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What feels like D&D vs. what D&D should keep
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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8231938" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>I've sort of come to a conclusion regarding why races are kind of lower ranking for a lot of people. And one of the reasons I think is that the different races are not mechanically different <em>enough</em> to warrant how much people latch onto them.</p><p></p><p>What I mean by that is this... the game mechanical differences between two entirely different species is like <strong>five</strong> things. Between let's say elves and humans... the elves overall can perceive things as a group slightly better than humans as a group can... they are trained as a group in a few weapons that humans as a group are not... they collectively as a group can hide in the woods better than humans can... and they are resistant to charms and magical sleep and don't sleep like humans do. <strong>That's</strong> what the game has decided are ALL the differences between elves and humans. Five dinky things, some of which are things that elves just do <em>slightly better</em>.</p><p></p><p>But then... you take a look at the differences between two JOBS that humans have, and the game mechanical differences can number into the HUNDREDS. Two different humans can have two different jobs-- like say, a Fighter and a Sorcerer-- and there are 20 freaking LEVELS of mechanical difference between the two. And when you look at it through that lens... you REALLY know what the game finds important.</p><p></p><p>The differences between jobs is infinitely more important to D&D that the difference between entire species. And it's because of this that I think the different races really <em>aren't</em> important. The game rules certainly don't treat them as important, because if they did, you'd get more than just five game mechanics to distinguish them. And I think this is why the opinions on things like racial ability bonuses affect people in two completely different ways:</p><p></p><p>- For some people... with races only getting five difference between each other, they don't want to lose racial ability score bonuses because there are already so little differences that taking away another one is making a bad problem even worse.</p><p></p><p>- For other people... if you add up the entirety of a character sheet's mechanics that are giving us a picture of this character... changing <strong>one</strong> mechanic out of say the 85(?) mechanics the PC has is no big deal. The racial mechanics are so inconsequential to the overall total character sheet that changing one of them (in an effort to promote more of an acceptance of racial equality) isn't a problem.</p><p></p><p>Now for me, here's <strong>my</strong> truth... to me it is logically unsound that two different <em>species</em> have so few mechanical differences compared to two different <em>jobs</em>. To me, that's just dumb. It'd be like asking someone to compare and contrast all the differences between a human being and an ostrich and getting a list of six items, whereas asking for a difference between a mailman and a social worker gives you a list of several hundred. It makes no sense--</p><p></p><p>--<em>other than</em> the game mechanics are there PURELY for game use only and not for any sort of anthropological study. And if that's the case... then trying to align game mechanics to any sort of "reality" or anthropological study is foolish. Game mechanics are here for the game, <em>and that's all</em>. They make the board game work as a board game. But they do little to nothing in portraying any sort of actual reality. And which is why removing or changing a mechanic that is meant to represent something in-game doesn't bother me one lick.</p><p></p><p>Why do I not care that a goliath and a halfling can both have the same Strength score in D&D? Because "Strength score" in D&D portrays no actual real-world thing. It is a made up game mechanic used purely for playing the game that we have overlayed a pseudo-real world idea of what it represents to make it <strong>seem</strong> important. But D&D "Strength score" means nothing and represents nothing. It has no real-world application. It is <em>one single number</em> attempting to represent <em>every single thing</em> a body can do... body mass, muscle, leverage, tension, etc. etc. can do-- across dozens and dozens of different species and creatures. It's <strong>meaningless</strong>.</p><p></p><p>...except inasmuch as some people actually do denote some sort of truth from it even though they really shouldn't. And thus the makers of D&D have to decide whose false truths are more important and they'll change the rules to make those people happy. The other folks whose truths are not as important? Sorry.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 8231938, member: 7006"] I've sort of come to a conclusion regarding why races are kind of lower ranking for a lot of people. And one of the reasons I think is that the different races are not mechanically different [I]enough[/I] to warrant how much people latch onto them. What I mean by that is this... the game mechanical differences between two entirely different species is like [B]five[/B] things. Between let's say elves and humans... the elves overall can perceive things as a group slightly better than humans as a group can... they are trained as a group in a few weapons that humans as a group are not... they collectively as a group can hide in the woods better than humans can... and they are resistant to charms and magical sleep and don't sleep like humans do. [B]That's[/B] what the game has decided are ALL the differences between elves and humans. Five dinky things, some of which are things that elves just do [I]slightly better[/I]. But then... you take a look at the differences between two JOBS that humans have, and the game mechanical differences can number into the HUNDREDS. Two different humans can have two different jobs-- like say, a Fighter and a Sorcerer-- and there are 20 freaking LEVELS of mechanical difference between the two. And when you look at it through that lens... you REALLY know what the game finds important. The differences between jobs is infinitely more important to D&D that the difference between entire species. And it's because of this that I think the different races really [I]aren't[/I] important. The game rules certainly don't treat them as important, because if they did, you'd get more than just five game mechanics to distinguish them. And I think this is why the opinions on things like racial ability bonuses affect people in two completely different ways: - For some people... with races only getting five difference between each other, they don't want to lose racial ability score bonuses because there are already so little differences that taking away another one is making a bad problem even worse. - For other people... if you add up the entirety of a character sheet's mechanics that are giving us a picture of this character... changing [B]one[/B] mechanic out of say the 85(?) mechanics the PC has is no big deal. The racial mechanics are so inconsequential to the overall total character sheet that changing one of them (in an effort to promote more of an acceptance of racial equality) isn't a problem. Now for me, here's [B]my[/B] truth... to me it is logically unsound that two different [I]species[/I] have so few mechanical differences compared to two different [I]jobs[/I]. To me, that's just dumb. It'd be like asking someone to compare and contrast all the differences between a human being and an ostrich and getting a list of six items, whereas asking for a difference between a mailman and a social worker gives you a list of several hundred. It makes no sense-- --[I]other than[/I] the game mechanics are there PURELY for game use only and not for any sort of anthropological study. And if that's the case... then trying to align game mechanics to any sort of "reality" or anthropological study is foolish. Game mechanics are here for the game, [I]and that's all[/I]. They make the board game work as a board game. But they do little to nothing in portraying any sort of actual reality. And which is why removing or changing a mechanic that is meant to represent something in-game doesn't bother me one lick. Why do I not care that a goliath and a halfling can both have the same Strength score in D&D? Because "Strength score" in D&D portrays no actual real-world thing. It is a made up game mechanic used purely for playing the game that we have overlayed a pseudo-real world idea of what it represents to make it [B]seem[/B] important. But D&D "Strength score" means nothing and represents nothing. It has no real-world application. It is [I]one single number[/I] attempting to represent [I]every single thing[/I] a body can do... body mass, muscle, leverage, tension, etc. etc. can do-- across dozens and dozens of different species and creatures. It's [B]meaningless[/B]. ...except inasmuch as some people actually do denote some sort of truth from it even though they really shouldn't. And thus the makers of D&D have to decide whose false truths are more important and they'll change the rules to make those people happy. The other folks whose truths are not as important? Sorry. [/QUOTE]
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