One of the fundamental errors in RPGs is that the default being–the being you can play or encounter against which all other beings you can play or encounter are compared–is the human.
The category human is wrong because it is not specific enough. Human men and women are sufficiently different enough that they should be considered separate kinds of beings in an RPG which maps abilities to numbers to show their relative difference. When it comes to the low tech fantasy game D&D the rule of difference in Dexterity(1) between a human and an elf is +2 to the elf because elves are supposed to be, on average, more dextrous than humans. The difference in Strength between human men and women is even greater: Something like +4 to +6 in favor of men on the D&D scale. So we should establish a standard that reflects the difference.
We could pick human women as the standard and give human men, say, +5 to Strength. That is a bad standard for at least a couple reasons.
- The stats are based on a roll of 3d6: The lower limit is 3 and the upper is 18 with an average stat roll of 10 or 11. A woman-centered standard puts the human man at an average Strength of 15-16, with none below 8 and many above 20!
- D&D is a game of physical achievements; often of heroic proportions. Strength matters A LOT in a low tech world. That always has meant and always will mean a game about men.
In my game human men get no bonuses to Strength, but human women get a -4. Not every race will get the same treatment relative to their male and female members, but I will have different bonuses and penalties for each sex of each race. (See: footnote 1)
Gary Gygax and friends did a great disservice to society when they chose to ignore the large physical differences between men and women. D&D provided the foundations of stat theory which is ubiquitous in today’s fantasy and sci-fi video games, novels, movies, and entertainment in general. Their precedent perverted our understanding of the differences between the sexes and has a lot to answer for in regards to the Grrl! Power stupidity into which we have been brainwashed.
If you play D&D and similar RPGs with your kids and want them to be wise not foolish, then this is for you. If you’re playing some other kind of narrative or story-based RPG–you know: Playing House–then you should probably ignore this whole blog. It’s not meant for you.
(1) I will have a post in the future on how I interpret and use Dexterity…and probably all the D&D stats. Some of my thoughts on these are up in the air and I will appreciate your comments.
UPDATE: Aurini comes to similar conclusions on STR.
Churlbold 