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<blockquote data-quote="Bill Zebub" data-source="post: 8783723" data-attributes="member: 7031982">I played around with the idea of Dexterity only contributing to attack rolls, and Strength only contributing to damage.&nbsp; I generated some graphs showing every combination with modifiers totally +5 (e.g. Str 10/Dex 20, Str 14/Dex 16, etc.), vs. AC that ranges from 10 to 20.In general, and unsurprisingly, Strength was more important against low ACs, and Dex against high ACs.&nbsp; Other unsurprising takeaways:&nbsp;- Increasing PB was equivalent to lowering AC (i.e., it benefits Str builds more than Dex builds)&nbsp;- The break-even point between Str and Dex shifts in favor of Dex with 2H weapons (because the bonus damage is a lower % of base damage)(It should be obvious that increased +hit has diminishing returns, whereas +dmg does not, except in the sense of overkilling enemies.)Two other things I played with:&nbsp;- Minimum strength of 13 for wielding a 1d8 weapon one-handed, and I added a new category of 1d10 weapons with Str 17+.&nbsp; (One thing I liked about this is that it gave something to odd scores.)&nbsp;- Increased Crit range with high Dex.&nbsp; I both tried a tiered thing like the above, and also just a Crit range of 20 - Dex mod.Both of those changes shifted around the graphs and had the sort of impacts you would expect, but nothing that really shook things up.The most interesting takeaway is that in many cases the optimum setup was a blend of Str and Dex.&nbsp; E.g., depending on armor class and which of the optional rules I added, sometimes 16/14 or 14/16 outperformed either 10/20 or 20/10.&nbsp; Which is kinda cool.&nbsp; I mean, you should be able to build your character the way you like, without feeling like you have to maximize a particular stat.BUT....If ultimately it doesn't matter which blend of stats you take, doesn't that make the choice as meaningless...from a game design perspective...as if you have to maximize one over the other?So really this experiment just pushed me more toward the conclusion that attributes are poor game design, unless you are going old school and rolling dice for stats, in order.&nbsp; As soon as you make ability scores a player choice it becomes meaningless.&nbsp; IMO.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bill Zebub, post: 8783723, member: 7031982"] I played around with the idea of Dexterity only contributing to attack rolls, and Strength only contributing to damage. I generated some graphs showing every combination with modifiers totally +5 (e.g. Str 10/Dex 20, Str 14/Dex 16, etc.), vs. AC that ranges from 10 to 20. In general, and unsurprisingly, Strength was more important against low ACs, and Dex against high ACs. Other unsurprising takeaways: - Increasing PB was equivalent to lowering AC (i.e., it benefits Str builds more than Dex builds) - The break-even point between Str and Dex shifts in favor of Dex with 2H weapons (because the bonus damage is a lower % of base damage) (It should be obvious that increased +hit has diminishing returns, whereas +dmg does not, except in the sense of overkilling enemies.) Two other things I played with: - Minimum strength of 13 for wielding a 1d8 weapon one-handed, and I added a new category of 1d10 weapons with Str 17+. (One thing I liked about this is that it gave something to odd scores.) - Increased Crit range with high Dex. I both tried a tiered thing like the above, and also just a Crit range of 20 - Dex mod. Both of those changes shifted around the graphs and had the sort of impacts you would expect, but nothing that really shook things up. The most interesting takeaway is that in many cases the optimum setup was a blend of Str and Dex. E.g., depending on armor class and which of the optional rules I added, sometimes 16/14 or 14/16 outperformed either 10/20 or 20/10. Which is kinda cool. I mean, you [I]should[/I] be able to build your character the way you like, without feeling like you have to maximize a particular stat. BUT.... If ultimately it doesn't matter which blend of stats you take, doesn't that make the choice as meaningless...from a game design perspective...as if you have to maximize one over the other? So really this experiment just pushed me more toward the conclusion that attributes are poor game design, unless you are going old school and rolling dice for stats, in order. As soon as you make ability scores a player choice it becomes meaningless. IMO. [/QUOTE]

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