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General Tabletop Discussion
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Should 5E Characters be MAD?
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<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6047785" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>I think we need to clarify a bit...</p><p></p><p>Personally I LIKE a game where every stat counts, so that if I choose to have (or am lucky to roll) a high score in ability XYZ, then I can enjoy some benefit, while if I choose to have (or am unlucky to roll) a low score in the same ability, then I miss that a little bit, perhaps in the form of not being effective at something I sometimes have to do, or in the form of having a vulnerability, or even in the form of having to look away from certain options. I want ALL stats to be "nice to have".</p><p></p><p>OTOH I also LIKE a game where having a low or even very low stat (or even two) doesn't make my character bordering the unplayable. Just like sometimes it's possible to play a Charisma 1 character, it would be nice if it was just as possible to play a Constitution 1 character. This doesn't mean that it should be easy, just that the character would not die too easily and would have plenty of other things to do in the game.</p><p></p><p>So when we talk about "dump stats", I would like the game to be perfectly playable if you choose to have (or are unlucky to roll) a very low score somewhere, with two caveats:</p><p></p><p>- that this doesn't mean that ANY character concept must be still viable with that dump stat</p><p>- that tricks like "I can dump Strength for my Greataxe-wielding Barbarian because this feat allows me to use another stat for attack rolls and damage" should not be offered by the game, at least not the core</p><p></p><p>Therefore if MAD means that higher stats generally make you better and are all "nice-to-have" then I'm definitely in favor of MAD. However I do not want MAD to mean that some classes "need" to have a high minimum in 4 or more stats to use their abilities, otherwise this (in a point-buy system) forces me to give high stats to everybody, which yields a superheroes feel to the game that I really dislike. (note on the other hand, that in a rolled-abilities system, there would be less problems; it's ok then for me if to be a Paladin or Ranger you need to have had very lucky rolls... but this is something most gamers would not like!)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 6047785, member: 1465"] I think we need to clarify a bit... Personally I LIKE a game where every stat counts, so that if I choose to have (or am lucky to roll) a high score in ability XYZ, then I can enjoy some benefit, while if I choose to have (or am unlucky to roll) a low score in the same ability, then I miss that a little bit, perhaps in the form of not being effective at something I sometimes have to do, or in the form of having a vulnerability, or even in the form of having to look away from certain options. I want ALL stats to be "nice to have". OTOH I also LIKE a game where having a low or even very low stat (or even two) doesn't make my character bordering the unplayable. Just like sometimes it's possible to play a Charisma 1 character, it would be nice if it was just as possible to play a Constitution 1 character. This doesn't mean that it should be easy, just that the character would not die too easily and would have plenty of other things to do in the game. So when we talk about "dump stats", I would like the game to be perfectly playable if you choose to have (or are unlucky to roll) a very low score somewhere, with two caveats: - that this doesn't mean that ANY character concept must be still viable with that dump stat - that tricks like "I can dump Strength for my Greataxe-wielding Barbarian because this feat allows me to use another stat for attack rolls and damage" should not be offered by the game, at least not the core Therefore if MAD means that higher stats generally make you better and are all "nice-to-have" then I'm definitely in favor of MAD. However I do not want MAD to mean that some classes "need" to have a high minimum in 4 or more stats to use their abilities, otherwise this (in a point-buy system) forces me to give high stats to everybody, which yields a superheroes feel to the game that I really dislike. (note on the other hand, that in a rolled-abilities system, there would be less problems; it's ok then for me if to be a Paladin or Ranger you need to have had very lucky rolls... but this is something most gamers would not like!) [/QUOTE]
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