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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8610209" data-attributes="member: 6877472">You know as much as I'd hate to be rid of the ability score system, maybe it should go away.  The game weights certain ability scores higher based on your class and how you build your character.  That's nothing new, certainly, but I mean, this is why people don't like rolling for ability scores.  A disparity between two character's primary attributes might not be balanced by an advantage in a secondary attribute.Like say you have 14 Strength and I have 16 Strength.  But you have 16 Dexterity and I have 14 Dexterity.  The difference in AC is nonexistent since either one of us could wear medium armor, and wearing light armor isn't going to get you any major benefit.We can have the same chance to hit and damage, but one of us is limited to using lighter weapons that deal less damage.  One of us has slightly better initiative (matters only in round 1), Dex saves, and Dex skill checks, but the other has better Str saves, carry capacity and Str skill checks- which both attributes should have equal utility but don't.But while you may not be asked to make an ability save, if your game involves lots of combats, the difference in weapon damage might matter in the long run.There's a lot of variables here, and that's just Str vs. Dex.  Str vs. Con, for example, is only going to matter if you regularly make Con saves or are a caster- because the benefit of 1 extra hit point per level (and +1 to your Second Wind) could be negligible compared to better performance- the game weighs offense and defense differently, which I'm not a fan of, but in other threads I keep getting told "that's the way 5e is, deal with it".  : )</blockquote>

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