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D&D Q&A 12/13: Racial Ability Scores, Cleric Options & Monsters
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<blockquote data-quote="dkyle" data-source="post: 6060863" data-attributes="member: 70707"><p>I'm not saying it should. I did say "feats", too.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, I think BAB is a bad mechanic to begin with. Scaling to-hit makes things really hard to balance, and there's a pretty small "sweet spot" on to-hit rates, so you might as well just set it there, and stick with it, more or less.</p><p></p><p>I would make it more about specific abilities you get as you level in a class, or take a feat. The Fighter would get various abilities to use with his axe, the Wizard would get more spells. The half and half hybrid would have as many abilities as the pure build, but of lower level. The tradeoff would be raw power based on the level of the ability, for versatility of broader application.</p><p></p><p>For HP and damage, I'd probably have a baseline for all characters, and then specific classes would modify from there. Fighters would get a bit more HP and damage with weapons, Wizards would get a bit more damage with spells.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is why all classes should have similar amounts of "build options".</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So Dexterity only effects people's binary chances of making contact or not making contact? Doesn't it make sense that dexterity could also help people target more damaging locations, or that perceptiveness (Wisdom) could ferret out openings for greater effect?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ability scores, if anything, have traditionally favored Wizards over Fighters, since Wizards tend to be able to just maximize Intelligence at the expense of all else, while Fighters want Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity. Removing ability scores from combat does not fix caster superiority, but it does help. Just because this doesn't fix everything doesn't mean it isn't a step forward.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Consider this: suppose you took 3.5, and wherever your PC uses an ability modifier outside of skills, you just use +2 instead, and ignore ability score prereqs. Would the game actually change that much? Would it suddenly become significantly less balanced? Would the actual variety of viable builds go up or down? Does a Fighter/Wizard suddenly become better than a Wizard?</p><p></p><p>You don't have to radically alter your design to remove ability scores from combat abilities. Sure, I think a 4E "powers" approach is the best way to design a D&D game, but you don't actually need to go that route. Certainly, the original D&D didn't have "powers", yet would barely be changed if the very few effects of ability scores on combat were removed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dkyle, post: 6060863, member: 70707"] I'm not saying it should. I did say "feats", too. Well, I think BAB is a bad mechanic to begin with. Scaling to-hit makes things really hard to balance, and there's a pretty small "sweet spot" on to-hit rates, so you might as well just set it there, and stick with it, more or less. I would make it more about specific abilities you get as you level in a class, or take a feat. The Fighter would get various abilities to use with his axe, the Wizard would get more spells. The half and half hybrid would have as many abilities as the pure build, but of lower level. The tradeoff would be raw power based on the level of the ability, for versatility of broader application. For HP and damage, I'd probably have a baseline for all characters, and then specific classes would modify from there. Fighters would get a bit more HP and damage with weapons, Wizards would get a bit more damage with spells. This is why all classes should have similar amounts of "build options". So Dexterity only effects people's binary chances of making contact or not making contact? Doesn't it make sense that dexterity could also help people target more damaging locations, or that perceptiveness (Wisdom) could ferret out openings for greater effect? Ability scores, if anything, have traditionally favored Wizards over Fighters, since Wizards tend to be able to just maximize Intelligence at the expense of all else, while Fighters want Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity. Removing ability scores from combat does not fix caster superiority, but it does help. Just because this doesn't fix everything doesn't mean it isn't a step forward. Consider this: suppose you took 3.5, and wherever your PC uses an ability modifier outside of skills, you just use +2 instead, and ignore ability score prereqs. Would the game actually change that much? Would it suddenly become significantly less balanced? Would the actual variety of viable builds go up or down? Does a Fighter/Wizard suddenly become better than a Wizard? You don't have to radically alter your design to remove ability scores from combat abilities. Sure, I think a 4E "powers" approach is the best way to design a D&D game, but you don't actually need to go that route. Certainly, the original D&D didn't have "powers", yet would barely be changed if the very few effects of ability scores on combat were removed. [/QUOTE]
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D&D Q&A 12/13: Racial Ability Scores, Cleric Options & Monsters
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