Questions tagged [ability-scores]
For questions primarily about ability scores (and their associated abilities), mechanical components of a character in all editions of D&D that represent the character's innate attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma.
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How exactly do ability score adjusting magic items and ability score improvements interact? [duplicate]
Obviously the tomes and manuals are clear-cut in how they function, but when it comes to magic items that "overwrite" or "replace" an ability score with a value, such as gauntlets ...
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What stat would I use for a crossbow if I throw it rather than shooting it? (Specifically using Elemental Cleaver)
I've got a silly build I'm working on revolving around Path of the Giant Elemental Cleaver which grants a weapon the Thrown property. Can I use my STR for the roll? The rules seem ambiguous:
What I've ...
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What NPC skill or ability should be used to oppose a PC's Intelligence check made when using the Disguise Kit?
The Player's Handbook states that "The DM might call for an Intelligence check when you try to accomplish tasks like [...] Pull together a disguise to pass as a city guard." However, it's ...
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Is there any way to use Dexterity for spellcasting or as a named spellcasting ability?
I've always wondered about creating a character who trains to use every spellcasting ability.
The publication of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants introduces the possibility of using Strength in a ...
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Can I put all points in one ability with customized origins?
I was making a mountain dwarf monk in dnd beyond and was able to get my dex up to 19 at level one, using point buy and customized origins (it allowed me to put both initial ASIs on dex). This seems ...
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If a monk increases their dexterity or wisdom modifier, does their AC increase as well?
I'm DM-ing an adventure, and my players are about to hit level 4, where the first ability score increase happens. If my monk chooses to increase their dexterity or wisdom, will their AC increase as ...
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What is the significance of Headband of Intellect et al setting the stat to 19?
Besides the psychological effect of the stat raising item being almost but not quite perfect, is there a situation where 19 in an attribute is different from it being set to 18?
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Can I create a creature with a high Charisma score even if it can't speak?
I am planning to create a monster which should charm the players, but this creature doesn't talk (I am planning to create a gold golem, which should incentivize greed and lust). I wonder if high ...
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Which officially published monsters have the highest/lowest total ability scores?
In 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, every monster in the Monster Manual (as well as other source books) has a predefined Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma score in ...
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Which ability is most related to insanity: Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, or Intelligence?
I was thinking about making a PC warlock with the Great Old One as a patron. I noticed that under the Great Old One's Book of Shadows, some warlocks could be described as having growing insanity. I ...
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What happens to a PC lycanthrope's ability scores if it becomes cured? [duplicate]
I have a Fighter character who is a lycanthrope and had a very low Strength score originally, but thanks to her lycanthropic affliction, her Strength is now the highest score.
Will her Strength score ...
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How does Constitution drain/damage interact with minimum hit points?
Related to, but not the same as this: Polymorph, HP, and Constitution damage/drain
In his answer to the question Loss of bear form and hp of a bear warrior, @KRyan mentions a rule about constitution ...
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How to deal with an overpowered player whose level 1 stats are 18's and 19's, with a 25 in strength
I've recently started a new D&D 5e campaign that is mainly roleplaying focused. One of my players is playing a barbarian gnome, and rolled all of their stats... and got a 25 for strength (and 18's ...
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What kind of disadvantages can I expect while building a supporting Player Character with low Dexterity?
I am building a Duegar Alchemist with a Folk Hero background who's inspired by the support/utility role builds I have been hearing and reading about. In other words, a character who focuses more on ...
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What effect does a potion of giant strength have upon a monster?
An adventure module I own indicates that as soon as a fight breaks out, the villian's quasit minion will drink a potion of hill giant strength.
Looking at the quasit stat block, I am assuming its claw(...
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What are all the ways to change my attack roll's ability modifier? [duplicate]
Hexblade Warlock has this line in it:
When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls.
Battle Smith Artificer ...
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What are the ways one can avoid using STR or DEX as an attack modifier?
For context, I am aiming to create a melee fighter, but would like to avoid using Strength and Dexterity as my attack modifier. I know that there are a few ways each with their limitations, but when I ...
