Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Making Intelligence Less of a Dump Stat
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 7316267" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>Written like that, it's just not possible <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p>Constitution, Dexterity and Wisdom are the "reactive" or "passive" abilities. Nobody cannot choose to avoid using them, as they affect <em>defense </em> i.e. HP, AC and Perception. So there is not only an incentive to have high scores here, but also clearly to avoid low scores.</p><p></p><p>To make Intelligence, Strength and Charisma more on par with the other three, you'd have to make all of them affect defensive/passive/reactive abilities more, anything that you cannot choose not to use. We all know that there are Int/Str/Cha saving throws (or reactive ability checks vs spells) but also that they aren't nearly as frequent as Con/Dex/Wis saves.</p><p></p><p>This would be a BIG change, but you could consider make all illusion spells require Intelligence saves rather than Wisdom, and all paralysis/petrification (or whatever else makes the target impeded in its movement) spells and effects require a Strength save.</p><p></p><p>Or even a bigger change, you could consider making Intelligence affect AC or Initiative or Perception, make Strength affect HP, and make Charisma affect Initiative or Perception.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's ok, but IMHO the PCs already have more proficiencies than it's really needed, so the effective boost isn't much.</p><p></p><p>Now, if you were <em>limited</em> to a number of <strong>skill</strong> proficiencies based on Intelligence, so that for example your Int modifier would increase/lower your total number of skills proficiencies (total = class + race + background), now that would probably make players think twice before dumping Int.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is generally a fair idea, but it's always subject to the campaign type (grim'n'gritty vs monty haul), and at low levels it can be very often irrelevant.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 7316267, member: 1465"] Written like that, it's just not possible :) Constitution, Dexterity and Wisdom are the "reactive" or "passive" abilities. Nobody cannot choose to avoid using them, as they affect [I]defense [/I] i.e. HP, AC and Perception. So there is not only an incentive to have high scores here, but also clearly to avoid low scores. To make Intelligence, Strength and Charisma more on par with the other three, you'd have to make all of them affect defensive/passive/reactive abilities more, anything that you cannot choose not to use. We all know that there are Int/Str/Cha saving throws (or reactive ability checks vs spells) but also that they aren't nearly as frequent as Con/Dex/Wis saves. This would be a BIG change, but you could consider make all illusion spells require Intelligence saves rather than Wisdom, and all paralysis/petrification (or whatever else makes the target impeded in its movement) spells and effects require a Strength save. Or even a bigger change, you could consider making Intelligence affect AC or Initiative or Perception, make Strength affect HP, and make Charisma affect Initiative or Perception. It's ok, but IMHO the PCs already have more proficiencies than it's really needed, so the effective boost isn't much. Now, if you were [I]limited[/I] to a number of [B]skill[/B] proficiencies based on Intelligence, so that for example your Int modifier would increase/lower your total number of skills proficiencies (total = class + race + background), now that would probably make players think twice before dumping Int. This is generally a fair idea, but it's always subject to the campaign type (grim'n'gritty vs monty haul), and at low levels it can be very often irrelevant. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Making Intelligence Less of a Dump Stat
Top