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Realism meta question framed by RQ


styopa

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I have a couple of observations to make:

1. Any statistical information about averages is irrelevant - the characters we create are in no way average, they are (at least potentially) legendary heroes.

2. Any statistical information available is massively slanted towards the modern technological age.

3. You have ignored the effect of upbringing and environment - the proposal is all "nature" and no "nurture".

The final point is very important in a bronze age society. Variations in diet can make a huge difference in the growth rate of children, and historically the children of the ruling classes grew much bigger, stronger, and healthier than the peasants they lorded it over. For this reason gender based variation would be minor compared to social class variation.

The INT stat is not just a measure of IQ, it is also a measure of learning and knowledge. Historically few people were what we would call educated and almost none of them were women. In general education was not "wasted" on women.

If you want to create a system that differentiates between genders, one based on social class and upbringing actually makes more sense, historically. Personally, I think its a step too far but each gaming group can make the decision for themselves.

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The comments on the statistics being about modern humans are quite to the point.

Looking at archaeological records in publications, the gendering of burial ground data with partially destroyed (e.g. cremated) corpses is mainly done via the grave goods and a lot less via the reconstructed size of the remains. If there was a sufficiently significant sexual dimorphism in SIZ, it gets drowned out by individual or family variations. Given the occurrance of so-called "male burial sites" where 80% of the remains were assigned "male", without any finds of the corresponding female burial sites (e.g. for Iron Age Anglia), one possible interpretation is that there are a lot of female burials with male grave goods that have been mis-gendered (or wrongly sexed, at least), indicating a much more warlike nature even of the females of that culture at least for their afterlife.

Age of death in archaeological records doesn't really give us a good idea about CON. Nutrition probably has a much greater role in deciding about the stats of these ancient people than sexual dimorphism. Including problems like cretinism from acute lack of iodide, or problems with parasites (I seem to recall reports that the frog-eating builders of the Bodensee Lake Dwellers showed typical symptoms from parasitic diseases you can get from under-done frog meat). Meteorological extremes and the after-effects of warfare and over-taxation battle against the magical benefits Gloranthan societies have to counter such adversities.

Other than that, we only have written sources or artistic representations to guess at the abilities of the ancient peoples. Again, these have a huge selection bias as only able warriors or able-bodied slaves will make it from the barbarian habitats to the personal experience of the authors. Reading the two muslim reports on visits in Hedeby paint a quite disdainful picture of its inhabitants, whereas the material culture as excavated and reconstructed doesn't look that bad at all. But then hyperbole is a typical stylistic element in travelogues, and so is journalistic concentration on irrelevant details that help make the report or interview transcript (as the Ottar and Wulfstan ones in the Anglo-Saxon Orosius) interesting and exotic. The presence of dogs and pigs in the streets will be regarded as a symptom for uncleanliness by the islamic audience.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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13 hours ago, Quackatoa said:

Not in the slightest. Systematically disestablish violence as the principal mode of conflict resolution throughout the 40+ year history of modern roleplaying games, and what are you left with?

HeroQuest.

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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13 hours ago, styopa said:

Ah, but sometimes that's the fun.  Not everyone wants to walk softly and avoid making waves all the time.

Image result for eurmal

Now, for a very important sidetrack - Does the picture remind you of someone bending down and mooning, or a grumpy-looking penis?

Being a Trickster, of course, it could be both.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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