D&D 5E What if no stat increases; only feats?

[Nellisir]

ISTM this would make for a lower-power, older-school, game.

Feat-flood will NOT give you that old-school feel.

That isn't the intent here.

I'm now slightly confused about what kind of feel you are hoping to cop.

 

[Quartz]

I'm now slightly confused about what kind of feel you are hoping to cop.

More 3E than 1E, but really, I'm just wondering if such a game would be interesting and fun.

 

[TwoSix]

To keep things simple. I might house rule so that after character creation (standard array + racial bonuses), the 4/8/12/16/19 ASI's are replaced with feats. Fighters and Rogues still get their bonus ASI. Since most feats grant a stat bonus and there are 'uncommon' magical items that boost an Attribute to 19, this seems the way to go. This ups the interest in those non-combat feats like Keen Mind and Inspiring leader and there are still plenty of paths to get that primary attribute into the upper teens.

My house rule is simply that you also get a +1 to a stat whenever you get a feat. Now feats become the default option, and everyone can still get their prime stat to 20 by the teen levels.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

My preferred option is to ban both stat increases and feats.

 

[treebear]

My preferred option is to ban both stat increases and feats.

How would you rebalance the PC's vs encounters at the higher levels? Easier or fewer encounters, and more and better magic items are two that I can think of off hand. A STR 16 fighter with a +3 sword is just as good on offense as a STR 20 fighter with +1 sword. A belt of vigor or some such could replace the missing hit points form the lowered CON score.

 

[Quartz]

One thing I don't want is to return to the item dependency of earlier editions for the combat classes.

 

[Fion]

One thing I don't want is to return to the item dependency of earlier editions for the combat classes.

I completely agree. One of the things I like most about 5e is that it isn't balanced around magical item dependency. 3e and especially 4e absolutely required magical items and as much as I've enjoyed those editions (and all editions back into the early 80s), it's one of the reasons I'm very much enjoying 5th edition. Time will tell if that stays true through to 20, but for right now it allows me as the GM to determine when and how I put magical items in the hands of my party.

 

[Skyscraper]

I also plan on letting the PCs roll for their stats in a slightly more hardcore fashion. I'm not entirely sure what technique I'll use, but it's going to be something like:

1) roll 3d6 for each stat, note it on a piece of paper in the order in which they were rolled.
2) Repeat. Pick one set of stats. (This to avoid the disaster set roll.)
3) Then you get another 2d6 that I'll call "training dice": you may roll one die at a time, and add it to any stat that is 12 or less (this to help avoid low main stats).

Yes, this will make for PCs with some low scores. I like it. 18 becomes a great score and one that stands out as extraordinary!

I will most certainly propose to my group that we ditch the ability score improvements in favor of feats, except perhaps at level 1 where the ability score improvements indeed represent racial differences. I don't really mind the half-orc ending up with 19 STR if he rolled well on his STR score: that'll make a memorable PC! I may allow the human to pick a feat and get +1 in one stat of his choice, instead of getting +1 all around.

As far as encounter balance is concerned, this doesn't faze me at all. I'm homebrewing anyway. Having a fighter with, say, 15 STR for his entire career sounds perfectly normal to me. He's still well above average!

 

[Quartz]

Yes, I'm mooting the idea of replacing the racial stat bonuses with a choice of one from a racially restricted set of feats, with humans getting two unrestricted feats. The idea being that the racial abilities are worth a bit more than a feat.

As for stats, I prefer a set array - not necessarily the one in the PHB - as it prevents characters being unbalanced wrt each other. How players play them is another matter.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

How would you rebalance the PC's vs encounters at the higher levels? Easier or fewer encounters, and more and better magic items are two that I can think of off hand. A STR 16 fighter with a +3 sword is just as good on offense as a STR 20 fighter with +1 sword. A belt of vigor or some such could replace the missing hit points form the lowered CON score.

I wouldn't. A believable world is more important to me than balance.