Character creation alternatives in RPGs by Derek Gingrich· spc

http://www.somewherepostculture.com/character-creation-alternatives/

I’ve been thinking about MUDs, and how numbers and stats are used to generate derived values. The article has some interesting ideas:

In D&D, a fighter would look something like this:

Strength 18 / Dexterity 10 / Constitution 14 / Intelligence 8 / Wisdom 10 / Charisma 10

If we try our multiple intelligences experiment, we may develop a fighter who looks like this:

Logical 4 / Spatial 5/ Linguistic 6/ Bodily 8/ Musical 3/ Interpersonal 6/ Intrapersonal 5/ Naturalistic 6/ Existential 4

And this funny quip:

D&D’s ability system, the first of its kind and incredibly useful and inventive when it was first introduced, is now ubiquitous and heavily replicated. It also doesn’t make a lot of sense.