The insignificance and homogeneity of the stats outside of class.
In particular, the way that high Dex renders Int obsolete. I thought up a few simple rules that are easy to implement:
Strength - Light load is strength x 5. Up to this limit there are no penalties.
Strength x 10 becomes a medium load, which confers a -1 speed
and -2 check penalty (in addition to armor). All else is the same.
This is more realistic and still simple.
Intelligence - No longer affects AC. Instead, characters gain a bonus feat
for each 2 points of Int mod they have (round down). A
character with a -2 or greater penalty loses their first level feat.
This makes dexterity and intelligence less mutually exclusive
and both a bit more "powerful"
Additionally, instead of automatically being affected only by the higher of the two relevant stats, NADS can be affected by either/or based on the DM's determination of which is more appropriate for the context.
Con is fine as is, as it is equally good for most classes. Wis and Cha are tied to the most important skills and remain very unique, however their usefulness is going to depend heavily on the DM and type of campaign. For now, they'll remain as-is because my campaigns place a higher than average weight on those skills.
Just wanted to get some feedback on those.
Strength - Light load is strength x 5. Up to this limit there are no penalties.
Strength x 10 becomes a medium load, which confers a -1 speed
and -2 check penalty (in addition to armor). All else is the same.
This is more realistic and still simple.
I honestly didn't think anyone even used encumbrance anymore...
Intelligence - No longer affects AC. Instead, characters gain a bonus feat
for each 2 points of Int mod they have (round down). A
character with a -2 or greater penalty loses their first level feat.
This makes dexterity and intelligence less mutually exclusive
and both a bit more "powerful"
Congratulations, you've completely killed the Swordmage, Warlock, Wizard, and half of all Avengers, Bards, Invokers, and Shamans (and forced Tactical Warlords to take Scale and Plate with their extra Int feats).
Now, the only viable way to survive as a non-heavy armor class is to be a Rogue, Pursuit Avenger, or Archer Ranger.
Yep, now you can try and convince the, what, three classes, that actually used Dexterity to take some Intelligence. Seems like a good trade
I understand you're looking to make Intelligence more useful, but in fact, you've made it worse. Why don't you just accept that having an 8 intelligence doesn't actually make you stupid and let the balance stay the way it is?
I honestly didn't think anyone even used encumbrance anymore...
Congratulations, you've completely killed the Swordmage, Warlock, Wizard, and half of all Avengers, Bards, Invokers, and Shamans (and forced Tactical Warlords to take Scale and Plate with their extra Int feats).
Now, the only viable way to survive as a non-heavy armor class is to be a Rogue, Pursuit Avenger, or Archer Ranger.
Yep, now you can try and convince the, what, three classes, that actually used Dexterity to take some Intelligence. Seems like a good trade
I understand you're looking to make Intelligence more useful, but in fact, you've made it worse. Why don't you just accept that having an 8 intelligence doesn't actually make you stupid and let the balance stay the way it is?
Eh, I don't buy it. 2 feats is worth quite a bit (especially considering they can be used to raise your AC if you're that worried about it) and int-primary classes would end up getting at least 3 eventually. I might just have a feat that lets you swap dex for int as your light armor AC bonus. At any rate, there's no need to be so rude. I was looking for constructive feedback.
Most classes that use int for AC, which are more numerous than the ones who use dex, suddenly have to attempt to get into heavy armour. Wizards will have like a 12 AC at most at level one unless they get into leather or hide. The Warlock who is supposed to be slightly more durable than the sorceror without feats, suddenly becomes inferior in its AC department.
If you do this and add a feat to swap Int for Dex, then all these classes will take it, and then get a free feat unless they want to be hit always.