Character attribute question..

[Mz_Trixter]

Hi, i'm trying to start a new party for IWD since it's been almost forever since i've gone through it. I'm 'trying' to refresh & find some small tips for setting the abilities (Str, Dex, Int, Wis and such) - when making fighters, i have an idea of what the 18/xx modifier's for but, not certain. But does it matter if a fighter had (Str) 18/99 as opposed to 18/70?

Although the 18/99 looks more attractive - I was just wondering if it impacted (if any) to your character's critical hit ratio, making it more frequent than if it had 18/70...the rest though, according to what type of char. is a bit more of a no-brainer.

Its always been one of those questions in the back of the head that your not sure you should ask...but i hadda get it out there.

[Raedwulf]

It does matters if a fighter has a strength of 18/70 or 18/99. Higher values give you a bonus to attack bonus (AB) and damage on each hit (DAM).

18/01 - 18/50 +1 AB, +3 DAM,
18/51 - 18/75 +2 AB, +3 DAM,
18-76 - 18/90 +2 AB, +4 DAM,
18/91 - 18/99 +2 AB, +5 DAM,
18/00 +3 AB, +6 DAM.

Dexterity gives -1 to AC at 15, -2 at 16, and so on. Constitution gives +1 hit points per level at 15, +2 at 16, and, for fighters only +3 at 17 and +4 at 18.

Arcrane magic users should have as much Intelligence as possible, as it gives them better chances to learn spells and more spells to cast per day. Clerics get bonus spells for high wisdom.

[Aerich]

Warriors should have as high as possible in Str, Dex, and Con. The Con bonus works for all warriors (even multiclassed or dual classed), not just fighters, but every other character can stop at 16 Con.

Don't sweat the Str too much (e.g. by re-rolling a hundred times to get 18/00). There are lots of Str-enhancing artifacts in the mid-late game. However, the game is a fair bit easier if all of your warriors have 18/51 or better Str.

I think there's tables showing all the stat-related bonuses somewhere in the manual (.pdf file on Disc 1).

[ultramarine]

Attribute is one thing but don't dismiss saves....

[Mz_Trixter]

Originally Posted by Raedwulf

It does matters if a fighter has a strength of 18/70 or 18/99. Higher values give you a bonus to attack bonus (AB) and damage on each hit (DAM).

18/01 - 18/50 +1 AB, +3 DAM,
18/51 - 18/75 +2 AB, +3 DAM,
18-76 - 18/90 +2 AB, +4 DAM,
18/91 - 18/99 +2 AB, +5 DAM,
18/00 +3 AB, +6 DAM.

Thanks for clearing some of that up ..whenever going through the rolling process, I wasn't all too certain whether that 18/00 would help or hurt my builds. Much of my builds revolve around a strong fighter core, so now since knowing 18/00 is best for str, it won't matter much getting 18/98, /99 or /00.

[kmonster]

It does matter quite a lot. The difference between 18/00 and 18/99 strength is as big as the difference between 17 and 8 strength. (There's no difference between 18/91 and 18/99 however.)
You can use the strength spell (mage level 2) which raises the second number by 10-80, it's not too important to have 18/00, definitely not as important as having maxed out dex and con.