Doing pint-buy for a Rime of the Frosty as a Triton Paladin (+1 Char, +1 Con, +1 Str) and i thought about just making all three 15's to have three 16's, but that feels like a mistake and the difference of 14 con and 16 con is negligible so i dropped Con to 14. To give more context of the campaign, we roll new initiative every combat round and we're doing it a bit more hardcore than normal. Going Vengeance Paladin and will probably be using a pole-arm/Maul for if i want to go Pole-arm Master or GWM at level 4 (haven't decided hell don't even know if he'll live). My question is what stat should i make a 12 - Wisdom or Dex or intell?
Assuming that the 12 is best one remaining, I’d say dex. Dex won’t help with armor, but will be good for initiative, which if you’re rolling every round makes it even more useful than normal.
Both dex and wisdom are good for saves, so that’s probably about even. Wisdom skills (perception in particular) will probably be more useful than dex skills for this character, so there’s that to consider. Still I’d go dex for the initiative.
Int is right out. Unless you’re a wizard or artificer, it can be a dump stat and you won’t notice it.
An interesting choice, as tritons tend not to wander too far from the sea. But, mechanically, it's solid for the module. I'm DMing it now; the next session is tonight. Darkvision and resistance to cold damage are both invaluable. That said, the downside of using point-buy for your build is you're left with only 4 points. That means you can have one 12 and two 8s or one 8 and two 10s. You're in heavy armor, which is good enough to not need any investment in Dexterity. You're rolling more often for Initiative, but the average will still be the same.
Which brings me to my next point. You're rolling initiative every round. If you're using the Speed Factor initiative variant from the DMG (p. 270), then finesse or light weapons add a +2 bonus to your initiative. Likewise, a two-handed (-2) or heavy weapon (-2) also affects your score. So does casting a spell: -1 per level of the spell. Wielding a maul is a -4 penalty. So, if you are using that variant, attacking with a maul with a Dexterity of 8 means a -5 penalty. That's not a criticism of your chosen playstyle; just an observation. You'll probably go last, but you're heavily armored and hit hard when your turn comes up. That's also not that different than regular play. The difference between -1 and -5 doesn't matter if no one else rolls in that range. All it really does is make it harder for you to the first one up. And that likely wasn't going to be you, anyway.
As for where to put the 12, or the two 10s, stick them where you're likely to have skills. And, no, Intelligence is never a dump stat. The linked skills are all good for gathering information. That moves the story along.
Paladins also have two wisdom skills on their class skill list. And, to be clear, it's okay to have weaknesses. If everyone was good at everything, it would be boring.
lol I know, thats the alure of point buy. 3 weaknesses but 3 strengths. Problem is ....you don't really need more then 14 con unless your a barbarian and even then its just kinda meh? Rime goes to level 12 so thats ....12 hp i'm missing out on? Not a big deal, so i thought i'd compensate and bump a stat or 2 up. I just don't know If i like 2 10's or 1 12 more.
Dumping Dex is bad because dex saves are the most common saves, a low dex save means you'll be leaking hit points to aoe effects, and low dex means low initiative which isn't good. Dumping Wisdom is bad because perception is the most rolled skill - rolling well on initiative doesn't help much if you lose your first turn to surprise regardless. - and because wisdom saves are common and the consequences of failing them typically much worse than just a few lost hit points, especially for a party tank / dps.
With the pressure on your strength, charisma, and constitution, though, you're kind of forced into a 'pick your poison' type situation, where there is no right answer. But that also means there is no wrong answer. That frees you up to choose based entirely on what makes sense to you in terms of character concepts and narrative. If you see your character as more of a holy bastion, slow as a brick but with a keen eye, sound judgment, and maybe a touch of divine clarity, then drop dex to 8 and raise your wisdom to 12. Consider also either the 'blind fighting' fighting style to emphasize your unbreakable focus and keen senses or the 'blessed warrior' fighting style to emphasize the 'divine inspiration' concept with some clerical cantrips, particularly Guidance. If, on the other hand, you see your character as more of an impetuous crusader, athletic and quick to act, but easily distracted and lacking the patience needed to fully consider a situation before leaping to conclusions, then raise your dexterity to 12 and dump wisdom to 8. Consider also the 'defense' fighting style to emphasize your agility even while wearing heavy armor. If neither characterization really suits your character, and you see them as somewhere in the middle, then 10 and 10 is an equally valid choice, mechanically.
