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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 8516421" data-attributes="member: 694">When I do still have occasion to play AD&D, I run stats almost by-the-book (and I make characters roll 3d6 in order, the default method in 2nd edition, so significant modifiers are rare); the only significant change that I make is eliminating percentile Strength, and instead just giving fighter-types extra hit and damage bonuses to compensate. But I don't particularly like the way AD&D does stats; I just leave most of the system alone because there's too much there to bother tinkering with.Your Classic D&D (1981–1996) has uniform modifiers that run from −3 to +3. In other words, it's just like the d20 system, except that the range of modifiers is only one less. Switching from the d20 System table that runs from −4 to +4 isn't going to change much about the way the game works; it'll just make characters a bit weaker.(This is also true of another common alternative that I use frequently, and which is default in a handful of OSR games: cutting the d20 modifiers in half and dropping fractions. Then you get 3 = −2 ; 4–7 = −1 ; 8–13 = ±0 ; 14–17 = +1 ; 18 = +2. It reins in the "modifier creep" by keeping numbers on the low side, but it doesn't actually change how the stats work and what they're for, or the way players perceive them and DMs use them.)Right at the moment, I'm using a method that's a bit inspired by Original D&D and Holmes Basic, a bit by Swords & Wizardry (where the modifier table is simply 3–8 = −1 ; 9–12 = ±0 ; 13–18 = +1), and bit by White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game (similar to S&W, except that penalties kick in at 3–6 and bonuses at 15–18). I like how these games have the stats affect a very few specific things, and with only very small modifiers. So I gave each stat a "tiered" structure, e.g.:Dexterity 3–5: −1 to missile fire and AC.Dexterity 6–8: −1 to missile fire; no AC adjustment.Dexterity 9–12: No adjustments.Dexterity 13–15: +1 to missile fire; no AC adjustment.Dexterity 16–18: +1 to missile fire and AC.Constitution 3–5: 4-in-6 chance to survive system shock; −10% to total hit points.Constitution 6–8: 4-in-6 chance to survive system shock; no hp adjustment.Constitution 9–12: 5-in-6 chance to survive system shock; no hp adjustment.Constitution 13–15: 100% chance to survive system shock; no hp adjustment.Constitution 16–18: 100% chance to survive system shock; +10% to total hit points.And so forth; you get the idea. It has the OD&D and AD&D "there is no single uniform modifier, instead each stat affects things in a bespoke way that makes sense" (so you don't get nonsense like a −4 Con mod that can eat up even a fighter's hit die roll). But the added complexity is mitigated by the fact that the modifiers are always small and manageable — and it has the added outcome (feature, not bug IMO) of making characters broadly more similar to each other than they are different, with less impact from the stats and less reliance on them for mechanics. (This is a very good thing if you're playing OD&D, but it may not be desirable at all if you're running 5e, where the stats were very deliberately designed from the ground up to carry a great deal of the game's mechanical "weight"!)</blockquote>

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