> But I don't agree either that more
> interesting abilities should be rated higher,
How about "could" be rated higher? Not forced to be, no, but to have that available as an option? Wasn't it you who was arguing a while back that the ratings assigned to abilities don't actually show how good the PC is at them, but how much the player is interested in them? Not that I agree with that, but I thought you did, and if I'm remembering it right, the concepts seem to be inconsistent.
> >In practice, I use the numbers assigned to each
> >ability as descriptive, not restrictive, ignore all
> >the fetters designed to restrain munchkins, and get
> on
> >with creating interesting characters who fit the
> >setting and the plot.
>
> Can't be that the "fetters" as you call them are
> actually well considered creative constraints?
I doubt it. RPG history does not suggest this.
> Meant to help players like us come up with better
> focused character concepts?
If you find artificial numerical limits helpful, by all means impose them on yourself. Or design a character all of whose abilities start with the same letter, or insist on the 100-words being rhyming couplets. Whatever challenge inspires you. I agree that limits of some sort at least stop the blank canvas from being so uninspiringly blank.
> Am I a more a munchkin for wanting to be limited?
Completely the opposite, I'd say.
But your self-imposed limits could quite easily be
along the lines of "if my PC is the best swordsman in
the clan, that will give him certain obligations
towards the rest of the clan, I'd better write them
in", or "wouldn't it be fun if he desperately wants to
be the world's greatest archer but all his natural
abilities lie elsewhere?", or "he starts off hated by
everyone for an unfair reason and has to prove himself
to them".
Any new Swords PC comes under very serious limitations: they just aren't numeric. The new character has to fit in with the story and the setting so far, and to be able to qualify for the joint hero-band (even if it takes some in-play life changes to do it). That's quite hard. Stretching the edges of those limits has produced some interesting characters, and the creative process has been fun. Shifting numbers around on a spreadsheet to try to maximise augments would be much less fun. The only limit I put on numbers is in terms of comparison with other PCs and NPCs: we know how good the Legion Champion is in a fight, for instance, so that's an upper limit. Dramatic consistency. If you're the best cook in Dragon Pass and (now) a Humakti mercenary, I want justification for it before I allow that "Cooking 15W2".
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