Ability Score Survival, Round 1 - FIGHT!

[Psychic Warrior]

When I was a teenager and the internet was my babysitter, my friends and I discovered EZboards and made dozens of them into our personal, short-lived sandboxes. We wasted time making obnoxious, graphic-intensive .sigs, leaving table code open and crashing boards, and most of all, running some of the dumbest polls known to man. Who is your favorite Megaman character? What's your favorite fast food? Which poster is the sexiest?

This has nothing to do with your question, I just want you to know where I'm coming from when I say this poll is ridiculous.

And yet you posted to the thread. Why?

It seems to be generating some discussion (although everyone knows Charisma will be the first to go). I vote Charisma also. It just ain't gonna help you when the rabid howler monkeys attack.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Why is Charisma the first score people think of 'dump-wise'? The score represents your physical as well as your natural ability to lead. Without leaders, any world wou ld be in chaos, there would be no structure, no laws, and people would wantonly do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. I think such a poll is skewered, each ability score surves a vital purpose.

If I had to choose one, it'd be Dex.

Because this is about D&D not the real world. I thought that was mentioned somewhere.....

 

[Kae'Yoss]

this poll is ridiculous.

Truer words have not been spoken. I begin to see why Wizards don't allow polls on their own boards.

 

[mmu1]

Why is Charisma the first score people think of 'dump-wise'? The score represents your physical as well as your natural ability to lead. Without leaders, any world wou ld be in chaos, there would be no structure, no laws, and people would wantonly do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. I think such a poll is skewered, each ability score surves a vital purpose.

Because Charisma doesn't deserve to be one of the six basic stats. True charisma - as opposed to just well-practiced social skills, or a pretty face, is an extremely rare thing, in real life. Most people don't have it, and every day we see our leaders buy and sell positions of power - whether for actual cash, or other currency like political favors and influence, it doesn't really matter. Charisma can be a nice help if you want to get into a leadership position, but it's a far third in terms of importance behind intelligence/cunning and money...

 

[sckeener]

I voted for CON....because I usually play undead.

Now CHR is important for the damned!

 

[diaglo]

for d02 Cha is the dump stat.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I don't think labeling any of the stats as 'weakest' equates to it 'always being a dump stat.' It depends on the class you are playing. My vote is based on what a stat can do for you. So my voting order will be:

Charisma - skills, main casting attribute (or secondary effect attribute for some)
Constitution - Fort, hp (since there is only one core skill that uses Con I don't count skills)
Intelligence - skill points (although the impact of lower Int can be offset by playing a high skill point class or a human), skills, main casting attribute
Wisdom - skills, Will, main casting attribute
Strength - attack, damage (x1 1/2 for some builds), skills
Dexterity - attack, skills, Ref, AC

 

[lukelightning]

Charisma. For all their retooling and talk of making charisma more important, the D&D designers have shown how useless it is by making it the dump stat of just about every NPC and monster in the game. The world is populated by CHA 8 warriors.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Core or non-core?

If core, Charisma. If non-core, Intelligence or Strength.

 

[Cosmic.Justice]

I do not see why this poll would be considered ridiculous. Getting the perspective and general numbers of how valualbe people consider each individual statistic is worthy of a topic, in my opinion. Now, obviously Charisma is the weakest, and thus garners my vote as well.

The problem with Charisma is it offers little in the way of tangible, mechanical benefits, and can be almost completely circumvented or ignored in a great deal of the standard situations a D&D game offers. In addition, with the presence of social skills such as Diplomacy, Bluff, and otherwise, even Charismas supposed social benefit is rendered much less pertinent.

Those skills and others of a similar nature can be possesed by both a low Charisma or high Charisma character, with only a slight differential in effectiveness that can easily be circumvented by adding in synergy bonuses, magical effects, and feats. So, a high Charisma not only offers virtually no tangible bonuses to characters who do not rely on it as a primary attribute, but it also has a comparitively minor effect on social encounters due to the presence of social skills.