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Is there a way to use Strength for the Perform Skill?
How (if possible) would one utilize their Strength ability score with the Perform Skill? Be that in lieu of Charisma or in addition to it.
There are so many ways to shuffle the ability score that ...
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Does an Antimagic Field suppress the ability score increases granted by the Manual or Tome magic items?
There are several "manual"/"tome" magic items that permanently increase a character's ability score and the maximum value for that score by 2: the Manual of Bodily Health, the ...
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Gold Dragonborn Sorcerer level 3. ASI or Elemental Adept at level 4?
My Gold Dragonborn Sorcerer is level 3, 18 CHA, +4 modifier.
I'm trying to build Pyro from Team Fortress 2 in D&D 5e, and I'm optimizing for high fire damage.
Should I take the ASI to get a +7 ...
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What is the rarity of a magic item which permanently increases an ability score up to at most 13?
In the DMG there are items like the Tome of Leadership and Influence that gives a permanent +2 to charisma and charisma maximum (and other similar Tomes and Manuals for other abilities), but they all ...
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When does Polearm Master deal more damage than an ASI?
Would a fighter deal more expected damage by picking the Polearm Master feat at any point before they maxed their Strength, or is it better to first always increase your Strength in terms of damage? ...
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Does Great Weapon Master deal more expected damage than an ASI?
Some people claim that an ASI normally contributes more than any given feat. It is nearly always better than the Dual Wielder feat. However, the Crossbow Expert feat is better damage than an ASI (at ...
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In D&D 3.5, what happens when you plop a headband of intellect on an animal?
Prompted by a discussion in comments here
The animal type states:
Intelligence score of 1 or 2 (no creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher can be an animal).
A headband of intellect adds ...
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Are ability scores ever rolled for checks?
Are there checks against the ability scores? I do not mean skills.
Eg. In a tavern, a player is challenged to an arm wrestle. Is this resolved via a D20+STR or is this invalid because this is what ...
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When rolling initiative for DM-controlled creatures, does their Dexterity modifier apply?
When the DM is rolling initiative for its monsters, does their Dexterity modifier apply, or does the DM just roll a d20 on its own?
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How to calculate HP if an item increases constitution
I am sorry if this question seems obvious, I just cannot find the answer anywhere.
HP increase every level with the hit dice roll and the constitution bonus is added every level. What happens when the ...
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What is the average total ability score bonus for the best of 4 DCC Characters?
I need some math help to determine what an average character that survived a DCC funnel is like.
When playing a funnel in Dungeon Crawl Classics, players get 4 characters each. Should they survive, ...
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Can you spellburn multiple ability scores in the same casting?
Let's say a wizard is casting a spell, and they spellburn 5 points of Strength, and 5 points of Stamina, for a total bonus of +10 to their spell check.
Is this scenario possible given RAW? The ...
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Does the Feral Tiefling still use Charisma as its spellcasting ability for the Infernal Legacy trait?
I'm new in this world of D&D. I was reading through the Player's Handbook and decided to create a character following the process in Chapter 1 (Step-by-Step Characters).
The Tiefling caught my ...
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Can a shield guardian be commanded to obey commands from the whole party?
This doesn't necessarily apply just to shield guardians, because it could go the same way with other minions.
If you have the ability to command something, a shield guardian in my particular case, can ...
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Does Swordsage's Insightful Strike Apply to Rolls for Ability Score Damage?
Insightful Strike, from the Tome of Battle's Swordsage class, says:
At 4th level, you can add your Wisdom modifier as a bonus on damage rolls whenever you execute a strike from the chosen discipline.
...
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Is there a way to add my Strength modifier to my Armor Class?
It's an age old question -- how can I make it as hard as possible for enemies to hit me, so I can slaughter them without even the slightest jostling of my coif? Typically, for those wanting to proceed ...
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If a sentient item such as Blackrazor maintains concentration on a spell but does not have a Constitution score, can its concentration be broken?
