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The reason minmaxing works in RPGs is because of the limitations of the simulation, which real-life doesn't have. A mage with 1 STR and 18 INT may work when tr

The reason minmaxing works in RPGs is because of the limitations of the simulation, which real-life doesn't have. A mage with 1 STR and 18 INT may work when trying to beat a game, but in real life he or she would live a miserable existence: https://www.dmingwithcharisma.com/2011/10/dd-stats-in-simple-language/ https://www.dmingwithcharisma.com/2011/10/dd-stats-in-simple... (Good dungeon masters keep the above rubric in mind when running their games, btw, so as to discourage "gaming" the system.)

jkinudsjknds 6y ago
That mindset is fairly exclusive to DnD which is centered around 10, scaling to 20, and mostly not making much sense because they're thematically exponential gains but practically and mechanically linear (heck, there is no difference between any even number, and that number plus 1, in terms of rolling). In most game contexts, min maxing simply means dumping all your gains into one thing over time, with the "min" being things that just stay at the point where they began. Min maxing on that end makes plenty of sense, especially given people don't really have much agency in their irl "build". Being really good at one thing is really good as Hawking may demonstrate.
xapata 6y ago
But a good party is often one with specialized characters, so each can shine.
- CarbyAu 6y ago
  Which is teamwork, thus requiring good social...
  - xapata 6y ago
    Not every character needs to be charismatic.
    - CarbyAu 6y ago
      But every character needs to be "social enough" to work as a team. IE by definition, to participate in a team you can't min all stats but Strength for example. Because you need enough "social" to be part of a team in the first place. Otherwise they are a bunch of dissociated loners not playing the same game. Which could be an interesting novel to read if done well, but not your usual D&D session.
      - xapata 6y ago
        Not to get too far into the weeds of D&D rules, but personality is independent of Charisma score.

jkinudsjknds 6y ago

That mindset is fairly exclusive to DnD which is centered around 10, scaling to 20, and mostly not making much sense because they're thematically exponential gains but practically and mechanically linear (heck, there is no difference between any even number, and that number plus 1, in terms of rolling). In most game contexts, min maxing simply means dumping all your gains into one thing over time, with the "min" being things that just stay at the point where they began. Min maxing on that end makes plenty of sense, especially given people don't really have much agency in their irl "build". Being really good at one thing is really good as Hawking may demonstrate.

xapata 6y ago

But a good party is often one with specialized characters, so each can shine.

CarbyAu 6y ago
Which is teamwork, thus requiring good social...
- xapata 6y ago
  Not every character needs to be charismatic.
  - CarbyAu 6y ago
    But every character needs to be "social enough" to work as a team. IE by definition, to participate in a team you can't min all stats but Strength for example. Because you need enough "social" to be part of a team in the first place. Otherwise they are a bunch of dissociated loners not playing the same game. Which could be an interesting novel to read if done well, but not your usual D&D session.
    - xapata 6y ago
      Not to get too far into the weeds of D&D rules, but personality is independent of Charisma score.