I've tried searching for answers but I haven't seen anybody talking about it yet. So I'll ask here. But first an example.
Let's say you're playing a 2024 Barbarian and have some lucky rolls for stats. You have an 18 STR with +2 from your background for a capped 20 STR. Later you pick up GWM which would give a +1 to STR if it wasn't already capped. Then at level 19 you get an Epic Boon Feat and raise your STR cap to 30.
My question is would the +1 from GWM apply after the Epic Boon raises the cap? Or is it simply lost because it was above the cap at the time?
The rules don't really have a notion of a cap for your ability scores; each feature that can raise them has a limit to how much that feature can raise it. For example, you can't use an Epic Boon feat to raise your Strength to 21 and then use an Ability Score Improvement feat to raise it by 2 points; you have to keep using Epic Boons and raising it 1 at a time.
In other words, yes, the point would be wasted. You're better off in the long run starting with 19 Strength and putting that point elsewhere.
So it seem like "to a maximum or 30" is a fairly pointless detail to add if a hard cap of 30 is already covered in the handbook and other methods of increasing ability scores are only soft capped at 20 because the specific wording of that method said so. Why bother raising the maximum to 30 if that way already the case and nothing else would get it that high anyway?
It's easy to skim over or forget that 30 is the absolute limit (it pretty much never comes up), so adding that text keeps things consistent and clear. Otherwise, a player might get the impression they can keep raising their scores arbrtrarily high.
Additionally, 20 and 30 are not the only two options. Some classes get features that increase certain ability scores up to a maximum to 25.
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I've tried searching for answers but I haven't seen anybody talking about it yet. So I'll ask here. But first an example.
Let's say you're playing a 2024 Barbarian and have some lucky rolls for stats. You have an 18 STR with +2 from your background for a capped 20 STR. Later you pick up GWM which would give a +1 to STR if it wasn't already capped. Then at level 19 you get an Epic Boon Feat and raise your STR cap to 30.
My question is would the +1 from GWM apply after the Epic Boon raises the cap? Or is it simply lost because it was above the cap at the time?
The rules don't really have a notion of a cap for your ability scores; each feature that can raise them has a limit to how much that feature can raise it. For example, you can't use an Epic Boon feat to raise your Strength to 21 and then use an Ability Score Improvement feat to raise it by 2 points; you have to keep using Epic Boons and raising it 1 at a time.
In other words, yes, the point would be wasted. You're better off in the long run starting with 19 Strength and putting that point elsewhere.
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Then Dndbeyond is bugged because the character sheet adds it after Epic Boon. That's a bummer.
Just in case it's useful for the OP, there's a post about Epic Boons here: Do Epic Boons increase your Ability Score Cap?
So it seem like "to a maximum or 30" is a fairly pointless detail to add if a hard cap of 30 is already covered in the handbook and other methods of increasing ability scores are only soft capped at 20 because the specific wording of that method said so. Why bother raising the maximum to 30 if that way already the case and nothing else would get it that high anyway?
It's easy to skim over or forget that 30 is the absolute limit (it pretty much never comes up), so adding that text keeps things consistent and clear. Otherwise, a player might get the impression they can keep raising their scores arbrtrarily high.
Additionally, 20 and 30 are not the only two options. Some classes get features that increase certain ability scores up to a maximum to 25.
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