eliminating negative modifiers - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

eliminating negative modifiers

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
cyberpunk
Aug 25, 2014 20:54:20 over in the rules thread it was brought up that people hate to see characters with negative numbers, even though it doesn't have anything to do with the value, just the fact that its negative.

For instance the difference between -1 and 0 is the same as between +1 and +2 but players don't agonize over where to put their 12 and 14 like they do over their 10 and 8.

So I was thinking that WotC could have easily avoided this all together by changing ability mod to 1/2 ability score and increase all dcs by 5. Now a character with an 8 is +4 and a character with 10 is +5. No change in the game. Wouldn't even take much to change it as homebrew, monsters run the same just add 5 to their dcs and attacks. spell dc now becomes 13 + mod.

I know it's a minor thing but I think that my melee warlock with a 6 wis would be more fun if she got +3 on her wis saves not -2.(or would it be +5 and 0 because she applies her proficiency? I can't recall)

Edited: grammer and line breaks
#2
RustedKitsune
Aug 26, 2014 1:56:46
The problem here then is how the math looks in people's heads. Most people will see a +0 as the average person - what positive modifier is the average? Using negative modifiers indicates that a person is below average in that.

Or, even more simply, just replace all the numbers with just the modifiers - look at Mutants and Masterminds and Blue Rose. ABI's will have to be modified a bit, but eh.

#3
Shiroiken
Aug 26, 2014 3:12:45
A friend of mine from a while back had a similar notion. He called it the Dragonball Z Syndrome. You could just keep adding to the modifiers, giving bigger and bigger bonuses, but the actual math would remain the same. A few players found this to be much more fun, because in their mind they were more powerful. However, most thought this very silly and left the game.

#4
Jharii
Aug 26, 2014 6:07:41
Placebo. Not a fan.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 cyberpunk Aug 25, 2014 20:54:20	over in the rules thread it was brought up that people hate to see characters with negative numbers, even though it doesn't have anything to do with the value, just the fact that its negative. For instance the difference between -1 and 0 is the same as between +1 and +2 but players don't agonize over where to put their 12 and 14 like they do over their 10 and 8. So I was thinking that WotC could have easily avoided this all together by changing ability mod to 1/2 ability score and increase all dcs by 5. Now a character with an 8 is +4 and a character with 10 is +5. No change in the game. Wouldn't even take much to change it as homebrew, monsters run the same just add 5 to their dcs and attacks. spell dc now becomes 13 + mod. I know it's a minor thing but I think that my melee warlock with a 6 wis would be more fun if she got +3 on her wis saves not -2.(or would it be +5 and 0 because she applies her proficiency? I can't recall) Edited: grammer and line breaks
#2 RustedKitsune Aug 26, 2014 1:56:46	The problem here then is how the math looks in people's heads. Most people will see a +0 as the average person - what positive modifier is the average? Using negative modifiers indicates that a person is below average in that. Or, even more simply, just replace all the numbers with just the modifiers - look at Mutants and Masterminds and Blue Rose. ABI's will have to be modified a bit, but eh.
#3 Shiroiken Aug 26, 2014 3:12:45	A friend of mine from a while back had a similar notion. He called it the Dragonball Z Syndrome. You could just keep adding to the modifiers, giving bigger and bigger bonuses, but the actual math would remain the same. A few players found this to be much more fun, because in their mind they were more powerful. However, most thought this very silly and left the game.
#4 Jharii Aug 26, 2014 6:07:41	Placebo. Not a fan.