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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Korgoth" data-source="post: 3739423" data-attributes="member: 49613">Anecdote: I was rolling some NPC stats last night for a campaign world I'm working on.  I was rolling for a minor cleric (level 3, which is not minor in itself but this is the cathedral) of the Church of Law in the main city-state of my campaign region.  I came up with terrible strength, low intelligence, terrible constitution, but a stellar wisdom and amazing charisma.  Answer: this is a "gramps" character.  He never rose high in the Church because he had neither the natural wit or ambition, but he's an excellent pastor and savvy about human nature; he is the most beloved figure in the local Church.My point is, bad scores contribute as much flavor as good rolls.  Even though this is an NPC, the same holds true of a PC.  If I rolled such a character at level 1, he could still be a beloved and grandfatherly fellow who was an acolyte and is now taking up the cause (perhaps he was in charge of a minor shrine for many years, but now has been replaced and instead of retiring has decided to go on a crusade, or whatever).  Is the character handicapped?  Sure.  That's fun in D&D.  I don't think it would be fun in something like Exalted (just like nobody wants to play Aunt May in a Marvel Supers game) where people jump over mountains and kill 15 godzillas per encounter or whatever it is, but in a relatively more down to earth setting there's a chance for Gramps to do something useful.  And hey, maybe he will have a meteoric rise to uberness.  Or, maybe he will end up slain on level 4 of the dungeon.  Gramps is a "high stakes" character: he's either going to win big (i.e., at all!) or lose big.  Chances are, the group will get a big charge out of him either way.</blockquote>

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