D&D 5E Making Intelligence Less of a Dump Stat
BookBarbarian
Expert Long Rester
And here I always thought INT as a dump stat added a nice touch of reality to our fantasy world
In a sense. It doesn't require genius to kill things and take their stuff. IRL or in D&D.
TiwazTyrsfist
Adventurer
Question (tangentially related) do you still need a Minimum Stat to cast spells of a certain level?
In 3.X you had to have 10+spell level, so a Fighter/Wizard still needed a decent Int to access spells.
Does an Eldritch Knight or an Arcane Trickster need a good Int? Could an Eldritch Knight run with 8 int, accepting that his spells will have low save DCs?
Can a Level 13 Eldritch Knight with Int 8 cast Fireball?
That said: Another thing would be to just tie a few powers in a few archetypes to Int.
Battle Master, instead of 4 Superiority Dice to start out, How about 1 or 2 + INT Mod.
Changing Expertise to +int instead of doubling proficiency is a brilliant idea, I like it a lot.
I feel like Weapon Combatants tend to be Int Dumpers, so maybe add a Fighting Style available to all classes that get fighting style, that grants a bonus based off Int? Or perhaps 2?
Canny Defense - when in no, light, or medium armor, and not surprised, you add your Int to AC.
Cunning Strike - When you have advantage, add your Int to your attack and damage rolls.
This makes a 14+ Int suddenly very desirable for classes that previously had no reason NOT to have an 8 Int.
In 3.X you had to have 10+spell level, so a Fighter/Wizard still needed a decent Int to access spells.
Does an Eldritch Knight or an Arcane Trickster need a good Int? Could an Eldritch Knight run with 8 int, accepting that his spells will have low save DCs?
Can a Level 13 Eldritch Knight with Int 8 cast Fireball?
That said: Another thing would be to just tie a few powers in a few archetypes to Int.
Battle Master, instead of 4 Superiority Dice to start out, How about 1 or 2 + INT Mod.
Changing Expertise to +int instead of doubling proficiency is a brilliant idea, I like it a lot.
I feel like Weapon Combatants tend to be Int Dumpers, so maybe add a Fighting Style available to all classes that get fighting style, that grants a bonus based off Int? Or perhaps 2?
Canny Defense - when in no, light, or medium armor, and not surprised, you add your Int to AC.
Cunning Strike - When you have advantage, add your Int to your attack and damage rolls.
This makes a 14+ Int suddenly very desirable for classes that previously had no reason NOT to have an 8 Int.
Yaarel
He Mage
Relating to Dexterity:
Strength as Athleticism=Acrobatics, represents all agility, jumping, running, thus dodging, falling, AC bonus, and Reflex save. In reallife, Athletes can jump out of the way. Archers and sharpshooters, less so.
Dexterity is manual dexterity − slow cautious precise movements: ranged attack bonus (careful aim), Stealth (slow and exacting), and crafting.
Constitution as hit points and toughness also represents Size: thus melee damage bonus, heavy weapon, heavy armor, carrying capacity, and if a score of 18 or higher, reach.
Strength as Athleticism=Acrobatics, represents all agility, jumping, running, thus dodging, falling, AC bonus, and Reflex save. In reallife, Athletes can jump out of the way. Archers and sharpshooters, less so.
Dexterity is manual dexterity − slow cautious precise movements: ranged attack bonus (careful aim), Stealth (slow and exacting), and crafting.
Constitution as hit points and toughness also represents Size: thus melee damage bonus, heavy weapon, heavy armor, carrying capacity, and if a score of 18 or higher, reach.
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Thanks for the input everyone, here's what I ultimately went with. From my house rules:
"Intelligence determines how many magic items your character may have attuned at any one time, as described below:
-- Characters with Intelligence 9 or less may attune 2 magic items (one fewer than described in the PHB).
-- Characters with Intelligence 10-15 may attune 3 magic items (as described in the PHB).
-- Characters with Intelligence 16+ may attune 4 magic items (one more than described in the PHB)."
I put a lot of thought into it.
I went with the +1/-1 model for magic item attunement because it worked in two directions: it gave a bonus for having a high Int as well as a penalty for having a low Int. I set the requirements high enough to avoid cherry-picking, but low enough to make them attainable-yet-difficult: mid-level characters will have to struggle over whether or not to take feats, boost their primary stat, or boost their Int to gain one extra attunement. And lastly, I capped the bonus/penalty at 1 point to avoid The Wizard Problem, as well as magic item exploitation--intelligence boosting magic items aren't going to help you gain attunements.
Anyway. I'll keep you guys posted on whether or not the attunement tweaks cause problems down the road.
"Intelligence determines how many magic items your character may have attuned at any one time, as described below:
-- Characters with Intelligence 9 or less may attune 2 magic items (one fewer than described in the PHB).
-- Characters with Intelligence 10-15 may attune 3 magic items (as described in the PHB).
-- Characters with Intelligence 16+ may attune 4 magic items (one more than described in the PHB)."
I put a lot of thought into it.
I went with the +1/-1 model for magic item attunement because it worked in two directions: it gave a bonus for having a high Int as well as a penalty for having a low Int. I set the requirements high enough to avoid cherry-picking, but low enough to make them attainable-yet-difficult: mid-level characters will have to struggle over whether or not to take feats, boost their primary stat, or boost their Int to gain one extra attunement. And lastly, I capped the bonus/penalty at 1 point to avoid The Wizard Problem, as well as magic item exploitation--intelligence boosting magic items aren't going to help you gain attunements.
Anyway. I'll keep you guys posted on whether or not the attunement tweaks cause problems down the road.
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I prefer using the lower of the two.
FrogReaver
As long as i get to be the frog
If you are happy with that then that is all that matters. Honestly I could see charisma working better than intelligence and maybe even wisdom working better than intelligence for a magic item atunement modifier. But that is only a slight nitpick.
FrogReaver
As long as i get to be the frog
Is it also important to give wizards and rogues extra incentive to not dump strength?
