Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Slit518 May 14, 2015 15:56:01	In previous editions of Dungeons and Dragons templates would give you a bonus, such as +x to Str, +x to Int, etc...  but instead of those statistical bonuses, should they just increase your max potential?  For example, no character's stats can go over 20 (in most cases), but say you have a certain template, like Vampirism or Lacanthorpy, instead of getting stat bonuses, your max limit is increased to 22 or 24 or 26, whatever!  How does that sound, opinions please?
#2 LupusRegalis May 16, 2015 0:06:13	I really like that Idea, becuase it encompasses the 'Neophyte' stage of something like Lycanthropy or Vampirism.  It also allows for Growth through gameplay and Player choice, without creating an Uber Character straight off the mark.  Combine that with Racial, or I guess Template, Traits and I think you could really be onto something.
#3 pauln6 May 16, 2015 2:59:43	One suggestion for racial bonuses generally was that the cap should be 18 for every stat except ones in which you get a racial bonus.  The exception would be humans who have a cap of 20 in every ability score but get no racial bonses at all.  This sort of template you describe works well with that idea too.  Traditionally lycanthropes revert to human form when they die so they are not like ordinary beast form transformations.  The trickier question is how you balance the special abilities of the template (like Warlock invocations that can swap out subclass abilities or using up magic item attunement slots?) or whether you can get away wthout balancing them at all.
#4 Torg_Smith May 16, 2015 8:52:24	One of the problems with the older versions of D&D is the modifier escalation. 3E took this to its peak. This makes monsters you fight at lower level unviable later in level. A DM can’t throw high level monsters at you until the game progresses to that point. This is a fundamental problem with the leveling system. As levels are a holy grail of D&D, they can’t be removed.   By putting caps on how high stats can go, you slow the growth of stat escalation. You make monsters viable over a wider range of levels. Removing these caps will narrow the range of levels monsters will be viable with. This is one feature that sets 5E apart from the earlier versions.
#5 fepriest May 16, 2015 12:28:29	I think this'd be an interesting solution to dealing with templates. I haven't really played with the system enough to know if I'm about to put my foot in my mouth, but short of magical equipment, it doesn't seem particularly easy to cross that 20-in-a-score barrier unless you roll well.    What if templates were effectively mini-gestalt levels, but unlike regular levelling up opportunities, gaining experience didn't level a player up in "werewolf" or "vampirism," but committing specific acts (establishing self as alpha of a pack of wolves, evading detection as a werewolf for 1dx days while actively using your werewolf abilities, creating more werewolves and policing them according to a pre-determined ideology, defending alpha status in a pack of werewolves, claiming alpha status in a pack of werewolves, etc.) led to levelling up in the template "class"?