I have to agree with this and I have even more concern with the 1DD change to allow the level 19 ASI to cap out at 22 (+6).
I think the original idea is interesting though I’m not sure if this would be something I would care for. But, that being said, maybe stats could start at a flatter level then you use your background ASI (1DD) to boost them. And your class gives a boost as well. Skills/ability checks might get some bonus from stat (or not) but class would play a bigger role along with proficiency. Barbarians already get advantage on STR rolls when raging. Wizards could get a bonus to Arcana, etc.
In the end I do think you are on to something with the issue more about the bonuses on ability scores.
I like the idea of proficiency providing a high, but situational bonus; and attributes providing a lower, but generalised bonus.
For instance, your wisdom helps out with defences, several skills, and some class features. But if you are proficient in that skill, or apply proficiency to that feature, it make up for the majority of your modifier on that action. And because attributes currently make up for such a big part of the character's chance for success, we've ended up with the "hyperspecialise or drag your team down" meta.
Now, I'm not sure what the best way forward would be. Simply cap attributes at 18? Mortal potential maximum, go no further? Halve the bonus? Diminishing returns?
Though, a part of me still feel like it'd be better to approach it from another direction and just not attempt to do an arms race between players and DM. So what if a certain character is so powerful that it trivialises a certain type of encounter set to challenge the group median? That player likely created their character for the specific purpose of shining in this circumstance; wouldn't it be nice if everyone was on board with that and created a cool scene out of it?
And, if a player expresses that they don't feel challenged anymore? Well, sweetie, you keep bringing a flamethrower to a snowball fight. Want to try something else, or is the only reasonable conclusion to up the ante and have the other guys use two flamethrowers? That just feels like the rpg version of macroeconomic collapse with inflation and rates going through the roof.
Eh. Maybe it's just a part of the edition life cycle? Dunno :)
I think for this to work attributes would need to actually matter more in combat than they currently do.
Let's say the Fighter no longer needs STR or DEX to hit and deal damage. They get it from Proficiency through their class. Great! But we DO still want to encourage Fighters to have a baseline athletic ability for verisimilitude. A Fighter who completely forsakes all physical stats just stops making sense in the game world.
So how do we do that? CON still governs HP and CON Saves. DEX still governs DEX Saves and Initiative. STR still governs STR Saves. But let's say now we have a grappling condition that actually matters. If you get grappled you lose movement speed and can't attack or use somatic components anymore, as you're grappled on the floor. The enemy, so long as they maintain the grapple, can choose to stab you or choke you out for some damage per round until you go unconscious. Suddenly anyone expecting to be in melee really wants a good Athletics score, and so STR isn't an easy dump stat. STR also still governs your armor and weapon limits, so 15 is the minimum if you want plate armor and a greatsword.
Meanwhile, DEX can let you avoid grapples via Acrobatics, BUT you lose the ability to put other people into a grapple if you use it as an excuse to sacrifice STR. But you still need DEX for AC if you're not in plate armor, and having high DEX lets you act sooner in combat and lets you avoid deadly explosions more easily.
So a Fighter has good reason to be at least decent with STR, DEX, and CON so they can survive melee combat and use their class features to their fullest.
Meanwhile, the Wizard might invest more heavily in DEX if they want to be dodgy or get their Fireball off early in combat, or might focus more on STR if they want to catch an enemy with a surprise suplex via a grapple check.
Making the mental stats more appealing is a bit harder. WIS Saves are already very valuable and it governs skills everyone wants, so it doesn't need much of a power-up. I might actually take Initiative and split it between DEX and WIS. DEX because of your reflexes. WIS because it represents your attention to detail. Someone with high DEX and WIS would always act first as they both notice the danger sooner and react to the danger sooner.
INT could be the Skill Monkey attribute and govern how many skills you can be proficient in. Maybe make INT related to crits in some way? Flavor it as recognizing where the enemy's weak points are. Maybe you get a number of auto-crits equal to your INT Bonus.
Charisma already governs an entire pillar of the game so it feels fine as-is. Maybe I'd add a Taunt action where you can attempt to give an enemy Disadvantage on their next attack by saying mean things about their incompetence.
So you could end up with a Fighter in plate armor with 16/14/14/10/10/12 who likes to get in there and toss goblins around all day and is pretty physically well-rounded or a Fighter who went more 10/16/14/16/10/8 who fights with a rapier and focuses on dealing deadly critical strikes to the enemy's weak points while weaving between attacks.