Some sentient items in D&D have spellcasting capabilities. For example, the description of the sentient magic greatsword Blackrazor says (DMG, p. 217):
Blackrazor can cast the haste spell on you ...
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Do Constitution Changes affect Current hit points in D&D 5e?
I know that changes to Constitution retroactively affect Maximum Hit Points, but I'm not sure what to do about current hit points.
Say a level 3 character has 12/20 hit points and their Con modifier ...
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Does "ability score damage" to your spellcasting ability cause you to "forget" prepared spells? [duplicate]
There are very few monsters or effects in D&D 5e that deal ability score damage or ability drain, but they are various enough for this to come up.
Say you are a 5th-level wizard with an ...
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What stat would involve willpower (for a Jekyll and Hyde type of character to resist a personality switch)? [duplicate]
So for my upcoming D&D campaign I was planning to play a Jekyll and Hyde type of character. I want the DM to just look at me whenever and tell me to roll for whatever stat involves willpower to ...
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Is it possible to exchange ability scores (i.e. reducing one ability score and increasing another) during character creation?
Looking into some builds online I perceived that some people have two or three ability scores at 8, even if this cannot be explained by the Ancestry Flaw.
Is there any way to exchange Ability Scores (...
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If a paladin has a negative Charisma modifier, how many times can they use the Divine Sense feature (per long rest)?
The description of the paladin's Divine Sense feature says, in part:
You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all ...
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Is an additional saving throw required if the corresponding ability score changes?
Examples:
A fighter is fighting a dragon. The dragon uses its Frightful Presence action. The fighter, who has a Wisdom score of 15, succeeds on the DC 16 Wisdom saving throw. It is then the party ...
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Are there any summoning spells on the warlock spell list that don't require high Charisma to be effective?
Me and my friends are running a campaign in D&D 5e. I am playing a Genie-patron (Marid) Pact of the Blade warlock (with a 1-level fighter dip at the start) currently.
My Str and Con scores are 16 (...
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List of ancestry ability bonuses
What are the ability bonuses for each ancestry?
This might be very useful in picking the right ancestry for a build.
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How to play a low wisdom character with these flaws and ideals?
I've been roleplaying as my Dwarven Warlock for a short while now, and I've grown quite attached to her as a character. She has a wisdom score of 8, intelligence score of 12 and a charisma of 17.
She ...
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Does Proficiency bonus get added to rolls for raw Ability checks?
Suppose that I'm requested to roll a raw Ability check, such as an Intelligence check or a Dexterity check. (I realise that these checks are relatively rare, compared to skill checks such as Arcana or ...
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What's considered a bad ability check roll? Is 10 a bad roll?
I am fairly new to the D&D 5e world. I've been playing occasionally with different GMs and often I find myself or our party in the following situation:
The party enters a new location, and the GM ...
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Would it break the game to have a Constitution-based spellcaster?
I have an idea for a vampire-based Sorcerer that uses Constitution instead of Charisma for spellcasting. I know this would be very powerful, as Constitution is also used for Hit Points. However, since ...
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Does Starfinder cap ability scores or ability score modifier?
My group has recently started a weekly game of Starfinder, a system we don't have any prior experience in. During a level-up in the last session, we found the following inconsistency or at least ...
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Did I calculate my ability scores correctly? Is it even possible to have 34 charisma at level 1?
My character is a forest gnome and at level 1 I have 34 charisma because I have max charisma stat (25), a +7 modifier, and an enchanted lute that gives me +2 charisma, so 25 + 7 + 2 = 34. Is this ...
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Can you benefit from the Fencing Grace feat while wielding a buckler?
Fencing Grace:
When wielding a rapier one-handed, you can add your Dexterity modifier
instead of your Strength modifier to that weapon’s damage. The rapier
must be one appropriate for your size. You ...
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Can Cure Wounds do damage? [duplicate]
Can the Cure Wounds spell deal damage? Say, my spell casting modifier was -2 and I rolled a 1 on the d8. Would the target actually take 1 damage? If so, what kind of damage would it even be?
