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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8555224" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>I'd start with how ability scores work. AD&D has this bizarre lottery system where you roll for ability scores, but only scores in the upper percentile give you any kind of bonus. The higher the ability score, the more dramatic this bonus is. And with the Warrior classes, you have a special "bonus round" where (in addition to being the only class to get increased hit points for 17 Constitution and higher), they can as much as triple the bonuses for a Strength of 18. While already being the classes with the highest Thac0 progression, weapon selection, extra attacks per melee (barring some specialty priesthoods, like Anhur in the Forgotten Realms, but let's not talk about that just yet), and, in the case of Fighters (though that depends on your Kit), Weapon Specialization for more bonuses and attacks.</p><p></p><p>But let's look at another example. The humble Thief. At first level, a Thief gets 60 discretionary points to divide between all of his Thieving Abilities. A Thief with a 16 Dexterity gets...an extra 5 points.</p><p></p><p>A Thief with a 17 Dexterity gets an extra 25 points. With 18 Dexterity, an extra 50 points.</p><p></p><p>With a 19 (possible with some races, such as Halflings and Elves, who also gain bonus points- 25 for Halflings and 20 for Elves), you gain 75 more points. Given that you gain 30 additional discretionary points per level, a Thief with a 17 Dexterity gains 2/3 of a level over one with 16, and a Thief with 18 gets 5/6 of a level over one with 17, and a Thief with a 19 Dexterity gains an additional 5/6 of a level above that!</p><p></p><p>I played and loved AD&D for a very long time, and yet I never thought once about how this is a horrible way to balance a game. One lucky roll, and you can function as if you were levels higher than the baseline!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8555224, member: 6877472"] I'd start with how ability scores work. AD&D has this bizarre lottery system where you roll for ability scores, but only scores in the upper percentile give you any kind of bonus. The higher the ability score, the more dramatic this bonus is. And with the Warrior classes, you have a special "bonus round" where (in addition to being the only class to get increased hit points for 17 Constitution and higher), they can as much as triple the bonuses for a Strength of 18. While already being the classes with the highest Thac0 progression, weapon selection, extra attacks per melee (barring some specialty priesthoods, like Anhur in the Forgotten Realms, but let's not talk about that just yet), and, in the case of Fighters (though that depends on your Kit), Weapon Specialization for more bonuses and attacks. But let's look at another example. The humble Thief. At first level, a Thief gets 60 discretionary points to divide between all of his Thieving Abilities. A Thief with a 16 Dexterity gets...an extra 5 points. A Thief with a 17 Dexterity gets an extra 25 points. With 18 Dexterity, an extra 50 points. With a 19 (possible with some races, such as Halflings and Elves, who also gain bonus points- 25 for Halflings and 20 for Elves), you gain 75 more points. Given that you gain 30 additional discretionary points per level, a Thief with a 17 Dexterity gains 2/3 of a level over one with 16, and a Thief with 18 gets 5/6 of a level over one with 17, and a Thief with a 19 Dexterity gains an additional 5/6 of a level above that! I played and loved AD&D for a very long time, and yet I never thought once about how this is a horrible way to balance a game. One lucky roll, and you can function as if you were levels higher than the baseline! [/QUOTE]
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