RPG Game Play: Really Bad Stats

Last year, I discussed the issue of Stat Inflation (the incentive for players to play characters with higher statistics) in role-playing games which use Random Roll for character creation. 

This week, I wanted to talk about the opposite side of the coin: characters with Really Bad Stats.

If you use Random Roll for character creation, eventually Random Number Generation (RNG) will catch up and give you a character with Really Bad Stats.  And by "Really Bad Stats," I'm not talking merely below average but rather, bottom of the barrel (in D&D terms, I'm talking 3s, 4s or 5s) and I'm talking having more than one Really Bad Stat (even in a well designed game, it's usually possible to play around one Really Bad Stat).

So, this begs the question: Does having a character with Really Bad Stats materially affect fun?

Well, it depends.

Firstly, some players simply don't care about their character having Really Bad Stats.

Secondly, in some games, this is a moot question since some or all stats have no or little mechanical effect.  For example, in OD&D, a PC's Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom no mechanical effect other than possibly an XP bonus.  OD&D's other stats, except for Charisma, don't significantly effect gameplay either.

Thirdly, the circumstances can matter a great deal: it's different playing a character in a one shot or that doesn't otherwise require much mental investment in the character by the player. For example, it's easy enough to play up Really Bad Stats for comedic effect.

However, what about a character where the GM is looking for significant mental investment by the player in the character and wants to play a long-term campaign?  In other words, a player cannot simply wait until next session to play a different character.

Two common reasons that people play tabletop role-playing games are for escapist fantasy and for wish fulfillment.  Really Bad Stats can put a damper on both of those.

There's also the issue of fairness.  It's not really fair to having one character be significantly mechanically worse than the others.  Really Bad Stats can mitigated by the GM if he is able to provide the character with Really Bad Stats alternate ways to be effective and is able to still give the character their time in the spotlight.  However, this does require a level of trust in the GM and really should be expressly stated in the group's social contract.