D&D General Order of ability scores

[Umbran]

Does the order of ability scores affect their perceived importance

When I am creating a character, I have a race and class in mind, and then I assign stats per what's important for that class and race combination. I don't think the order they appear on the sheet matters at that point.

 

[Charlaquin]

* - and just for kicks I once named a gonzo character Strint Wisdex, but nobody got the joke.

That is a great character name!

 

[Charlaquin]

I think the answer is no. If you roll stats in order and create a character to suit the results, then the order makes no difference because your stats are random. If you come to the table with a character in mind and arrange your stats to suit the character it also doesn’t matter because you’re going to prioritize the stats needed for the character you already have in mind regardless of what order they’re on the sheet.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Don't forget 4e D&D moved things around a little more (str, con, dex, int, wis, cha), but with specific reason. Strength and Constitution were both considered physical stats and affected Fortitude defense. Dexterity and Intelligence were paired together for Reflex, and Wisdom and Charisma were tied to Will. Somehow, it just made more sense and had an easier flow to it.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I just wish we had one or two more that started with vowels so that we could arrange them to spell "Shazam" or something

Maybe SDCIWC could mean "Started Doing Cartwheels In Wet Cement"?

When I played Shadowrun 2e we called the stats BISQUICK but I can't remember the names of the stats.

LOL I have no idea how you got BISQUICK... the stats in SR 2E were:

BODY
QUICKNESS
STRENGTH
CHARISMA
INTELLIGENCE
WILLPOWER

and then also REACTION, INITIATIVE (sort of), and maybe MAGIC, BIOINDEX, and ESSENCE (also sort of's), not to mention the pools: COMBAT, HACKING, MAGIC, and CONTROL.

 

[Esker]

LOL I have no idea how you got BISQUICK... the stats in SR 2E were:

BODY
QUICKNESS
STRENGTH
CHARISMA
INTELLIGENCE
WILLPOWER

Presumably from BSQWIC

 

[Leatherhead]

The order of abilities matters less than the fact that the abilities are organized into distinct groups.

Really, the biggest difference would be if you listed combat stats or skills first

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Does the order of ability scores affect their perceived importance (aside from their actual mechanical importance).

In other words, does a character sheet that lists:

Charisma
Intelligence
Dexterity
Wisdom
Constitution
Strength

subtly encourage a different type of character and/or game to:

Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Intelligence
Wisdom
Charisma

I think so.
Sadly, no way to experiment with this in the wild.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Back during 3.X, Charisma was widely perceived as a dump stat and it was also the last stat on the sheet. I do think the fact it was the last stat on the sheet subtly reinforced my view that it was a dump stat. Perhaps it did this for others as well.

In 5E, Charisma is still last on the sheet but now it is clearly NOT a dump stat. I don't think anything can be gleaned from the currently ordering of the stats. If in 5E the stats had been ordered like this --

Dexterity
Constitution
Wisdom
Charisma
Strength
Intelligence

then I might think the game designers were subtly trying to tell us something.

 

[Horwath]

/tinfoil hat on

@Morrus

This is a obvious subconscious cospiracy made by an alliance of Illuminati-Freemasonry-Lizard people to force us to make characters more focus on their physical abilities rather than mental in hope that we will project that mental state to ourselves in real life and to guide our friends and family that way.

Their goal is to have majority of population as physically able, feebleminded workers/drones/slaves while they control all key positions on the planet and keeping all the capital in their small group.

...


Proceeds to make variant human with Observant feat with abilities;

STR: 8
DEX: 8
CON: 8
INT: 16
WIS: 16
CHA: 16

...

"my Third eye is wide open"

/tinfoil hat off