Ability Score Survival, Round 1 - FIGHT!

[MoogleEmpMog]

To all the Charisma haters, what stat other than Charisma can be added to attack (twice), damage (2-3 times), AC, Initiative, all three saves (twice), spell DCs, skill checks and hit points?

Admittedly, one must be an swashbuckling undead arcane paladin-illusionist who studied exorcism in the Orient to pull it off, but still...

 

[KB9JMQ]

The world is populated by CHA 8 warriors.

And always will be as long as CHA is the black sheep of the stats. Yes it has a lot of usefulness but in my experience it is the last stat thought about. I even have players taking classes where a high charisma is necessary and they will put the minimum in it to boost dex or strength a bit more.

 

[orsal]

I really like playing high-Cha characters for roleplay reasons. But charisma is unique in that if it isn't central to your character build, you probably don't use it at all. If you're not the party spokesperson, and you're not a bard, sorceror or paladin, you probably wouldn't notice if your Charisma suddenly dropped to 3. (Slight exception: clerics turning undead). Every other ability has at least one or two uses for everyone. Everybody likes better AC and Reflex saves, more skill points, Spot checks and Will saves, the occasional melee attack, HP and Fortitude saves. But Charisma is only of interest to specialized characters. It gets my vote.

 

[lukelightning]

Low CHA is easy to circumvent with either roleplaying (or rather, ignoring the fact that while the player may have some smooth talking ability, his character isn't necessarily), or through other simple means (charm, etc.)

 

[zibeck]

Unless your a Bard, Paladin, or Sorcerer, Charisma is by far the weakest.

Constitution is the most underated in my opinion. It may not be flashy, but the extra HP can me life or death of your character. Plus it boosts your Fort save to boot, and is useful no matter class you choose.

Strength is probably overrated. Although it is essential for melee classes, it is often the dump stat of choice for casters.

Dexterity is a great ability. It boosts your AC, which is a plus for all classes. Even wearers of Full Plate should have at least a Dex of 12. Plus it also factors into Ranged attacks, Ref save (although Ref saves are only used for a handful, although fairly popular and therefore common, spells), and many key skills.

Intelligence gives you extra skills points. Not essential, but often overlooked as well. It is also a factor in many key skills. Plus wizards get extra oomph from this stat.

Wisdom is a decent stat, but only because it boosts your Will save. It is fairly week compared to the others, though. Unless your a Cleric or Druid, don't put too many points in this stat.

 

[Tonguez]

Wisdom is a decent stat, but only because it boosts your Will save. It is fairly week compared to the others, though. Unless your a Cleric or Druid, don't put too many points in this stat.

Personally I'd rank Wisdom most valuable because of both Will Saves and the because it is the basis of some important skills

For the 'weakest' stat I voted Strength but with the caveat that the PC needs to have a good Dex score to compensate ...

Admittdly I did think Cha at first but I like Cha and in my own character builds usually have Dex, Wis and Cha as my three highest

 

[catsclaw227]

I don't want it to be Charisma -- but that has to get my vote, when looking at RAW and general D&D.

In my games it is much more important, though. And with all the undead baddies I throw at PCs, the cleric NEEDS a good charisma.

 

[Wyrm Pilot]

For the folks still defending how useful Charisma can be, with the right character build; and to those who have deemed the sane (or less-wacky) majority to be "Charisma-haters," the poll is not "Which stat sucks?" but rather "Which is weakest?"

Inherently, Charisma is the weakest. I have several characters built around it, but that doesn't make it as powerful a stat as oh, say, any of the other five.

Constitution - Fort, hp (since there is only one core skill that uses Con I don't count skills)

Yes, there's only one core skill that uses Con, but that skill is one of the three-to-five most critical to almost any primary spellcaster. Con may indeed be the second-weakest stat, but you still have to factor in how much more important it is to wizards and sorcerers than to fighters and paladins.

Cheers,
Wyrm Pilot

 

[Dragonbait]

I've seen a good Charisma put an end to fights faster than any physical ability score. I vote Wisdom.

 

[Stalker0]

When I think weakest stat I think most often used as a dump stat. Cha definately tops that list. 2nd would be strength or intelligence.