Intelligence, Wisdom, and Constitution Stats Practical Effects
Falkeep
Member Posts: 41
I have played many D&D computer games over the last 20 or so years, including all of the Baldur's Gate, IWD, and NW Nights games. I have long wished that the game designers would come up with practical uses for all of the stats. STR, for example, allows you to carry more stuff, and even CHA affects your interactions with merchants for lower, or higher prices. In particular... if characters have high or low INT and/or WIS stats, they should allow for practical benefits (or difficulties). WIS, for example, should help the party understand which dialog choices need to be followed for the best, or worst results. It should make you wiser in a practical sense. Likewise with INT, it should help you find or lose your way through forest, mazes, etc. and when you encounter an enemy you should know what the best ways are to defeat them.
If people don't understand why WIS would help or hurt communications with others, WIS would include the skill to read people (or completely NOT read people) and have insight into what should or should not be said to them, to imagine the consequences or benefits of the various dialog options. Incorporating things like this into the games might also make players reconsider putting stat points into INT and WIS even if their character is not a magic-user or a cleric.
Along the same lines CON should also affect how long characters need to rest to recover... for example, a wizard with a low CON should need to rest longer than, say, a fighter with a high CON. A practical effect of CON should be how long a party needs to rest to heal up... the time it takes for the character with the lowest CON to rest fully, not just how long is needed to recover hit points..., which should also be affected by CON stats. So, not all parties would need exactly 8 hours to rest.
If people don't understand why WIS would help or hurt communications with others, WIS would include the skill to read people (or completely NOT read people) and have insight into what should or should not be said to them, to imagine the consequences or benefits of the various dialog options. Incorporating things like this into the games might also make players reconsider putting stat points into INT and WIS even if their character is not a magic-user or a cleric.
Along the same lines CON should also affect how long characters need to rest to recover... for example, a wizard with a low CON should need to rest longer than, say, a fighter with a high CON. A practical effect of CON should be how long a party needs to rest to heal up... the time it takes for the character with the lowest CON to rest fully, not just how long is needed to recover hit points..., which should also be affected by CON stats. So, not all parties would need exactly 8 hours to rest.
Post edited by Falkeep on
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Comments
Rogue Rebalancing has a nice change I enjoy regarding thievery, and addresses a little of the issue for more use for stats.
"In summary, whenever you fail a theft or a pickpocket attempt, you now get various dialogue options for dealing with the situation depending on your Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Lore and Reputation scores." In other words, you can talk yourself out of a failed attempt based on mental stats.
Venduris: "Do you have any idea who stands before you now, Bhaalspawn?"
Charname: (Due to your severe lack of wisdom you do not have enough reasoning to do anything other than scratch your head and drool uncontrollably.)