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Jon Peterson posts Mordenkainen in 1974
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<blockquote data-quote="Jay Verkuilen" data-source="post: 7749541" data-attributes="member: 6873517"><p>IMO what they might have done was make the scale a bit more nonlinear, such as in BESM, where 13-15 was +1, 16-17 was +2, and 18 was +3, with penalties being the corresponding mirror image. You got something but weren't totally rocked out by high stats. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Permanent stat bumps were indeed common in the old days. There were books, fountains, and so on. Of course, there were also lots of cursed items that would just kill you, too.... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The AD&D tables were... problematic. They were highly messy and uneven. </p><p></p><p>Strength, for instance, didn't net you anything until you had a 16, and even then it didn't hold a candle to the awesomeness that was exceptional Strength. </p><p></p><p>As I said above, the BESM tables were much better. </p><p></p><p>I do wish that in 5E those stat mod items worked in a way that wasn't "oh my god that's awesome!" suddenly to "meh" although I guess that's how the original items worked. An example might be: If the wearer's Strength is less than 17*, it is raised to 17. If it is 17 or greater, the wearer gains the ability to cast <em>Enhance Ability: Bull's Strength</em> once per long rest. Or something like that. That gives an incentive to keep an otherwise useless item. </p><p></p><p>WotC seems to like to assign odd stats a lot, which seems really weird because those actually totally pointless. </p><p></p><p>*I picked 17 rather than 19 because ogre Strength is actually 17. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jay Verkuilen, post: 7749541, member: 6873517"] IMO what they might have done was make the scale a bit more nonlinear, such as in BESM, where 13-15 was +1, 16-17 was +2, and 18 was +3, with penalties being the corresponding mirror image. You got something but weren't totally rocked out by high stats. Permanent stat bumps were indeed common in the old days. There were books, fountains, and so on. Of course, there were also lots of cursed items that would just kill you, too.... The AD&D tables were... problematic. They were highly messy and uneven. Strength, for instance, didn't net you anything until you had a 16, and even then it didn't hold a candle to the awesomeness that was exceptional Strength. As I said above, the BESM tables were much better. I do wish that in 5E those stat mod items worked in a way that wasn't "oh my god that's awesome!" suddenly to "meh" although I guess that's how the original items worked. An example might be: If the wearer's Strength is less than 17*, it is raised to 17. If it is 17 or greater, the wearer gains the ability to cast [I]Enhance Ability: Bull's Strength[/I] once per long rest. Or something like that. That gives an incentive to keep an otherwise useless item. WotC seems to like to assign odd stats a lot, which seems really weird because those actually totally pointless. *I picked 17 rather than 19 because ogre Strength is actually 17. ;) [/QUOTE]
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