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Comparing editions: What is Strength?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 8647286" data-attributes="member: 694"><p>I prefer to use all of the stats after the fashion of Str, Int, and Wis in LBB OD&D — they're mainly there just to give small adjustments to earned XP based on your chosen class, so that after you roll stats, you're gently <em>nudged</em> in the direction of picking a class that matches your abilities, without having the decision <em>dictated</em> to you by the dice. (The virtual bonuses—see below—serve to make the scores even less dictatorial than they otherwise would be.)</p><p></p><p>Philosophically, this has two implications for my games. (1) It means that Strength at my table isn't "strength" per se, it's just a character's natural inclination towards being a fighter. It's "Fighteryness." Wisdom is "Clerickyness," Intelligence is "Mageyness," and so forth. (2) It means that scores of 3 and 18 are limits for <em>adventurers</em>, not for humanity in general. A Str 18 is not "peak human" muscularity — it doesn't represent Batman or an Olympic weightlifter or Hercules. It's just… above average <em>for an adventurer</em>. Likewise, Str 3 doesn't mean nadir human or invalid levels of musculature, just <em>below average for an adventurer.</em> But all adventurers are assumed to be within a standard deviation of "normal" (whatever that is) in all six abilities.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>1/3rd of any Str points <em>above 9</em>. So, for example, an LBB cleric with Str 15, Int 7, and Wis 13 would get to treat their Wisdom as if it were 15 (just enough to net the +10% XP bonus in LBB OD&D) thanks to their high Strength. Their Int is below 9, so it <em>doesn't</em> contribute to the cleric's "virtual" prime requisite.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack Daniel, post: 8647286, member: 694"] I prefer to use all of the stats after the fashion of Str, Int, and Wis in LBB OD&D — they're mainly there just to give small adjustments to earned XP based on your chosen class, so that after you roll stats, you're gently [I]nudged[/I] in the direction of picking a class that matches your abilities, without having the decision [I]dictated[/I] to you by the dice. (The virtual bonuses—see below—serve to make the scores even less dictatorial than they otherwise would be.) Philosophically, this has two implications for my games. (1) It means that Strength at my table isn't "strength" per se, it's just a character's natural inclination towards being a fighter. It's "Fighteryness." Wisdom is "Clerickyness," Intelligence is "Mageyness," and so forth. (2) It means that scores of 3 and 18 are limits for [I]adventurers[/I], not for humanity in general. A Str 18 is not "peak human" muscularity — it doesn't represent Batman or an Olympic weightlifter or Hercules. It's just… above average [I]for an adventurer[/I]. Likewise, Str 3 doesn't mean nadir human or invalid levels of musculature, just [I]below average for an adventurer.[/I] But all adventurers are assumed to be within a standard deviation of "normal" (whatever that is) in all six abilities. 1/3rd of any Str points [I]above 9[/I]. So, for example, an LBB cleric with Str 15, Int 7, and Wis 13 would get to treat their Wisdom as if it were 15 (just enough to net the +10% XP bonus in LBB OD&D) thanks to their high Strength. Their Int is below 9, so it [I]doesn't[/I] contribute to the cleric's "virtual" prime requisite. [/QUOTE]
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