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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 6183875" data-attributes="member: 12037">I'm going to take a stab at trying to explain why I think it would be a bad thing for the game to present the option to decrease ability in one pillar to excel at another.I prefer to have PCs who can contribute equally but differently in all situations. I like proactive, invested players, who when presented a situation sees multiple options laid out before them. Those options shouldn't be driven by their character's mechanics but by the fiction of the game. A character who has given up a great deal of combat prowess is going to want to avoid combat. A character who has given up a great deal of exploration options will not care about exploration. A character who has given up the ability to take part in social interaction won't be as interested in intrigue. So by giving hte option to remove combat prowess in favor of, say, social interaction, to my mind, is taking away useful options from the player. Suddenly you aren't siloing abilities, you're siloing PCs.Beyond that, I want players who are invested and excited by all kinds of different aspects of gameplay. When the PCs come into the den of thieves and have to convince the guildmaster to help them, I don't want gameplay to suddenly be driven by the guy who forewent Sneak Attack for Improved Parlay or whatever ability replaces it. I want the group as a whole to come together, for everyone to want to interact here. That means I want every PC to have a relevant interaction ability. This is especially true if this encounter is the climax of the adventure or session, just as if it had been a fight with a BBEG.So whatever option you want to give the PC in exchange for Sneak Attack? I want that to be siloed out. I want all rogues to have access to that as part of their interaction pillar. Then, they can change that out for something different way of interacting. Options are great. Removing options isn't great, and I don't think it should be encouraged or really even allowed. I say the same about, for example, giving the rogue to forego their skill dice for more combat ability, or give up trap finding for better social interaction. Let everyone have their standard abilities in each pillar and let them customize that to their heart's content. But, don't force character to choose which pillar to specialize in, which is basically what would happen if you could trade one pillar for another. If someone wants their PC to be a smooth talker, they shouldn't have to give up their ability to be an equal in combat. That's not something I want to see in D&D.</blockquote>

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