Is Attribute Bloat real?

[ak_aramis]

My experience with TFT is that the problem begins in solo play when AdjDX exceeds the AdjDX "cap" of 15. (The point where the autofail on 16+ rule applies)

Above that, once adjusted for armor worn, further Dex is almost useless.

Strength is always useful, if for no other reason than taking more damage. In solo play, I've worked characters up to ST 35 and higher. At ST 35 and DX 20, pretty much all the combats in the solos become a cake-walk.

IQ is always useful, too. Unlike ST, however, it's growth isn't vital for solo-play.

Advanced Wizard has only spells to IQ 20, and those can be game breaking as is.

I've had multiple characters that I played to the point that they ceased being even amusing to my obsessive-compulsive-when-manic self, using a mixture of the jobs tables and the various solo adventures. So, from a simple, "Constant success is boring" aspect, bloat is a problem.

I've often used a "Personal Limit" of either 10 or the "bonus" (from the races table) over starting purchased scores. As this puts every spell in the book available to wizards who start at IQ 10, it's not an onerous limit. Where it hurts is the fighter-types - the "Full Combatant" At 10 over, humans can go to 62 total points. (24 base + 8 "bonus" in CGen, +30 for three atts 10 above there)... which is still above the point totals expected on ITL page 11.

The real bloat is on page 25 of ITL...

Originally Posted by ITL page 25, §Jobs ¶6

The RISK of the job is shown by two numbers - one low and one high. Each week, roll 3 dice for each character who is holding a job. If you roll the LOW number (or less), the character had a notable success of some kind; immediately give him/her just enough experience points to raise one attribute.

That's how I've built all my übermenschen. It should instead be a flat 100, IMNSHO; otherwise, it results in rather impressive characters once you hit the 3d cap of 15 on an attribute.