Or even be a Wizard with 8/16/10/14/16/10 who always acts first, drops a massive Fireball, and consistently snipes out enemies with critical spell hits to clean up afterward.
The caster stats might need a little more oomph though. I can't think of anything else that'd make them attractive enough to casters to make casters really want to invest in them over the physical stats though, since their class features would be governing all their spell to hit and spell DCs.
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I like the idea of proficiency providing a high, but situational bonus; and attributes providing a lower, but generalised bonus.
For instance, your wisdom helps out with defences, several skills, and some class features. But if you are proficient in that skill, or apply proficiency to that feature, it make up for the majority of your modifier on that action. And because attributes currently make up for such a big part of the character's chance for success, we've ended up with the "hyperspecialise or drag your team down" meta.
Now, I'm not sure what the best way forward would be. Simply cap attributes at 18? Mortal potential maximum, go no further? Halve the bonus? Diminishing returns?
Though, a part of me still feel like it'd be better to approach it from another direction and just not attempt to do an arms race between players and DM. So what if a certain character is so powerful that it trivialises a certain type of encounter set to challenge the group median? That player likely created their character for the specific purpose of shining in this circumstance; wouldn't it be nice if everyone was on board with that and created a cool scene out of it?
And, if a player expresses that they don't feel challenged anymore? Well, sweetie, you keep bringing a flamethrower to a snowball fight. Want to try something else, or is the only reasonable conclusion to up the ante and have the other guys use two flamethrowers? That just feels like the rpg version of macroeconomic collapse with inflation and rates going through the roof.
Eh. Maybe it's just a part of the edition life cycle? Dunno :)
I think for this to work attributes would need to actually matter more in combat than they currently do.
Let's say the Fighter no longer needs STR or DEX to hit and deal damage. They get it from Proficiency through their class. Great! But we DO still want to encourage Fighters to have a baseline athletic ability for verisimilitude. A Fighter who completely forsakes all physical stats just stops making sense in the game world.
So how do we do that? CON still governs HP and CON Saves. DEX still governs DEX Saves and Initiative. STR still governs STR Saves. But let's say now we have a grappling condition that actually matters. If you get grappled you lose movement speed and can't attack or use somatic components anymore, as you're grappled on the floor. The enemy, so long as they maintain the grapple, can choose to stab you or choke you out for some damage per round until you go unconscious. Suddenly anyone expecting to be in melee really wants a good Athletics score, and so STR isn't an easy dump stat. STR also still governs your armor and weapon limits, so 15 is the minimum if you want plate armor and a greatsword.
Meanwhile, DEX can let you avoid grapples via Acrobatics, BUT you lose the ability to put other people into a grapple if you use it as an excuse to sacrifice STR. But you still need DEX for AC if you're not in plate armor, and having high DEX lets you act sooner in combat and lets you avoid deadly explosions more easily.
So a Fighter has good reason to be at least decent with STR, DEX, and CON so they can survive melee combat and use their class features to their fullest.
Meanwhile, the Wizard might invest more heavily in DEX if they want to be dodgy or get their Fireball off early in combat, or might focus more on STR if they want to catch an enemy with a surprise suplex via a grapple check.
Making the mental stats more appealing is a bit harder. WIS Saves are already very valuable and it governs skills everyone wants, so it doesn't need much of a power-up. I might actually take Initiative and split it between DEX and WIS. DEX because of your reflexes. WIS because it represents your attention to detail. Someone with high DEX and WIS would always act first as they both notice the danger sooner and react to the danger sooner.
INT could be the Skill Monkey attribute and govern how many skills you can be proficient in. Maybe make INT related to crits in some way? Flavor it as recognizing where the enemy's weak points are. Maybe you get a number of auto-crits equal to your INT Bonus.
Charisma already governs an entire pillar of the game so it feels fine as-is. Maybe I'd add a Taunt action where you can attempt to give an enemy Disadvantage on their next attack by saying mean things about their incompetence.
So you could end up with a Fighter in plate armor with 16/14/14/10/10/12 who likes to get in there and toss goblins around all day and is pretty physically well-rounded or a Fighter who went more 10/16/14/16/10/8 who fights with a rapier and focuses on dealing deadly critical strikes to the enemy's weak points while weaving between attacks.
Or even be a Wizard with 8/16/10/14/16/10 who always acts first, drops a massive Fireball, and consistently snipes out enemies with critical spell hits to clean up afterward.
The caster stats might need a little more oomph though. I can't think of anything else that'd make them attractive enough to casters to make casters really want to invest in them over the physical stats though, since their class features would be governing all their spell to hit and spell DCs.