Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Stats. Hate them ? Love them ? Think they can be better ? Or an outdated concept ?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 7019112" data-attributes="member: 6688937"><p>Having happily played a few rpgs without traditional stats....no, strictly speaking they are not necessary.</p><p></p><p>There are benefits that can be had, but there are also problems generated. Essentially, any sort of character trait (stats, classes, aspects, feats, etc.) are about defining a character within the world. The same kind of definition that traditional stats provide can be picked up by other traits.</p><p></p><p>I will say that some of the attendant mechanics (like rolling) are important to how much I appreciate them in a game. I've played/witnessed way too many OSR games with multiple fighters to feel that a character's basic effectiveness in their chosen class should be determined by die roll during character creation. It would make good sense to me if those kinds of things were options within the class. That way, you could set all Ftr 1's with the same melee combat efficacy. The one who took the <strong>Mighty Sinews</strong> would get different non-combat bonuses than the one who chose <strong>Brilliant Swordsman</strong>, but they are equivalent in combat, but with different flavor. (specific trait names aren't important, I'm just pulling those out of the air) At the very least, a player should be able to pick Fighter and select several stat arrays within that, to ensure some kind of equity.</p><p></p><p>I will say that I do have a fondness for flavorful stat names like many PbtA games feature.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 7019112, member: 6688937"] Having happily played a few rpgs without traditional stats....no, strictly speaking they are not necessary. There are benefits that can be had, but there are also problems generated. Essentially, any sort of character trait (stats, classes, aspects, feats, etc.) are about defining a character within the world. The same kind of definition that traditional stats provide can be picked up by other traits. I will say that some of the attendant mechanics (like rolling) are important to how much I appreciate them in a game. I've played/witnessed way too many OSR games with multiple fighters to feel that a character's basic effectiveness in their chosen class should be determined by die roll during character creation. It would make good sense to me if those kinds of things were options within the class. That way, you could set all Ftr 1's with the same melee combat efficacy. The one who took the [B]Mighty Sinews[/B] would get different non-combat bonuses than the one who chose [B]Brilliant Swordsman[/B], but they are equivalent in combat, but with different flavor. (specific trait names aren't important, I'm just pulling those out of the air) At the very least, a player should be able to pick Fighter and select several stat arrays within that, to ensure some kind of equity. I will say that I do have a fondness for flavorful stat names like many PbtA games feature. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Stats. Hate them ? Love them ? Think they can be better ? Or an outdated concept ?
Top