like good spelling and grammar, it's desirable but not necessary.
Most characters start out with a 16 or better in a primary ability score. Starting out with an 18 in one ability score on a 20 point character buy means you have to make some sacrifices.
Somehow scrolls are figured at a minimal ability 8^P
The problem with not "maximizing" your stats is Pathfinder's stupid "game of inches". It seems like everything you have scales 1 point at time... Which wouldn't be so bad... If the game didn't force you to take boring +1 options instead of actual interesting stuff... So you might as well raise that Strength score to 18 so you can take one of the few cool, interesting feats in the game instead of Weapon Focus. -.-'
This speaks to what I said in the feat thread. Just ignore the boring stuff. Full BAB alone keeps you close to a 50/50 average to hit per the average stats by CR table. Just a weapon with an enhancement bonus can keep you on par with 50/50 odds. This is with a 10 strength score. The moment you start pumping strength or adding bonuses you're giving yourself an edge. This isn't the case, naturally, with non-full BAB classes. However, the game is full of bonuses to make up that gap. So, if you're playing with full BAB just ignore the boring stuff.
Min maxing has its place but can lead to bad RP issues.
Min maxing has its place but can lead to bad RP issues.Behold! The might of Stormwind!
Ignoring stats for a moment: say that to the entire clans of catfolk were each adn every member was adopted by half orcs adn trained in the art of growing 6 inch fangs out of their face.
Pretty much 90% of the time adopted or racial heritage comes up is a stormwind problem.
Of course, my view may be skewed by the fact that I mostly interact wtih PF players on the forums. I am not going to say that we are a wretched hive of munchkins and rules lawyers... but we enjoy hanging out on the forums of a table top game, and I see a lot of people taht also hang out on the advice and rules forums. So that hobby has a positive correlation with munchkin-ism at least. General point- we are a TERRIBLE sample, since we are hardly representational.
Ultimately so much of this game boils down to trusting the players....
General point- we are a TERRIBLE sample, since we are hardly representational.
qft
Unless you're adding your Intelligence to Attack and Damage rolls, or your GM is throwing a bunch of bats at you, I highly doubt it.
Nice. Let's imply our fellow gamers are liars, shall we?
Nice. Let's imply our fellow gamers are liars, shall we?
Unless you're adding your Intelligence to Attack and Damage rolls, or your GM is throwing a bunch of bats at you, I highly doubt it.
Especially since he was talking about a cavalier, which is pretty much a prime class to stay useful in melee with 'meh' stats.
Early on, it can mostly get by with greatsword + power attack. Later, it might throw out chain challenges to take care of most enemies in a fight. With the damage boost from challenge, cavaliers can do fine with 'meh' str.
For most it is desirable, yet not necessary. For nine level casters, it is VERY desirable since you cannot cast a spell level higher than your primary casting stat +10. In other words, a 16 intelligence wizard cannot cast spells higher than 6th level, even if they are high enough level to have access to such spell slots.
My personal point buy solution was to give a player a choice between a straight up point buy, or a set array that I could control. The stat array would be 10-20 percent higher in point buy value than the point buy choice, yet would be spread out more between several stats.
An example would be the choice between 20 point buy, or an array of 16, 14, 14, 12, 11, 10. The array is worth 23 points, yet isn't all focused into one stat. What results is usually a player choosing the point buy for a single stat dependent class, while a player would choose the array for some of the more multiple dependent classes (such as monk).