Do you need high stats to be an effective character?

[Crothian]

For me, it varies, based on the character concept - some simply require better stats than others to be viable. That is, if you want to stay true to the character concept and have the character actually survive and play out the way it was concieved.

It also depends on how realistic the concept is. I've heard people describe characters and insist they aren't power gaming but living up to the concept. Of course the fact that their concept requires no score lower then 16 is just happenstance. :\

 

[billd91]

the half ogre from above is a good example, yes he was low in the mental department... but i bet he could deal some real damage in combat.

He could. But that was mainly because he was double-specialized in the scimitar and wielded two in combat. As I said, his strength was nothing to write home about compared to other characters who were noticeably stronger (remember, these were the days of exceptional strength in D&D to get the big bonuses), his Dex was average at best. His Con might have had a decent bonus but he went down in combat a shocking number of times... of course, running into githyanki with silver swords and getting on the bad side of the dice can do that to you. I think he was beheaded twice in one adventure.

 

[Voadam]

With one 15 you can have a 19 when you get 9th level spells at 17th or 18th level. A wizard/sorcerer/psion, etc. could do their mechanical support spell role just fine with 8s in every other stat. (They would be frail but a magic missile is a magic missile). So an 8 point point buy can still make a fairly viable character. And even a fighter with all 10s could do a decent job as a warrior relying upon heavy armor and shield or as an archer even if not up to the standards of most comparable level D&D combatants and with fewer feat options.

Many classes would do more poorly mechanically with generally low stats, monks and paladins come to mind in particular as they have so many class powers and features dependant on stat bonuses.

However a campaign can work just fine with low stat npc class characters (think CoCd20 in a fantasy world) or with high stat gestalt heroes as long as the DM takes that power level into account.

 

[eris404]

Lots of times I read how certain characters need high stats to be effective. In my games though I've seen characters work really well with not so high stats. So, I am seeing how and to what degree people feel high stats are needed.

eh, I have rolled really, really well and I have rolled very, very poorly and I have had fun and done what I could with both. I don't think that low stats make a character more interesting to play or make them less effective. The character lives and dies by my brains (usually dies from lack thereof :\ ), but having said that, I still prefer having at least one 14.

 

[Wombat]

I think part of the High Stat Necessity comes from the same place as High Level Necessity -- there are 20 character class levels listed, so a lot of people would love to see their characters that high; equally stats are supposed to "top out" at 18 (barring racial modifiers, mystical dingi, etc.), so a lot of people would like to see that on their character sheet.

When next I introduce D&D to someone, I intend to show them cut down versions of the character class sheets, only listing, say, levels 1-5. Might cut down on some aspects of the "Bigger Is Better" syndrome and have them concentrate more on creating interesting characters.

 

[Ahnehnois]

My group held the philosophy that you should always have an 18-always be the best at something, so I learned D&D on that philosophy.

I have gradually lowered the (still high) power level in each of my campaigns, but still, when I design characters I feel foolish if I can't get an 18 in something (most D&D games I've played in haven't been with rolled stats). D&D is a fantasy-it should be larger than life. I could live with 16s for some characters. It would be a real stretch for me to play a character whose highest ability was less than 16. I could see doing a monk or other huge MAD character I suppose-in this case, having rounded but not especially high scores is exceptional enough.

With casters, it matters even more. A barbarian with two less Str has 2 more Dex or Con. A wizard with less than 18 Int? If you have a point buy it would make very little sense mechanically not to power up your all-important casting stat as much as was feasible.

In a low power game (Cthulu is a good example) I would feel a little bit differently.

Of course, we're usually playing games on a pretty epic scale. "Save the world" not "find the goblin bandits". I sometimes wish I'd started D&D with a lower power level but I didn't.

BTW I take the same philosophy in real life. I hate anything even close to "normal" or "average". I think everyone ought to be exceptional in some way.

 

[Crothian]

With casters, it matters even more. A barbarian with two less Str has 2 more Dex or Con. A wizard with less than 18 Int? If you have a point buy it would make very little sense mechanically not to power up your all-important casting stat as much as was feasible.

The power of a character is not the most important thing. I think peopkle forget that.

 

[IronWolf]

I don't think high stats are necessary to have an effective character. Though I do think some of this depends on the DM and the style of the game he or she is running. If the DM encourages roleplaying or interesting characters then I think ability scores play less of an important role.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I ticked at least one 14 as not having that allows a reroll, & I would take the reroll option if that was the case.

But really all I need is the trusty 25pt buy and I'm happy.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I don't necessarily need to have stats at a certain value, but I prefer them greatly. Specifically, I get very uncomfortable playing characters with low Int compared to my own as a long-term PC (one-shots for smashy-combat type games it can be fine). I don't really care about the other stats in determining fun, except insomuch as constant character death isn't fun, I like to have decent Con.