(This, incidentally, took me forever to write, since I'm at work)

Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
How are you defining being ____ist? Dwarves have lower Strength caps than Minotaurs - is that racist (speciesist)? Humans move slower than horses - is that ____ist?

Most records, sports, and Olympic events are separated by (biological?) gender, are they not? With men presumably still holding higher records for pure strength-based challenges.

Where does something stop being (or become more than) Science or Realism?

(Mind you, I say all this as someone who was happy when they removed gender differences to stats - my concern is with the accusation of sexism)
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This can be a bit of a judgement call, but one of my criteria (most easily judged on strength) is does it comport with real-world records?

The 48kg lifter (so, 105 pounds) has a bench record of 90 kgs (198#), which is higher than an 18 strength should be able to lift in 1e (180#). 1e also assumes a "pick up and lift over the head", which is closer to a deadlift, where the record is 168kg, or 370#. And, you may look at your 2e PH and say "Well, the Max press for 18/00 is 480#, so some limit is reasonable"... but I'm just looking at the records for the ladies weighing 48kg. We go to the highest range... the 100kg/220#+ female lifters... the deadlift number becomes 251kg/553#, which is isn't quite a 19 strength (640#), but still a fair amount. Granted, the records may have been lower in the past, but a lifter in the 48kg range did a 165kg/363# deadlift in 1981, so they're weren't THAT much lower... and, again, we're talking a woman who weighs only about 100 pounds, not the bigger lifters (this is what I could easily find records for).

So, the weight limits on strength already show this to be a bad rule, just from a realism standpoint; but what about a gameplay standpoint? Is it FUN for female characters to have a lower maximum strength than male characters? I don't think it is, and the fact that it applies across races makes it a bit suspect. The androgynous elves have the same limitation? The uniformly masculine dwarves? So, I feel safe saying that's based in sexism.

As for fantasy racial modifiers, those get a little bit more of a question, because, as you point out, there's little reason a 7' tall minotaur and a 5' elf should have the same strength modifier. 3e addressed some of this... I think increasing weapon sizes and carrying weights based on size is a great idea, and Hackmaster gives bonus HP based on size, as well... but there's always the question of "Well, they're just that way. It's biology", which doesn't have much of a counter-argument with made-up species. And then it becomes a question of how the stereotypes of a given race line up with real-world stereotypes.

It's always a minefield, but that means it needs careful stepping, not charging through at maximum velocity.