BookBarbarian
Expert Long Rester
Oh, I'm so going to start doing this when players grab for snacks.
D&D 5E Making Intelligence Less of a Dump Stat
Oh, I'm so going to start doing this when players grab for snacks.
I really wish they would have balanced the saving throws better. That alone would solve a lot of the problem with "dump stats."
My group has added a lot of languages and minor skills (equivalent to tools). Adding a bonus for those equal to your Int mod, and reducing your total with a negative score, helps quite a bit. I've overall increased the number of Int checks I use, including determining what monsters are (and might be able to do).
DO NOT give a bonus or penalty to Attuning magic items. I did this in a prior campaign (using Cha), and it was a disaster. If you did this, I suspect you'd have a lot of Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters, and Wizards.
My group has added a lot of languages and minor skills (equivalent to tools). Adding a bonus for those equal to your Int mod, and reducing your total with a negative score, helps quite a bit. I've overall increased the number of Int checks I use, including determining what monsters are (and might be able to do).
DO NOT give a bonus or penalty to Attuning magic items. I did this in a prior campaign (using Cha), and it was a disaster. If you did this, I suspect you'd have a lot of Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters, and Wizards.
ArchfiendBobbie
First Post
Don't worry about it. Ultimately, there's nothing that really needs to be done.
This kinda seems like an attempt to fix a situation that isn't a major problem. If you need to fix it, maybe have Intelligence checks show up more often in game?
I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Thanks for the advice...I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Tampering with attunement felt like a really bad idea, this just reinforces my gut.
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Encourage players to have their characters recall lore more frequently by making the information they can get actually valuable. What that means will be based on the kind of game you run, but knowing the abilities of terrifying monsters, the likeliest locations of treasure hoards, and the backstory of NPCs with whom they must interact can all be very useful.
Include more complex traps that may call for an Intelligence (Investigation) check to figure out. Same deal with figuring out how secret doors work.
Tie the Drawing a Map "exploration task" to a passive Intelligence check and the DC to the party's pace (the faster the pace, the higher the DC). Then make a source map worth gold if they engage in that task to the exclusion of others.
Tie the Navigating "exploration task" to a passive Intelligence check when in a maze-like adventure location instead of Wisdom (Survival).
Some downtime activities like Research can be tied to Intelligence if the task takes place in a library or the like.
In my current campaign, I have a player pool and each player has several characters. So I never know what kind of party I'll have week to week. Last session, I had a party where every character had an Int 8. They were exploring a big, abstract location and they got lost a LOT by not having a decent Intelligence between them. It also meant they couldn't draw a map that was worth anything. So not only did they run into more trouble than they needed to, they couldn't score any easy gold by drawing a decent source map. They were lamenting (and laughing at) their own characters' stupidity by the end of that session.
Include more complex traps that may call for an Intelligence (Investigation) check to figure out. Same deal with figuring out how secret doors work.
Tie the Drawing a Map "exploration task" to a passive Intelligence check and the DC to the party's pace (the faster the pace, the higher the DC). Then make a source map worth gold if they engage in that task to the exclusion of others.
Tie the Navigating "exploration task" to a passive Intelligence check when in a maze-like adventure location instead of Wisdom (Survival).
Some downtime activities like Research can be tied to Intelligence if the task takes place in a library or the like.
In my current campaign, I have a player pool and each player has several characters. So I never know what kind of party I'll have week to week. Last session, I had a party where every character had an Int 8. They were exploring a big, abstract location and they got lost a LOT by not having a decent Intelligence between them. It also meant they couldn't draw a map that was worth anything. So not only did they run into more trouble than they needed to, they couldn't score any easy gold by drawing a decent source map. They were lamenting (and laughing at) their own characters' stupidity by the end of that session.
We use Idea #1 in our table, but specifically added Vehicle Proficiencies as well. Basically, anything that can be trained in downtime is fair game. One weapon proficiency per plus sounds good too.
Skills are too powerful, I think. Those are only added after character generation by a Class archetype or Feat.
Skills are too powerful, I think. Those are only added after character generation by a Class archetype or Feat.
Einlanzer0
Explorer
Int being such a dump stat has bothered me from day one with 5e. I have a two fold approach to improving it -
first, is the obvious - Int provides bonus proficiencies and languages. This works extremely well with the somewhat revised skill system I use, but works well enough with the normal skill/tool system too.
second, I've revised the skill list - it's now arcana, folklore, machinery, medicine, and tactics. Int's role in investigation has been baked into the individual knowledge skills (Investigation was a poorly thought out skill with too much thematic overlap with insight/perception). Tactics is a combat-oriented skill, which Int was in bad need of. It essentially takes over Inspiration as a way to gain advantage or remove disadvantage in various situations. (Inspiration was revised to work more like a weaker version of Bardic Inspiration).
first, is the obvious - Int provides bonus proficiencies and languages. This works extremely well with the somewhat revised skill system I use, but works well enough with the normal skill/tool system too.
second, I've revised the skill list - it's now arcana, folklore, machinery, medicine, and tactics. Int's role in investigation has been baked into the individual knowledge skills (Investigation was a poorly thought out skill with too much thematic overlap with insight/perception). Tactics is a combat-oriented skill, which Int was in bad need of. It essentially takes over Inspiration as a way to gain advantage or remove disadvantage in various situations. (Inspiration was revised to work more like a weaker version of Bardic Inspiration).
S
Sunseeker
Guest
I think Idea 1 is probably the safest, least invasive route.
It's why I don't dump Int to begin with. I like playing smart (14-16) characters.
But then, you don't need to encourage me to not dump Int, I like Int, on all my characters.
It's why I don't dump Int to begin with. I like playing smart (14-16) characters.
But then, you don't need to encourage me to not dump Int, I like Int, on all my characters.
