Starfox
Hero
This is a meandering chain of thought touching upon several subjects, mainly in 4E but also in other editions and other games. My basic question is this; How much is my concept of a character influenced by the attributes I choose.
In 4E, we are pretty strongly directed to have one primary ability score starting at 18+ and a secondary ability starting at 16+. You are not forced to do this, particularly on the secondary ability, but the incentive to do so is strong. What are the consequences of this on character build and appearance?
Strength is the prime example; from the name you would think that Strength would indicate that you are large and powerful. But in the game, Strength also has many elements of agility; you ht with it and use it to climb and jump, things a weight lifter would not be very good at because of sheer size. My main problem with this is actually the Athletics skill; since you use Strength to climb, cat burglars need to be strong.
Something similar applies to Intelligence. By tradition, we think of clergy as learned men, and the Religion skill is Int-based. But for an adventuring cleric, Intelligence is often a dump stat. Supposedly, you are able to perform your priestly duties without much theological talent, making up for it with wisdom and understanding.
Dexterity is used to inflict damage with ranged weapons, which in fact have no Strength requirements whatsoever. This implies that a high Dexterity gives you the technique and specialized strength to pull powerful bows.
Constitution is used for Endurance, which implies you look like a long-distance runner. But it also gives healing surges and hit points, which indicates a robust frame.
This has a definite effect on how people build their characters. Around here, a player avoided high strength so they she wouldn't look too muscular. Another player took a deliberately low Con in order to have less body fat and more defined muscles on his character. Both these players would have their class choices restricted in 4E. The matter is further confused because it is so subjective; one player's high Con character does not look like another's.
As anyone else found this conceptualization of the attributes difficult?
In 4E, we are pretty strongly directed to have one primary ability score starting at 18+ and a secondary ability starting at 16+. You are not forced to do this, particularly on the secondary ability, but the incentive to do so is strong. What are the consequences of this on character build and appearance?
Strength is the prime example; from the name you would think that Strength would indicate that you are large and powerful. But in the game, Strength also has many elements of agility; you ht with it and use it to climb and jump, things a weight lifter would not be very good at because of sheer size. My main problem with this is actually the Athletics skill; since you use Strength to climb, cat burglars need to be strong.
Something similar applies to Intelligence. By tradition, we think of clergy as learned men, and the Religion skill is Int-based. But for an adventuring cleric, Intelligence is often a dump stat. Supposedly, you are able to perform your priestly duties without much theological talent, making up for it with wisdom and understanding.
Dexterity is used to inflict damage with ranged weapons, which in fact have no Strength requirements whatsoever. This implies that a high Dexterity gives you the technique and specialized strength to pull powerful bows.
Constitution is used for Endurance, which implies you look like a long-distance runner. But it also gives healing surges and hit points, which indicates a robust frame.
This has a definite effect on how people build their characters. Around here, a player avoided high strength so they she wouldn't look too muscular. Another player took a deliberately low Con in order to have less body fat and more defined muscles on his character. Both these players would have their class choices restricted in 4E. The matter is further confused because it is so subjective; one player's high Con character does not look like another's.
As anyone else found this conceptualization of the attributes difficult?
