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larsdangly · 01-14-2018, 09:06 AM

My take on the attribute score issue:

DX: The only dilemma here is that an adjusted DX greater than 15 does not have any purpose when you are making 3d rolls; if you consider you might have to make some 4d rolls then perhaps you'd say 20 is the highest adjusted DX score you might want. But higher raw values are valuable because you trade them for armor protection and use DX to offset penalties for range, sweeping blows, etc. I think you would continue to benefit from increasing base DX up to around 25, and beyond that you are wasting your EXP. But every point between 15 and 20 is very valuable to you because you get to effectively trade it for protection (paying the DX penalty of armor).

IQ: There isn't really a problem at any score because IQ is just a measure of how good you are at the things IQ points buy you - talents, spells, etc. Whether you want to interpret it as a giant floating brain or as a cagey, seasoned veteran who has lots of skills and instincts, in the end it is just a resource that serves a purpose for your character. The value of additional points starts to diminish around 20 and becomes close to pointless around 30.

ST: Every point is valuable for every character type (though for different reasons), with diminishing returns starting to be noticed around 20 and becoming significant around 30. The only trouble for high ST scores is that the do mean something physical in the context of rules for encumbrance, HTH damage, lifting, wrestling, etc. So you end up creating characters who stomp around like Thor, regardless of what they started out like.

The only house rules Ive instituted in response to this are: introduction of a talent point statistic that advances independent of IQ and can be purchased separately from IQ (at a faster rate). And introduction of a talent ('Powers Beyond the Pale') that lets spell casters meditate, etc. to acquire a pool of ST points usable for spell casting (only), at a rate of 2 ST per day per talent point invested. These two changes seem to keep the game at something close to its intended balance until characters have point totals around 60-65.

01-14-2018, 09:06 AM	#309
larsdangly Join Date: Dec 2017	Re: The Fantasy Trip My take on the attribute score issue: DX: The only dilemma here is that an adjusted DX greater than 15 does not have any purpose when you are making 3d rolls; if you consider you might have to make some 4d rolls then perhaps you'd say 20 is the highest adjusted DX score you might want. But higher raw values are valuable because you trade them for armor protection and use DX to offset penalties for range, sweeping blows, etc. I think you would continue to benefit from increasing base DX up to around 25, and beyond that you are wasting your EXP. But every point between 15 and 20 is very valuable to you because you get to effectively trade it for protection (paying the DX penalty of armor). IQ: There isn't really a problem at any score because IQ is just a measure of how good you are at the things IQ points buy you - talents, spells, etc. Whether you want to interpret it as a giant floating brain or as a cagey, seasoned veteran who has lots of skills and instincts, in the end it is just a resource that serves a purpose for your character. The value of additional points starts to diminish around 20 and becomes close to pointless around 30. ST: Every point is valuable for every character type (though for different reasons), with diminishing returns starting to be noticed around 20 and becoming significant around 30. The only trouble for high ST scores is that the do mean something physical in the context of rules for encumbrance, HTH damage, lifting, wrestling, etc. So you end up creating characters who stomp around like Thor, regardless of what they started out like. The only house rules Ive instituted in response to this are: introduction of a talent point statistic that advances independent of IQ and can be purchased separately from IQ (at a faster rate). And introduction of a talent ('Powers Beyond the Pale') that lets spell casters meditate, etc. to acquire a pool of ST points usable for spell casting (only), at a rate of 2 ST per day per talent point invested. These two changes seem to keep the game at something close to its intended balance until characters have point totals around 60-65.