D&D General Which ability score would you like to increase to 18 in real life?

[DND_Reborn]

An 18 is only 1-in-216 on 3d6. An IQ of 160 is 1-in-31,560.

Some of us are obviously full of... themselves when they claim an 18 INT. Others are simply being modest.

As for "high enough"... unless you're actually a Wizard, the correlation between Intelligence and success starts hitting diminishing returns in (my estimate) the 14-15 range. If you're already rocking a 15 or better, INT is probably the least useful score to bump to 18 except STR. Literally any of the other four are practically guaranteed to be better options.

Yeah, in terms of raw IQ, any score of 130 or higher can handle pretty much anything our brains are capable of thinking of. There is an excellent (IMO) book called Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell) on this sort of topic.

It isn't intended, but I always like to think of scores with each modifier bonus representing 1 standard deviation. So, to technically be a genius (IQ 145+) you would need a INT 16+. INT 18 would be IQ 160, and INT 20 would be IQ 175+. Now, IQ tests are biased for a lot of people, but I have taken several and would firmly put my INT at 16.

For something like STR, I think mostly in terms of athletics. A +1 mod is strong and might represent your typical person in good shape who goes out for sports (or think a high school athlete). A +2 is more college-level, a +3 is amateur professional, +4 is profession, and +5 is Olympic/world-class.

Some people in the past have said they find such quantification of individuals as distasteful. If I have offended anyone in such a manner, my apologies. I thought this thread would be an appropriate place to share the ideas.

Anyway, all that being said, I am the only person (thus far) who chose STR 18 LOL. But I did that just to be the rebel.

 

[S'mon]

Magic genie. Super soldier serum. Special training course. Whatever. But one of your real life ability scores becomes 18. The rest stay the same. Which do you choose?

I'd rather have 12 points of CON than 1 point of INT!

 

[DammitVictor]

Anyway, all that being said, I am the only person (thus far) who chose STR 18 LOL. But I did that just to be the rebel.

To be honest now, I'm wondering if lowering my INT to 18 might not actually do me more good than raising my WIS or CHA to 18. (The main benefit to raising my WIS would be realizing I should've chosen CON.)

 

[GreenTengu]

I am pretty sure the U.S. and U.K. have given us living proof that you don't need any intelligence or wisdom to rise to the top and destroy the world so long as you have Charisma. You can even be ugly and repulsive to half the population so long as the other half find you super relatable and charismatic and still take that power (in fact, maybe it helps!).

A maxed out physical stat generally wouldn't do one any good unless they are going to engage in physical contests (i.e. sports) that would allow one to financially or socially benefit from it. And no matter how strong or swift or tough you are, it is difficult to break into such sports if you start after age 18 anyway.

 

[Maxperson]

I’m genuinely surprised by the number of posters who think of Wisdom as a dump stat. Also, here’s an eyeball roll for all of the posters who believe their Int and/or Wis is already 18 (or high enough):

I've been around long enough to know that I'm smarter and wiser than most. Even if they are only 13-15, that's plenty high enough. Or put another way, I'm smart enough and wise enough to understand that bumping my Con to 18 will give me a longer, better quality of life than bumping Int or Wis.

 

[Maxperson]

A maxed out physical stat generally wouldn't do one any good unless they are going to engage in physical contests (i.e. sports) that would allow one to financially or socially benefit from it. And no matter how strong or swift or tough you are, it is difficult to break into such sports if you start after age 18 anyway.

Or you know, you want to have a longer, higher quality of life. I'd rather have more modest means and have a better quality of life, than to have millions of dollars with which to buy those wheelchairs and oxygen breathers.

 

[mortwatcher]

initial reaction was to go charisma, since that would be nice
but if con means good health, gimme that

 

[Maxperson]

initial reaction was to go charisma, since that would be nice
but if con means good health, gimme that

5e: Constitution measures health, stamina, and vital force.
4e: represents your character’s health, stamina, and vital force.
3e: Constitution represents your character’s health and stamina.
2e: A character's Constitution (Con) score represents his physique, fitness, health, and physical resistance to hardship, injury and disease.
1e: Constitution is a term which encompasses the character’s physique, fitness, health, and resistance.

It's not an if.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

This "Real Life" seems to be a horror campaign using the optional Sanity rules, so I'd up my SAN to 18.

 

[Dausuul]

You don't need any intelligence or wisdom to rise to the top and destroy the world so long as you have Charisma.

Why would you want to "rise to the top and destroy the world?" That seems like a terrible life goal. And folks who are motivated by "rising to the top" (let alone destroying the world) seem to lead pretty miserable lives.

A maxed out physical stat generally wouldn't do one any good unless they are going to engage in physical contests (i.e. sports) that would allow one to financially or socially benefit from it.

This is true of Strength and Dexterity. It is emphatically not true of Constitution, as anybody who's wrestled with a serious health problem or cared for an aging parent could tell you.