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To be fair, when the conversation transitioned from railroading to Intelligence scores somewhere around post #500, an assumption of "D&Dishness" feels more warranted. The conversation about "low stats" and how they're roleplayed doesn't really crop up much outside the D&D-like sphere. I also...

"Red Wizard shot the food! Red Wizard is about to die!"

Group hug? :)

Yes, that's exactly my problem with the more common viewpoints around classes. It's the idea that thousands of NPCs are all going to receive the same training and the same growth in abilities in exactly the same order. I do have games where that happens, but it's only in the context that class...

For reference of newer posters: https://www.enworld.org/threads/geniuses-with-5-int.482860/

Oh, it's definitely game specific; any of my arguments against are entirely centering around D&D play. There are plenty of games where deciding if the character has the ability to even take a certain action is a central pillar of play.

Well, it’s there and pretty popular. :) And players like classes, because they provide them with concept hooks and a conceptual framework. But yes, I’ve always gravitated away from strict classes. That’s why I loved Skills and Powers back in the AD&D days.

It’s trivial to do classless PC design if needed, and generally players are content to use the core class mechanics. And I’m very upfront that the classes the PCs are using are only a fraction of the classes that exist in the multiverse, and plenty of NPCs break class boundaries because of...

Yes, but that's because the metagame constructs of class and level aren't actually laws binding the fiction. They're tools to provide a game element to character creation.

We've both posted in these threads for years. You're perfectly aware that I'm presenting my opinion as opinion. None of us are strangers here.

It's one reason I try to make a habit of NOT learning what the other players' stats are if at all possible. (Granted, you'll usually figure out their highest stat over the course of play because so many more rolls are made using it.) What the player and their character bring to the fiction is...

Well, yes, but that's because you think modeling is a prerequisite for engaging RPG play. I do not share that viewpoint.

I mean, my general expectation (and what I do for my own 5e characters) is that a low stat (generally anything at <=7) will have some kind of explanation behind it. But, the only thing that Intelligence (as an example) actually implements mechanically are a lower chance of success on...

Well yes, because my way makes more sense. The old way kinda sucks, quite frankly.

In my games, the Cleric is not actively channeling a God's power. The cleric is tapping into the Divine power source. A god acts as mentor to the cleric if they swear oaths to them, but has no power to turn off the connection. Gods and mortal religious entities certainly don't advertise that...

What did they do? More crucially, why did they do it? What story beat did the player want to evoke? I would hope we're not assuming reactionary players who do stuff "just because".

We're just not going to agree on this. We've had this discussion before, going back to the "geniuses with 5 Int" thread, and I don't think our perspectives have changed.

In my games, I frame the next scene based on the current setup and the results of the resolution engine. Sometimes that framing ends up being consequential, but that's the nature of building out an ongoing story. I do not judge or evaluate. I extrapolate.