Is this offensive?

[roguerouge]

It's ok. Everybody does it. I feel it just proves that I don't have a -1 to my Cha.

Funny. But, for the record, I was disagreeing with you.

 

[diaglo]

Also, you gain a +4 bonus on Charisma checks to influence knights who draw from the Rap power source.

Cheers, -- N

I like big butts and I can not lie You other brothers can't deny That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist... -- Sir Mix-a-lot

 

[Piratecat]

It's ok. Everybody does it. I feel it just proves that I don't have a -1 to my Cha.

Certainly not ONLY -1, Rel!

Again, this is a perfect example that odd stat modifiers are inappropriate.

 

[Felix]

I can see what you're trying to model with all of that, and it would be nice if you wanted to slant the field by giving males the edge in physical combat and women the edge in Sorcerous and Divine magic.

Frankly it will be a detriment to your game because of the earful you'll get from people angrily thumping on the "Everyone Is The Same!" drum; deserved or not, it will sow disruption.

 

[Rel]

Certainly not -1, Rel!

STOP KEEP TRYING TO GET INTO MY PANTS!

 

[kenmarable]

You know, as someone who has taken his fair share of anthropology (and women's anthropology, at that!), I have to say that the idea of "women are weaker but wiser/more charismatic" is just silly.

This trait is something that is culturally stressed, not truly biological. While most cultures have a bias towards male dominance in some ways, not all cultures assume males will be stronger. In some north african cultures, women are stronger, because they are responsible for grinding millet (which builds upper body strength), while the men are more dextrous from the hunting that they traditionally perform.

Good point, I think even looking at the image we have for the people with the highest strength, yes, currently I'd imagine that the world's strongest man is stronger than the world's strongest woman, but that probably has a lot more to do with competition than with actual physical make up.

A clearer example might be the 4 minute mile. It was considered impossible - until Roger Bannister did it. Now, you really can't compete professionally unless you can do much better than a 4 minute mile. Have human beings evolved into being faster in the last 50 years? No, just the competition keeps pushing people further and keeps trying to top the older records.

So having the world's strongest men being better than the world's strongest women could very well have more to do with how much competition there is and how long it's been around than with any genetic difference that Y chromosome gives the fellas.

 

[Piratecat]

STOP KEEP TRYING TO GET INTO MY PANTS!

You may have misinterpreted. I've edited my post to make it clearer.

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

"The dice fall where they may."

Personally, 3d6 down the line, swap the number groups around to the attributes for the type of character you're looking to play, or let the rolls suggest a character.

3d6 allows 3-18 variation, a fair range. Unless everyone has bonuses somehow equivalent to everyone elses bonuses, then a bonus for one is really a comparative penalty for another.

Surely you should be a hero for doing brave deeds, not for being physically better?

 

[apoptosis]

You know, as someone who has taken his fair share of anthropology (and women's anthropology, at that!), I have to say that the idea of "women are weaker but wiser/more charismatic" is just silly.

This trait is something that is culturally stressed, not truly biological. While most cultures have a bias towards male dominance in some ways, not all cultures assume males will be stronger. In some north african cultures, women are stronger, because they are responsible for grinding millet (which builds upper body strength), while the men are more dextrous from the hunting that they traditionally perform.

I would have to disagree. I am a biologist and from a biology standpoint men are significantly stronger than women by a fair margin. This is not a cultural issue (though cultural issues can definitely impact strength) but a biological one. Muscle development is different genetically and biochemically. This is not in any way in doubt scientifically through every type of study. Men and women of the same weight will not possess the same strength as men have on average have significantly (statistically) greater muscle mass.

Unless they genetically engineer women, men will always be stronger. While equal training has definitely decreased the gap, it is pretty close to the point of being genetic differences. Even supplementing with anabolic steroids doesn't even out the playing field as much musculoskeletal development has already occurred. It would really require upregulating many genes in women involved in muscle development. It is the same intrasex differences, genetics play a large role in whether a person can pack on the muscle or not (why i can't ever be a large muscle guy without lots of steroids).

But in a game who cares. You could model the STR differences reasonably well, but for what gain. It would just cause issues and really very little benefit.

 

[loseth]

I would have to disagree. I am a biologist and from a biology standpoint men are significantly stronger than women by a fair margin. This is not a cultural issue (though cultural issues can definitely impact strength) but a biological one. Muscle development is different genetically and biochemically. This is not in any way in doubt scientifically through every type of study. Men and women of the same weight will not possess the same strength as men have on average have significantly (statistically) greater muscle mass.

Unless they genetically engineer women, men will always be stronger. While equal training has definitely decreased the gap, it is pretty close to the point of being genetic differences. Even supplementing with anabolic steroids doesn't even out the playing field as much musculoskeletal development has already occurred. It would really require upregulating many genes in women involved in muscle development. It is the same within-sex differences, genetics play a large role in whether a person can pack on the muscle or not (why i can't ever be a large muscle guy without lots of steroids).

But in a game who cares. You could model the STR differences reasonably well, but for what gain. It would just cause issues and really very little benefit.

I'm in a similar position. I'm a linguist, specialising in the evolution of the cognitive capacities that underly language production, and also a practising language teacher. But I have found again and again in discussions like this (particularly over the Internet) that arguing against absolute cultural reletavist positions accomplishes nothing and ends up hurting some people's feelings pretty badly (often in addition to causing a flame war). IMHO, it's best just to agree to disagree in order to avoid getting into nasty arguments and possibly poisoning relationships with other posters that you might get along with swimmingly in just about any thread.

Oh...and for the record--I agree that there's no especially good reason to include gender stat modifiers in D&D. Rather, I made the OP because I noitced that on ENWorld (as opposed to RPG.net, where I usually hang out), nobody ever gets upset about race in fantasy RPGs. I wanted to know if the same held true of gender, and if not, why. I've got a pretty clear idea of the answer to that now.