Dragonborn MAD

[mach1.9pants]

[hijack]

Everytime I see MAD, I translate Mutually Assured Destruction ... which might even be applicable in this case.

[/hijack]

So do I, I guess what it means but what does it stand for?

 

[BarkingDeathSquirrel]

So do I, I guess what it means but what does it stand for?

Multiple Ability Dependency.

 

[Byronic]

Draconic Heritage doesn't do that, and I can't find anything that does.

http://dnd4.com/phb#33 That's my source.

 

[Counterspin]

mmm....wizards are mostly int, warlocks mostly cha, rogues mostly dex...but, as noted, in the case of the dragonborn, this may just be a way of balancing the race.

Wizards are going to need wis for spellshaping(Gold Wyvern adept), one of the rogue paths requires cha, and the other str. Paladins require wis and cha, warlords int and str. Single attribute characters are a thing of the past, and I'm confident that the more we see of the rules, the more this will be true.

 

[Byronic]

How much will everyone really miss that +1 bonus? Especially with all the rolls that you get a bonus for because of your level. Sure some things might be a bit annoying (not having enough Charisma for Lay on Hands) but I think that for the most part, especially with the 1/2 level bonus you wouldn't mind too much.

 

[Voss]

http://dnd4.com/phb#33 That's my source.

Yeah... don't know where they got that, but its wrong.

 

[TerraDave]

Wizards are going to need wis for spellshaping(Gold Wyvern adept), one of the rogue paths requires cha, and the other str. Paladins require wis and cha, warlords int and str. Single attribute characters are a thing of the past, and I'm confident that the more we see of the rules, the more this will be true.

Ok, but (except maybe the paladin, if they also need str), that is still just two atributes, with one dominating the other.

And when we see the rules, I am confident that your wizard will want max int, and a rogue with max dex or a warlock with max cha will not be too shaby. I am also confident that all classes (or builds) will have some clear dump stats.

 

[Keenath]

Yeah... don't know where they got that, but its wrong.

What evidence do you have?

The source is from the computer screen visible in a photo that accompanied an interview, as I recall -- the data is only partially readable, so some of that is guessed, but I don't know which bits are which.

Edit: Here it is
As he says in the article, he isn't sure what the damage line says -- 1d8+Con is a guess, but it might be "1d8+key attribute modifier" or something.

I haven't seen any powers that key off multiple stats, but I would assume that keying it off STR makes it use STR for both attack and damage. Splitting it up like that would be really weird, IMO.

This whole discussion is based on a "maybe". For that matter, we have no idea if that image is even a final version; it could be from before the final editing pass.

 

[Counterspin]

Ok, but (except maybe the paladin, if they also need str), that is still just two atributes, with one dominating the other.

And when we see the rules, I am confident that your wizard will want max int, and a rogue with max dex or a warlock with max cha will not be too shaby. I am also confident that all classes (or builds) will have some clear dump stats.

I didn't suggest anything other, I just pointed out that since everyone is going to be significantly dependant on at least two stats, the issue of needing to max out your Con for your breath weapon will be less important. Everyone is going to be making hard choices like that, if only on the balance between their primary and secondary class stat.

 

[Jhaelen]

Looking at the dragonborn paladin from KotS, I'm a bit concerned.

I'm not. I fully expect all race/class combinations to have similar MAD problems. Noone will be able to be equally good with all of the potential powers they could choose.

There's a reason the PHB will show several builds for every class. You have to decide at which kind of powers you want to be really good at.