D&D General Is Seven Abilities Too Many for a D&D Feel and/or Comfortable Generation?

[Cadence]

So, my endless mulling over abilities continues (Should Dex be split? Can Str and Con be merged? Where should melee to hit go? Do we need Int? Where do the ones related to magic sensitivity belong? Is size a reasonable number to add? What exactly does Charisma do? Should some things depend on size? And many, many more.)

Anyway, I'm plodding towards a homebrew hack of D&D that I would like to still have a "D&D feel" even if it changes some things pretty substantially. One of my questions for this is about how it feels to keep track of abilities and divvy up the points or roll the dice for generation.

So, the three main questions:

1) Would adding a seventh ability add a lot of complexity to that part of character creation? Is it already a bit fiddly to take a point total and split it among six things?

2) Is there something magic about six for the D&D feel to you? (I mean they tried adding comeliness back in 1e). Or does the number of them not matter?

3) Would it be bad or good if each class really had two stats that were particularly helpful instead of just having one that they really lean on?

And then two more going for if they would break the D&D feel for you, and not necessarily if they would work in terms of mechanics.

4) What is your gut reaction to splitting Dexterity into something like Dexterity (Coordination/Aim) and Agility (Reaction/Acrobatics) ?

5) What is your gut reaction to merging Strength and Constitution so that handled both weight training and cardio type fitness?

 

[Alzrius]

For me, the six classic ability scores have long since become a definitional characteristic of Dungeons & Dragons; they're part of what makes D&D, D&D. Changing them, whether by adding new ones or deleting existing ones, makes it feel like another game altogether (and I think is part of why Comeliness never caught on), regardless of what it does for the actual play experience.

 

[TerraDave]

This is probably something where history has just won out.

Of course they could be changed...though probably to fewer (combine con and str, cha and wis, and make int better). But they are simple enough to understand and use as is, and its just easier to leave them be.

 

[Parmandur]

Adding more in am asymmetric fashion doesn't seem to add much to the game: 3 physical and 3 mental has a good balance to them, and allows for differentiation such as the wise Druid who might not be a rocket scientist as opposed to the bumbling genius wizard, or the hulking slow knight versus the lithe rogue. Any less, I'd just go with 2: physical and mental. Google for more than 7 would break a fundamental design rule, the rule of 7, so would be too much, as opposed to 7 being unbalanced

 

[Mistwell]

Comeliness part 2?

 

[Stormonu]

There's no magic number, just that they should have meaning.

You could do Physical, Mental, Spiritual and as long as all the monsters are pre-converted, I'd be fine with it.

 

[Cadence]

Adding more in am asymmetric fashion doesn't seem to add much to the game: 3 physical and 3 mental has a good balance to them, and allows for differentiation such as the wise Druid who might not be a rocket scientist as opposed to the bumbling genius wizard, or the hulking slow knight versus the lithe rogue. Any less, I'd just go with 2: physical and mental.

Symmetry being important seems to be a thing in a lot of games, so a lot of folks must find it important. So for the physical, does Strength, Agility, Dexterity instead of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution break it for you?

 

[Cadence]

Comeliness part 2?

That was not on my list of things I was musing! But it is highly possible the things I was musing would be just as unpopular.

 

[Parmandur]

Symmetry being important seems to be a thing in a lot of games, so a lot of folks must find it important. So for the physical, does Strength, Agility, Dexterity instead of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution break it for you?

That seems more redundant than strength and constitution, if I'm being honest. Strength is active, while Constitution is passive: I'd compare it to the active Charisma versus passive Wisdom.

 

[aco175]

I'm fine with the 6. They work to a large extent even if they are not perfect.