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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8193888" data-attributes="member: 29398">Because you and your players self-police.  I don't assume self-policing to be a default state.That said, two things leap out here.First, I would flat-out never play in or run a game using meta-mechanics like Inspiration or Fate Points.  Talk about immersion-breaking! (yes there's meta-mechanics in 1e as written, e.g. good roleplay reduces your training time/costs, but I threw those out before I started DMing and haven't regretted doing so for a second)Second, is there a rule anywhere in 5e that says a character must be played to its bonds, flaws, etc.?  If yes, great.  If not, they're merely guidelines and are thus every bit as ignorable as the stat numbers, should one choose to do so.Super-duper exploit man isn't necessarily being a jerk, though.  He's simply doing what the game at its root asks him to do, which is to advocate for his character.Between 8 and 10, or even 12, there's little difference; those numbers are the big mushy middle of the bell curve.  But the differences grow as you get more extreme: mechanics be damned, IMO there's a much bigger difference between 6 and 8 than there is between 8 and 10; and an even bigger difference between 4 and 6.Which goes the other way too; and while playing an Int 8 character as if it's 10 makes little difference, playing it as if it's Int 17 sure does.Both of those are examples of the rules, in effect, telling the player to stop.But when there's no rules e.g. when the 8-Int PC is the one who roleplays solving every complex problem and sticky riddle, and always comes up with the smartest idea as to what to do next, the only thing that can tell that player to stop is the DM.Int-Wis-Cha stats are in theory things that inform roleplaying.  Your stated position says you're fine as DM with players ignoring these guidelines but your play examples indicate your crew self-polices and follows the guidelines regardless*, which means you're not having to deal with players who don't or won't self-police because the game doesn't tell them they have to.* - perhaps because you're using Inspiration, a blatant meta-mechanic, as a reward mechanism.</blockquote>

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