D&D 4E Is Intelligence 4e's dump stat?

[CleverNickName]

Intelligence was already sort-of a dump stat, at least with my gaming group. If someone rolled a bad number when building their character, they would usually stuff it into Intelligence and select "Human" as their race. The human's "+1 Skill Point per level" guaranteed the character would have at least 2 skill points per level. (This wasn't a good idea for Wizards and scholars, obviously, or any character with aspirations of becoming a skill monkey. But for everyone else, low Int was never a big deal.)

Well, that was 3rd Edition. I imagine that in 4th Edition, Intelligence will be even less important. It is apparent that skill monkeys won't need it to excel, for example. And since skill bonuses scale with level...there are no more skill ranks to earn and spend...penalties to a skill check will matter less and less with each level-up.

I am guessing that Intelligence will be more important to arcane spellcasters, however. I can see it working in much the same way that Dexterity works for archers, or Strength for strikers. It might grant a bonus to the attack roll vs. the target's Will AC, for example, and/or give a couple of points of bonus damage to the spell.

I get the feeling that WotC is moving away from trying to prevent dump stats, and are instead trying to fix the game such that any stat can be dumped without ruining the character. I think it is the right way to do it. I, for one, do not like having to have a good score in a particular stat in order to have a playable character. Don't get me wrong, I like having them...I just don't like HAVING to have them.

 

[Valdrax]

This is what I find likely. And by dump stat, I mean that powers and skills do not generally use them.
Classes with INT dump stat (Y/N, "?" meaning not really sure) [Top 3 Skills, "?" meaning not sure at all]
Fighter (N?) [Str, Con, Int?]
Warlord (N) [Con, Cha, Int] (Confirmed in a blog somewhere)
Rogue (Y) [Dex, Str, Cha]
Ranger (Y) [Dex, Str, Wis]
Paladin (Y) [Str, Con, Wis]
Cleric (Y?) [Con, Wis, Cha]
Warlock (N) [Cha, Dex, Int]
Wizard (N) [Int, Wis, ?]

Int is confirmed as being important for the Warlord, but none of the other stats are -- you should probably mention that. Also, Int is confirmed as *not* being important to Fighters in the exact same blog entry (which I quoted earlier). Also, we have no indication that Int is important to Warlocks.

Wizard and Warlord are the only two classes we know Int will be valuable to.

 

[Stalker0]

I get the feeling that WotC is moving away from trying to prevent dump stats, and are instead trying to fix the game such that any stat can be dumped without ruining the character. I think it is the right way to do it.

I personally disagree with this. I think its much better to have every stat affect every class in some small way. We don't want a low strength to completely screw a wizard, but it should have a noticeable effect.

This allows more variability. If someone wants to play a strong wizard, then he doesn't feel completely dumb for putting some points in strength if that actually provides him a benefit.

The same for the smart fighter. If int doesn't give any benefit, then that archetype becomes weak. If int provides some secondary benefit to the fighter, then the smart fighter archetype can be better described through the rules.

 

[broghammerj]

Didn't they announce that there would be no negative modifiers to attributes? I seem to recall that somewhere. If that is the case then can any stat be a dump stat? Ok so my character has an intelligence of 5. If I have a crappy GM who ignores roleplaying, then it sounds like I won't care if I have any attribute in the crapper. There must be some penalty to really low scores.

Str: No decreased chance to hit.
Con: HP don't factor in by level
Dex: No negative AC for bad dex.
Wisidn't matter much anyways
Int: Not tied to skills anymore
Cha: No penalty to skills like diplomacy

 

[Fallen Seraph]

They said there will be no negative modifiers in-terms of racial ability modifiers. They haven't said anything about ordinary ability modifiers. I imagine those be the same as usual.

 

[Steely Dan]

That said, to deal with issues of MAD/SAD, I hope all classes really use ~3 stats heavily, rather than some needing one or two and others needing many.

Yeah, it really looks like all classes will be a bit MAD, which is a good thing, IMO.

"Ten for this you must be mad…"

 

[AllisterH]

Yeah, it really looks like all classes will be a bit MAD, which is a good thing, IMO.

"Ten for this you must be mad…"

I think its going to be slightly more subtle.

1. CON will be a stat that is NOT a primary one for any class, yet will be important for all classes due to other mechanics that cross over all of the classes.

2. Int, Dex and Wis will be primary stats that have slightly less mechanical implications for non-class powers.

3. Str and Cha will be the redheaded step children in that unless your class DIRECTLY requires them, the only saving grace will be their effect on your skill selection.

 

[Steely Dan]

3. Str and Cha will be the redheaded step children

But they got rid of gnomes!




…Just kidding.

P.S. I really like gnomes, a hell of a lot more than those others.

 

[Derren]

I guess abilities in 4E won't have much globel affect (same effect on everyone) and instead every class will have its own dumpstat(s).

 

[Fifth Element]

I personally disagree with this. I think its much better to have every stat affect every class in some small way. We don't want a low strength to completely screw a wizard, but it should have a noticeable effect.

That's what he was saying. Yes, every stat should have a noticeable effect. But no stat should be so important to all classes (I'm looking at you, here, Constitution) that by dumping it you're hurting the character's viability in a significant way.

Affect every class in some small way? Yes. Affect every class in a significant way? No.