D&D 5E Do you miss attribute minimums/maximums?

JonnyP71

Explorer

• Jul 13, 2017

• #31

I miss them, ALL of them, because they felt realistic. Little Halflings being more dextrous but weaker, despised Half Orcs having a penalty to Charisma, but getting a boost to strength and constitution.

Racial level limits were fine too, as they balanced out the flexibility of the demihumans.

It felt right that certain classes could not be chosen by certain races, or that some classes had alignment restrictions.

And you know what, the gender differences felt right too, because (PC shock horror), like it or not, they do represent genuine physical differences (albeit in a very basic way).

 

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Sorcerers Apprentice

Hero

• Jul 13, 2017

• #32

The limits back in AD&D didn't matter much for most characters, since with no common way to increase your attribute scores, the limits only came into play if you had been really lucky when rolling your stats.

 

JonnyP71

Explorer

• Jul 13, 2017

• #33

I think the only aspect I really disagree with is the fact that, btb, no PC can have 2 stats below 6.

One of my players rolled 17,14,13,10,5,4, a wanted to play a very stupid Dwarven Warrior - I allowed it. He plays the character very well, in an innocent, childlike way (Int 4, Wis 5).

They entered the Maze in I3 (Pharaoh) and the Dwarf immediately charged headlong into the nearest portal and continued through each room directly, going straight on every time. "Daddy told me I'd never get lost if I always went straight on"

They were granted a wish, without giving it any thought he immediately blurted out "I want the bestest warhammer ever!"

Add a morbid fear of felines, and an obsession with cheese, and you have a PC who is a lot of fun at the table - inspired by those bad rolls!

 

SwivSnapshot

First Post

• Jul 13, 2017

• #34

Saelorn said:

The worst case scenario is that you think the NPCs in the book are all there is in the world, because that will lead you to incorrect conclusions about the actual distribution.

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Your conclusion is the opposite of what I am saying and you are implying intent without evidence of same. Please don't.

 

pming

Legend

• Jul 13, 2017

• #35

Hiya!

Love 'em. Always have, always will....along with Racial Preferences, Class restrictions, and Level Limits. 1e/Hackmaster is just kinda in my blood...what can I say?

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

Li Shenron

Legend

• Jul 13, 2017

• #36

dropbear8mybaby said:

I definitely want class minimums back. The idea of playing an 8 Int Wizard is just idiotic AFAIC.

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Why limiting a player that wants a challenge?

I played an Int 8 Wizard, which was actually the result of rolling everything at character creation (including class). I also rolled her background details from Tyranny of Dragons, and she turned out to be a former dragon re-incarnated into human by Bahamut, as a sort of punishment. So she could learn and cast spells, but could not understand why; the reason was... she's a dragon trapped in a human body, including human brain with less-than-average Int, so she actually already knew a lot of magic but couldn't remember.

And yes it was difficult to play, mostly because of the only 1 spell prepared. Obviously I tried to choose spells that didn't need an attack or ST.

 

Sacrosanct

Legend

• Jul 13, 2017

• #37

dropbear8mybaby said:

I definitely want class minimums back. The idea of playing an 8 Int Wizard is just idiotic AFAIC.

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Great news! Even in a system without minimums, you aren't ever forced to play an 8 INT wizard. Problem solved.

 

jgsugden

Legend

• Jul 13, 2017

• #38

I'd be sad to see them bring back race and gender min/max scores. Given modern knowledge, the cap on human male wisdom would be an 8... max.

 

L

lowkey13

Guest

• Jul 13, 2017

• #39

*Deleted by user*

 

T

The Crimson Binome

Hero

• Jul 13, 2017

• #40

SwivSnapshot said:

Your conclusion is the opposite of what I am saying and you are implying intent without evidence of same. Please don't.

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As long as you don't treat NPCs as second-class citizens, who are somehow inferior to PCs simply because they're NPCs, then I won't hold it against you. That's how I was reading your post, but it could have been a simple miscommunication due to the nature of text-based forums.