From: s316903@student.uq.edu.au (Travis Hall) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd Subject: Exceptional Stats other than Strength Date: 27 Oct 1995 02:33:40 GMT A while ago there was a thread on exceptional strength, pros and cons, blah blah blah. In the course of that thread, several people expressed interest in seeing a system for exceptional stats other than strength (which already exists). Such a system would pull the other stats into line with strength, and provide extra high-end definition for very high stats. Of course, there will be those who consider such a system unbalancing, so read this very carefully before you use it. I have used the system presented below in my campaign for two years now, and it seems to work pretty well, and the players like it. (Craig was a bit annoyed when he created the first ever character with exceptional dexterity, and then ended up with an 18/01 - he says he could have handled 18/05, but found 01 humiliating - and David hates any changes being made to the rules of any game, but other than that, the rules seem to be much beloved of the players.) Basically, this is the system for exceptional stats which I use in my game. It does apply to exceptional strength as well, in all ways that this system is different to the standard, but the table is in the book already, so I have not made up a new one. Firstly, not everyone with an 18 will get an exceptional stat, even if the 18 is in their prime requisite (including strength for warriors). If the character does not have an 18, don't bother going any further, he has no exceptional stat. If he does, for each and every stat, a number must be calculated. For each stat: Check the character's class(es), race and kit (if any). Is there a minimum value required for any of these? Race will give a minimum, even if neither kit nor class does. For humans, the minimum is always 3, unless there is a class or kit minimum. For everyone else, refer to the book. If the stat is not a prime requisite for the character's class (or one or more classes for a multi-classed character), this minimum is the number we are looking for. So for a human fighter with no kit, 3 is the number for each of dex, con, int, wis and cha. If the stat is a prime requisite, multiply the number by (7 - number of prime requisites). So for that human fighter, there is a strength min of 9 (for fighter) and it is a prime requisite. There is only one prime requisite for a fighter, so we get 9 * (7 - 1) = 9 * 6 = 54. This is the number we are looking for. Another example, elven fighter/mage. Minimums: STR 9, Dex 7 (calculate after racial mods are applied), Con 6 (again, racial mods apply first), Int 9, Wis 3, Cha 8. Str and Int are both prime requisites, there are two of them, so multiply each of the numbers there by 5: Str 45, Dex 7, Con 6, Int 45, Wis 3, Cha 8. Okay, having done all that, add up all the number (for the fighter, 69, for the elf, 114). Now, what is the stat in which the character has the 18? Say it's Str for the fighter. Divide the number associated with his strength (9, remember?) by 69 (the total) and multiply by 100. This is the percentage chance that he has as getting the exceptional stat that he is after. (You can work out rounding problems. It isn't enough of a concern for me to go into.) Now roll percentiles and see if he has it. If he does, roll more percentiles to work out what it is, as per usual. I believe the fighter of out example has about a 78% chance of getting his exceptional strength. You can work it out for the elf, assuming, say, that he has the 18 in Int. I don't have my calculator handy. This system is not that hard once you get used to it. Yes, a calculator is a good idea, but you will only need it for about two minutes during character creation, and then these numbers never turn up again. BTW, racial mods. When working out racial minimums, take the racial mods into account first. For that elf, the minimum Dex listed in the book for an elf is 6, but that is before taking the +1 elven racial modifier into account, so this becomes a 7. Don't apply the racial mod to minimums for class or kit, and that really only apply to racial minimums. If a character has an 18 on the dice, and a +1 racial mod (so that under standard rules he would get a 19), apply the system