D&D 5E Make Constitution great again

[Kobold Stew]

A skill generally seems to be something you would train to be good at and I can't really think of a skill the relates specifically to endurance.

I agree -- but you can train for endurance, as do long-distance runners and swimmers. That's what I'm suggesting with respect to Athletics.

 

[cbwjm]

It never really came up but I am all for allowing other stats to be used for skills. Use Strength for intimidation or Constitution for an athletics character check if the situation fits.

Boop!

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

But really, it is THE dump stat and has been basically forever.

 

[Saeviomagy]

My main issue with constitution is that it's boring yet necessary. It feels like a tax.

I've never made a character and gone "Woo! Tons of hit points! That will make the game more fun!", yet at the same time you just know that if you dump it, you're going to have a bad time.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I really don't think I've made a 5e Character with less than 14 Con. Maybe a 12? Maybe.

14 is definitely the sweet-spot for, like, 90% of characters when using point-buy. Pretty much only fighters, barbarians and dwarves are worth going higher than that.

 

[Blue]

That is truly horrifying.

I think I just made a CON check to avoid losing my lunch.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I think I could make an argument that not only is CON not a dump stat, that it is the second most important stat for non blaster casters. I know with my tempest cleric, it was so important I also took the resilient feat so I could get prof bonuses to Con saves.

Concentration is important yo. Also, I think it’s the most common save. Even more than Dex. Seems like Con saves are always coming up, between concentration, poison, undead attacks, etc.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Also, I think it’s the most common save. Even more than Dex. Seems like Con saves are always coming up, between concentration, poison, undead attacks, etc.

Hard to tell without combing through all the monster entries but I'd say it's possible if you include everything that requires a Con save. If you're only considering spells then it's Strength: 17; Dexterity: 58; Constitution: 36; Intelligence: 3; Wisdom: 40; Charisma: 12.

When considering monsters, though, I'd say Wisdom is probably going to give Dex and Con a run for it's money.

 

[Erechel]

Hard to tell without combing through all the monster entries but I'd say it's possible if you include everything that requires a Con save. If you're only considering spells then it's Strength: 17; Dexterity: 58; Constitution: 36; Intelligence: 3; Wisdom: 40; Charisma: 12.

When considering monsters, though, I'd say Wisdom is probably going to give Dex and Con a run for it's money.

Fact is, you don't have that much of blaster caster monters. There are a few, but most of them are above cr 12 (dragons, mostly). It is worthless counting only spells, as spells are options from monsters, so if you have few monsters with spellcasting (as it really is the case) you can count them as having the save that makes the commonest sense.
I've made an entire post about Monster Manual an Volo's Guide to Monsters saving throws. And, by far, the commonest save is Constitution. Also, as a DM from the very beginning of D&D 5e, with 4 campaigns on my experience, I can say that Dex saves are fairly uncommon. Even now, playing as a fighter with shield master feat, the bonus to dex saves is almost useless most of the time. Strength saves are awfully common in the first 10 levels, as a lot of beasts trigger them, second only to Constitution. Wisdom isn't as common as you could say: it suffers from the same evil of Dexterity: it is concentrated on high-end monsters, way beyond the D&D "sweet spot" levels.

 

[Phazonfish]

In what universe is Con a dump stat in 5e. If you could use it to hit things it could dethrone Dex as the king of abilities... Well that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the thing about Con is that, it may not be your number 1 priority, but every class wants more of it.