[Poll] Stat Order in D&D

Sacrificial Lamb · August 11, 2013, 11:19:00 PM

I must be more of a grog than I thought; I voted the "classic" order....

Libertad · August 11, 2013, 11:26:21 PM

I'm personally used to the D20 grouping of physical, then mental.

Spinachcat · August 12, 2013, 12:34:54 AM

I read an article years ago about considering Stat order as how it may affect gameplay. AKA, order of appearance is automatically viewed by people as order of importance. I thought it was an interesting idea, but I wonder if it would have any effect in gameplay. AKA, what if the stat order began with Charisma or Dexterity or Wisdom?

Chugosh · August 12, 2013, 01:59:50 AM

I like it when they are grouped by mental and physical. I do not think it breaks anything to put them alphabetically within that, but I am kind of used to seeing it in D20 order.

vytzka · August 12, 2013, 02:27:02 AM

The "D20 order" was used in Nethack and Angband which I played before coming to RPGs. Besides it just makes more sense.

J Arcane · August 12, 2013, 02:35:17 AM

I've actually been debating doing a reverse D20 order and putting the mental stats first.

It IS a game about wizards and magic and shit after all ...

KenHR · August 12, 2013, 11:01:43 AM

Quote from: talysman;680028Of course, the original order swapped #4 and #5. I suspect they moved Dex ahead of Con after the thief became a core class, so that all the prime requisites were grouped together; that seems to be the rationale behind grouping Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom. Before the thief, the second triplet was general abilities of use to everyone, and I guess they figured the Con bonus was the most immediately useful of the abilities. Dex comes next, because of the ranged attack bonus, and Charisma, with its less immediate impact, comes last.

That's great, and yeah, I forgot that (I rarely open my OD&D set). Still doesn't alter what I was saying, tho.

J Arcane · August 12, 2013, 11:09:34 AM

IIRC, my 'classic' list from H&H was taken from Basic, of some stripe or other. When discussing the char sheet layout I sent him some links to old B/X D&D sheets, and not knowing D&D well himself he used the same order. I liked the difference and the old school character it lent so the book itself was rewritten to match (though the stat bonus table is still in the D20 order because I forgot to fix that ...)

YourSwordisMine · August 12, 2013, 11:33:27 AM

having started my gaming life with Marvel Superheroes, the Physical stats and Mental stats grouped together made the most sense to me.

Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha

FASERIP for LIFE!

JRR · August 12, 2013, 03:22:03 PM

Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha. Any other order assumes an edition of D&D later than AD&D first edition exists.

RPGPundit · August 13, 2013, 08:06:36 PM

I really don't care, though I found it interesting that in LotFP they put charisma at the top.