D&D 5E What if we got rid of stats entirely?

[Voadam]

I think D&D would work fine without attributes, tie mechanical number stuff into class and skills and backgrounds.

 

[Umbran]

I played in a four or five session game of fate once. Do use it for things like a longer campaign as well?

Our Space: 1889 expedition in the jungles of Venus has been rolling since March of 2020. We are nearing conclusion, and are apt to swap over to doing something Weird West in the same system.

 

[Umbran]

Strange. I find it 10x easier to find and pick the optimal specialization.

Yep. Nothing strange about it. The point is that specializations are designed to be used to optimize doing something you want the character to do, where flaws generally aren't.

 

[Raiztt]

This would mean all members of a class of a certain level are all equally proficient in a given activity and I find that wildly implausible.

That is the issue I have with B/X where stats don't matter all that much.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

This would mean all members of a class of a certain level are all equally proficient in a given activity and I find that wildly implausible.

That is the issue I have with B/X where stats don't matter all that much.

Nah you just need to make sure that there is space for flexibility within each class. Not all fighters should be the same, even if they picked the same subclass. Each class needs actual optional features. The whole system falls apart if there's no ability to modify how the class itself works.

The class isn't supposed to be a strict template that forces everyone having the same class to function the same way.

 

[Raiztt]

Nah you just need to make sure that there is space for flexibility within each class. Not all fighters should be the same, even if they picked the same subclass. Each class needs actual optional features. The whole system falls apart if there's no ability to modify how the class itself works.

The class isn't supposed to be a strict template that forces everyone having the same class to function the same way.

It's definitely not a change I would endorse, I'd rather move back closer to 3.5.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think it should be doable, with a good dose of passive features from class/background.

Like, instead of str, fighter can have more powerful/meaningful fighting styles, a feature adding a flat bonus to athletic skill check, a flat bonus to carrying weight, etc.

Monks, would start with a natural AC of 16 while unarmored, increasing by 1 at lvl 11 and 15.

Skills would be a mix of Proficiency Bonus and a +X from items (thieves tool, artisan tools, spyglass), etc

AC would be a flat score from armor, just like heavy armors, no ''+ dex''. Some class would add a passive bonus to some type of armors (rogues and barbarian +1 AC in light armor, frex)

 

[Reynard]

On the issue of taking out stats reducing player choices:

You have your heritage, then your culture, then your background, then your class, then your subclass, then your traits, then your feat. There's potentially plenty of choices at first level without stays.

On traits as a replacement: I wasn't imagining a simple 1::1 "bonus on strength stuff." Rather,the player wants their character to be a way -- a giant pile of muscle, a silver tongued con artist, a bookish know it all, whatever. Players often graft those kinds of descriptions on top of ability scores. Let's skip the middle man and just let the player write "Bookish know it all" on their sheet and be allowed to apply whatever the trait bonus is to things that apply?

 

[Corinnguard]

Let's skip the middle man and just let the player write "Bookish know it all" on their sheet and be allowed to apply whatever the trait bonus is to things that apply?

But how will I know if my 'Bookish Know It All' is better than all of those other 'Bookish Know It All's'?

 

[Reynard]

But how will I know if my 'Bookish Know It All' is better than all of those other 'Bookish Know It All's'?

The dice will tell you.