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View Full Version : Odd Ability Gain with Template (Winged)



SoD
2007-11-16, 06:58 AM
OK, in the savage species, one of the templates which allows you to create winged creatures, it's pretty much fine, I have no problems with it at all. But the ability additions it gives: +4 to dexterity (fine, I guess it makes sense) and +2 to wisdom.

This makes no sense to me, how can a pair of wings, be they bird wings, bat wings or bug wings (the template says it can be any of these, different wings merely look different, no numerical differences) make you wiser??? Why would a dog with wings be wiser than a dog without wings? Why would a bugbear with wings be wiser than one without wings? Or a human, orc, or an earthworm?!

Just doesn't make sense to me, can anyone explain the reasoning behind this?

Grynning
2007-11-16, 07:00 AM
I think the idea is that the creature would have to have better senses and coordination to maneuver around in flight, and to partially represent the good eyesight and hearing often possessed by bird and other flying animals.

Darrin
2007-11-16, 07:54 AM
This makes no sense to me, how can a pair of wings, be they bird wings, bat wings or bug wings (the template says it can be any of these, different wings merely look different, no numerical differences) make you wiser???

Most of the predator/hunting skills are wisdom-based (Listen, Spot, Survival), so my guess would be a wisdom buff increases a creature's hunting abilities.

Shhalahr Windrider
2007-11-16, 07:55 AM
I think the idea is that the creature would have to have better senses and coordination to maneuver around in flight, and to partially represent the good eyesight and hearing often possessed by bird and other flying animals.
What he said ^^ :smallwink:

Yeah, remember that Wisdom in D&D tends to be a lot more about perception (physical, spiritual, and otherwise) than it tends to be in real-life. And a flying creature probably needs better physical perception.

The other answer likely lies within the realm of fantastic archetypes. Flying creatures in mythology are often fonts of wisdom or knowledge of some sort. So even if you want to use a non-D&D definition of Wisdom, you can say it makes a certain amount of sense from an archetypal viewpoint.

SpikeFightwicky
2007-11-16, 08:56 AM
Also, if you look up the MM entry of various animals, you'll see that the birds (Eagle, Hawk, Owl, Raven) all have about 2 extra wisdom than the average animal (birds -> 14 wisdom, average animal wisdom -> 12 wisdom).