So Veeky Forums, what do you do to make your genders different in your pen and paper games?
Personally I like to shuffle stats a little.
Aarakocra, Dragonborn, Kobolds, and Lizardmen males get +2 Dex, -1 Str, -1 Con while females get +1 Con, -1 Dex to signify the females being slightly bigger.
Aasimar, Genasi, Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, and Tiefling males get +1 Str, +1 Con, -2 Wis, while females get +1 Dex, +1 Wis, -2 Str to show both the size difference and the general societal difference between the Human genders.
Dwarf, Elf, and Goliath males and females I leave equal.
Gnome males gain +2 Int, -2 Wis, females +2 Wis, -1 Con, -1 Str... Men make the devices, females fix the men after.
Minotaur males get +2 Str, +1 Con, -2 Int, -1 Wis and females have no stat alteration, the bulls are just bigger.
Orc males take +1 Str, +1 Con, females take +2 Wis because the males are the rampaging warriors and females lead the home-life.
But yeah, I am curious how other folks handle this kind of stuff.
Gender Differences in Pen and Paper
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Sheet, forgot the drawbacks on Orcs. Males are +1 Str, +1 Con, -1 Wis, -1 Int, females are +2 Wis, -1 Str, -1 Con.
>Hi, I keep making petty little stat changes for literally no purpose, point or gain except that I can.
Well, no, it is more a matter of helping things make sense. I know, madness to try and impose logic on a word of magic.
Orcs are raiders, pillagers, logically their females don't go on those or they die too. Steppe Nomads did not take their women to war, Orcs don't take their women to wargh.
The bounds of both the physical and societal roles that the genders take help shape them, so no, it is not to /literally no purpose/.
PCs: No change. They are exceptional individuals in any case.
Exceptional NPCs: see PCs.
Random NPCs: Depends on the setting.
So I assume you also alter stats accounting for occupations, day to day activities and variations along the bell curve also?
When that bandit gang attacks the party I can only assume that Boss Malone is +1Str and +1Con to account for the larger cut of the loot and thus better food and lifestyle over the rest while 'Fatty' the Chef is +1 Con because he eats more, tasting his own food and all but is -2 Str because he eats more and so is fat.
'No Ears' Greg is at -2 Per on account of his no ears. Lost them in a fight he did.
'Baby' McGee is a bit punch-drunk these days at -1 Per and -1 Dex. Took a few to many to the ole' noggin.
Don't forget in town that the blacksmith has a low fire immunity because he stands in front of one all day, he certainly needs to have that distinction about him.
Also Guard #1 likes to help his Mason father in his time off giving him +1 Str while Guard #2 chases after the Bakers Daughter affording him +2 Dex but that fooling around has left him at -2 Str.
Goblin Bork likes hunting and torturing rats so he has +1 Per and Dex while Grub likes watching, so there's +1 Wisdom.
Come on. I'm sure you'll have a blast with all this book keeping. It omly makes sense after all.
You're being silly to try and say that what I am doing as a default character generation alteration is silly.
Sorry my attempt to improve what my players encounter upsets you so.
Do you at least have better than a slippery slope strawman to go with?
The only effect this has on the game is that players start min-maxing gender in addition to everything else. Fuck realism.
Not a P&P game, but I just checked my "random NPC generator" code, and while most races aren't finalised yet, I have the values for elf women:
Agility +4, Dexterity +8, Size -5, Strength -5, Speed +7, Toughness -3, Creativity -3, Focus -5, Intuition -1, Linguistic Ability -5, Musicality +3, Patience +2, Social Awareness +3, Willpower +5, Alertness +1, Empathy +2, Hearing -3, Smelling -2, Vision +2, Morality -5.
For comparison: The values are on a 1-100 scale (though can go above 100 in some cases) and the base elf racial changes ones go from +15 (Attractiveness, Charisma, Refinement, Hearing, Vision) to -20 (Empathy, Morality) and -25 (Libido).
While you are an ass, I think you raise a valuable point.
Stat differences should come from obvious genetic dimorphism, not "women usually tend to sit around the fire and watch things!" sort of weak social stuff. That can justify things like proficiencies, but not big enough for a +2. Maaaaybe a +1.