D20 Patch: Stats

Back: d20 Patch

One of the simplest ways to make a high-optimization featureless cube of sculpted marble is to get one good stat and make it do everything for you. Every time a player flat-out ignores a weakness and replaces it with that same high modifier, their character gets ever-closer to their ultimate cube form. Homogeneity is where meaningful choice and character depth go to die, and perhaps the worst thing you can do character uniqueness is allow/force characters apply the same number to everything they're good at.

Attributes
Strength: Applies the full bonus to offhand melee damage, but no longer used for attack rolls.

REPLACES: Deadly Agility{PF}.

Dexterity: Used for all attack rolls. Other stats can be added as bonuses, but not replace it.

REPLACES: Agile Maneuvers{PF}, Brutal Throw{CAd}, Charming the Arrow{Web}, Guided Hand{PF}, Intuitive Attack{BoED}, Weapon Finesse{PF}, Zen Archery{CW}, Feycraft weapons{DMG2}.

Constitution: All characters have health equal to constitution score * (1 + level/2), rounded up to the nearest point.

Intelligence: All characters have skill points equal to intelligence score * (1 + level/2), rounded down to the nearest point. The skill rank cap is 3+level. Skill rank prerequisites increased by 3.

REPLACES: Class skills, skill points gained from classes.

Wisdom: Now determines spells per day for all classes.

Charisma: Now determines spell DCs for all classes.

Casting Rework
Martial characters rely on the trio of physical stats for their potency, accuracy, and resiliency. How often they hit, how hard they hit, how often they were hit, and how long they could keep fighting are spread across these stats, making every martial character dependent on multiple attributes by default. The way casters were built, they can rely almost entirely on a single attribute, a trend that has only gotten worse in D&D5 and PF2. I'm working on a full rework of spellcasting, but with the wisdom/charisma changes above and the rules below, the basic framework can be used.

Spellcraft gets a subskill for each skill, and learning/preparing spells require the most ranks you can have at the level you could learn it. For example, to learn a 2nd-level transmutation spell you must have at least 6 ranks in Spellcraft(Transmutation). Bloodline spells and domain spells ignore these prerequisites. All Spellcraft checks use the relevant subskill; if identifying a magic item with properties from multiple schools, separate checks must be made.

With these rules, casters need intelligence to have a diversity of spells, wisdom to cast many spells per day, and charisma to make those spells reliable against unwilling targets. This reinforces Int-casters as the ultimate in utility, gives Wis-casters the tools to be reliable supports, and carves the blaster niche out for Cha-casters. Although the corresponding classes of wizard/cleric/sorcerer promote these same archetypes, any stat array can now fit into any class; a wisdom-wizard can utilize their spellbook to learn every spell of one school, a charisma-cleric could smite enemies with holy fire, and an intelligence-sorcerer could cherry-pick the best spells from each school and keep them always at their fingertips.

Also, everyone has Heighten Spell{PF} for free.

Health
Characters no longer have hit points, they have health. Temporary changes to constitution no longer grant temporary hit point with weird rules and tracking extra numbers, they just change your health. Functionally identical, mechanically simpler.

Lethal damage is now cumulative like nonlethal damage, bleed damage, and ability damage already were. Your "hit points" for any effect is health - (lethal + nonlethal). Healing effects remove that much lethal damage, nonlethal damage, and bleed damage; bleed is no longer instantly cured by 1 point of healing.

Saves/Initiative
Fortitude saves use strength modifier and constitution modifier. Reflex uses dexterity and intelligence. Will uses wisdom and charisma. Initiative uses dexterity and wisdom.

REPLACES: Force of Personality{CAd}, Insightful Reflexes{CAd}, Yondalla's Sense{RotW}.

This rule from 4e helps lower the imbalance between the different abilities, which skews the game in favor of dexterity-based martial characters and wisdom-based casters. The logic is that muscle mass reduces susceptibility to things like poison, intelligence allows you to think quickly and react sooner, and sheer charisma can assert ones perspective with enough resolve to ignore reality. All of these are true in real life, so I added them to the game.

Dodge Bonuses
Every dodge bonus applies to AC, CMD, and reflex saves.

REPLACES: Uncanny Defense{PF}.

Because of this, I don't specify "a dodge bonus to X" anywhere.

Summary
With these changes, characters are much more defined by their strengths and weaknesses than by the cardboard class cutout they chose.

.