Where are the Mental Stat Bonuses?

Pasus Nauran · Aug 9, 2005

I've been working on an alternate character for the campaign I'm currently a part of, as my current character came all to close to death during the last gaming session. My current character is a human Mystic Theurge, and so I was looking at creating another spellcaster: either another theurge, or a straight cleric or wizard. To make things interesting and add some flavour, I decided I'd look at different races, as our current party is nearly all humans.

Well, I must say I'm surprised and very disappointed that in all the books I looked through, there are extrememly few races with low Level Adjustments (0-2) who have mental stat bonuses. Has anyone else noticed this?

WoTC seems to have no problem making playable races who have are brutes with bonuses to physical stats, but good luck finding races with bonuses to Intelligence or Wisdom. Even Elves don't have a Charisma bonus, which doesn't make sense to me. How can races who have spellcasting classes as their favoured class not have bonuses to the main key stat for their favoured class.

And so I ask, where are the Mental Stat Bonuses?

Dr_Rictus · Aug 9, 2005

Pasus Nauran said:
Even Elves don't have a Charisma bonus, which doesn't make sense to me. How can races who have spellcasting classes as their favoured class not have bonuses to the main key stat for their favoured class.

Presumably you mean to be asking about their lack of a bonus to Intelligence, not Charisma. Being as their favored class is not sorcerer.

Pasus Nauran · Aug 9, 2005

Dr_Rictus said:
Presumably you mean to be asking about their lack of a bonus to Intelligence, not Charisma. Being as their favored class is not sorcerer.

Actually, in the case of Elves I wasn't even thinking of their favoured class. I was simply thinking of how elves are described:

"Elves possess unearthly grace and fine features. Many humans and members of other races find them hauntingly beautiful." – PHB 15

nimisgod · Aug 9, 2005

Try the Grey Elves. They're in the MM, under the Elf entry.

domino · Aug 9, 2005

Pasus Nauran said:
Well, I must say I'm surprised and very disappointed that in all the books I looked through, there are extrememly few races with low Level Adjustments (0-2) who have mental stat bonuses. Has anyone else noticed this?

...

Even Elves don't have a Charisma bonus, which doesn't make sense to me. How can races who have spellcasting classes as their favoured class not have bonuses to the main key stat for their favoured class.

As has been posted on this board, the lack of major mental bonuses on low LA creatures is precisely BECAUSE WOTC dropped the ball with elves. If they were to start putting Int bonuses on lower LA creatures, then it would be unrealistic to say that elves are the best suited to be wizards, when the mechanics expressely say otherwise.

Thanee · Aug 9, 2005

Gray Elves +2 Int
Star Elves +2 Cha

Try a gray elf with racial substitution levels from Races of the Wild. Makes one darn good wizard.

Or try a gnome, they make nice wizards, too.

A dwarven cleric is surely a force to be reckonned with.

Bye
Thanee

Pasus Nauran · Aug 9, 2005

domino said:
As has been posted on this board, the lack of major mental bonuses on low LA creatures is precisely BECAUSE WOTC dropped the ball with elves. If they were to start putting Int bonuses on lower LA creatures, then it would be unrealistic to say that elves are the best suited to be wizards, when the mechanics expressely say otherwise.

Well that's just dumb! So they screw up a whole bunch of races, to make up for the fact the screwed up with one!?

Thanee said:
Gray Elves +2 Int

I'll look into that. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to the variant sub-races listed in the MM.

Thanee said:
A dwarven cleric is surely a force to be reckonned with.

Hmm... I'm not so big on the Charisma hit when Turn Undead relies so heavily on Charisma.

Thanee · Aug 9, 2005

Play a Gold Dwarf [FR] then.

Bye
Thanee

Krelios · Aug 9, 2005

In general, the designers (i.e., WotC) and a fair portion of the community (I hesitate to say, "majority," without actual numbers) feel that bonuses to mental stats are worth more than bonuses to physical stats. Basically, a +1 modifier on strength is an extra point of attack/damage rolls, +1 constitution is a hit point, dex is AC, etc. In the case of a bonus on mental stats, that increases the DC of all spells, the level of spells the caster is capable of using, and grants bonus spells--all in addition to whatever skills they enhance. Intelligence and Charisma being the most ubiquitous of the lot.

Essentially, there is a large community that agrees with WotC in that +2 to a casting stat is worth a +1 LA. (Except for Grey Elves, which WotC has never deigned to explain.)

Pasus Nauran · Aug 9, 2005

But isn't there a tradoff that can be made, something like -4 total to physical stats (or -2 to a different mental stat) in exchange for a +2 to a mental stats? Even at a LA of +1, I still don't see too many races with mental stat bonuses (Planetouched come to mind as some who do, but even then a Tiefling takes a -2 hit to Charisma in exchange for their +2 Intelligence bonus).

Where are the Mental Stat Bonuses?

Pasus Nauran

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Dr_Rictus

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Pasus Nauran

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nimisgod

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domino

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Thanee

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Pasus Nauran

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Thanee

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Krelios

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Pasus Nauran

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