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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9221611" data-attributes="member: 58172">How D&D traditions split up Strength and Dexterity is a pain point for me.In 2014, an "agile" character must have high Strength. Yet the character who can jump far is unable to land the fall properly, and the character that can climb well is unable to balance properly. This drives me insane. To force players to invest in both Strength and Dexterity in order to have a fully "agile" character, is ridiculous in the context of how classes utilize these abilities, and prohibitively expensive. The split between Strength and Dexterity is narratively absurd − and kills the swashbuckling genre.2024 needs to resolve this mechanical awkwardness.Ideally, there are eight abilities, not six. Add Athletics and Perception. Then Strength equals size only. Dexterity equals manual dexterity only. And Athletics equals mobility only. Str-Con, Dex-Ath, Int-Per, Cha-Wis. Something like this is possible in the 2024 DMs Guide. But it would only be practicable if the DM can refer to the Athletics ability while looking at a Monster Manual statblock.Since the 2024 default rules remain backward compatible, it is less easy to resolve the Strength/Dexterity split.For me, the difference between a lumbering Giant and an agile Rabbit/Squirrel is salient archetypes that many fantasy concepts refer to.There are several ways to achieve this verisimilitude.One way to resolve the Str/Dex split. Make Dexterity responsible for every Athletics check, especially for jumping and climbing, as well as falling and balancing. Relatedly, this is the only way to make the Reflex AC bonus make sense. The character is leaping away from the Fireball, or bodily dodging the sword swing.Then Strength gets defined as the ability to maneuver heavy weight − beyond ones own body weight. Thus Strength means brute force and has nothing to do with agile gymnastics.The problem with this approach is, Dexterity is already a super ability, and adding mobility might cause pause.An other way to resolve the Str/Dex split. Make Strength responsible for every Acrobatics check, especially for falling and balancing. Athletics swallows Acrobatics whole. Strength is agile, Strength can aim, swing swords and throw hammers, precisely. Strength is athletic, and athletes can balance and land falls, and throw baseballs.Then Size means brute force. An Elephant can push a tree down, because Huge. It has low Strength thus is unable to leap great distances.This implies that there is a Size damage bonus, rather than a Strength damage bonus. Size is carrying capacity. Strength grants the AC bonus because of athletic dodging, but perhaps a finesse weapon can also grant this AC bonus because of parrying.Moving all of Acrobatics to Strength, and maybe the AC bonus too, turns Strength from a too-often dumped ability, into a great choice of ability for any character. Even a Wizard will want to be mobile with the good AC bonus.In any case, I hope 2024 somehow finds a way to resolve the mobility Str/Dex split. Because it is incredibly painful.</blockquote>

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