What's your dump stat?

[Gez]

Three words.

Composite, not compound

Five words:

Mighty Composite Longbows, more precisely.

 

[kolikeos]

for me it's uselly str, but sometimes cha. as i uselly play a wizard i don't need both. there was one exceptional character that had high srt and cha but low dex.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I have to say Charisma. I'm not Charismatic in real life, and if you aren't playing a certain class or using a certain feat, you don't need it.

Skill points are more important than your Charisma score (so you can play a Charisma 8 rogue with maxed out Bluf if you like).

 

[DarkMaster]

for the 2000ed and 3.11ed for workgroups it is blatantly obvious Cha is the dump stat.

Actually not quite right, the only version where it isn't a dump stat is 3.x in all other edition there was no incentive to put a single point in charisma, unless you were a paladin, now with the skill system and and classes using it to cast their spell, depending on the DM it became a very important one.

All previous edition to 3.5 all had at least one good thing:

They were useful to develop 3.5.

I loved playing the basic set and 1st edition as a young kid/teenager, but I've moved on.

 

[DarkMaster]

I have to say Charisma. I'm not Charismatic in real life, and if you aren't playing a certain class or using a certain feat, you don't need it.

Skill points are more important than your Charisma score (so you can play a Charisma 8 rogue with maxed out Bluf if you like).

Yes but a 6th level rogue with 8 Charisma will have 8 in bluff
and the 14 Charisma 11.

I could also play a figther with 8 of str with all the Weapon specialisation in the world, at 8 level you will go through hordes of Gobelin but won't be as effective against a monster that matches your level

 

[Emiricol]

in my preferred edition is rolled 3d6 six times in order for stats.
<snip>
reaction roll is based on cha. still is.. but in OD&D it meant the difference between having to fight or not.

So in your preferred edition there was no dump stat... Except for the minor detail that none of the dozens and dozens of people I played with over the years ever did it that way on a regular basis. Just as with 3E, OD&D had its share of house rules. In 3.x assigning stats is the default method. Not really sure how the default OD&D rules make CHA a dump stat in 3.x.

Moreover, a good CHA roll can still mean the difference between a fight or not having to fight, in more ways than prior versions allowed. Diplomacy, bluff, intimidate...

i know i'd like a higher score too as so would he.. but in a game where strategy wargaming is still key.. cha is the dump stat.

And in a game where PCs do anything more than swing a sword, it isn't necessarily a dump stat. That's a matter of play style, not a matter of rules.

Ultimately, whatever a player chooses as his/her dump stat is a matter of playstyle or a matter of character considerations.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

i know i'd like a higher score too as so would he.. but in a game where strategy wargaming is still key.. cha is the dump stat.

When I play a pure skirmish game using the 3.5 rules, at least past 8th level or so, I'd never make Cha a character's dump stat. It's too easy to get it to apply to other things - saves, attacks, AC, spellcasting, damage.

Intelligence is only slightly easier to get maximum value from, while Constitution remains the most mechanically important (hp, saves, and applicable to AC with a PrC).

Now, for roleplaying purposes, I might play a low-Cha character, but the rules as written make it quite useful, in contrast to older versions of D&D.

Strength is probably the "weakest" stat in 3.5.

 

[jeffh]

reaction roll is based on cha. still is.. but in OD&D it meant the difference between having to fight or not.

Reaction rolls? Don't know anyone who used them regularly, in fact I was the only DM I knew who used them at all and it certainly wasn't for every enocounter. I can see where that would make a difference, to say the least. (I've never played OD&D but I started on BD&D which also had them, and also ran AD&D1 which I think did as well.)

 

[Orius]

I'm surprised to see Con get so many votes, though (it's third from last with less than 5% of the vote, but I'm surprised it got ANY votes, much less beat out two other stats). To me, you don't need a GREAT Con, but it's the last stat you want a penalty in.

Yeah, it seems to be the people who prefer to buff Dex before Con for AC rather than hp bonuses. I usually avoid that approach, because in D&D, no matter how good your armor is you always have a chance of being hit. I'd rather boost hps than AC, because my characters have a better chance of surviving when they do get hit.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

In most adventures run by me or another GM all ability scores start at a base of 10 and roll 2d4 to get the final result. Thus, all abilities are no less than 12 and thereby leaving hardly any ability score as a dump stat. Personally though, I like having a minimum Int of 14 on every character, thereby making me eligible for certain feats. Constitution is second most important with Charisma bringing up the rear.