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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7052383" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!It's not a dump stat because of &quot;mechanics&quot;. It's seen as a dump stat by some DM's and some Players because of their play style.It has been my experience that skills and stat checks that come up frequently usually have failures that end in a slight delay or minor setback. Stats that some up every now and then have failures ending in serious delays or fairly significant setbacks. Those stats that come up once in a blue moon usually end in utter failure or unmitigated disaster.It has also been my experience that, over time, the so-called &quot;dump stats&quot; are seen that way because the DM just doesn't do his/her job as &quot;adjudicator of the world's reality&quot;, and in stead performs his/her job as nothing more than &quot;the player who rolls for the monsters&quot;.In my games, for example, Investigation/Int is used all the time...about as equal as any other stat check/skill...but the failure for not knowing something, or forgetting something, often ends up with dead PC's. I also don't &quot;refresh&quot; the players minds about stuff...usually. Just recently the party met with a guy who was seeking adventurers to life a curse from his liege lord (&quot;Into the Wilds&quot;, DCC #38 for anyone interested). The guy gave them info, told them where to go to find Wildsgate (the frontier town/fort), and some other basic info. Nobody wrote anything down. Next session they get to Wildsgate and then get stopped at the gate by a big, burly barbarian dude with a huge axe, and a creepy &quot;harrow-elf&quot; looking guy (a race from the fantasy heartbreaker RPG &quot;Darkurthe Legends&quot;). The big dude asks &quot;So, what brings you here? Are you looking for adventure, or trouble?...[gently caressing the notches in his big-axe]...&quot;.The PC's reaction? ... &quot;Uh...we're here because, um...[hey why are we here again?...*mumble mumble*]...Oh, right. Because of a curse&quot;.&nbsp; The Reeve asks &quot;Oh? Really now? And who told you that?...[raises big-axe off ground and hefts it over one shoulder]&quot;... &quot;Uh...[stunned silence]&quot;...&nbsp; At this point I asked for an Intellect roll from everyone (the game system is <a href="http://www.dominionrules.org" target="_blank">Dominion Rules RPG</a>.&nbsp; After a series of failures...and much sweating/nail-biting... someone made it. (&quot;Tuvin&quot;, I whisper).&nbsp; &quot;Oh! Right! Tuvin! That travelling bard type guy! Him...he sent us!&quot;.Morale of the story: Don't forget <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> that might get you killed.Now, of course this is all anectdotal and doesn't rely specifically on &quot;mechanics&quot; that are &quot;built-in&quot; to the game. But, as I said, a DM and Players that see any stat in any game as a &quot;dump stat&quot; are just not &quot;adjudicating&quot; the game so much as &quot;following the RAW&quot;.Hope all that makes some kind of sense! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pming, post: 7052383, member: 45197"] Hiya! It's not a dump stat because of "mechanics". It's seen as a dump stat by some DM's and some Players because of their play style. It has been my experience that skills and stat checks that come up frequently usually have failures that end in a slight delay or minor setback. Stats that some up every now and then have failures ending in serious delays or fairly significant setbacks. Those stats that come up once in a blue moon usually end in utter failure or unmitigated disaster. It has also been my experience that, over time, the so-called "dump stats" are seen that way because the DM just doesn't do his/her job as "adjudicator of the world's reality", and in stead performs his/her job as nothing more than "the player who rolls for the monsters". In my games, for example, Investigation/Int is used all the time...about as equal as any other stat check/skill...but the failure for not knowing something, or forgetting something, often ends up with dead PC's. I also don't "refresh" the players minds about stuff...usually. Just recently the party met with a guy who was seeking adventurers to life a curse from his liege lord ("Into the Wilds", DCC #38 for anyone interested). The guy gave them info, told them where to go to find Wildsgate (the frontier town/fort), and some other basic info. Nobody wrote anything down. Next session they get to Wildsgate and then get stopped at the gate by a big, burly barbarian dude with a huge axe, and a creepy "harrow-elf" looking guy (a race from the fantasy heartbreaker RPG "Darkurthe Legends"). The big dude asks "So, what brings you here? Are you looking for adventure, or trouble?...[gently caressing the notches in his big-axe]...". The PC's reaction? ... "Uh...we're here because, um...[hey why are we here again?...*mumble mumble*]...Oh, right. Because of a curse". The Reeve asks "Oh? Really now? And who told you that?...[raises big-axe off ground and hefts it over one shoulder]"... "Uh...[stunned silence]"... At this point I asked for an Intellect roll from everyone (the game system is [url=http://www.dominionrules.org]Dominion Rules RPG[/url]. After a series of failures...and much sweating/nail-biting... someone made it. ("Tuvin", I whisper). "Oh! Right! Tuvin! That travelling bard type guy! Him...he sent us!". Morale of the story: Don't forget :):):):) that might get you killed. Now, of course this is all anectdotal and doesn't rely specifically on "mechanics" that are "built-in" to the game. But, as I said, a DM and Players that see [I]any[/I] stat in any game as a "dump stat" are just not "adjudicating" the game so much as "following the RAW". Hope all that makes some kind of sense! :) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]

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