"Dear JB" Mailbag #43

The family's out of the house, and I have a couple-three hours before I need to head to the airport...I thought a little light-heartedness wouldn't be a terrible thing...

Hi JB!

My friends and I are all very new to D&D and we’re having a blast figuring everything out and playing the game. Last session the party got to lvl 3 and had to choose class features. We also found out that our paladin chose very poor stats for his character (he now has 13 str and 8 constitution). Most of the party did some research before choosing stats for their character but not him.

Since we are all very new to the game, as a DM, would you consider giving him an in-game opportunity to change his stats? Like finding a guy that does crazy experiments to people.. or selling his soul to the devil or whatever. Or would you just roll with it?

New Player Chose Very Poor Stats -- What Would You Do?

Dear Friend:

I know there's "no such thing as a dumb question," but this one is pretty close.

I'm going to assume that you play 5E because, if you played 1st edition like myself, you'd know that a character requires certain minimum ability scores to be a particular character class. That's why, for example, you'll never see a 1E paladin with a constitution of 8 (they require 9+) or a charisma score under 17. There are standards for the various professions, expectations that must be met in order for an individual to receive the necessary training in a class. OR...to look at it another way...there is a certain floor of base competence that a character is assumed to have after completing the training necessary to become a 1st level anything. 

[which, to be clear, is not part of the actual play process...when the 1st level character arrives on the scene, that's all part of the PC's unspoken "backstory"]

So when, for example, a player decides to create a paladin, they must meet all the minimum qualifications for the class; this includes: STR 12+, INT 9+, WIS 13+, CON 9+, and CHA 17+. I use Method I (described in the DMG) for determining abilities: roll 4d6 six times, dropping the lowest die roll, and assign scores in any order desired. In my youth, we would do this until we had a set of ability scores we liked; these days, I allow players to roll until they have a set of scores that includes no less than TWO "exceptional" (15+) scores, as per the advice on page 9 (first paragraph) of the PHB. You can see that it's STILL a tall order to get the abilities necessary for a paladin; we've seen a couple in our campaign, though not many.

However, you'll note that a STR 12, CON 9 paladin isn't anything to crow about...and, yet, it's a perfectly viable character. The difference between CON 8 and 9 is nothing more than 5% difference in resurrection/system shock survival; the difference between STR 13 and 12 is nothing more than a 10# difference in weight carried and a 3% difference in the ability to "bend bars" (7% versus 4%? Not much difference there!). BUT VIABLE, nevertheless, because when comparing characters in AD&D, effectiveness is mainly determined by LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE. And 1st level characters are first level characters.

Say your paladin had a strength of 16 instead of 12...yes, they'd have a +1 damage bonus, but their chance to hit would be exactly the same as any other paladin of the same level armed in comparable gear. If the paladin's strength were 17 up to 18/50 (which accounts for literally 50% of all fighter-types with exceptional strength), they'd have a whopping +1 bonus to attack rolls...meaning they'd hit 5% more of the time than the paladin with a strength of 12. That is NOT a huge difference...especially when you can't fall down the stairs of a starter dungeon without hitting a dozen +1 magic weapons along the way.

And let's say you throw that 16 or 17 stat into CON instead: sure, you get a 2-3 more hit points per level. Yay. That equates to taking one more d6 of damage per level of experience (maybe, more like d4). Monster damage tends to scale up pretty fast with level. And poison, petrification, paralysis, and magical curses don't care AT ALL what your total number of hit points are. Sure, it's nice to have a higher chance of surviving your raise dead roll..but your aim, really, is to NOT need to be raised. Equipment (especially magical armor and protective devices) are the much more important factor in a character's survivability. A paladin with a constitution of 9 is going to be more durable than MOST members of the party just on the basis of good armor + saving throw bonus + protection from evil aura...REGARDLESS of constitution.

So don't sweat the ability scores. Other than making the min quals to become a paladin, the player's number one concern w.r.t. abilities should be to try for that +10% x.p. bonus (only possible for paladins with a STR and WIS of 16+). Because THAT adds up, and paladins need a ton of experience to level and...as already stated...effectiveness is mainly determined by level of experience. Well, level and gear...but gear you can't control (magical gear anyway). Get that x.p. bonus if you're able!

Now, of course, this advice mainly applies to 1E groups and if, as I suspect, you're a 5E player, a lot of what I just wrote will mean little or nothing to you. For you (and other 5E players/DMs) I'll drop the following bit of truth:

5E is designed the way it is designed ON PURPOSE.

Embrace it. If the 5E PHB says "any race can be any class with any ability scores," then that's how the game is supposed to be played: as a wild-free-for-all without rhyme or reason. There aren't any "poor stats;" there are just non-optimal characters. And 5E is designed as game that can be played with all sorts of sub-optimal choices. It revels in players choosing whatever their heart desires! That's the appeal! You can play a crippled fighter or a stupid wizard or a half-orc bard or WHATEVER and it's just considered clever or innovative. Embrace the game you're playing!

SO NOW, in direct answer to your questions with question marks:

"As a DM, would you consider giving him an in-game opportunity to change his stats?"

No. So long as he's playing a 'legal' character, I'm fine with it. It's always possible that he might find a ring of wishes or something...this is is D&D after all...but I wouldn't go out of my way to help him change. Jeez...if the player finds he doesn't like the character he just needs to retire it and create a new PC! What's the big deal?

"Or would you just roll with it?"

Roll with it, baby. And if the character buys the farm because of poor scores, chalk it up as a learning experience from which the player can grow and develop...hopefully becoming a competent D&D player!

"What would you do?"

I'd run 1st edition AD&D, in which case non-optimal stats matter very little. However if you mean what would I do as a 5E DM where stats are O So Important to the plethora of die-rolling mechanics that dominate the game? Well, then, I'd let the player suffer the consequences of his ignorance, knowing that he'll come out the other side LESS ignorant and, thus, a better player.

Sincerely,

JB