Can low Strength affect high Dexterity?

[GriffinRider]

So, possibly silly question of the day:

A player in my group is running a halfling rogue with a Strength of 8 (-1) and a Dexterity of 16 (+3). He uses a dagger and since it is a versatile weapon he - of course - uses his Dexterity to adjust his attack and damage rolls. I noticed, while glancing at his sheet, that the damage he'd written down for the dagger was 1d4+2 and I said that was wrong; it should be 1d4+3. He said no, he thought the penalty from the low Strength score would affect the damage of his melee weapon, even though he uses Dexterity for the attack. I don't think I have seen anything that confirms or contradicts this either way, and I can see the argument from both sides: Strength isn't the issue, the more nimble I am at placing well-aimed strikes, the more damage I do - OR - No matter how deftly I attack with weapon, my weakness keeps me from driving it home and actually interferes with my dexterous nature. Any thoughts?

[lunaticfringe]

Finesse. When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.

Your friend is wrong, you pick one, you do not apply both.

[Crgaston]

Your friend is mistaken, but that would make a decent house rule if one were in the camp which considers Dex to be OP.

[Particle_Man]

I suppose in theory a low enough strength can affect your encumbrance, which might in turn limit your weapon use if you are otherwise weighed down. :smallbiggrin:

[GriffinRider]

Alright! Very good. I call tell him I've consulted the elders of the internet and he will likely be very happy to pick up an extra point of damage. I do like the idea of a house rule to tie the two abilities together, but I can see a Pandora's box waiting to be opened: if your Con isn't high enough you're not healthy enough to be strong, if your Intelligence isn't high enough you aren't smart enough to know where to aim no matter how strong (or weak) or nimble (or clumsy) you are, and so on. In any case, a dump stat would have to be pretty low for it to start meddling with other stats. Thanks all.

[Man_Over_Game]

Alright! Very good. I call tell him I've consulted the elders of the internet and he will likely be very happy to pick up an extra point of damage. I do like the idea of a house rule to tie the two abilities together, but I can see a Pandora's box waiting to be opened: if your Con isn't high enough you're not healthy enough to be strong, if your Intelligence isn't high enough you aren't smart enough to know where to aim no matter how strong (or weak) or nimble (or clumsy) you are, and so on. In any case, a dump stat would have to be pretty low for it to start meddling with other stats. Thanks all.

A simple-enough houserule that you could do that wouldn't fudge around with in-game interactions too much is requiring that physical attributes can be no higher than double of any other attribute.

And then repeat that for mental attributes.

So if you have a Dexterity of 8, the highest your Strength and Constitution can be is 16. If you have a Wisdom of 9, the highest your Intelligence and Charisma can be is 18.