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Making a 5E Variant I *Want* To Play (+thread)
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<blockquote data-quote="GreenTengu" data-source="post: 8038304" data-attributes="member: 6777454"><p>I think quite a lot of this-- and many other issues-- could simply be fixed by getting rid of ability scores all together. Who needs them?</p><p></p><p>They are arbitrary as hell. Why exactly are Strength and Constitution not just one score? It is one thing to explain on paper that a person can be really strong and can't take a blow or can be really tough but not strong-- but whenever one tries to depict any such character narratively, it betray that the two things are intrinsically linked-- you can only be so strong without inherently being tougher or so tough without it inherently being about your strength. And when they are separate, you have a situation where the Fighter character has to raise up both which leads them to completely neglecting their mental/social scores and then pretty much every other class that isn't Fighter or Fighter+ just uses Strength as a complete dumpstat and gives the slightest care to Constitution.</p><p></p><p>Or you have cases where Dexterity is a large bag that somehow covers acrobatics, initiative, dodging, ranged attacks, disabling locks and mechanical devices, etc. And while I get that you want your Rogue to be super good at all of that? None of it is intrinsically linked. In fact, I see a much better argument for those last two to be governed by Wisdom and Intelligence respectively because you don't need to be an acrobat or juggler to be a good marksman or locksmith and being those things won't inherently help you either.</p><p></p><p>So why not just get rid of attributes all together, make the proficiency bonus higher overall. If you aren't trained in something, you only get your base proficiency and if you are trained then you get 2x your proficiency bonus to rolls.</p><p></p><p>All the areas on the spot that get used by the attributes can just be skills -- Dodge (AC), Initiative (can also be used as Dex saves), Melee Combat, Marksman, Toughness (HP & Str + Con saves), Willpower (Used for Wis, Int and Cha saves) and Knowledge (Arcana) can just be Arcana which can dictate your spellcasting power for all classes.</p><p></p><p>Increase the number of skills each class gets accordingly to make up for all these additional important skills. All class mechanics that previously referred to an attribute score + proficiency can just substitute in the most appropriate skill.</p><p></p><p>It allows one to make a much wider variety of characters than the previous system did.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GreenTengu, post: 8038304, member: 6777454"] I think quite a lot of this-- and many other issues-- could simply be fixed by getting rid of ability scores all together. Who needs them? They are arbitrary as hell. Why exactly are Strength and Constitution not just one score? It is one thing to explain on paper that a person can be really strong and can't take a blow or can be really tough but not strong-- but whenever one tries to depict any such character narratively, it betray that the two things are intrinsically linked-- you can only be so strong without inherently being tougher or so tough without it inherently being about your strength. And when they are separate, you have a situation where the Fighter character has to raise up both which leads them to completely neglecting their mental/social scores and then pretty much every other class that isn't Fighter or Fighter+ just uses Strength as a complete dumpstat and gives the slightest care to Constitution. Or you have cases where Dexterity is a large bag that somehow covers acrobatics, initiative, dodging, ranged attacks, disabling locks and mechanical devices, etc. And while I get that you want your Rogue to be super good at all of that? None of it is intrinsically linked. In fact, I see a much better argument for those last two to be governed by Wisdom and Intelligence respectively because you don't need to be an acrobat or juggler to be a good marksman or locksmith and being those things won't inherently help you either. So why not just get rid of attributes all together, make the proficiency bonus higher overall. If you aren't trained in something, you only get your base proficiency and if you are trained then you get 2x your proficiency bonus to rolls. All the areas on the spot that get used by the attributes can just be skills -- Dodge (AC), Initiative (can also be used as Dex saves), Melee Combat, Marksman, Toughness (HP & Str + Con saves), Willpower (Used for Wis, Int and Cha saves) and Knowledge (Arcana) can just be Arcana which can dictate your spellcasting power for all classes. Increase the number of skills each class gets accordingly to make up for all these additional important skills. All class mechanics that previously referred to an attribute score + proficiency can just substitute in the most appropriate skill. It allows one to make a much wider variety of characters than the previous system did. [/QUOTE]
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