How do you think the concept of Super Stats best applies to 3.5?

[7RED7]

If you aren't familiar with Champions, or similar systems, using Super Stats simply allows you to pick an attribute or two and make make attacks and some features key off those values for effectiveness.
I've used and seen a lot of variations on manipulating the effects of basic attributes on combat (e.g. stacking Int to damage, dexterity to melee attack, Cha to AC, etc.), and it always seems to be a bit unnecessary when you could just use a super stat rule and assume that a character trained in a way that played to his or her strengths. That way you can play the style you like without messy builds, and spend feats on abilities that actually do interesting things.

So, let's hear your experience with, or ideas regarding the implementation of a similar feature or houserule, and the consequences of it.

The way I think I would implement super stats would be to allow the choice of one attribute to be the iconic fighting ability of that character. The iconic ability bonus would apply to attack, damage, and AC. The chosen stat would receive an increase of +2 and scale over time by some amount. The Super Stat can be used to meet attribute prerequisites of feats.
This would have the end result creating a set of feats flavored to different abilities without having to make them all.
As for cost offset, I'm not sure what would be appropriate. It's definitely worth more than one feat, but I wouldn't think it would be too expensive either as the idea isn't all that unnatural. I would put the cost at one 1st level feat and one flaw without the associated benefit, or simply make it a campaign rule.

[SamBurke]

Dude, that's a huge amount. But I'd beg my GM for it instantly. As a GM, what you described seems reasonable enough. Perhaps also a skill point a level?

[YouLostMe]

So a spellcaster could pick their casting stat, get it applied to attacks, damage, and AC in addition to the already given max spell level, bonus spells, spell DCs, and probably any of their special casty abilities? And then give them a +2 to it? I think I'd take that as a feat... though maybe not as two.

[Dryad]

Well, to be honest: That idea kind of defeats the purpose of stats altogether. It would be so much simpler to just do away with stats altogether, if you start travelling this road.

4th edition made the mistake of having martial training feats that allow basic attacks to be made with stats different from strength/dex. A mistake, in my opinion, because if your strength/dex is low, then you're simply weak/clumsy. As a weak/clumsy character, you're not going to hit much in melee, and that's simply a part of that character. Working around that disadvantage basically means that everyone is strong and handy, making strength and dex based characters irrelevant, and their stats relatively useless, which eventually ends up in characters only ever having a single stat. There would be six different names for the same stat, but they'd basically end up being the same stat with six different names.

In my opinion, that's just silly business and poor design. I know several games have done this, but that doesn't make it less silly.

[DiBastet]

In my opinion, that's just silly business and poor design. I know several games have done this, but that doesn't make it less silly.

This. Since the feat that allows you to use INT for will and WIS skills every char in the aprty seems to have low wis.

[7RED7]

The way I see it is that even a weak and clumsy fellow could rely on his better traits when fighting. A genius may not be able to outrun or overpower you, but he can predict openings in your defense, where you are going to strike, or even where your motion will carry you. Incredible awareness can allow a person to see attacks that seem like a blur to others. All traits can be utilized in combat to a certain extent. The Super Stat builds on that idea by saying that your excellence in a certain trait helps you to utilize it in your life to overshadow your weaknesses.

Your wizard can be just as slow and sickly as you like, and he could still use his intelligence to make up for those weaknesses (in fact a common theme in the fantasy genre). That doesn't mean he instantly becomes able to carry an ogre, keep his head above water in a rough current, or even come close to making a strength check.

The idea is to allow a lot more freedom in character builds where people end up finding ways to accomplish the same thing, but in more convoluted methods. This would skip all the searching around for "weapon finesse" feats and class features, and provide a simple catch-all method of providing an efficient resolution to the issue. I'm not the best at pricing abilities, but it does cost about 1.5 to 2 feats at my initially proposed value. It's worth a bit more than that, but the feats, spells, features, etc. that people would have spent can be used for party support.

Edit for ninja: This wouldn't apply to skills, but in comparison to your situation you could use the Super Stat feature and then decide whether you want to SS Wisdom and have a better will, spot, and listen, or SS Intelligence and have more skills to play with.

[Hiro Protagonest]

4th edition made the mistake of having martial training feats that allow basic attacks to be made with stats different from strength/dex. A mistake, in my opinion, because if your strength/dex is low, then you're simply weak/clumsy. As a weak/clumsy character, you're not going to hit much in melee, and that's simply a part of that character. Working around that disadvantage basically means that everyone is strong and handy, making strength and dex based characters irrelevant, and their stats relatively useless, which eventually ends up in characters only ever having a single stat. There would be six different names for the same stat, but they'd basically end up being the same stat with six different names.

If you haven't noticed, there isn't even an option for dex without the martial training feat, and now the classes that have all their attack powers based on something other than strength don't suck when making basic attacks.

[Prime32]

4e also has this to a lesser extent with "use the better of these two stats", such as applying the better of your Wis or Cha modifiers to your Will defence. Unless they changed that since I last checked.