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<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 8088252" data-attributes="member: 18">I'm old enough and experienced enough to have SEEN this approach used for power-gaming, mate.It's not theoretical.I've seen it abused. I've OOC knowledge particularly wildly abused by certain players, especially when I was younger. But I've also seen &quot;My stats aren't my stats&quot; abused - by an extreme power-game/munchkin. I know that's not the intention behind it in this case, but I've seen it happen.Actually I can think of multiple examples. The classic example is just someone who refuses to RP their character in a way that remotely matches the stats, because that would mean they were at a disadvantage in certain situations. That is absolutely power-gaming. It's not merely &quot;authorship&quot; (something D&amp;D does poorly with anyway, this isn't Dungeon World, more's the pity), but rather it's attempting to manipulate things so your PC has an advantage that isn't actually reflected by the decisions you've taken mechanically. And I've literally had people explain what they were doing, i.e. putting a low stat in INT, because it didn't matter, and they could just RP however they liked - or CHA, again, as I've said, with no consequences. It's particularly effective in games where DMs call for fewer rolls (which, sadly, is the kind of game I prefer).Another, more bizarre example is the player I had back in like 1992, who suggested we eliminate all mental stats. He was a massive power-gamer, and we sighingly agreed to give it a go, because he wouldn't shut up about it, and then he immediately proceeded to try and power-game the naughty word out of it, and got into arguments whenever it was suggested that his PC saying X might not be as effective as he insisted it should be.They aren't breaking the rules. They are breaking with the idea that RPGs are a shared fiction. If they're unwilling to be part of the shared fiction with the other players and DM, frankly they're jerks, whatever their dubious justification is.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 8088252, member: 18"] I'm old enough and experienced enough to have SEEN this approach used for power-gaming, mate. It's not theoretical. I've seen it abused. I've OOC knowledge particularly wildly abused by certain players, especially when I was younger. But I've also seen "My stats aren't my stats" abused - by an extreme power-game/munchkin. I know that's not the intention behind it in this case, but I've seen it happen. Actually I can think of multiple examples. The classic example is just someone who refuses to RP their character in a way that remotely matches the stats, because that would mean they were at a disadvantage in certain situations. That is absolutely power-gaming. It's not merely "authorship" (something D&D does poorly with anyway, this isn't Dungeon World, more's the pity), but rather it's attempting to manipulate things so your PC has an advantage that isn't actually reflected by the decisions you've taken mechanically. And I've literally had people explain what they were doing, i.e. putting a low stat in INT, because it didn't matter, and they could just RP however they liked - or CHA, again, as I've said, with no consequences. It's particularly effective in games where DMs call for fewer rolls (which, sadly, is the kind of game I prefer). Another, more bizarre example is the player I had back in like 1992, who suggested we eliminate all mental stats. He was a massive power-gamer, and we sighingly agreed to give it a go, because he wouldn't shut up about it, and then he immediately proceeded to try and power-game the naughty word out of it, and got into arguments whenever it was suggested that his PC saying X might not be as effective as he insisted it should be. They aren't breaking the rules. They are breaking with the idea that RPGs are a shared fiction. If they're unwilling to be part of the shared fiction with the other players and DM, frankly they're jerks, whatever their dubious justification is. [/QUOTE]

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