Ability scores - evens VS odds

[weckar]

Is either situation strictly better? I personally believed odds were always wasted as they did not increase your ability bonus (although they did increase your penalty!).
However, looking through the system in detail; ability score requirements are nearly always odds. And, as a player pointed out to me, odds make for a fine buffer vs ability damage before it actually starts affecting things.

So, is either of then - evens or odds - really strictly better?

[Eldariel]

Is either situation strictly better? I personally believed odds were always wasted as they did not increase your ability bonus (although they did increase your penalty!).
However, looking through the system in detail; ability score requirements are nearly always odds. And, as a player pointed out to me, odds make for a fine buffer vs ability damage before it actually starts affecting things.

So, is either of then - evens or odds - really strictly better?

Evens are obviously better unless you need a specific thing. Put this way, if your build needs some feats, ensure you meet the prerequisites. Generally the primary stat should be "as high as possible" and then take the rest as it goes. But of course, both have their places; it's enough to get 13 for Combat Expertise or Combat Reflexes for instance, and Zen Archer Cleric still needs 13 Dex for Rapid Shot. But in your main stat, "as high as possible" can be odd or even; doesn't matter, you'll get those +1s every 4 levels so either has value. In secondary stats, evens are better but if you can't choose, you might have to take odds for prerequisites. Put this way, I'd rather have 14 Int on a Combat Expertise warrior for the extra skill points and bonuses to fairly common Knowledge-rolls, than I would 13 with +1 less of all the good stuff. But sometimes I have to make do with 13 since I can't afford the 14.

As for ability damage, I really don't think it's a good argument for this; I'd rather have +2 much of the time and take -2 to go to +1 than have +1 all the time and go to +0 from -2. Obviously, higher is better but not getting anything for that one point is a bummer and thus you should avoid it if possible.

[Bronk]

Is either situation strictly better? I personally believed odds were always wasted as they did not increase your ability bonus (although they did increase your penalty!).
However, looking through the system in detail; ability score requirements are nearly always odds. And, as a player pointed out to me, odds make for a fine buffer vs ability damage before it actually starts affecting things.

So, is either of then - evens or odds - really strictly better?

Strictly? Evens, I guess. Higher is better, and the highest you can roll is an 18.

Odds aren't bad though! You can put a stat point into those every four levels for an immediate bonus. It's something to look forward to, at least.

[Boggartbae]

Yeah, even's are generally better, because anything higher is a wasted point, but you get 5 +1's to stats, which might make an odd score look more appealing, and also inherent bonuses are capped at +5, which is also better to put on an odd score. The last point I've ever encountered that makes odds preferable to evens is age bonuses/penalties. Middle Age and Venerable age both give odd ability score bonuses, which makes getting that extra point more worthwhile.

So if you're playing a Lvl 20 wizard and you're planning on putting that +13 total bonus into INT, then buying a 17 is better than getting a 16.

As for damage, there are a lot of ability score damaging abilities that only deal 1 point of damage to an ability, and even more that deal 1d3 points of damage, so that extra point in an ability score can save you from odd ability score damage, which looks slightly more common than taking even damage.

[Psyren]

Most characters get up to +16 to their primary stat: +5 from levels, +6 from enhancement, and +5 from wishes/manuals. Therefore strictly speaking even is better since odd would go to waste.

But if you expect to miss an odd amount from the list above (e.g. not going all the way to 20), or you get another odd addition from somewhere else (e.g. the +3 to mainstat from being a Crystal Master) then an odd number is better.

In both cases, your goal is to end up with the highest even number you can, because an odd number confers no additional benefit for most stats/builds, and that's PB you could have allocated elsewhere to improve your chances of survival or tertiary success.