D&D General Four Ability Scores

[Yaarel]

I'm not sure why you feel the need to differentiate which portions are skill based and which portions are inherent aptitudes.

Much like hp is an amalgamation of luck, skill, physical resileience, etc. In a system like the one being described your "skills" would be an amalgamation of your talents, inherent aptitudes, experience and training.

Why do I like abilities (the inherent aptitudes)?

Abilities are a simple way to provide an epitome of what a character concept is about.

For example, if a Wizard is about Intelligence and a Bard is about Charisma, it instantly communicates a large amount of information.

Races feel different because of affinities to abilities.

When I look at the statblock for a monster, I check out the abilities to know in live time how to play them.

Flavorwise, abilities are useful as a big-picture mechanic.

Mechanicswise, abilities are the engine of the D&D 5e gaming system. Everything. Everything. Everything. Refers to them. A player can think completely outside the box. No matter how surprised a DM is, the DM can think about which ability applies. Adjudicate it as an ability check. Even if a specific skill is completely absent, the ability can still apply.

Gamewise, abilities are powerful, and make D&D more open to imagination.



Why do I like FOUR abilities?

Four is a powerful number. Because of forward-backward-right-left, the foursome is probably hardwired into the neurology of the brain, and appears to be the fundamental unit of human memory, and how the brain processes information.

Four is useful.

The foursome seen in the Free League system and translating here enjoys extreme clarity. It is unambiguous which ability should apply to a specific ability check. This clarity makes the ability gaming engine more efficient, more comprehensive, and more powerful.

Narratively, the foursome coheres happily with wellknown tropes.

• Strength-Constitution ≈ Big Guy
• Dexterity-Athletics ≈ Jock Guy
• Intelligence-Perception ≈ Smart Guy
• Charisma-Wisdom ≈ Heart Guy

These four tropes relate to the Five Man Band. What makes the Five peculiar is the tendency for one of the five to be the dedicated ‘Hero’. Then, the second is ‘Lancer’ being the ‘opposite’ of the Hero, to accentuate the hero. Because of Gilgamesh and King Arthur, the Jock Guy is usually assumed to be the ‘Hero’ of the story. The Lancer, then, is his sidekick, where opposites attract. The other three are more exact. The ‘Chick’ of the Five Man Band is the Heart Guy. The Smart Guy is the Smart Guy, with various ways of being smart. The Big Guy is the Big Guy, being in some sense a one-man army who masters combat.

What makes the foursome more interesting is, there seems inherently no Hero. Any of the four can be the hero of the story, and many stories involving the foursome alternating who the center of the story is. Four is more fluid.

It is possible to arbitrarily overlay other kinds of narrative quartets (like the philosophies: Optimist, Cynic, Realist, and Apathetic).

But the narrative tropes of Big, Jock, Smart, and Heart are already a powerful tool for a storytelling game to tap into.

 

[Yaarel]

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Carefully organizing the D&D abilities tradition, to make them more efficient and more balanced, adds value to the gaming system.

The sixsome are a fossilized ad-hoc tangle, being ambiguous and conflictive, and unequal in usefulness. By untangling the abilities − disambiguating when to use each, making each more equal to the other − the foursome opens up options that the previous tangle inhibited.

Especially the D&D player benefits, when trying to translate a character concept into the mechanics of D&D.



We can see how the Fighter class benefits. Most Fighter concepts will prioritize Strength-Constitution to excel at combat, via toughness. But the auxiliary ability is now an equally viable choice, depending on what kind of warrior concept the player wants to play.

• Intelligence-Perceptive. The observant guard. The military strategist. The skillful gadgeteer.

• Dexterity-Athletics. The gymnastic light armor swashbuckler. The stealthy covert operative.

• Charisma-Willpower. The celebrated hero of songs and tales. The intimidating military leader.

And so on, the auxiliary ability is just as important as the primary ability when articulating a character concept.

In the case of the Fighter, Intelligence and Charisma are no longer ‘dump stats’. Each is actually a great choice to build an effective Fighter with a very high investment in it. The deciding choice of a foursome ability, depends on the character concept. The players choice is free from the unwieldliness of sixsome abilities.



Likewise, consider the Wizard class. Most Wizard concepts will prioritize Intelligence-Perception, now an enviable ability to prioritize.

But now, the possibility of Strength-Constitution, opens up many character concepts. Not only will this battle-hardened Wizard gain survivability in combat encounters, but the possibility of functioning on the frontline opens up. The Wizard who knows how to wield a staff competently − or a sword like Gandolf − is a routine choice for players who seek this. (In addition to Elf Wizards with sword proficiency, and Dwarf Wizards with heavy armor, I allow players to swap a cantrip for proficiency in a specific martial weapon, or proficiency with light armor, or then heavy armor.)

Meanwhile, the athletics or stealth of Dexterity and the charm or fright of Charisma are also equally good choices for a Wizard to invest in.



Now, with a foursome, concept becomes far more important when building a character.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Now, with a foursome, concept becomes far more important when building a character.

You know, the core four have always been important:

Fighter - STR
Cleric - WIS
Magic-User - INT
Thief - DEX

I would favor keeping WIS over CHA, but I still don't think going to four over six is really that great a thing.

Still, if it works for you, have fun!

