Jiro has already responded on the central question (with a point that I had already made, but it bears repetition, and apparently keeps being missed when I say it, so my thanks to Jiro). The following is re: other issues mentioned in your comment.
Other GMs introduce logical puzzles into the mix. In this case, while your character may be perfectly balanced for combat, it is still possible to lose due to failing to figure out the puzzle.
Yes, but how does being ineffective in combat help you figure out the logic puzzle? Answer: it does not. Therefore: a character who is effective in combat, played by a player who is good at logic puzzles, is strictly superior to a character who is bad at combat, played by the same logic-savvy player. In other words: in this scenario, being more effective in combat makes you more effective at D&D. (Unless there is literally no combat. Ever. In which case, why are you playing D&D? Other systems are far better suited to your needs.)
Still other GMs prefer to tell a story. In this case, the game is less about killing things, and more about pretending to be a person living in a magical fantasy world… A person who, on occasion, kills things. … The GM is not, of course, obligated to keep you alive; but at least your game will be interesting.
The long-running campaign that I DM is heavy on roleplaying, plotting, and political machinations. I haven’t run a straightforward dungeon crawl in that campaign in a long time (I generally reserve that for one-shot adventures). We sometimes go a session or two without combat entirely; combat is certainly not the central focus.
However, all of the player characters are heavily optimized and frighteningly lethal in combat. If it comes to it, they dispatch enemies with ruthless efficiency.
Why?
Because roleplaying effectively, or having your character be interesting, in no way precludes being effective in combat. Being combat-effective loses you nothing as far as logic-puzzle-solving, story-telling, roleplaying, being interesting, etc., etc. And because even if combat is not the only challenge, or the most common challenge, it’s certainly a challenge; and being less effective at solving certain challenges… makes you less effective overall.
Again: if you do this knowingly and deliberately, and you and your party-mates are ok with that, fine and well.
Because roleplaying effectively, or having your character be interesting, in no way precludes being effective in combat.
This is not, strictly speaking, true. Most gaming systems—even D&D—encourage you to tie your roleplaying to your stats at some point. For example, our hypothetical crossbow-Wizard might take Point Blank instead of Spell Focus (or some similar Feat); this is a real tradeoff, since the number of Feats you can take is limited. A Rogue (or, indeed, any character) might spend his points on Diplomacy, Appraise, Knowledge and Profession instead of the usual Disable Device, etc. -- to reflect the fact that he settled down as an honest gem merchant after prison (presumably, only to be pulled into that One Last Job against his better judgement).
Of course, there’s no rule that says you can’t play a suave diplomat who has zero ranks in Diplomacy and Sense Motive and a Charisma score of 7. You can totally do that, if the GM allows it.
If we’re being strict, then you’re actually arguing against the converse of what I said — whether being effective in combat negatively impacts your roleplaying or interestingness. Which I also don’t think it does, but it’s a distinct point.
My actual point, in any case, is that there are many ways to roleplay. You can roleplay well and be interesting with a Charisma of 7 and zero ranks in social skills, and then again you can roleplay well and be interesting with a Charisma of 18 and maximum ranks in social skills. You’d be roleplaying different things in those two cases, presumably; but, you can have an effectively-built character in both of those cases as well. (The former might be a wizard, or a fighter, or a rogue, or something else; the latter might be a sorcerer, or a paladin, or a different kind of rogue etc. etc.)
It is an accepted truism among all the veteran D&D players I know, and have spoken to in various online gaming communities, that a good roleplayer can create an interesting character concept, and roleplay it well, to fit pretty much any set of game stats. My experience with many excellent gamers supports this. Given that fact, and D&D being a team game, it seems almost a no-brainer that you should pick game stats that make you game-mechanically effective, and build your interesting concept on top of that. (Or, conversely, make up a cool concept and then built it into an effective character — which is also eminently doable for the experienced gamer.)
Jiro has already responded on the central question (with a point that I had already made, but it bears repetition, and apparently keeps being missed when I say it, so my thanks to Jiro). The following is re: other issues mentioned in your comment.
Yes, but how does being ineffective in combat help you figure out the logic puzzle? Answer: it does not. Therefore: a character who is effective in combat, played by a player who is good at logic puzzles, is strictly superior to a character who is bad at combat, played by the same logic-savvy player. In other words: in this scenario, being more effective in combat makes you more effective at D&D. (Unless there is literally no combat. Ever. In which case, why are you playing D&D? Other systems are far better suited to your needs.)
The long-running campaign that I DM is heavy on roleplaying, plotting, and political machinations. I haven’t run a straightforward dungeon crawl in that campaign in a long time (I generally reserve that for one-shot adventures). We sometimes go a session or two without combat entirely; combat is certainly not the central focus.
However, all of the player characters are heavily optimized and frighteningly lethal in combat. If it comes to it, they dispatch enemies with ruthless efficiency.
Why?
Because roleplaying effectively, or having your character be interesting, in no way precludes being effective in combat. Being combat-effective loses you nothing as far as logic-puzzle-solving, story-telling, roleplaying, being interesting, etc., etc. And because even if combat is not the only challenge, or the most common challenge, it’s certainly a challenge; and being less effective at solving certain challenges… makes you less effective overall.
Again: if you do this knowingly and deliberately, and you and your party-mates are ok with that, fine and well.
This is not, strictly speaking, true. Most gaming systems—even D&D—encourage you to tie your roleplaying to your stats at some point. For example, our hypothetical crossbow-Wizard might take Point Blank instead of Spell Focus (or some similar Feat); this is a real tradeoff, since the number of Feats you can take is limited. A Rogue (or, indeed, any character) might spend his points on Diplomacy, Appraise, Knowledge and Profession instead of the usual Disable Device, etc. -- to reflect the fact that he settled down as an honest gem merchant after prison (presumably, only to be pulled into that One Last Job against his better judgement).
Of course, there’s no rule that says you can’t play a suave diplomat who has zero ranks in Diplomacy and Sense Motive and a Charisma score of 7. You can totally do that, if the GM allows it.
If we’re being strict, then you’re actually arguing against the converse of what I said — whether being effective in combat negatively impacts your roleplaying or interestingness. Which I also don’t think it does, but it’s a distinct point.
My actual point, in any case, is that there are many ways to roleplay. You can roleplay well and be interesting with a Charisma of 7 and zero ranks in social skills, and then again you can roleplay well and be interesting with a Charisma of 18 and maximum ranks in social skills. You’d be roleplaying different things in those two cases, presumably; but, you can have an effectively-built character in both of those cases as well. (The former might be a wizard, or a fighter, or a rogue, or something else; the latter might be a sorcerer, or a paladin, or a different kind of rogue etc. etc.)
It is an accepted truism among all the veteran D&D players I know, and have spoken to in various online gaming communities, that a good roleplayer can create an interesting character concept, and roleplay it well, to fit pretty much any set of game stats. My experience with many excellent gamers supports this. Given that fact, and D&D being a team game, it seems almost a no-brainer that you should pick game stats that make you game-mechanically effective, and build your interesting concept on top of that. (Or, conversely, make up a cool concept and then built it into an effective character — which is also eminently doable for the experienced gamer.)