No, max 16 ever. Racial bonus could take that to a possible 18 and I like the idea of a feat (similar to @dnd4vr raising the bar feat) giving access to higher scores.
Yeah, a cap of 16 works really well. And yes, the "18" goal from prior editions certainly has bearing on not seeing this. I mean, in basic your 18 score was worth +3, which is a 16 in 5E!
Totally awesome level of ability now!
I could see a cap 16 up to tier 2, then 18 in tier 3, and 20 in tier 4.
Yep, I was just thinking how the old 18 was indeed a +3. I agree with everything you say and I think this will be my standard moving forward. I may just make "raising the bar" dependent on level, so a prerequisite for that feat is your lvl 11 maybe.Yeah, a cap of 16 works really well. And yes, the "18" goal from prior editions certainly has bearing on not seeing this. I mean, in basic your 18 score was worth +3, which is a 16 in 5E!
Also, allowing races with ASI +2 to cap at 18 means the most dexterous elf will remain better than the most dexterous human (18 vs 16).
Now, for PCs, you can include Raising the Bar or something similar if you want a way to level the field, but then it becomes a choice-an investment if you will- into making that PC rival even the elves, orcs, dwarves, or whatever that has a higher cap.
I'll revise Raising the Bar to bump the cap +2. So, a 16 can become an 18, and an 18 could still become a 20! YIKES!
Also, Gauntlets of Ogre power at 19 are still better for the cap 16 people, which I would like to see again.
Agreed, those were really awesome back in the day and it would be nice to bring that back.
Cool! Whatever works for your and makes your game better.
I know, right? We've had three pop up in our main campaign and no warrior-class ever took them. Because they require attunement, we have a set our retainer wears (he is a "Veteran" NPC normally STR 16), a set our Bard/Wizard wears, and an extra set in our Portable Hole. He had another set, but they went to a cleric with STR 12 who has since left the party (the player moved away).
I like it,. Even the last line makes sense since your only actually getting a +1 to an ability score (with the option to increase your max). The only difference for me is I would limit access to level 11+ (I think). It is to late to introduce these in my current campaign (we are lvl 15), but I think the score limits and feat will be my new standard. thanks!
No, thank you! I thought of the cap 16 before a long time ago, but then dismissed it without too much thought because of the "holy grail 18" from prior editions.
), but I'll encourage our table to adopt this as the standard from now on. It will also make me rethink those other changes for making a variant 5E I want to play.