as per normal. If he gets the exceptional stat, shift it up one category, scaling to fit. I'll let you guys work that out. You're all fairly bright, I hope. If he rolls 00 on the dice for determining what his exceptional stat is, give him a 19 (remembering that 19 changes on the table associated with this system). I know he'll have a damned good stat, but hell, if he's that lucky, let him. If he doesn't get exceptional at all, give him 01-50 exceptional (roll d50 for the exact value). So nobody loses out on their racial mods. Otherwise, just read off the following tables for the exact modifiers for these stats. I have designed the tables to have minimal impact on the game where the complication of exceptional stats does not occur, so for straight 18 or less, you can just read out of the book. Come to think of it, I really need only give the very top end, so I'll just give 17 on up, and you can append to the tables from the book in whatever way you like. Table 2a: Dexterity (to be appended) Score Reaction adj. Missile adj. Defense adj. 17 +2 +2 -3 18 +2 +2 -4 18/01-50 +3 +3 -4 18/51-75 +3 +3 -5 18/76-90 +4 +3 -5 18/91-99 +4 +4 -5 18/00 +5 +5 -6 19 +5 +6 -6 20 +6 +6 -6 21 +6 +6 -7 22 +6 +7 -7 23 +7 +7 -7 24 +7 +7 -8 25 +8 +8 -9 Table 3a: Constitution (append) Score hp adj. Sys sh. Res. Pois. Regen 17 +2(+3)* 97% 98% 0 Nil 18 +2(+4)* 99% 100% 0 Nil 18/01-50 +2(+4)* 99% 100% +1 Nil 18/51-75 +2(+5)* 99% 100% +1 Nil 18/76-90 +2(+5)** 99% 100% +1 Nil 18/91-99 +2(+5)** 99% 100% +2 Nil 18/00 +2(+6)*** 99% 100% +2 Nil 19 +2(+6)*** 99% 100% +2 Nil 20 +2(+6)**** 99% 100% +3 1/6 turns 21 +2(+6)**** 99% 100% +3 1/5 turns 22 +2(+6)**** 99% 100% +3 1/4 turns 23 +2(+6)**** 99% 100% +4 1/3 turns 24 +2(+7)**** 99% 100% +4 1/2 turns 25 +2(+7)**** 100% 100% +4 1/1 turn All footnotes on constitution table are as per the PHB. Table 4: Intelligence (append) Score +prof. sp. lvl. %lrn sp #sp/lvl 17 6 8 75% 14 18 7 9 85% 18 18/01-50 8 9 86% all 18/51-75 9 9 88% all 18/76-90 10 9 89% all 18/91-99 11 9 90% all 18/00 12 9 92% all 19 13 9 94% all For each additional point of intelligence up to 25, add one extra bonus proficiency slot and 1 to the chance to learn spells. Note that in my campaign, I give wizards the same bonus spells for high Int that priests get for high Wis, so they do get a concrete bonus for progressively higher Ints, which may not appear in games where this is not used. You may have to modify this table to give better bonuses for high Int, if that is the case. See the Wis table for the spell bonuses. Table 5: Wisdom (append) Score Mag adj. Sp. fail/bonus Immunities 17 +3 3rd 18 +4 4th 18/01-50 +4 1st 18/51-75 +4 2nd As for 19 on the standard table 18/76-90 +4 3rd 18/91-99 +4 4th 18/00 +4 5th As for 20 on the standard table 19 +4 3rd 20 +4 4th As for 21 on the standard table 21 +4 5th 22 +4 5th As per the standard table 23 +4 6th As per the standard table 24 +4 6th As per the standard table 25 +4 7th As per the standard table Table 6: Charism (append) Score # Hmen Loyal. React. 17 10 +6 +6 18 15 +8 +7 18/01-50 16 +9 +7 18/51-75 17 +9 +8 18/76-90 18 +10 +8 18/91-99 19 +11 +8 18/00 20 +12 +9 19 21 +13 +10 20 25 +14 +11 21 30 +15 +12 22 35 +16 +13 23 40 +18 +14 24 45 +19 +15 25 50 +20 +19 And, of course, extend tables for stat mods for thieves and psionicists: Thieving skill Dexterity Adjustments (append) Dex PP OL F/RT MS HS 17 +5% +10% 0 +5% +5% 18 +10% +15% +5% +10% +10% 18/01-50 +11% +16% +6% +11% +11% 18/51-75 +12% +17% +7% +12% +12% 18/76-90 +13% +18% +8% +13% +13% 18/91-99 +14% +19% +9% +14% +14% 18/00 +15% +20% +10% +15% +15% 19 +20% +25% +15% +20% +20% 20 +25% +30% +20% +25% +25% I haven't extended this further. Expanded table for psionicists' PSPs Score Base Mod. 17 24 +2 18 26 +3 18/01-50 26 +3 18/51-99 27 +3 18/00 28 +4 19 29 +4 20 30 +5 21 32 +6 22 34 +7 23 36 +8 24 38 +9 25 40 +10 Okay, that's it. Questions, comments? Anything not explained well enough or missing? I'm not interested in hearing all the reasons I should not use such a system, I've already heard them all. This has been posted here because some people were interested. So, please restrain yourselves to commenting on the system itself. If you want to abuse the basic concept, start a new thread. I'll be sure to read it, and debate all points which need debating there. Thanx. The Wraith