D&D 5E Attack bonus equals Strength AND Dexterity, not Strength OR Dexterity.

[dave2008]

Not a fan.
A base goblin has 8 str 14 dex. Normalling this is +4 with its weapon. With that houserule it is +3.
Kobolds go from+4 to +2
And poor animals.

That's a housrule that you would need to change AC calculations as well to fix. It's a lot of work.

The proposed house rule cannot make your bonus to hit go down. The OP suggested prof + str + dex (with max +5).

EDIT: Nevermind, I was missing the -1 on str, I see your point now. Maybe it only add's positive modifiers.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The proposed house rule cannot make your bonus to hit go down. The OP suggested prof + str + dex (with max +5).

EDIT: Nevermind, I was missing the -1 on str, I see your point now. Maybe it only add's positive modifiers.

Or it helps discourage PCs from dumping STR or DEX just to support the other. The fact that a few monsters might lose a point of attack bonus is of little concern to me.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Making all martials even more MAD is going to increase caster supremacy. If you somehow made it so spellcasters needs int, wis and cha regardless of class I can see it working a little better, but without that change this is only going to make an existing intra-party balance problem worse.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Making all martials even more MAD is going to increase caster supremacy. If you somehow made it so spellcasters needs int, wis and cha regardless of class I can see it working a little better, but without that change this is only going to make an existing intra-party balance problem worse.

Martials aren't more MAD. You can still have a STR 20, DEX 10 PC after all. It only makes it so a STR 16, DEX 14 won't suffer by comparison.

 

[Xeviat]

Martials aren't more MAD. You can still have a STR 20, DEX 10 PC after all. It only makes it so a STR 16, DEX 14 won't suffer by comparison.

Yeah this ends up being a buff to martials, because starting with 2 14s or a 16 and a 14 in Str and Dex is really feasible. It will make that the optimal build.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yeah this ends up being a buff to martials, because starting with 2 14s or a 16 and a 14 in Str and Dex is really feasible. It will make that the optimal build.

Right, the down side which IMO balances it out (somewhat) is that damage is not increased. So, while a STR 16, DEX 14 could be +5 attack, it would only be +3 to damage, as where a STR 18 PC would be +4 to both attack and damage.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Looking at it more, I suppose it’s there to fill a gap that I don’t experience, but once I realized that I groked why it’s a good rule for those who do experience the gap.

The gap being, if I’m right, that in 5e each ability score represents a sort of focus. Ie, if you have high Dex and low Str, it doesn’t actually mean you’re weak, it simply means that you are highly focused on agility, coordination, etc, and your strength is primarily the strength that services those things. You wouldn’t, taking the system as it is and not fighting it, make a high Strength Actobat, because the muscle power of the Acrobat in 5e is modeled as part of Strength, just as the muscle power of the finesse sword fighter and of the mystical martial artist by having damage be delivered by Dexterity.

But if that doesn’t work for you, making it so it’s always worth it for a high Dex character to also have decent Strength makes sense.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Martials aren't more MAD. You can still have a STR 20, DEX 10 PC after all. It only makes it so a STR 16, DEX 14 won't suffer by comparison.

Except that you raised the ceiling by about 5 points, so any fighter who gets Str 16 and Dex 16 (not hard) is just better than any fighter who focuses on one or the other, and that's very achievable at level 1.

 

[dave2008]

Or it helps discourage PCs from dumping STR or DEX just to support the other. The fact that a few monsters might lose a point of attack bonus is of little concern to me.

I've thought about making DEX for to hit and STR for damage, so you need both. But I haven't actually done it.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Except that you raised the ceiling by about 5 points, so any fighter who gets Str 16 and Dex 16 (not hard) is just better than any fighter who focuses on one or the other, and that's very achievable at level 1.

It depends on what you mean by "focuses". The cap is still +5, so a STR 16/ DEX 16 PC is +5 on attack rolls. Will he be better than a PC that is STR 16/ DEX 10? Of course, and he should be IMO. Now, by level 6 that STR 16/DEX 10 can easily be STR 20, matching the first PC in attack bonus and outstripping them in damage by 2 points. Also, if that PC is STR 16/ DEX 16, odds are the second PC has better scores elsewhere, so it is really just a case on where you focus.

Also, I know the default is rolling, but none of the groups I play in have done that in nearly two years because it leads to "uber-PCs" who by luck are just better at most things. Other players rarely feel their PC can match up. Of course its best if you don't think that way... but IME most people do. Unfortunate, but true.