What if no modifiers stacked?

[Particle_Man]

This may be in rebellion vs. having to worry about 6-7 ever changing modifiers from round to round, but I am daydreaming (not even planning yet) about what the game would be like if no modifiers stacked - if every modifier to everything simply overlapped, so only the best one counted.

-Strong characters would only need magic weapons to beat DR or for special effects, since their strength bonus would often be higher than the magic bonus of the weapon (until high levels). Weak characters would love a +1 weapon though, since it would take away their negative strength penalty.

-Dextrous people would only take Dodge to get to another feat, and would rarely wear armor. They might, on the other hand, rely upon magical bonuses of weapons instead of the weapon finesse feat.

-synergy bonuses wouldn't stack, so less uber-diplomacy.

-buff spells would be reduced sharply in number.

-save spells would be more deadly, as it would be harder to get high saves.

-armor classes would be lower, but so would to hit and damage bonuses. Not sure what would happen here.

-Shields would not see much use.

This would likely throw the game out of whack, but it might be interesting to try it as a one-shot experiment. I wonder if combat would at least be quicker.

 

[Sejs]

All fighters would wear full plate, have a 10 dex, and never so much as look at a shield with the exception of the tower shield. AC would remain very low, across the board.


People would use 2h weapons and push strength as much as possible. Damage would be pushable, and when combined with the low (low) AC issue, people will die easily, most creatures even more so.


Spellcasters would dominate. Period. Saves would be abysmally low, DCs would remain largely unchanged.

 

[Destil]

Yes, if nothing stacked things would just be silly. Instead:

Unnamed bonuses stack, as always (be very judicious about removing any spell or item that provides an unnamed bonus, see below). Dodge bonuses to AC stack, as always.

Synergy bonuses no longer stack (or do away with them entirely).

There are 4 types of bonuses which overlap:
Size bonuses - from creature size. Also sometimes from magic that changes sizes (the only way to stack 2 spells under this system). Size bonuses no longer affect Str and Con when magic is involved, just to hit and AC (Str and Con would be handled by magic bonuses, below).
Magic bonus - spells and magic items.
Moral bonuses - class abilities that helps other party members (bard song, paladin aura of courage).
Circumstance bonuses - all nonmagical bonuses.

This would remove the headache of having 8-9 different types of bonus to track, and really it would get 85% of the core stuff fine. Stuff like insight bonuses to AC or hit (common in psionics) would hurt, but that's it.

 

[Remathilis]

Anarchy would cover the land, cats would be living with dogs, fire would rain down from the sky, and Britney Spears would be a role-model for all young girls...

 

[Sejs]

Oh yeah, and bards would become very cherry, because of how Inspire Courage works. It's like Voltron: the more folks you stack on, the better it gets. And improvements to the ability are pretty much all phrased in the form of "the bonus you grant ... increases by 1."


One tricked out bard: everyone and their mother running around with +4 to +7 on to hit and damage. Just as if everyone was running around with an 18 to 24 str.

 

[RFisher]

I've considered this before. In theory, I like it. In practice, I think you always come up with at least one thing you really, really want to stack (e.g. armor & shield).