Forked from: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/251472-fix-stat-polarity.html
So I think I came with some interesting and relatively simple house rule in replacing ability attacks with a level based attack. Let's first see the numbers:[FONT="]
[/FONT]View attachment Ability Attack Bonus.doc
The premise is a starting score of 18, no ED ability increase to the attack stat, weapon expertise at level 4 (a new feat in PHB2 that gives you +1 to hit with one weapon group or implement increasing to +2 at 15, +3 at 25) and a weapon that is level +2 always available. You could possibly be worse by -1 to attack by starting with a 16 or +2 by starting with a 20 and taking Demigod or a similar ED but this loss can be handled. What we do see is a less than linear progression, with a base of 5 that increases by 27 points over 3 tiers.
My proposed house rule is this:
All characters have a Base Attack Bonus equal to their level -1 per tier. You start at +0 and increase by one at each level other than 11 and 21 (thus weakening slightly the two most powerful levels in 4E). Magic weapons and implements no longer provide an enhancement bonus to attack rolls (and still provide such a bonus to damage rolls). We increase weapon proficiency bonus for all weapons by +5, and give a +5 bonus to all implement attacks. Any attack powers that have neither a weapon or implement keyword and currently function with the +2/+4/+6 bonus scheme, loose that bonus.
The Weapon expertise feat from PHB 2 remains in the game as a Paragon tier feat that grants +1 to attack rolls, +2 at level 21 with the same wording it currently has (thus people who optimised for attack can still gain the full bonus). Intelligent Blademaster and Melee Training from PHB2 are no longer needed.
What this changes:
Your attack bonus now scales linearly across levels
Your attack bonus is decoupled from an ability. While you still use it for damage and feats, and possibly defenses, you no longer are compelled by the game math to increase that score at every level, and do your best to start with as high a score as possible. This could lead to characters with more rounded scores.
You no longer have to weight the +1 to hit from a +4 magic weapon compared to a +3 magic weapon with an awesome ability. Actually, simple magic weapons and implements should well be removed from the game.
Reservations:
It might be that this change depowers your primary score far too much. While for some concepts I consider this welcome (for instance, the warlock) other classes may well favor a different score heavily against their former primary.
keterys said:
So I think I came with some interesting and relatively simple house rule in replacing ability attacks with a level based attack. Let's first see the numbers:[FONT="]
[/FONT]View attachment Ability Attack Bonus.doc
The premise is a starting score of 18, no ED ability increase to the attack stat, weapon expertise at level 4 (a new feat in PHB2 that gives you +1 to hit with one weapon group or implement increasing to +2 at 15, +3 at 25) and a weapon that is level +2 always available. You could possibly be worse by -1 to attack by starting with a 16 or +2 by starting with a 20 and taking Demigod or a similar ED but this loss can be handled. What we do see is a less than linear progression, with a base of 5 that increases by 27 points over 3 tiers.
My proposed house rule is this:
All characters have a Base Attack Bonus equal to their level -1 per tier. You start at +0 and increase by one at each level other than 11 and 21 (thus weakening slightly the two most powerful levels in 4E). Magic weapons and implements no longer provide an enhancement bonus to attack rolls (and still provide such a bonus to damage rolls). We increase weapon proficiency bonus for all weapons by +5, and give a +5 bonus to all implement attacks. Any attack powers that have neither a weapon or implement keyword and currently function with the +2/+4/+6 bonus scheme, loose that bonus.
The Weapon expertise feat from PHB 2 remains in the game as a Paragon tier feat that grants +1 to attack rolls, +2 at level 21 with the same wording it currently has (thus people who optimised for attack can still gain the full bonus). Intelligent Blademaster and Melee Training from PHB2 are no longer needed.
What this changes:
Your attack bonus now scales linearly across levels
Your attack bonus is decoupled from an ability. While you still use it for damage and feats, and possibly defenses, you no longer are compelled by the game math to increase that score at every level, and do your best to start with as high a score as possible. This could lead to characters with more rounded scores.
You no longer have to weight the +1 to hit from a +4 magic weapon compared to a +3 magic weapon with an awesome ability. Actually, simple magic weapons and implements should well be removed from the game.
Reservations:
It might be that this change depowers your primary score far too much. While for some concepts I consider this welcome (for instance, the warlock) other classes may well favor a different score heavily against their former primary.
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