Ability points.

[ManOWar2]

I started a fighter but could not boost his Strength to 18. Is this some kind of 5th edition rules ? I'm not familiar with D&D past 3rd edition. I'm old.

I ended having 16 Strength and 16 constitution as the extra point in Strength didnt provide anything more.

[Teddy]

You can pick a feat that gives extra ability point when you level up.

[Doomvora]

The highest you can start a stat is 15, then you can then apply a primary (+2) and a secondary (+1) bonus.

Later on you can get "ability improvement" as a feat if you want which lets you +2 in a stat or +1 in two stats of your choice

[victorvnv]

You can go past 17 initially but as a fighter you get a lot more feats than any other class so you will have plenty of opportunities to increase whatever ability you want to 20

[Xrystus]

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

I started a fighter but could not boost his Strength to 18. Is this some kind of 5th edition rules ? I'm not familiar with D&D past 3rd edition. I'm old.

I ended having 16 Strength and 16 constitution as the extra point in Strength didnt provide anything more.

Yes it is just like 5th edition rules. You can put no more than 15 points into an ability in character creation. Adding your +2 bonus onto it would result in 17, the highest you can go at level 1. Odd numbers do not help you much, if at all, as they round down. For example A 17 in Strength will still give you a +3 to attack and damage rolls, just like a 16 will. However there are things called "half-feats" which give you +1 to an ability on top of additional bonuses. In this game, the "Athlete" feat gives you the option to add +1 to Strength or Dexterity. So that means if you go 17 Strength at level 1, then pick up Athlete at level 4 and choosing Strength as the ability bonus, then you will have an 18, giving your attack and damage rolls +4 whilst still benefiting from the other goodies the Athlete feat gives you.

Hope this helps!

[wardenwolf]

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

I started a fighter but could not boost his Strength to 18. Is this some kind of 5th edition rules ? I'm not familiar with D&D past 3rd edition. I'm old.

I ended having 16 Strength and 16 constitution as the extra point in Strength didnt provide anything more.

This game uses a point-buy stat gen system (an optional method going back to 2nd Edition). It usually results in what's called the "standard array" unless you deliberately take two dump stats. Personally I wish they'd have given us the option to roll for stats.

[Charles Mattias Wolf]

in terms of numbers, 3rd edition had no real 'cap' as the maximum number your stats could get to. in 5e, the numbers have been crunched together and are much much smaller, this makes the game much more imbalanced at higher levels and is why few 5th edition games go over level 12

the highest stat PCs can get naturally is generally seen as 20 any number above this is given via items.

[FoxFox]

Originally posted by wardenwolf:

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

I started a fighter but could not boost his Strength to 18. Is this some kind of 5th edition rules ? I'm not familiar with D&D past 3rd edition. I'm old.

I ended having 16 Strength and 16 constitution as the extra point in Strength didnt provide anything more.

This game uses a point-buy stat gen system (an optional method going back to 2nd Edition). It usually results in what's called the "standard array" unless you deliberately take two dump stats. Personally I wish they'd have given us the option to roll for stats.

point-buy is the gold standard for balanced character design in DnD. I still have nightmares from spending half an hour to roll that one almost perfect stat combination in original BG.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Within the constraints of point-buy (which is a superset of standard array, essentially) the only way to start with an 18 in an ability score is if custom lineage is an option. That option isn't in BG3, but it's the only standard choice which offers both a +2 ability score adjustment (and just that, there's no +1 to another ability score) and a free feat. If the feat is a so-called half-feat that lets you add +1 to the relevant attribute, that's how you get your 18.

I remember that the old "Gold Box" games from SSI let you manually enter whatever stats you wanted, ostensibly to let you recreate your favorite characters. ;). Of course, they also threw ridiculous fights at you (hello, Mulmaster Beholder Corps) and ability scores were a bit less impactful (e.g. IIRC, a Strength of 16 gave you +0/+1 hit/damage; a Strength of 18/00 gave you +3/+6) while class/level mattered more.

[ManOWar2]

So well, should I start again and put it to 17 strength or I'm good with that 16 str and 16 const.

[Kernest]

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

So well, should I start again and put it to 17 strength or I'm good with that.

Look over the available feats and if you find one you like that also gives +1 STR, consider doing it.

But I wouldn't do it at the cost of dropping Con to 15, I'd dump some other stat.

[ManOWar2]

I Think I will stick with my current ability build. 16 STR 13 DEX 16 CONST 10 INT 12 WIS and 8 CHAR

It fit my roleplay and I can boost that STR to 18 later.

Thanks for all advices guys. Well appreciated.

[Yasahi]

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

So well, should I start again and put it to 17 strength or I'm good with that 16 str and 16 const.

You can respec as many times as you want, no need to start over. Respec costs 100 gold which is nothing really.

[ManOWar2]

Originally posted by Yasahi:

Originally posted by ManOWar2:

So well, should I start again and put it to 17 strength or I'm good with that 16 str and 16 const.

You can respec as many times as you want, no need to start over. Respec costs 100 gold which is nothing really.

Oh thanks for that info. I just beated the Commander Zhalk so I did not want to restart this.

Made my day. Thanks.

[jonnin]

the lack of a 3d6 type character 'roll' is extremely poor in any type of D&D. Yes, you can cheese it and roll out that all 15+ superman if you want, which no DM would allow but the computer usually does, but thats on you to exploit it or not. It can actually be rewarding to play a weaker character too; one TT game I did we had 2d6 characters who were good at nothing really, so we had to be creative, and it was a lot of fun for a while.

Mild spoiler: You can get a +1 in act 1 for 1 character. So by level 4 you can cap at 20 for your main character, though in multi-player I am not sure how you would decide who gets it.

There are not going to be any 40 str half orc dragon disciple/warriors here, though.

FWIW the point buy costs more at higher levels, so starting a little lower (14 for example) and raising it later lets you have a higher total score (sum of all stats) than maxing out 1. A few characters can benefit from this if you plan to multiclass or have one of the advanced characters (like unarmored monk) who require a more careful distribution.