 

[Yaarel]

You know, the core four have always been important:

Fighter - STR
Cleric - WIS
Magic-User - INT
Thief - DEX

I would favor keeping WIS over CHA, but I still don't think going to four over six is really that great a thing.

Yeah. The ability foursome is authentic to the D&D tradition since the beginning, especially the core four.

• Fighter: Strength-Constitution
• Rogue: Dexterity-Athletics
• Wizard: Intelligence-Perception
• Cleric: Charisma-Wisdom



The flavor of the D&D Cleric is more about Charisma: spiritual leader, faith healer, proselytizer, and so on. In the foursome, the Charisma-Wisdom ability puts the finger on what the Cleric is about.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yeah. The ability foursome is authentic to the D&D tradition since the beginning, especially the core four.

• Fighter: Strength-Constitution
• Rogue: Dexterity-Athletics
• Wizard: Intelligence-Perception
• Cleric: Charisma-Wisdom

The flavor of the D&D Cleric is more about Charisma: spiritual leader, faith healer, proselytizer, and so on. In the foursome, the Charisma-Wisdom ability puts the finger on what the Cleric is about.

Sure, but I still favor the Wisdom-Charisma arrangement.

 

[DammitVictor]

Yeah. The ability foursome is authentic to the D&D tradition since the beginning, especially the core four.

• Fighter: Strength-Constitution
• Rogue: Dexterity-Athletics
• Wizard: Intelligence-Perception
• Cleric: Charisma-Wisdom



The flavor of the D&D Cleric is more about Charisma: spiritual leader, faith healer, proselytizer, and so on. In the foursome, the Charisma-Wisdom ability puts the finger on what the Cleric is about.

And then you refine it a little bit, that each class has a Primary and a Secondary.

Fighter: STR-CON followed by DEX. Maybe followed by ANY, given the other classes.
Rogue: DEX followed by STR or INT.
Wizard: INT followed by DEX or CHA
Cleric: CHA followed by STR-CON or INT.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Any players don't want a class from the "tetrarchy" but something different.

How many TTRPGs have got only four abilities scores? White Wolf's storytelling has got nine attributes.

And maybe the future tries to create an universal d20 system will add more abilities scores (for example astuteness, grace(karma/luck/fate), courage or talent).

 

[Yaarel]

D&D 5e is complex. I am interested in the implications of the ability foursome. This post looks at the 5e skills.



Strength-Constitution
• Melee Combat
• Brute Force (Carry, Lift, Pull, Push, Break, Bend)

Dexterity-Athletics
• Ranged Combat
• Athletics-Acrobatics
• Slight-of-Hand
• Stealth

Intelligence-Perception
• Perception-Investigation
• Arcana
• Deception*
• History
• Medicine
• Nature
• Religion
• Survival

Charisma-Wisdom
• Empathy-Insight-Animal Handling
• Intimidation-Frighten
• Persuasion-Charm
• Performance





*Deception: here corresponds to the Intelligence-Perception ability, to weave a believable falsehood that can even fool the experts. Oppositely, the Deception skill can detect a sophisticated deception. Deception requires formidable training and study to survive scrutiny. Forge an item or document, or detect such a forgery. Make a disguise that can pass, or detect a flaw in the disguise. Create a convincing illusion, or detect a convincing illusion. Note, Deception can be used benignly for the sake of creating a faithful replica, generating an illusion to reconstruct a virtual reality of an event, masterworking a lifelike painting, and so on.

Performance: represents beauty, arts and esthetics. Many arts require at least two skill checks. One check for the technical skill (such as Athletics for a dance, Slight-of-Hand for amazing string instrument speed, or Deception for a lifelike painting), and one check for the overall esthetic appeal to please a crowd.

Crafting: is typically done via a tool proficiency, such as proficiency with Thieves Tools to construct a trap. Most tool proficiencies benefit from Intelligence-Perception, especially to craft something sophisticated.



I use an ‘Empathy’ skill to combine both Insight and Animal Handling.

Custom skills that I find useful to add are:
• Alchemy
• Military



@LuisCarlos17f

I tend to associate ‘fate’ and ‘luck’ with Charisma, having a destiny that is larger than life, that impacts entire populations. In other words, fate ≈ force of personality. Hypothetically, Fate could be a Charisma-Wisdom skill, perhaps even a psionic skill.

 

[Yaarel]

I like how the ability foursome interacts with the Elf race.

HIGH ELF
+2 Dexterity-Athletics
+1 Intelligence-Perception

WOOD ELF
+2 Dexterity-Athletics
+1 Strength-Constitution

DROW
+2 Dexterity-Athletics
+1 Charisma-Wisdom


High Elf is straightforward.

Arguably, Wood Elf could instead be Intelligence in the sense of perceptive or Charisma in the sense of empathic. However, here, I like the feel of Strength correlating with the old school 1e Wood Elf and 1e Grugach Wild Elf, plus the strong 3e Wood Elf and tough 3e Wild Elf. It is ok for this kind of Elf to be muscular and tough.

Drow is perfect with Charisma, correlating 3e, 4e, and 5e. Moreover, for a Lolth setting, the Charisma-Wisdom encourages females to become powerful Clerics. Female Clerics and male Warlocks. Plus Dexterity Fighters and Rogues.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The stats don’t have to be equal in usefulness, and ambiguity is a benefit.