Kemev
2020-11-18, 10:43 PM
Some quick background: when Tasha's was announced, I liked the idea of splitting off ability scores from race (besides D&D, I play a lot of Fantasy Flight RPGs like Dark Heresy, and although I think 5e is a better system overall, I like the idea of abilities derived from the choices your character made and their life history).
I don't love how Tasha's implemented the ability score spin-off though... it's still stuck in the paradigm of abilities being based of genetics (or whatever the equivalent is in fairy-tale world). I don't really want to do the DM homework of inventing nations of strong elves or giant gnomes or whatever, and honestly knowing my players, the options are kind of overwhelming.
For the next campaign I want to run, I'm thinking about giving players ability bonuses based only on class and background. For +2s, I've basically cribbed off the multiclassing requirements chart.
Barbarian Strength +2
Bard Charisma +2
Cleric Wisdom +2
Druid Wisdom +2
Fighter Strength OR Dexterity +2
Monk Dexterity OR Wisdom +2
Paladin Strength OR Charisma +2
Ranger Dexterity OR Wisdom +2
Rogue Dexterity +2
Sorcerer Charisma +2
Warlock Charisma +2
Wizard Intelligence +2
+1s would be assigned by background (at this point, there are more than I can keep track of, but it'd look something like this):
Str: Folk Hero, Knight, Soldier
Dex: Criminal, Urchin, Pirate
Con: Gladiator, Outlander
Int: Artisan, Sage
Wis: Acolyte, Hermit
Cha: Charlatan, Entertainer, Noble
I'm not super-keen on allowing people to stack their abilities for a +3. I can't remember if this is the official rule, but typically for background skills/tools, we allow players to pick another option if they would end up with redundancies, and I think that's what I'd want for ability scores as well. (For example, if you're an Elf Sailor - both of which give Perception proficiency - you pick another skill of your choice. Same would apply for the +1 ASI... if you're a Wizard Sage, you wouldn't get +3 Int, you'd get +1 to any other ability of your choice.) I could be argued out of this though.
Humans would start as variant human, with the added restriction that they can't pick one of the half-feats as their starting feat (although I could be argued out of this too).
Any thoughts before I pitch this to my players?
P.S. If it makes a difference, I'm leaning towards an adjusted starting array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.
I don't love how Tasha's implemented the ability score spin-off though... it's still stuck in the paradigm of abilities being based of genetics (or whatever the equivalent is in fairy-tale world). I don't really want to do the DM homework of inventing nations of strong elves or giant gnomes or whatever, and honestly knowing my players, the options are kind of overwhelming.
For the next campaign I want to run, I'm thinking about giving players ability bonuses based only on class and background. For +2s, I've basically cribbed off the multiclassing requirements chart.
Barbarian Strength +2
Bard Charisma +2
Cleric Wisdom +2
Druid Wisdom +2
Fighter Strength OR Dexterity +2
Monk Dexterity OR Wisdom +2
Paladin Strength OR Charisma +2
Ranger Dexterity OR Wisdom +2
Rogue Dexterity +2
Sorcerer Charisma +2
Warlock Charisma +2
Wizard Intelligence +2
+1s would be assigned by background (at this point, there are more than I can keep track of, but it'd look something like this):
Str: Folk Hero, Knight, Soldier
Dex: Criminal, Urchin, Pirate
Con: Gladiator, Outlander
Int: Artisan, Sage
Wis: Acolyte, Hermit
Cha: Charlatan, Entertainer, Noble
I'm not super-keen on allowing people to stack their abilities for a +3. I can't remember if this is the official rule, but typically for background skills/tools, we allow players to pick another option if they would end up with redundancies, and I think that's what I'd want for ability scores as well. (For example, if you're an Elf Sailor - both of which give Perception proficiency - you pick another skill of your choice. Same would apply for the +1 ASI... if you're a Wizard Sage, you wouldn't get +3 Int, you'd get +1 to any other ability of your choice.) I could be argued out of this though.
Humans would start as variant human, with the added restriction that they can't pick one of the half-feats as their starting feat (although I could be argued out of this too).
Any thoughts before I pitch this to my players?
P.S. If it makes a difference, I'm leaning towards an adjusted starting array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.