D&D 5E Why do ability scores cap at 20 instead of 18?

[Shiroiken]

I like the idea of capping ability scores, rather than the endless chase from 3E & 4E. However, I can't fathom why they chose 20, instead of the dice maximum of 18 (which was the non-magical maximum in AD&D and earlier). It might have made sense back when racial ASI could take a rolled ability score over the cap, but since the game is moving away from fixed ASI, this really doesn't hold up anymore.

What does everyone thing? Would you prefer to go back to 18 as a cap, or do you have a reason why 20 works better for you?

 

[TwoSix]

I'm on board. I like that idea quite a bit, actually, and it's a quite easy houserule to explain.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’m pretty sure it was in fact because 20 is the maximum you can get with rolled stats. And that’s still the case - even though fixed racial ASIs are dying off, everyone still gets that floating +2/+1 (or +1/+1/+1), which means if you’re using the roll 4d6 keep the 3 highest (which isstill the standard method in the PHB). it’s possible for any character to have a 20 in one stat at character creation.

I will admit though, I think a cap of 18 would actually be useful for helping balance the armor types. With +4 being the highest modifier you can achieve, the best AC you can achieve with non-magical armor becomes 16 for light, 17 for medium (18 with medium armor master), and 18 for heavy. Before shields, of course. That just feels right to me.

Technically you could also achieve this by changing the relationship between ability scores and modifiers. Going back to the pre-3e table, and adding 1-2 as -4 and 19-20 as +4 would actually be ideal in my opinion.

 

[CleverNickName]

In one of my earlier D&D campaigns, we increased the ability score cap to 22. It didn't break anything.

 

[DND_Reborn]

What does everyone thing? Would you prefer to go back to 18 as a cap, or do you have a reason why 20 works better for you?

18 is the cap for humans. Since we still use fixed ASI for race (no floating here, thank you very much!), the races with +2 have 20 caps in those scores.

As to why they made 20 the cap? Because it is d20 and it seems everything has to be in terms of "20".

 

[TwoSix]

I’m pretty sure it was in fact because 20 is the maximum you can get with rolled stats. And that’s still the case - even though fixed racial ASIs are dying off, everyone still gets that floating +2/+1 (or +1/+1/+1), which means if you’re using the roll 4d6 keep the 3 highest (which isstill the standard method in the PHB). it’s possible for any character to have a 20 in one stat at character creation.

Yea, that's almost certainly why. Although that would be a worse issue with fixed stats; floating stats alleviate the worst problem of an 18 cap, which would be having to waste a racial boost because your best rolled stat is too high. (Example, you roll 18, 13, 12, 10, 10, 9, and you want to play an elf rogue. With fixed stats and an 18 cap, the obvious choice of putting the 18 in Dex would result in the elven +2 Dex being wasted.)

 

[Maxperson]

In one of my earlier D&D campaigns, we increased the ability score cap to 22. It didn't break anything.

I raised the cap to 20+ racial ASI, so an elf will have a 22 max dex.

 

[Mind of tempest]

personally, I am going with aesthetic pleasure.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I would like the reduction to 18 max.
It will make starting with lower scores a little more forgiving and it will slightly push you towards feats.

 

[Stormonu]

If I roll an 18 for my "prime" score and have a +2 bonus to the same score, I feel I have the right to start it at 20.