In one breath your previous quote says stats are how you express yourself then in the next attempt to minimalize their significance by saying I should be fine with a 15 and a +2 doesnt indicate cleverness. Which is it? They don't reconcile.
They reconcile just fine, let me explain once again. Different species have morphological differences, I hope you won't deny that. A comparative analysis of those differences results into a relative attribute spread i.e. racial stats. Is it some foreign concept that you can't wrap your head around (no offence, genuine interest)? So, imagine those differences as the first layer of the pie which is called 'character creation'.On top of this layer, comes another one, lets call it 'your backstory in numbers'. Those two pies need to exist but can't overlap, because you can't remove 'being an orc' part from an orc. You can build up on the fact of 'being an orc' with your written backstory.
Originally Posted by Grimjoww08
...so my grind must be done in game and cant possibly be part of a backstory? Grind is what makes my character unique and must be gated behind an in game time sink instead of enjoying a narrative? I dont even know where to begin with this, so I wont.
Your grind can totally be a part of the backstory, but it needs to be separated from the layer of inter-species differences. Please refer to my previous statement on this one.
Originally Posted by Grimjoww08
Even if were to agree with this, unless im playing a newborn Im a character with experiences and convictions and have lived a life that has molded and shaped who I am far from what/who I was at birth.
First of all, I'd like to hear an argument behind your disagreement. And, once again, you can refer to the pie analogy, it should explain my message. Your take on my words is different from the meaning I've put in them.
Originally Posted by Grimjoww08
This is hyperbolic and off base. Im not advocating for creating my PC with a gene splicing CRISPR. Just that nature vs nurture is a thing. Some orcs can be surprisingly smart - some gnomes can be stupid and life experiences and time play a very relevant factor in that and to say it doesnt is to deny the relevance of the capacity of these experience to shape our motivations and drive us to become different and unique.
Of course this is a hyperbole, but it is no different from wanting an orc not being an orc. Don't get me wrong, again, a second time now - I am not denying anyone anything, this was a huge assumption on your part this time. I am advocating for rules that produce exceptions, not the other way around. You and some others are advocating for our character's exceptionalism being more important than the world logic. I am all in for a tool that can override the general inter-species differences, but I don't want species becoming an impersonal mass just because someone wants to be exceptional when compared to others.
