

That's false. You can in fact make a PC that is not below average anywhere. 10 points will give you straight 10's, and then you have 17 more points to raise stats from there. 15, 15, 11, 10, 10, 10 is 27 points, as is the example 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12 which is explicitly above average. So 12 by RAW is not high average. It's above average. Similarly 9 is below average. Average in 5e is 10-11.

I have no reason not to believe you, but your degrees are irrelevant to whether or not you can roleplay a low intelligence. And your still trying to conflate low scores with high scores. They aren't the same. You can easily roleplay a score lower than your own, but will find it impossible to roleplay a score higher than your own.

And the modern definition of roleplay is simply, playing a role. That's it. Acting is only one method of playing a role.

You left out the words from my post where I said "if they max min their chars.". Std Array has a 8 in it. I have no idea how many Dex chars make Str = 8, or how many Paladin's make Int or Dex = 8. But it is a lot. I daresay, you look at 100 char sheets from players that built using Std Array or 27 point buy, at level 1 there is AT LEAST one 8 on 50 of those sheets.

 

[Maxperson]

You left out the words from my post where I said "if they max min their chars.". Std Array has a 8 in it. I have no idea how many Dex chars make Str = 8, or how many Paladin's make Int or Dex = 8. But it is a lot. I daresay, you look at 100 char sheets from players that built using Std Array or 27 point buy, at level 1 there is AT LEAST one 8 on 50 of those sheets.

That doesn't equate to min-maxing. A whole lot of people like roleplaying characters with physical or mental flaws(low stats). The only way to do that with point buy is not to raise everything to 10+.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Wait, we have scores in real life???

You can see then from 'properties' tab under 'personal settings'. It is kinda hard to find, so most people don't know this. And no, you can't ask the admins for a reroll.

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

That doesn't equate to min-maxing. A whole lot of people like roleplaying characters with physical or mental flaws(low stats). The only way to do that with point buy is not to raise everything to 10+.

OK, now I am really confused.
Are you arguing that most chars that are built with the 27 point buy and std array DO have sub-average scores, and this is not "ableist?
Because I agree with that.

 

[Maxperson]

OK, now I am really confused.
Are you arguing that most chars that are built with the 27 point buy and std array DO have sub-average scores, and this is not "ableist?
Because I agree with that.

I'm not arguing how many do or don't have them. There's no way for you or I to have any real idea about that. I'm simply saying that there are RP reasons for having a stat of 8. It doesn't equate to min-maxing. And nothing we do in D&D is abelist or not. Nobody is being discriminated against as a result of the RP.

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

I'm not arguing how many do or don't have them. There's no way for you or I to have any real idea about that. I'm simply saying that there are RP reasons for having a stat of 8. It doesn't equate to min-maxing. And nothing we do in D&D is abelist or not. Nobody is being discriminated against as a result of the RP.

Then we are on the same page, essentially. Other than you calling it for RP reasons, and I am calling it min-maxing. And yes, when I create a char, I do have an 8, but never because of RP reasons. I don't play an RP game, or minimize that as much as I can.