Does anyone use Dex for attack modifier rather than Strength?

[Celtavian]

Does anyone use a house rule where Dexterity determines bonus attack modifier rather than Strength? (Remember, not for damage purposes, just straight attack.)

I am thinking of having Dex be the attribute used for an attack bonus while strength still determines damage bonus. I feel this will allow for a big, strong PC, NPC, or monster to deal huge damage but maybe not hit as well due to a low dexterity. While small, dextrous creatures hit more often but do not do as much damage.

This seems a more accurate reflection of how combat would work and it does not preclude a person from being both strong and dextrous. It would also explain how so many blade using fantasy warriors, who may not be strong but are extremely dextrous, can defeat opponents who are stronger than themselves.

 

[Tonguez]

Yes I have a homebrew class who are based on speed (gain +10 speed, dodge tree, +1 initiative, +2 Reflex and use Dex to determine BAb)

it works well and I too beleive that ability to hit should be based more on hand-eye coordination (DEXTERITY) than ability to cause damage...

 

[hong]

Size already factors into attack rolls: Large creatures get a -1 penalty, Huge gets -2, Gargantuan -4, etc. If anything, Strength is probably on the weak side right now. Unless you're a fighter type, you have no reason to boost it. By contrast, Dex helps with ranged attacks, Ref saves and AC; Con helps hit points and Fort saves; Wis is a must for Will saves; and Int is required for decent skill points. (Let's not talk about Cha.) All of these are relevant no matter what class you're playing.

 

[med stud]

If we put logic aside, this change would make Dex to powerful at the cost of Str. With these rules, a Dex fighter with Power Attack would always do better then a pure Str fighter.

Also, in D&D it seems like Str is the athletic ability score, which grants the ability to climb and jump. That means that Str is more then lifting heavy things, it's also muscle control and explosive strength, two factors that you find in 100 % of the successful warriors of the world and history. Dex is more reaction speed and coordination, two factors that are very good for a warrior too, but not as important (compare a heavy weight boxer with a pingis player, for example).

The last sentiment, though, is only true if you share my view on the ability scores, orf course.

 

[drnuncheon]

Remember that 'hitting' in D&D is not just connecting with the opponent - it is connecting with the opponent using a blow forceful enough to do damage. You can poke at a dragon all day, and if you're not hitting him hard enough to get past the scales, it doesn't matter how accurate you are. That is why Strength is used for melee to-hits.

I wouldn't change melee attacks to all be Dex-based unless you were going to rewrite all armor to act like DR, thus keeping Strength in as part of the equation. If you aren't very careful with how you do that, you wind up with GURPS, where everybody pumps Dex and nobody ever makes a Conan-type because it's not as efficient.

J

 

[Relic]

I use a house rule for dexterity-based attacks. I assigned each weapon either to strength or dexterity for attack purposes. A character that uses a weapon that is listed for dexterity uses his dexterity to determine his attack bonus but he does not receive any bonus to damage from strength. I then made a feat that will allow a dexterity-based weapon applicable to receive strength bonus for damage.

I have been playing with this rule since 3E first came out and my group finds no problems with it. Ovearall, it balances out. A dexterity-based fighter benefits from this by having a higher attack roll but does less damage that a strength-based fighter unless they spend a feat to get the damage bonus from strength for a dexterity-based weapon.

Not to mention that it is useful for monsters too. So while it may benefit some PCs it also benefits their opponents too (especially the smaller goblinoid races like kobolds and goblins).

 

[Hollywood]

You could always expand the Finesse feat a bit, allowing more weapons to be taken with it, but probably never two-handed weapons. Probably a good idea to change the PreReqs a bit too when taking Finesse with weapons that are larger than the standard Finesse rules allow.

 

[Celtavian]

Re

That is also another thing I am thinking about doing, giving DR to all the armor types.

I like the GURPS mechanic. In a fantasy setting, strength would still be necessary to break through DRs. Though this would probably be too difficult to do because I would have to change all the monsters as well.

The expansion of weapon finesse might be a good idea. I will keep thinking on it.

 

[Hollywood]

Re: Re

Though this would probably be too difficult to do because I would have to change all the monsters as well.

Yes, I have found that the simplest solutions to "fixing" D&D are best. Otherwise, too much time and effort is invested in doing "bug fixes" rather than just redesigning the system from the ground-up.

Personally, I do like the Weapon Finesse idea myself...

 

[MissingDividends]

A hose rule of mine

I have been using a house rule for a while that allowed the use of dex to the attack modifier only if the weapon's weight is less than the character's strength(which still made strength important)[example: a PC has 12str then the weapon would have to weigh 12 lbs or less], and the weapon is 1 handed. It seems to work fairly well because it is based on logic, if you can easilly lift a weapon, then the chance to hit with it is more dex than str

an example would be a dager, a dager is so light for most PCs that strength doesn't impact weather they hit or not, their speed does which in my opinion falls under DEX