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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dykstrav" data-source="post: 5554142" data-attributes="member: 40522">As both a player and as a GM/DM, I prefer for characters to be statistically average as compared to the people around them. There's a few major reasons for this... Reasons that not everyone will agree with or appreciate, but it's what I think.For starters, I personally enjoy a challenge. I want my characters to succeed because I play them well, not because I'm "supposed" to succeed. I fully expect to enjoy both the fruits of victory and the perils of defeat, and beginning with mechanical advantages (of any sort) acts as a bit of narrative insulation from poor decisions and planning. If my character is statistically likely to succeed at something by just trying it, the decision to engage in the action becomes less meaningful. To me, part of the fun of the game is in carefully analyzing a situation and forming a plan that maximizes advantages and minimizes risk. Success isn't fun if there's no real element of risk.Second, I don't think that it's appropriate for every game. For some stories or games, sure. When the characters are exceptional by default, it's usually because that's the fundamental idea behind the characters, not that talented people are wandering around looking for an adventure. Even in narratives where a character is destined for greatness, they don't necessarily stand out from the crowd because of their abilities--think Luke Skywalker at the beginning of a New Hope or Frodo Baggins in the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring. Are they destined to accomplish great things? Sure. Do people know it because they are paragons in their respective fields? Not really. They are important because the story focuses on them, not because they have an ability score of 18.Third, I've observed that giving characters inherent superiority encourages "tunnel vision," at least in some players. There are a great many players that believe that they should use their powers to solve every problem, and become incensed or despondent when they are required to approach a problem from a narrative perspective instead of a mechanical one. In all fairness, every problem looks like a nail when you have a really big hammer... But it really gets on my nerves when players expect to walk through a problem with a few dice rolls or can't separate the narrative from the mechanics. Giving players advantageous mechanics supports and encourages them to use those mechanics in preference to other resources.Finally, I honestly believe that the mechanics aren't as important as a player's skill, or perhaps their attitude in playing the game. A player that makes suboptimal choices or has poor judgment will retain those disadvantages regardless of their character abilities. Nothing prevents a character with a Wisdom of 18 from leaping from a cliff and hoping that they have enough hit points to survive the fall, or from flipping the bird to a demon prince surrounded by several balor lieutenants and scores of mortal worshippers. Players that treat the game flippantly (or are just dumb as bricks) will find new and amazing ways to die horrifically in any circumstance.</blockquote>

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