Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Eothain Aug 16, 2015 13:26:49	I've never played 5e. I'm curious about how important is to have the maximum possible stat on your main stat.   A wizard starting with a 15, instead of a 17 is going to suck? How important are the stats?   In PF/DnD 3.5 if you had a SAD you were almost expected to start with 18-20 to get the most out of our class. Does this still apply in this edition?   I'd like to play some different things, like a Halfling Wizard, or Dwarf.   Could the most experienced people tell me about it?
#2 jaappleton Aug 16, 2015 13:35:51	Here's the skinny:   Obviously, you don't want your main stat to be your dump stat. Greataxe wielding barbarians obviously want a good amount of Strength, and Wizards want Intelligence. That said, other stats have their place and are very important. Nobody wants a low Constitution, for example.    So at lv1, it's obviously good to have a 16 in Intelligence for a Wizard. However, maybe yours 14 and also have a good Dexterity. That's pretty much fine, too, since Dex contributes to Initiative and AC. Now, because your Intelligence is slightly lower, your attack rolls and spell save DC will be a little less than someone with 16 Intelligence. That's obvious, and that's how it should be; he's more Intelligent than your Wizard is. But you'll be faster and have the benefits of a higher Dex. Maybe you want to multiclass into Rogue?   My opinion is as follows: Yes, it's viable to do that. But have a purpose to it. Any class with 13 in all stats isn't much help to a group, since he can't really do anything better than someone else. If you have a Warlock with 16 Charisma and 16 Strength, well, there's a purpose there! Bladelock! A Barbarian with 10 Strength, 10 Dex and 18 Intelligence isn't much of a Barbarian, right?
#3 Orethalion Aug 16, 2015 13:48:14	It's not important at all.  Don't gimp your main stat, but not being at the top is pretty minor now.
#4 Starchild7309 Aug 16, 2015 13:55:20	Eothain wrote:
#5 MechaPilot Aug 16, 2015 14:13:26	Eothain wrote:
#6 Orethalion Aug 16, 2015 14:23:34	MechaPilot wrote:
#7 Eothain Aug 16, 2015 14:33:02	Well, so starting with a 15 is good enough then! That is good news!   It can turn into a 16 at level 4 with feats, and it works pretty well for me. I did notice that you won't make it a 20 fast at all, that is so strange compared to 3.5 where 20 could be a starting stat.   So 15 + 5 makes it 20 at level 20, if I take a 15 + 2 (from race) its a 20 at level 12.   So 20 at level 12 compared to 18 at level 12, difference is not really that much!
#8 Orethalion Aug 16, 2015 14:41:19	Eothain wrote:
(Reply to #8) Eothain	Orethalion wrote:
#10 MechaPilot Aug 16, 2015 14:48:08	Eothain wrote:
#11 Mad_Jack Aug 16, 2015 15:00:17	Keep in mind that the only difference between 18 and 20 is a +1... And that +1 is, for a lot of things, not nearly as necessary in 5E as it was in previous ones...   What it largely comes down to is whether you choose to be "really good" at one thing at the cost of being less so at others (possibly leaving yourself with some sort of real vulnerability), or merely "pretty good" at your main schtick while shoring up your potential weaknesses (no dump score means no really bad saves), having a secondary specialty (multiclassing) and/or pumping up something that indiractly benefits your main schtick (wizards like decent CON for HP and concentration and DEX for initiative). As long as you can keep a high enough score in your primary ability to maintain a good hit rate/spell DC, it's more about putting thought into what to do with your other scores.   Short version - There's a lot of wiggle room between maxed out and useless.
#12 bid Aug 16, 2015 16:30:16	If you can't start with 16 in your main stat, just start with 14 and wait until level 12 to reach cap. But many will delay capping because there's a feat too nice to pass.   Starting Int at 15 over 14 will cost you 2 more points which could be better spent in lower stats and won't help with your ASI unless you to RP in one of the weak feats that increase Int (Keen Mind, Linguist, Observant).   As a dwarf wizard, you'll want to start Con 13+2 and use Resilient (Con) later on to push it to 16. That's the main reason for an odd ability.   Hill should start 9 14 13+2 14 13+1 10 Mountain should start 8+2 14 13+2 14 12 12   That's about the furthest you can go optimizing your starting stats.