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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 9646784" data-attributes="member: 7808">A round stone is mounted on a pole, and the pole is inserted into a rock. The rock is labeled with many runes. Your character is tasked to rotate the stone, in a single round, until a mark on its outer edge points at a specific rune. If the stone is 1cm diameter and needs to be pointed with precision of 0.1 degrees (like a fine electronic dial), this is clearly a Dex check. If the stone is 2m across, 300kg, and the precision is 1/6th of a turn (60 degrees), this is clearly a Str check. At some combination of size, weight, and precision, this is a task of body agility, balance, and mobility, and becomes an Athletics check. Can you determine exactly where the crossover points are? There is always overlap. And, in fact, there is less ambiguity in a 6 ability system, because you only have to decide between Dex and Str. Introducing more abilities, like Ath, inherently increases the number of overlaps to consider, and increases ambiguity. IMNSHO, not only are the abilities abstract, but the "bottom" from which you refer up from, the combat, the mechanics, and the encounter are, too. The entire game is an abstraction. How can it not be? Is it real? Physical? Empirical?</blockquote>