Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willie the Duck" data-source="post: 8579487" data-attributes="member: 6799660">The first part of this talks about creating a PC-generator, while the second talks about demographic qualities of the game world. I'm going to do a tangential shift from the discussion of non-binary gender in particular and discuss my opinion of game design: I systematically disagree with the notion that a PC generator (be that gender breakdown or game-score generation) ought to be extrapolatable to the general population. The PC-generation system should be PC-facing and set up to best create enjoyable and interesting characters, full stop. Even if the NPCs of the world are built using the same mechanical stuff of the PCs (they too have attributes and derived stats and stuff), the method that each is determined should not be the same, as they serve differing purposes within the game. Part of this comes from a long memory of the girl that joined our gaming group when we were 9 playing BX/BECMI D&D and left when we switched to AD&D and someone else told her 'it was just realistic' that there should be a gender-based Strength cap. More pertinent to the topic of distribution, however, are things like Traveller or GURPS: Space or the like which create star systems, where it is absolutely reasonable that the average star system is a nondistinctive brown dwarf or small Main sequence G with mostly uninhabitable planets. This makes sense if you are just throwing a dart at the map and saying, 'so, what's there?' However, for something like home planets for the PCs, a different chart needs be consulted. One which includes interesting places that make the characters interesting to play. I don't really know this means for your character generator gender tab, other than to say, 'don't worry about the demographic distribution of your game world' for said generator, since emulating it isn't said generator's goal.</blockquote>

Verification