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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Agback" data-source="post: 2896499" data-attributes="member: 5328">A DEX-first character with an attack bonus of A and armour class of B, who does C points of damage on an average hit is fighting an opponent who has an attack bonus of X, an armour class of Y, and does an average of Z points per hit.The character hits (10 + A - Y) times out of twenty. Call that H for simplicity. His or her average damage output is HC/20. Now raise his STR bonus by 1. H and C both go up by one. Average damage output goes up to (HC + H + C + 1)/20, or in other words by (1/H + 1/C + 1/HC) * 100%.The opponent hits (10 + X  - B) times out of twenty. Call that M. Average damage output is MZ. Reduce the character's DEX bonus by 1. M goes up by one but Z is not affects. Damage output goes up to (MZ + Z)/20, or by 1/M * 100%.The trade of DEX for STR is a good deal if 1/H + 1/C + 1/HC > 1/M. In other words, it depends on opponents, but the STR is good for low-level monks with a small damage die and for monks who fight enemies with a high armour class. The DEX is good for monks that fight enemies with a lousy attack bonus.If you expect to fight hordes of monsters who can rarely hit you, DEX is good. If you expect to fight tough opponents, go for the STR.Example: 1st-level monk with AB +2, AC 13, d6+2, 9 hp fights a CR 1 monster, say, a troglodyte with a longspear AB +1, AC 15, d8, 13 hp. Monk hits on a roll of 13 or better, ie. 8 times out of twenty and does 5.5 hp per hit for an average of 2.2 hp per turn, and the trog hits on a 12 or better (9 times per twenty turns) for 3.5 hp per hit, which comes out to 1.575 hp/turn. It will take the monk on average of 5.91 round to down the trog, in which time he or she will suffer 9.31 hp damage. In short, it's close, but we expect the troglodyte to win.Now suppose that we swap the monk's 16 DEX for his 14 STR. His AB becomes +3, AC 12, d6+3, still 9 hp.The monk now hits on an 12 (9 rolls out of 20) for an average of 6.5 hp per hit. Average damage output: 2.93 hp per turn, The trog will go down in 4.44 combat turns. The trog now hits on 10/20 turns, and still does 3.5, for an average of 1.75 hp per turn. The monk now expects to survive the fight taking 7.78 hit points damage instead of 9.31.Now suppose that the monk is fighting a monster with a lower AC. The extra one hit in twenty turns will be a smaller proportion. But given comparable CR, the monster's AB will be lower too, so the monks loss of one AC will likewise be a smaller proportional effect. The damage bonus will, however, be proportionally the same.Extra DEX is only superior in the case of an opponent whose chance of hitting on any attack is low compared with the monk's chance of hitting it. ie. with low AC and low AB. Those generally aren't a challenge (unless they have lots of attacks, lots of hit points, or attacks with special effects).</blockquote>

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