NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7273087" data-attributes="member: 996">So a range of 8-15 is not so meaningfully different from 3-18, since neither are "the full range." That can't possibly be true, as they can give the exact same results.I think what you mean is that the result set of generating thousands of arrays via a random method is going to look more like a random sampling of a population - if you had a way to measure those 6 broad/fuzzy attributes on a uniform 1-20 scale and if you only looked at the numbers, not their distribution among said 6 attributes (realistically, the comparatively harsh life of the majority of a medieval population is going to skew towards, for instance, reasonable CON, as disastrously-low-CON individuals will likely die quite young).  If you're only looking at the results of one character or one group of a half dozen or so, the difference in realism-by-plausible-distribution-of-attributes between point-buy and random is going to be trivial - even standard array might not stand out too much in such a small sample size.The 'realism' side is more theoretical or hypothetical:  if you were to use a random method to generate stats for every NPC/monster/whatever in the setting, random - using different random methods for different populations, of course, you wouldn't want to roll squirrel STR on 4d6k3 - would presumably produce a more naturalistic-seeming distribution than array (using different arrays for different populations for the same reason) or point-buy (using different point totals and limits, naturally) 'Realism' has been a fraught issue virtually since the game's inception.   OT1H, realism in an objective sense is actually easy to test for:  Does the game simulate reality like a scientific model?  Can you run the same scenario with the same starting conditions & decisions in D&D, and, independently, in reality, and get similar results?  Obviously not.  D&D is not remotely realistic in the way a simulation or theory would be an accurate model.OTOH, a subjective feeling of realism, or immersion, or verisimilitude can, being subjective vary wildly from one person to another, and, thus makes a lovely stalking horse for any other preference that maybe might not seem as sympathetic.  Like really wanting to play that multi-18 ubercharacter, or really wanting to CharOp that 'realistic concept' to the nth degree.So, ultimately, it's worse than useless as a quality by which a game, or even chargen method, can be assessed.  There's a lot of room for imagination to make up the inevitable gap between the two.</blockquote>

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