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<blockquote data-quote="Olrox17" data-source="post: 8882148" data-attributes="member: 6801397">I do not ascribe any malicious motives to anyone who wants to use or uses Variant Ability Scores. I do believe their use can engender niche invasion and favour the crafty, persuasive player to an unfair degree.Taking the example of Dex (Athletics) to scale a wall, is it &quot;realistic&quot;? Potentially yeah, free climbers certainly look the nimble kind rather than powerhouses (although they clearly have massive power in specific muscles). You could make a convincing argument (personally, I would still ask for Str (Athletics), adjusting the DC if your superior Dex clearly provides a benefit in this situation).Is it really fair to party's high Str Fighter to make Dex even more of a god stat and infringe on his niche? When the less crafty fighter player tries get into the Variant Ability Scores game and attempts some mental gymnastics to convince you he should roll for Strength (Stealth), you'll probably shut him down...and yet, there is at least one hypothetical persuasive argument I could think of that would make that work, the fighter player just didn't think of it.In short, depending on your players, allowing Variant Ability Scores might indeed create a &quot;scammy&quot; playstyle that I don't like, even if nobody at the table is a scammy person, simply because it's natural to try and get an advantage too when you saw somebody else got it (possibly infringing on your niche in the process).Obviously, if it works well for your gaming group, it works well for your gaming group. If it's fun, keep it up. Would I want it to be the default rule for 5.5? No. As an option? Sure.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Olrox17, post: 8882148, member: 6801397"] I do not ascribe any malicious motives to anyone who wants to use or uses Variant Ability Scores. I do believe their use can engender niche invasion and favour the crafty, persuasive player to an unfair degree. Taking the example of Dex (Athletics) to scale a wall, is it "realistic"? Potentially yeah, free climbers certainly look the nimble kind rather than powerhouses (although they clearly have massive power in specific muscles). You could make a convincing argument (personally, I would still ask for Str (Athletics), adjusting the DC if your superior Dex clearly provides a benefit in this situation). Is it really fair to party's high Str Fighter to make Dex even more of a god stat and infringe on his niche? When the less crafty fighter player tries get into the Variant Ability Scores game and attempts some mental gymnastics to convince you he should roll for Strength (Stealth), you'll probably shut him down...and yet, there is at least one hypothetical persuasive argument I could think of that would make that work, the fighter player just didn't think of it. In short, depending on your players, allowing Variant Ability Scores might indeed create a "scammy" playstyle that I don't like, even if nobody at the table is a scammy person, simply because it's natural to try and get an advantage too when you saw somebody else got it (possibly infringing on your niche in the process). Obviously, if it works well for your gaming group, it works well for your gaming group. If it's fun, keep it up. Would I want it to be the default rule for 5.5? No. As an option? Sure. [/QUOTE]

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