Is this offensive?

[Nifft]

Congrats. That was both creepy AND funny.

Thanks. Turns out DM'ing is good practice for that.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Alzrius]

Odd stat modifiers offend me deeply.

Serious, -- N

QFT. Seriously, a +1 bonus to Wis and Cha? Has 3.X design philosophy taught us nothing?

Beyond that, someone who wants to create stat-based gender differences can assign various character flaws to characters as they see fit. We don't need a flat, universal rule to be applied everywhere.

 

[apoptosis]

i wouldnt be offended either but it is not particularly useful game design (as it is more likely to annoy people and be houseruled than to solve anything).

No one cares about racial modifiers as none of the races are real so few people get offended if we give them bonuses and penalties

For game design in a game with only 6 stats to describe a person, it would be difficult to come up with modifiers with the exception of strength.

Strength - this is the only one that really can be done for humans; men are significantly stronger than women (in a statistical sense). For other species this doesn't necessarily hold and can be totally opposite and more extreme.

Dexterity - women tend to have better fine manipulation, men tend to have better gross dexterity

Wisdom - not even sure how to look at it easily, it is too vague

Charisma - once again would be hard to study. Too many different ideas that comprise charisma would be looked at (sociability, command, attractiveness etc.)

Constitution - contrary to the popular urban legend, men have been shown repeatedly to have higher pain tolerance and higher pain threshold (this has not been studied during childbirth itself so during this process who knows). Women on the other hand live much longer on average and men tend to break down at an earlier age.

Intelligence - IQs are statistically not significatly different. Men tend to cluster more at the extremes of the ranges.

So except for strength there is no easy way to look at sex-based statistical modifications.

Making bonuses for STR (or penalities for women) would probably just annoy people, particularly since there would be no way to balance this and people would generally want balance. Why make rules that people will just house rule away.

So not offensive, just not particularly useful for game mechanics unless someone really wanted to be 'real-world' simulationist.

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm not specifically offended but I find the concept silly and non-productive.

 

[Hypersmurf]

And surely there are--well, not halfling bodybuilders...

-Hyp.

 

[roguerouge]

Actually, "Pocket Hercules," the most successful weightlifter in history according to CNN, weighs 132 pounds. Now, that's not halfling-sized, but it's getting closer...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2000/weightlifting/news/2000/09/17/pocket_hercules/

 

[blargney the second]

If you're deeply inclined to make mechanics modifications based on sex, you should think about doing it at a more specific level than ability scores. For example, you might give men +1 on Str-based skills and women get +1 on Cha-based skills.

Personally, I don't think it's at all necessary - there's plenty of room for customization built right in to the game.
-blarg

 

[krissbeth]

Constitution - contrary to the popular urban legend, men have been shown repeatedly to have higher pain tolerance and higher pain threshold (this has not been studied during childbirth itself so during this process who knows). Women on the other hand live much longer on average and men tend to break down at an earlier age.

I think surviving labor shows evidence of females having a higher con.

 

[apoptosis]

I think surviving labor shows evidence of females having a higher con.

I was just talking about pain tolerance...not survival

 

[Kishin]

I thought that was how the majority of roleplayers did it back in the day, but it seems like most people actually pick their race based on what will give them better ability score bonuses for their class. :\

I don't. Some people do, though, and this is a perfectly valid playstyle.

I'd be offended on grounds of bad design. And, like Ari brought up, also on grounds of fear for my life in having to explain this to the female gamers I play with.