What's the hardest attribute to effectively role-play?

[Micah Sweet]

Because the setting and PCs are fictional. There's no actual causality between them that we don't make up.


A character's stats are part of the character, and, sure, characters are part of the setting. Beyond that, I'm not sure what your point is.

I don't see how it being fictional makes a difference.

 

[jdrakeh]

Probably Wisdom. In a recent-ish game, we had one player argue stringently in favor of our little band of Level 1 heroes overthrowing a world-spanning secret cabal of near omnipotent immortal beings, each of which had multiple lifetimes of influence and resources at their disposal. The rest of us explained why this was never going to happen. At least not at Level 1. His character should have ostensibly been wise enough to recognize this (high Wisdom score). The player was not.

 

[Hriston]

It's also how you interact with the setting, and that's very important to me. In fact, it's what makes role-playing an enjoyable activity to me, and wouldn't be worthwhile otherwise.

Okay, so you like to dispense with the game, if I'm following your train of thought here, and to do free roleplay in which you imagine your character interacting with the setting. That's fine, but surely you understand that, in an RPG, roleplaying is integrated into the game.

 

[Hriston]

I don't see how it being fictional makes a difference.

Fictional things are not like the real world. They do not have the ability to "inform" anything.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Okay, so you like to dispense with the game, if I'm following your train of thought here, and to do free roleplay in which you imagine your character interacting with the setting. That's fine, but surely you understand that, in an RPG, roleplaying is integrated into the game.

No, both are important, but to me exploring the setting through your PC is more important than engaging strictly as a game. I think mechanics should only exist in service to the setting and everything in it (including the PCs), not the other way around. I never said "dispense with the game" or "free roleplay". Those are your erroneous conclusions.

Why do people insist on every preference being a binary?

 

[Tonguez]

To answer the OP's question, I don't find that any of the abilities make roleplaying more difficult because, as a player, I play my character as I imagine them rather than according to their scores, and, as DM, I most definitely don't "police" players' roleplaying.

I think the numbers are just shorthand for descriptors and they really should mean something.

For instance a Dextrous character might move with fluidity, skipping through a crowd like a bird, whereas a low dex character, might stumble through, being pushed and maneuvered around as the crowd moves.

A high strength character might plough through the crowd, pushing people and obstacles aside as the move steadily towards their destination. A low strength character would find themselves at the mercy of the crowd, unable to get through the churn of bodies without aid.

A High Wisdom character might look about, alert to the motions of the crowd around them, seeking out gaps and openings to move through as they occur. A low wisdom character looks at the crowd with alarm, unsure of how to get through.

I like to think about what adjectives and verbs might fit with each Attribute and how they can inform the RP

 

[bloodtide]

I just don't see the point of the numbers if they don't inform your character and how you play them. If you're making it up in the moment why bother giving your attributes names that have anything to do with the world?

I agree, though a great many players want a game like this where the attributes don't matter. Unless, of course, the player wants them to in a positive way.

I'm not exactly answering the question, but I want to say it's a blast playing low-intelligence characters. One of the unsung benefits of random stats (as Crom intended) is that you can get wretched rolls, which opens up all kinds of roleplaying opportunities. If you've never played a barbarian with INT 4, you don't know what you're missing.

I love this myself. I've made plenty of "Hulk Smash" characters.

 

[Hriston]

No, both are important, but to me exploring the setting through your PC is more important than engaging strictly as a game. I think mechanics should only exist in service to the setting and everything in it (including the PCs), not the other way around. I never said "dispense with the game" or "free roleplay". Those are your erroneous conclusions.

I don't know what you mean by "engaging strictly as a game." I don't know of any RPGs that don't involve some exploration of setting. I also don't know what you mean by "in service to the setting". Lots of RPGs have mechanics for determining events happening which generally take place in a setting but aren't really about the setting per se.

Why do people insist on every preference being a binary?

I don't know what "people" you're talking about. You brought up "RP" and "G" as if they were a binary, whereas I expressed my doubts they could be considered separately in the context of an RPG.

 

[Hriston]

I think the numbers are just shorthand for descriptors and they really should mean something.

For instance a Dextrous character might move with fluidity, skipping through a crowd like a bird, whereas a low dex character, might stumble through, being pushed and maneuvered around as the crowd moves.

A high strength character might plough through the crowd, pushing people and obstacles aside as the move steadily towards their destination. A low strength character would find themselves at the mercy of the crowd, unable to get through the churn of bodies without aid.

A High Wisdom character might look about, alert to the motions of the crowd around them, seeking out gaps and openings to move through as they occur. A low wisdom character looks at the crowd with alarm, unsure of how to get through.

I like to think about what adjectives and verbs might fit with each Attribute and how they can inform the RP

Stating your character tries to achieve their goal (move through the crowd) in a way that emphasizes their strengths is just smart gameplay!

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't know what you mean by "engaging strictly as a game." I don't know of any RPGs that don't involve some exploration of setting. I also don't know what you mean by "in service to the setting". Lots of RPGs have mechanics for determining events happening which generally take place in a setting but aren't really about the setting per se.


I don't know what "people" you're talking about. You brought up "RP" and "G" as if they were a binary, whereas I expressed my doubts they could be considered separately in the context of an RPG.

I said more one than the other. That's not a binary.