Sergeant Cid Posted:
You’ve got 72 points to spend on your 6 different statistics: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma.
An average human has 10-11 in each of these stats. If the number is lower, then they are deficient in that area in some way. If it is higher, then they are exceptional in some way. This is represented by a penalty or bonus to any action related to that statistic.
2-3 (-4)
4-5 (-3)
6-7 (-2)
8-9 (-1)
10-11 (No Bonus/Penalty)
12-13 (+1)
14-15 (+2)
16-17 (+3)
18-20 (+4)
Virtually all game mechanics are resolved by a 20-sided die. The DM bumigns a difficulty clbum (DC) to a particular task, and you roll a D20 and add/subtract any bonus/penalty. For example, if you are attempting to break down a simple wooden door, this is a Strength related task with a DC 13. If you have a Strength of 14, you get a +2 to your die roll. So, you have to roll an 11 or higher to break down the simple door. If you fail on the first attempt, you can try again. So, with a Strength of 14, you’ve got about a 50%/50% chance of breaking it down on the first try.
If your Strength was an 8, then because of your penalty, you’d have to roll a 14 or higher to break down the door. So, you’ve only got a 35% chance to break it down on the first try.
The same idea applies to any statistic, and any task. Walking along a tightrope would be a Dexterity-related task, researching the location of a long-lost tomb would be an Intelligence-related task, persuading a town mayor to hire your adventuring company might would be a Charisma-related task, and so on.
A Bard’s primary focus in these kinds of areas (especially knowing all kinds of useful & useless trivia about anything and everything), so Dexterity, Charisma & Intelligence are all important for you.
A Bard’s spellcasting ability is directly tied to his Charisma. His Bardic Music is directly related to the Perform Skill, which is a Charisma-based Skill. For this reason, a high Charisma is critical to a Bard’s success. I would recommend no less than a 15 in this statistic.
Next is Intelligence. Bards rely heavily upon Skills, and your Skill Points are determined by your clbum and your Intelligence. I recommend a 14 in this stat. That would give you 32 Skill points, which means you could have 8 different skills all maxed out as high as possible.
Then there’s Dexterity. Bard’s tend to favor light armor, and a high Dexterity can combine well with light armor to make you difficult to hit and/or injure. I would go with a 13 here.
This leaves you 30 points to spread among your 3 remaining stats. You can avoid having to worry about any penalties this way, or if you’re willing to play a Bard that’s not very strong, not very wise, and/or not very healthy, you can drop to an 8 or 9 in one or more of those stats and spend those points in one of your three primary stats.