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Doing pint-buy for a Rime of the Frosty as a Triton Paladin (+1 Char, +1 Con, +1 Str) and i thought about just making all three 15's to have three 16's, but that feels like a mistake and the difference of 14 con and 16 con is negligible so i dropped Con to 14. To give more context of the campaign, we roll new initiative every combat round and we're doing it a bit more hardcore than normal. Going Vengeance Paladin and will probably be using a pole-arm/Maul for if i want to go Pole-arm Master or GWM at level 4 (haven't decided hell don't even know if he'll live). My question is what stat should i make a 12 - Wisdom or Dex or intell?
Assuming that the 12 is best one remaining, I’d say dex. Dex won’t help with armor, but will be good for initiative, which if you’re rolling every round makes it even more useful than normal.
Both dex and wisdom are good for saves, so that’s probably about even. Wisdom skills (perception in particular) will probably be more useful than dex skills for this character, so there’s that to consider. Still I’d go dex for the initiative.
Int is right out. Unless you’re a wizard or artificer, it can be a dump stat and you won’t notice it.
An interesting choice, as tritons tend not to wander too far from the sea. But, mechanically, it's solid for the module. I'm DMing it now; the next session is tonight. Darkvision and resistance to cold damage are both invaluable. That said, the downside of using point-buy for your build is you're left with only 4 points. That means you can have one 12 and two 8s or one 8 and two 10s. You're in heavy armor, which is good enough to not need any investment in Dexterity. You're rolling more often for Initiative, but the average will still be the same.
Which brings me to my next point. You're rolling initiative every round. If you're using the Speed Factor initiative variant from the DMG (p. 270), then finesse or light weapons add a +2 bonus to your initiative. Likewise, a two-handed (-2) or heavy weapon (-2) also affects your score. So does casting a spell: -1 per level of the spell. Wielding a maul is a -4 penalty. So, if you are using that variant, attacking with a maul with a Dexterity of 8 means a -5 penalty. That's not a criticism of your chosen playstyle; just an observation. You'll probably go last, but you're heavily armored and hit hard when your turn comes up. That's also not that different than regular play. The difference between -1 and -5 doesn't matter if no one else rolls in that range. All it really does is make it harder for you to the first one up. And that likely wasn't going to be you, anyway.
As for where to put the 12, or the two 10s, stick them where you're likely to have skills. And, no, Intelligence is never a dump stat. The linked skills are all good for gathering information. That moves the story along.
Yeah i figured, I just didn't know If i wanted the +1 to dex saves or wisdom stuff. Lots of Wisdom skills and saves in DND.
Paladins also have two wisdom skills on their class skill list. And, to be clear, it's okay to have weaknesses. If everyone was good at everything, it would be boring.
lol I know, thats the alure of point buy. 3 weaknesses but 3 strengths. Problem is ....you don't really need more then 14 con unless your a barbarian and even then its just kinda meh? Rime goes to level 12 so thats ....12 hp i'm missing out on? Not a big deal, so i thought i'd compensate and bump a stat or 2 up. I just don't know If i like 2 10's or 1 12 more.
Dumping Dex is bad because dex saves are the most common saves, a low dex save means you'll be leaking hit points to aoe effects, and low dex means low initiative which isn't good. Dumping Wisdom is bad because perception is the most rolled skill - rolling well on initiative doesn't help much if you lose your first turn to surprise regardless. - and because wisdom saves are common and the consequences of failing them typically much worse than just a few lost hit points, especially for a party tank / dps.
With the pressure on your strength, charisma, and constitution, though, you're kind of forced into a 'pick your poison' type situation, where there is no right answer. But that also means there is no wrong answer. That frees you up to choose based entirely on what makes sense to you in terms of character concepts and narrative. If you see your character as more of a holy bastion, slow as a brick but with a keen eye, sound judgment, and maybe a touch of divine clarity, then drop dex to 8 and raise your wisdom to 12. Consider also either the 'blind fighting' fighting style to emphasize your unbreakable focus and keen senses or the 'blessed warrior' fighting style to emphasize the 'divine inspiration' concept with some clerical cantrips, particularly Guidance. If, on the other hand, you see your character as more of an impetuous crusader, athletic and quick to act, but easily distracted and lacking the patience needed to fully consider a situation before leaping to conclusions, then raise your dexterity to 12 and dump wisdom to 8. Consider also the 'defense' fighting style to emphasize your agility even while wearing heavy armor. If neither characterization really suits your character, and you see them as somewhere in the middle, then 10 and 10 is an equally valid choice, mechanically.