I don't get the arguments for bioessentialism

[Corinnguard]

Good thing both sides can present only subjective personal opinions then.

It's easier to be subjective than objective about something. Being objective means you have to put aside any biases you might have and for some that's not any easy thing to do as it's a part of who they are.

 

[BrokenTwin]

I guess you mean sex rather than gender (assuming you are aware of the difference).

But there isn't really a problem with stat bonuses between different sexes of fantasy races assuming they have significant enough sexual dimorphism to be represented by stat bonuses or penalties.

I never got a chance to run it, but I did develop a setting once where the ancestries were based on sexual dimorphism in animals. The people based on birds of paradise, for instance, had males with bright, colourful feathers and a bonus on impressing/distracting others, while the females had dull, camouflaging colours and a bonus to hiding. The spotted hyenas based people, the females were stronger and more aggressive, while the males were smaller and sneaker. One of the ancestries had more than two distinct sexes, one was monosexual, and another had the ability to change sexes with a long rest.

The natural world is full of interesting things that can be adapted to games. Having said that, it CAN be difficult to design some of these without accidentally mapping them to real-world racial/cultural stereotypes.

 

[AnotherGuy]

The natural world is full of interesting things that can be adapted to games.

Often when doom-scrolling with insta or youtube shorts I come across some interesting info re an animal/insect characteristic etc and I save it with the intention of using in my game and sharing that appreciation of the marvel of our world with my friends and sadly I don't get to it.
Yet another way I let myself down.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Good thing both sides can present only subjective personal opinions then.

Good thing I don't agree that's always the case. I'm perfectly capable of understanding the arguments in favor of Advantage/Disadvantage even though they're based in premises I don't share. I'm also perfectly capable of arguing there's a price even for people who prefer that. I think that goes well beyond both ends just being opinion, and attempting to reduce it to just opinion frankly strikes me as a cop-out to avoid having to ever defend a preference.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Good thing I don't agree that's always the case.

Fair enough (that's also an opinion you are entitled to), but unless you have data proving objectivity, I'm going to continue to assume everyone has their own point of view.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Fair enough (that's also an opinion you are entitled to), but unless you have data proving objectivity, I'm going to continue to assume everyone has their own point of view.

Sometime data is needed; sometimes logic and walking through the process should be enough.