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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Anthtriel" data-source="post: 4029544" data-attributes="member: 13764">Interesting, I think I am at the complete opposite side of the spectrum. When I imagine a perfect RPG system (or make something far from perfect myself), I place very low emphasis on stats, and often drop them completely.While they are certainly a nice starting point for characterization, and thus help beginners and hack&slashers in roleplaying, I dislike how they settle you into one role that you cannot ever leave. I generally prefer games with long down time, and strong changes in characters over time, which generally doesn't work well with stats, because raising stats you weren't good with originally is usually mechanically discouraged.I also strongly dislike random stats, especially if they are emphasized. In your system for example, it is entirely feasible (probability over 12%) to get a character with no stat over 12 , while another character (also with a probability over 12%) might get at least one stat over 16, and thus be capable of "super-human feats" in at least one area. And lets not even speak of the rarer superhuman, or complete cripple, which might be in the same group if you are particularily unlucky. Nevermind balancing that mess, because groups and group strengths will be all over the place.If you define something like 15 (or worse yet, 14) already as olympic, then you will have lots of characters that are both among the best out there in one area, and one of the worst in another. For example, you would have a lot of fighters that are stronger than any weight-lifter, but too stupid to speak coherently, or who are completely blind and deaf. Or Wizards who have insight far beyond normal people (which is fine), but are also weaker than a toddler (which is not so fine).The cliches will be so much over the top that you are steering into comedy territory. Ridiculosly strong stats are usually okay (though there are quite a few people who would rather have more realistic characters), but ridiculosly weak stats are very problematic. There is a reason why you couldn't go below 8 with point buy in 3.5 (unless you had a racial adjustment), and even then playing with Intelligence 8 was rather problematic and unpopular.For games that need stats, such as D&D with it's strongly defined party roles (especially in 4E, apparently), I actually still like something like the 3.5 system with point buy best, at least if the ability modifiers are not used on their own, but along with some other scaling value, such as level in 4E apparently. That should make stats less, but still somewhat important.</blockquote>

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