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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7826250" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>Especially when using an ability foursome, there is no dump ability. Every one of the four abilities is a must-have.</p><p></p><p>Here are some pragmatic ways, how the foursome plays out.</p><p></p><p>Assuming one is a powergamer, the key ability of the class will have the highest score (Strength-Constitution Fighter, Dexterity-Athletics Rogue, Intelligence-Perception Wizard, Charisma-Wisdom Cleric, etcetera).</p><p></p><p>After that, each choice is a meaningful decision point, a real decision with costs and benefits.</p><p></p><p>So, a Fighter has a high Strength-Constitution score. That single choice is taken care of. Now, do I want this Fighter to be a light-armor swashbuckling athlete, or an ingenious tactician from a military academy, or a popular war hero who can rally the troops during difficult times? And many other possibilities become valid choices because they are all good choices. For example, a Fighter can choose heavy armor, thus forego Dexterity-Athletics, and focus on either mental ability. The foursome opens new possibilities of meaningful choices.</p><p></p><p>So far, the foursome works well.</p><p></p><p>The typical nonplayer human uses one of two average arrays.</p><p>• +0 (10),+0 (10),+0 (10),+0 (10)</p><p>• +1 (12), +0 (10), +0 (10), −1 (8)</p><p></p><p>However, the player characters and various superhuman races use one of two exceptional arrays:</p><p>• +2, +2, +2, +2</p><p>• +3, +2, +1, +0</p><p></p><p>The standard is:</p><p>• +3, +2, +1, +0</p><p></p><p>Player races have ability minimums, rather than ability improvements. For example, the Elves of the material plane.</p><p>• High Elf: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Intelligence-Perception</p><p>• Wood Elf: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Strength-Constitution</p><p>• Drow: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Charisma-Wisdom</p><p></p><p>In other words, in order to play a High Elf, the player using the array must put at least a +2 (score 14!) in Dexterity-Athletics, and at least a +1 (score 12) in Intelligence-Perception.</p><p></p><p>But there is still a floating +3 from the array, and that tends to make any class a viable choice. So there are High Elf Bards with a +3 Charisma-Wisdom, but they are less frequent.</p><p></p><p>And of course, the Human can be anything.</p><p></p><p>So, even without the existence of any dump abilities, there are many good choices.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 7826250, member: 58172"] Especially when using an ability foursome, there is no dump ability. Every one of the four abilities is a must-have. Here are some pragmatic ways, how the foursome plays out. Assuming one is a powergamer, the key ability of the class will have the highest score (Strength-Constitution Fighter, Dexterity-Athletics Rogue, Intelligence-Perception Wizard, Charisma-Wisdom Cleric, etcetera). After that, each choice is a meaningful decision point, a real decision with costs and benefits. So, a Fighter has a high Strength-Constitution score. That single choice is taken care of. Now, do I want this Fighter to be a light-armor swashbuckling athlete, or an ingenious tactician from a military academy, or a popular war hero who can rally the troops during difficult times? And many other possibilities become valid choices because they are all good choices. For example, a Fighter can choose heavy armor, thus forego Dexterity-Athletics, and focus on either mental ability. The foursome opens new possibilities of meaningful choices. So far, the foursome works well. The typical nonplayer human uses one of two average arrays. • +0 (10),+0 (10),+0 (10),+0 (10) • +1 (12), +0 (10), +0 (10), −1 (8) However, the player characters and various superhuman races use one of two exceptional arrays: • +2, +2, +2, +2 • +3, +2, +1, +0 The standard is: • +3, +2, +1, +0 Player races have ability minimums, rather than ability improvements. For example, the Elves of the material plane. • High Elf: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Intelligence-Perception • Wood Elf: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Strength-Constitution • Drow: +2 Dexterity-Athletics, +1 Charisma-Wisdom In other words, in order to play a High Elf, the player using the array must put at least a +2 (score 14!) in Dexterity-Athletics, and at least a +1 (score 12) in Intelligence-Perception. But there is still a floating +3 from the array, and that tends to make any class a viable choice. So there are High Elf Bards with a +3 Charisma-Wisdom, but they are less frequent. And of course, the Human can be anything. So, even without the existence of any dump abilities, there are many good choices. [/QUOTE]
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