D&D General Friday Nonsense: Add One Stat To D&D (For PCs)

[GMMichael]

Edition Resistance: check this stat to see if any of your other stats are affected by WotC money- or IP-grabs.

Alright alright alright . . .

D&D really needs a Defense Proficiency, which is what you add to your roll to parry/avoid an attack.

 

[Tonguez]

Well I can’t speak to every other d20 game out there and whether this exists or not, but Grit would be a cool attribute. It represents the character’s ability to pull from somewhere deep inside of them to do something that their other attributes maybe suggest they can’t. It’s that thing that won’t let a character stay down even after he should be exhausted. It represents the ability to tough through a problem.

I already use Con for that, call it an Endurance skill - it gives an extra use for Con and fits the purpose of Tough, Stamina-driver endurance pushing beyond exhaustion and stress

 

[TiQuinn]

I already use Con for that, call it an Endurance skill - it gives an extra use for Con and fits the purpose of Tough, Stamina-driver endurance pushing beyond exhaustion and stress.

I can prolly make an argument for it being part of other abilities, but I don’t think it’s a comfortable fit. I’d prefer it as its own thing - it’s not just a physical endurance. It’s also a mental toughness thing.

 

[fuindordm]

In one of my campaigns I added a 7th ability score "Luck" that could be used like a d20 proficiency check to resolve whether a random event turned out favorable to the PC, as you would expect, but that PCs could also burn a point from to influence their PC's evolution and destiny by auto-succeeding at certain challenges in dramatic situations.

For example, it was a long time ago, but one PC burned a point of luck to succeed in resisting lightning attacks in a tribal shrine, completing a series of challenges and binding the lightning to enchant their current weapon.

 

[Gorck]

Ja Ne Sais Quois: a new ability score used only for unspecified rolls. It has no associated skills, but gets added to things like death saves, or any roll where the DM isn’t quite sure what stat, if any, is appropriate to add.

I feel like this could be more succinctly described as “Luck”

 

[Reynard]

I feel like this could be more succinctly described as “Luck”

Yeah but Ja Ne Sais Quois is much cooler. It just has a certain something...

 

[Charlaquin]

I feel like this could be more succinctly described as “Luck”

Yes, but given the lighthearted tone of the thread, I decided to go with a humorous name for it instead of a succinct one. I find the idea of the DM not knowing what stat to add to a roll and literally calling for an “I don’t know what” roll in French very amusing.

 

[messy]

Perception. Rather than tying it to wisdom (which has never made sense) just make it a separate ability score, already.

 

[Reynard]

Inspired by another thread: an actual Number of Lives stat. Maybe you get 1 per level (that you keep if you don't use) but that feels like a lot. Maybe 9, just because. Half your level?

In any case, you lose one every time you would have otherwise died, and when the last one goes, you are dead, dead. As long as you still have at least one, after a long rest, you wake up wounded and scarred, but alive.

 

[Tonguez]

I can prolly make an argument for it being part of other abilities, but I don’t think it’s a comfortable fit. I’d prefer it as its own thing - it’s not just a physical endurance. It’s also a mental toughness thing.

Concentration already indicates that Constitution isnt just physical - grit and mental endurance is in there too