Should spellcasting classes get a choice of magic main ability mod?

[Tony Vargas]

Unless abilities become 'equal' at some point, it wouldn't be a great idea. Some stats just get a few more skills, a few more important checks, a more commonly-foreced saving throw, or a few more important modifiers (like, oh, hps or AC). While the concept of customizing primary stat is a nice one, the execution might be a little too amenable to optimization shenanigans.

Perhaps, though, caster stat could be linked to the magic sub-system? So casters who 'memorize' spells would be INT, those who channel them through their all-too-mortal bodies would be CON, and those who bargained with powers beyond mortal ken for them would be CHA.

 

[kerleth]

I guess that I think that the stats should be more or less equal. I've used as a character and ran as a DM a lot of homebrew. Sure, Dex helps initiative and AC, while Con helps HP. I get that. I once made a much simplified Mage class that allowed you to pick Con or a soul score, and it was NOT a lock that people picked Con. Heck I would even let them use Dex or Str for a mystical fighting style sort of character as long as they could use some "weird
science" style explanation to explain how that stat worked for each of their spells. Granted, early in 3rd edition I had started using rules where knowledge checks gave actual useful info about monster stats, and making it a point to have NPC's react to party members with low Cha unless the party made an effort to make sure the "party spokesperson" was the one in the spotlight and so while there were dump stats for particular character builds, they were all useful. I think the 5E skill system lends itself well to that model and the game as a whole would be best served by stats that were nearly equal. Although the point about dual stat casters I definitely agree with.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The whole thing about ability saving throws makes it so that there's less ability scores that are dump stats.

But thinking more along the lines of variable ability mods for casting, if there's things like pacts and bloodlines which are basically like a choice of build for a Fighter, maybe it's those choices that could be locked to different stats. Though I agree some classes shouldn't vary on the ability mod, most importantly in my mind Wizards, but for others a bit variance would be preferable.

 

[tlantl]

If the martial classes can set themselves up to use Dex for some weapons instead pf Strength, I don't see why spellcasters can't be set up to use alternate stats as well, either as a feat or a fixed state of the spell.

It'd be interesting, to say the least, if spells were split into "power" and "finesse" spells that would allow for alternate stats (Int as "power", Chr as "finesse" for arcane, and Wis as "power" and Chr as "finesse" for divine?)

If I remember correctly weren't the 3e psionics set up like this. I really hated it. I had so much trouble keeping them straight that I basically ignored the psionic characters entirely. No one I played with wanted to deal with it either. If not for the magic items in that book I'd have just thrown my money away buying it.

Of course your version uses only half of the abilities those psions used but I think we'd have the same issue.

The way weapons work is you choose the style you are going to use. Once this choice is made then it is a constant. spells are not the same as weapons though you use different ones for different things and you are always doing something different with them, having different abilities tied to each one makes for much confusion.


As for the original topic I'm not a fan. I'd forget these changes and make rulings contrary to what the player has on his sheet. If the rules were to be set up like this I'd be a little unhappy.