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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 8670830" data-attributes="member: 58197">I reached that point some years ago, and not even a little bit tongue in cheek: I think ability scores are a fundamentally bad mechanic, and D&amp;D would be greatly improved by excising them. This is never going to happen, of course--they are the sacredest of cows--but I cheer every move WotC makes that reduces their impact on the game.(I have tried excising them myself, but it's a much bigger project than it looks on the surface. The tentacles of stat modifiers snake through the rules into all kinds of places you don't expect.)When you get back into the TSR era, other factors come into play, yes--not only TSR's somewhat cockeyed take on game balance, but also the fact that Gygax and co. subscribed to a lot of widespread myths about medieval armaments that have since been debunked (mostly, that they were much heavier and clumsier than they really were).However, neither of those is a driving force in 5E. Armor access is a minor balancing element, but the math adds up so that a rogue in studded leather and a fighter in plate have near-identical AC once the rogue's Dex hits 20, without either character having to make any tradeoffs. I can't see any reason to do that except aesthetics.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 8670830, member: 58197"] I reached that point some years ago, and not even a little bit tongue in cheek: I think ability scores are a fundamentally bad mechanic, and D&D would be greatly improved by excising them. This is never going to happen, of course--they are the sacredest of cows--but I cheer every move WotC makes that reduces their impact on the game. (I have tried excising them myself, but it's a much bigger project than it looks on the surface. The tentacles of stat modifiers snake through the rules into all kinds of places you don't expect.) When you get back into the TSR era, other factors come into play, yes--not only TSR's somewhat cockeyed take on game balance, but also the fact that Gygax and co. subscribed to a lot of widespread myths about medieval armaments that have since been debunked (mostly, that they were much heavier and clumsier than they really were). However, neither of those is a driving force in 5E. Armor access is a [I]minor[/I] balancing element, but the math adds up so that a rogue in studded leather and a fighter in plate have near-identical AC once the rogue's Dex hits 20, without either character having to make any tradeoffs. I can't see any reason to do that except aesthetics. [/QUOTE]

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