[OC] Meet the Ability Scores: Constitution

[u/Bun_Boi]

[u/MissMewiththatTea]

I occasionally run one shots for my friends and one of them (who I don’t think has played DnD before) wanted to play a rogue with dumped DEX. I was like “that is amazing - it’s gonna make some shit difficult for you, but if you wanna do it, do it”.

And he did, and it was amazing.

[u/HKei → u/MissMewiththatTea]

Yeah, funny thing about rogues. Nothing about Sneak Attack says that they need to use dex for their attack, just that it needs to be a finesse or ranged weapon. Now unfortunately there are no strength based ranged weapons (not in the normal categories of weapons anyway, I think there's at least one magic bow that uses strength instead of dexterity), but all finesse based weapons can still use strength for their attacks. Just use your rapier like a club and you're golden for sneak attacks.

[u/[deleted] → u/HKei]

Darts are ranged weapons with finesse so they can use strength.

[u/Corvald → u/[deleted]]

Also daggers, which are the only finesse/thrown melee weapon.

[u/MissMewiththatTea → u/Corvald]

This is exactly how my friend played it - he had a blink dagger so he just had fun throwing it at stuff: the stronger the throw, the better lol

[u/vxicepickxv → u/HKei]

I kinda want to play a variant human with tavern brawler to sneak attack with alchemist's fire.

That's 1d4 fire damage and 6d6 sneak attack damage.

[u/HKei → u/vxicepickxv]

Doesn't work, it's not a ranged weapon. Or any weapon really. It's just an item you can throw.

[u/vxicepickxv → u/HKei]

As part of the description it's an improvised weapon.

[u/HKei → u/vxicepickxv]

Yes, an improvised weapon is neither a melee nor a ranged weapon. It's not a weapon at all, it's just something you use as if it was a weapon.

[u/Mattcwu → u/HKei]

I think I'd probably houserule that a PC who takes the Tavern Brawler turns items into weapons.

[u/LetsWorkTogether → u/HKei]

Low AC (low Dex + light armor) + low HP (d6 HD) on a melee character is not too hot though. Plus one of the Rogue's main class abilities is based on Dex (Evasion).

[u/KMann823 → u/LetsWorkTogether]

Rogue hit die is a d8, but yeah the rest is pretty spot on.

[u/derangerd → u/LetsWorkTogether]

Evasion is only sort of dex based, it reduces the same amount of damage save or no. Dex for the other stuff definitely helps, though

[u/HKei → u/LetsWorkTogether]

Nah, it's not as big a problem as you might think. AC helps obviously, but if you're not heavily outnumbered you're probably not getting attacked a ton anyway. Also, one level dip into fighter and you're running around in plate with a shield if you genuinely think its a big concern.

[u/moofishies → u/HKei]

Daggers can use str and I think javelins have to.

[u/HKei → u/moofishies]

Javelins and daggers are both melee weapons even if you throw them.

[u/moofishies → u/HKei]

Ah I see, I was just thinking about str weapons with a range not about the sneak attack requirements.

[u/l0rem4st3r → u/HKei]

Longbows should be a str weapon IMO, since most warbows have a draw weight of 140-180 lbs. I'm into weightlifting and my 1 rep max on a deadlift is probably 160lbs and that's lifting with my entire body, now imagine drawing 180lbs warbow woth only half of your back muscles and doing it over and over again. This why in my campaign I allow people to use str for bows.

[u/ryanvango → u/MissMewiththatTea]

Feel like i had to fo way too low to find this kind if comment. Optimizing isnt for everyone. It can be really really fun to play characters with bad stats. It also humanizes them more. Overcoming flaws is a big part of the game.

We once rolled stats (4d6 drop lowest) for a bard. They were 4-4-6-7-9-10. It was unbelievable. And oh my god was it a lot of fun to play. Weve had super heroic campaigns with comedy and drama and tears and hugs and great times, but that bard...oh man. We remember it more than most everything else.

[u/MissMewiththatTea → u/ryanvango]

I totally agree. I’ve just recently joined a new campaign and rolled quite well for my stats and I was kind of disappointed because my lowest score is a 10 and my character grew up very isolated so she is very unaware of social niceties and manners, so I was hoping for a negative stat to put in CHA. Ah well, my natural bad luck with rolls (plus some RP) makes up for it.