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Ability Score Rebalancing
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<blockquote data-quote="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 7624810" data-attributes="member: 6775477"><p>I assume you refer to the "knowledge skills" Arcana, History Nature, and Religion; if not, please clarify. IME, the knowledge skills are very DM dependent, especially since there is no specifically listed use for any of these rolls in the PHB or DMG. Some DMs use them quite a bit, making them very important, but seldom vital to the success of an adventure, even if they do make it easier. Other DMs barely think about them, and either give out the information without a check, make the check too high to be worthwhile, or (worst of all) having the roll give out completely worthless, or even distracting information. Obviously most DMs fit somewhere between these extremes, but it does reduce the overall value of these skills for most games. Giving Intelligence a slight bonus (languages and tools) helps make it less of a "dump stat."</p><p></p><p>To be fair, I know some DMs also nerf other skills, but at least there is a section in the PHB or DMG that says how they're to be used. I also knew a DM that hated rogues with a fiery passion, making stealth virtually impossible to use. These are far more the exception than the rule, however, making them overall more important in most games.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shiroiken, post: 7624810, member: 6775477"] I assume you refer to the "knowledge skills" Arcana, History Nature, and Religion; if not, please clarify. IME, the knowledge skills are very DM dependent, especially since there is no specifically listed use for any of these rolls in the PHB or DMG. Some DMs use them quite a bit, making them very important, but seldom vital to the success of an adventure, even if they do make it easier. Other DMs barely think about them, and either give out the information without a check, make the check too high to be worthwhile, or (worst of all) having the roll give out completely worthless, or even distracting information. Obviously most DMs fit somewhere between these extremes, but it does reduce the overall value of these skills for most games. Giving Intelligence a slight bonus (languages and tools) helps make it less of a "dump stat." To be fair, I know some DMs also nerf other skills, but at least there is a section in the PHB or DMG that says how they're to be used. I also knew a DM that hated rogues with a fiery passion, making stealth virtually impossible to use. These are far more the exception than the rule, however, making them overall more important in most games. [/QUOTE]
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