How Malleable Are Your Stats?

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Why didn't the makers of the game incorporate the same ideals for the other 5 stats as they did for strength? Why was it so important to do it just for this stat?

 

It would definitely be much easier to decrease your stats than to increase them.

 

Silvershield: Can you see any equivalent to it in any other stat? I can't. Strength is the only stat where a constant, rigorous workout ethic makes a huge difference.

It just wasn't appropriate for any other stat.

 

Yes but if each stat was implemented as such as strength was it would add a lot more diversity into the game don't you think? Stat choices would be a lot harder ...

 

But would be more unbalancing towards non-human PCs. If exceptional stats were implemented across the board, then an elven mage would be able to have a massive bonus due to dexterity, even thoguh the stat has nothing to do with their class. They'd get a bigger bonus than any human thief could and would be disproportionatly high in comparison to a human mage.

Diversity would not increase- if Intelligence makes little difference to your fighter at the moment, how would exceptional Intelligence change things?

 

AD&D can only simulate real life in a limited way. A fighter with high dexterity and intelligence is far more likely to walk away the victor than one with sheer brute strength. I always think having high dex should give a bonus to thaco with any weapon while high strength should give a bonus to damage only with melee weapons. Lets face it, higher intelligence would make it easier to learn new weapons, so fighters should theoreticall get a bonus to weapon proficiencies based on int.

I think everyone has a different ceiling to what they can do. A mentally disabled person is simply not going to go from a 6 to an 18. A scrawny guy might go from 8 strength to 14, but 18 would probably only be achievable if you were of the right build. A bigger guy is going to be able to pack more muscle and therefore lift heavier weights. One could also argue that it would be impossible to have 18 strength and 18 dexterity, but it would be possible to have 16 strength and 16 dexterity. Although I suppose boxers are high in both.

If you go by the scale somebody suggested in the spellhold studios forum, then 18 would be truly worldclass, like einstein. But even then, intelligence can mean so many things, I dont think Einstein was a genius at everything he touched. Leonardo Da Vinci might get that award.

 

INT isn't the end-all of genius; you have to have WIS too to use it properly. They're sort of a package deal for the great mind.

 

I had considered that, and this is similar to the discussion that Fel and I were having. The only solution I can see would be to cap ability scores at 18 for all races unless the ability score is particular to the class of that character.

For example, all elves would get +1 to their dexterity score during character creation. However, even if they rolled an 18 during character creation, they would not be allowed to add one to get it to 19 unless they were going to be at least part thief. The reasoning for this could be the same as is used for exceptional strength i.e., because they are not using that ability to its maximum potential, thy cannot maintain an exceptional level in it.

You see, I think 18 should always be considered world class. It should be just taken to mean very good. Just looking at the odds of rolling a 18, you have one chance in 216. That means an 18 would place you beyond the top 1/2 of 1% of the population - approximately the top 0.42%. To me, that is world class ability. Of course, we now can get further into the arguement of exceptional strength and the implementation of other excceptional scores. For strength, 1 in 216 people would have an 18, but then it is further subdivided 100 different ways, so in effect the odds of getting an 18(00) strength are not 1 in 216, but actually 1 in 21,600. Of course even that is a little wierd as there is no in-game difference between 18(01) and 18(50), and likewise, no difference between 18(51) and 18(75), etc. So I guess exceptional scores in other abilities could do more to separate very good from world class, but as it stands now, I do believe than an 18 should be considered quite exceptional, as it is impossible for a human to be any higher.

 

I noticed the simularities to the discussion in another thread. Capping the abilities at 18 would be a fair way do limit the stupidity of the examples that have been given previously. Fair point Aldeth. I would assume that half-orcs would have to be changed for this to be properly implemented (not that it ever actually will be).

 

Exactly. Half-orcs would only be able to achieve 19 strength if they are at least part fighter. Gnomes would only be able to acheive 19 intelligence if they are at least part illusionist, etc.