Trimming the Fat: Three Ability Scores

[Fallen Seraph]

I could see a Paragon level (or perhaps low-level Epic) character being able to dodge bullets and attack with the efficiency of a Grammaton Cleric. That would also as suggested work quite well with Intelligence to AC.

Hell, my Rangers/Rogues in my game are going to act a good bit like them in combat, just replace their Glocks with Colt six-shooters and your good to go

Yeah but even with their dexterity, as stated in the movie:

"Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically-predictable element. The Gun Kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents, while keeping the defender clear of the statistically-traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120%. The difference of a 63% increased lethal proficiency makes the master of the Gun Katas an adversary not to be taken lightly."

That is a product of intelligence not dexterity.

 

[Jhaelen]

Right, Einstein, Da Vinci, Schweitzer--not the kind of guys you wanted to meet in a dark alley.

Sounds more like an application of Wis than Int.

Well maybe they should have changed the names of the attributes as well, while they were at it. The best fit for a mental attribute that I imagine to be useful for a reflex save would be 'Wits' - the ability to think on your feet. The old World of Darkness RPG got it exactly right, imho: There's Perception, Intelligence and Wits. Perception pretty much resembles what Wisdom is in D&D.

 

[fafhrd]

For adding Int bonus to AC? Don't you mean Grammaton wizards?

I like that movie and the concept of gun-kata is interesting, but the reason the clerics stick out in memory is specifically because calculating vectors and trajectories in one's head isn't a run-of-the-mill heroic talent. In fact, I suspect they're relying on they're relying pretty heavily on their none-too-shabby Dexterity.

It may be that they stick out because they perfected it. Isn't it at least possible that every combatant does this on an unconscious level? Wisdom collects the data, intelligence processes it.

 

[Felon]

C'mon mental reflex is not wisdom.

Doesn't Wisdom represent qualities such as intuition, instinct, alertness? Isn't Wis, not Int, the basis of the perception skills that keep one from being surprised?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well maybe they should have changed the names of the attributes as well, while they were at it. The best fit for a mental attribute that I imagine to be useful for a reflex save would be 'Wits' - the ability to think on your feet. The old World of Darkness RPG got it exactly right, imho: There's Perception, Intelligence and Wits. Perception pretty much resembles what Wisdom is in D&D.

Yeah when it comes to Abilities for a good system a adore WoD's system of dividing up mental, physical and social Abilities into three sub-groups.

 

[Morrus]

OK, perhaps this thread is not for you.

Hi Felon,

I appreciate your desire to avoid threadcrapping, but I'm afraid stipulations that those who don't agree with you are not welcome in this thread isn't appropriate on EN World. Conversely, the recently created thread which appears to exists merely to ridicule this one is equally, if not more, innapropriate.

EN World is a discussion forum, and contrary views are welcome; nobody has ownership over a thread. I'm closing the other thread which references this one negatively, and asking you to accept that you can't control which opinions are permitted in this thread.

As always, everybody keep it civil. Thanks.

 

[Felon]

It may be that they stick out because they perfected it. Isn't it at least possible that every combatant does this one an unconscious level? Wisdom collects the data, intelligence processes it.

Sure, it's one way to look at it. It's pretty conjectural, ennit?

Ultimately, I'd prefer a consistent method over "pick a stat, and once you've picked it, the other stat you didn't pick doesn't matter for this anymore".

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Felon then what would you say to, keeping this system but having it so each of the two Abilities are divided in half and added together to come up with the Defence?

It would keep the other Ability relevant as well as making a key Ability to the character more prominent by that having the larger half.

 

[Xethreau]

I don't have a problem with this being how classes are designed, but I would hope that players have more taste.

 

[Felon]

Felon then what would you say to, keeping this system but having it so each of the two Abilities are divided in half and added together to come up with the Defence?

It would keep the other Ability relevant as well as making a key Ability to the character more prominent by that having the larger half.

Well, I think the designers would have considered it an unwieldy approach for what they were trying to do. There is the issue of halving odd numbers and having to round off. I'm not sure that Int and physical defenses are a good match, in general, because of the archetypes that will have high Int and the archetypes that will have lot Int.