keterys
First Post
I was recently noticing in game the stat imbalance between those who can be focused on Dex and Con, and those who cannot, and it's led to me pondering minor rule changes. Or at least discussing them, cause that's the fun part, and maybe something will get into a game some day, or not.
Problem:
At the moment, several stats are derived from a median value of statistics. This is a good thing, in that it prevents overfocus in one ability to dominate your statistics. Those stats are:
AC: Dex, Con, Wis
PD: Str, Dex, Con
MD: Int, Wis, Cha
However, two other important combat statistics do not see similar treatment:
HP (and Recovery bonus): Con
Init: Dex
Further, those same two stats (Dex + Con) allow you to maximize your AC and PD, the two most attacked defenses.
Ergo, mathematically speaking, those who can focus on Dex and Con may choose to gain a notable advantage in statistics over those who do not.
--
Solution Idea 1)
Add HP and Init to the same stat treatment as the other stats:
Init: Dex, Int, Wis
HP: Str, Con, Cha
Note, I picked those stats based on what I felt made sense for them first, in case you're wondering.
I now examine to see if that helps balance things at all. We now see that of the 15 ability spots, each stat shows up 2 or 3 times, and further that there's no additional overlap between Dex and Con. Dex, Con, and Wis have a slight potential edge, but overall that's a better spread than I expected at first pass.
Anyone see any problem with that approach? Somewhere it screws up?
Solution Idea 2 is a little more wild)
For each of your abilities (Str,Dex,Con,Int,Wis,Cha), choose one derived statistic to apply it - probably limited to the ranges mentioned in #1. Note that there's only 5 derived, so you can skip one stat. One dump stat seems reasonable, but you _could_ choose to add yet another derived statistic to further the exercise.
Example:
The elf ranger (S12, D20, C16, I10, W14, Ch8) looks at the list and decides his Cha is his dump stat, so splits the other 5 up like so:
AC: Dex +5
PD: Str +1
MD: Int +0
Init: Wis +2
HP: Con +3
Note that #2 will result in a greater deviation than standard play. Comparison using the above character:
Standard:
AC uses Con for +3
PD uses Con for +3
MD uses Int for +0
Init uses Dex for +5
HP uses Con for +3
It is worth note that a standard version of the character might instead choose to have a Dex 20, Con 18, upping AC, PD, and HP at the cost of -1 to some skill checks, since their Str, Wis, and Cha are immaterial for their figured statistics.
Any other ideas much appreciated.
Problem:
At the moment, several stats are derived from a median value of statistics. This is a good thing, in that it prevents overfocus in one ability to dominate your statistics. Those stats are:
AC: Dex, Con, Wis
PD: Str, Dex, Con
MD: Int, Wis, Cha
However, two other important combat statistics do not see similar treatment:
HP (and Recovery bonus): Con
Init: Dex
Further, those same two stats (Dex + Con) allow you to maximize your AC and PD, the two most attacked defenses.
Ergo, mathematically speaking, those who can focus on Dex and Con may choose to gain a notable advantage in statistics over those who do not.
--
Solution Idea 1)
Add HP and Init to the same stat treatment as the other stats:
Init: Dex, Int, Wis
HP: Str, Con, Cha
Note, I picked those stats based on what I felt made sense for them first, in case you're wondering.
I now examine to see if that helps balance things at all. We now see that of the 15 ability spots, each stat shows up 2 or 3 times, and further that there's no additional overlap between Dex and Con. Dex, Con, and Wis have a slight potential edge, but overall that's a better spread than I expected at first pass.
Anyone see any problem with that approach? Somewhere it screws up?
Solution Idea 2 is a little more wild)
For each of your abilities (Str,Dex,Con,Int,Wis,Cha), choose one derived statistic to apply it - probably limited to the ranges mentioned in #1. Note that there's only 5 derived, so you can skip one stat. One dump stat seems reasonable, but you _could_ choose to add yet another derived statistic to further the exercise.
Example:
The elf ranger (S12, D20, C16, I10, W14, Ch8) looks at the list and decides his Cha is his dump stat, so splits the other 5 up like so:
AC: Dex +5
PD: Str +1
MD: Int +0
Init: Wis +2
HP: Con +3
Note that #2 will result in a greater deviation than standard play. Comparison using the above character:
Standard:
AC uses Con for +3
PD uses Con for +3
MD uses Int for +0
Init uses Dex for +5
HP uses Con for +3
It is worth note that a standard version of the character might instead choose to have a Dex 20, Con 18, upping AC, PD, and HP at the cost of -1 to some skill checks, since their Str, Wis, and Cha are immaterial for their figured statistics.
Any other ideas much appreciated.