Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ProfessorPain" data-source="post: 4645446" data-attributes="member: 82012">I don't dispute that skill has a bigger role. And D&D's level system gives greater primacy to skill. But I am saying that Strength makes hitting someone effectively much easier than something like Dexterity. Since the original question here seemed to be "is strength the best stat to use for determining how well you hit someone". For me it is a toss up between str and dex. As I said, hand-eye (DEX) is important, but muscle power and explosive strength (STR) are equally, if not more, important.  To be clear, in my example I am saying STR helps you land the blow in the first place, by making your movements more explosive and giving them more power to penetrate defenses (get through parries, blocks, armor and shields). In my experience, even if someone has great skill, if they don't train their muscles and keep them strong, they wont be able to use their skill effectively at all.  In fact, in a boxing match between a veteran who has stopped training, and a novice who has been hitting the gym every day, my money is on the novice. I do not think this translates directly to modern combat with guns and night vision goggles. But I do think it translates into sword fights where people are going to worn down, and will need to blast their sword through things like parries or armor. Fighting is the most exhausting thing in the world. If your body isn't strong, it will tire more quickly, and your brain will start to make bad decisions.  This last statement though can apply to all three physical stats I suppose.  On the subject of boxing, I do think, once you get someone to proficient skill level, things like raw talent start to matter much more. But that is a different debate than we are having right now. Especially when you fight outside of very narrow wieght categories. When someone has a significant mass advantage, even a highly skilled boxer can get creamed. This has happened to me. I had the opportunity to fight someone 60 pounds heavier than me, and no matter how skillfully my punches and slips were executed, at the end of the day, I didn't have enough mass to do any significant damage. But, like you say, this was a hand to hand boxing match, not a battle between two guys holding swords and shields.</blockquote>

Verification