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Key Traits [Str, Dex, Con...]
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<blockquote data-quote="GreatLemur" data-source="post: 3542380" data-attributes="member: 28553"><p>I've noticed--and shared--the common conception that the Constitution score indicates raw physical mass, but I'm starting to realize that it doesn't really make a hell of a lot of sense. From the d20 SRD: "Constitution represents your character's health and stamina." Furthermore, it contributes to Fortitude saves, and Conectration checks, is often damaged by both deadly poisons and life-draining attacks, and determines how long a character can run or hold his breath. These are not mechanics that suggest the score is about <em>fatness</em>. Instead, they seem to indicate it's more about edurance and vitality.</p><p></p><p>Of course, the reason a lot of us tend to associate Constitution with sheer bulk is its contribution to hit points. Naturally, if you're meatier, you've got more flesh to hack through before an attack hits something vital, right? But I think these days we also realize that hit points are a heavily abstracted resource, representing a character's ability to avoid or mitigate damage much more than they represent the ability to to <em>withstand</em> damage. Otherwise, we'd just base 'em on the creature's size category and maybe natural armor, and we sure as hell wouldn't be adding more with each class level.</p><p></p><p>So, I submit that a high-Con character is more likely to look like a long-distance runner than a sumo wrestler.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GreatLemur, post: 3542380, member: 28553"] I've noticed--and shared--the common conception that the Constitution score indicates raw physical mass, but I'm starting to realize that it doesn't really make a hell of a lot of sense. From the d20 SRD: "Constitution represents your character's health and stamina." Furthermore, it contributes to Fortitude saves, and Conectration checks, is often damaged by both deadly poisons and life-draining attacks, and determines how long a character can run or hold his breath. These are not mechanics that suggest the score is about [i]fatness[/i]. Instead, they seem to indicate it's more about edurance and vitality. Of course, the reason a lot of us tend to associate Constitution with sheer bulk is its contribution to hit points. Naturally, if you're meatier, you've got more flesh to hack through before an attack hits something vital, right? But I think these days we also realize that hit points are a heavily abstracted resource, representing a character's ability to avoid or mitigate damage much more than they represent the ability to to [i]withstand[/i] damage. Otherwise, we'd just base 'em on the creature's size category and maybe natural armor, and we sure as hell wouldn't be adding more with each class level. So, I submit that a high-Con character is more likely to look like a long-distance runner than a sumo wrestler. [/QUOTE]
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