for those of you more familiar with the 3rd ed rules and IwDII, are there any specific stat values that should be targetted, or avoided?

i.e. with Int, are there breakpoints for additional skill pts at certain Int values?

for Dex, are there values that are pointless to try to get to for char wearing heavy armor? medium armor?

for Con, besides fortitude saves, can you lower this quite a bit and not worry about hit points if you use the "max hit points per level" option? does it factor into fatigue or stamina at all?

for Str, are there any breakpoints for more melee damage? i.e. 13 Str doesnt give a bigger bonus than 12 str, but 14 will...

Wis, are there breakpoints for monk AC bonus?

Cha, except for the party spokesman, is this used at all in anything important? if so, is there some min or max that is targetted?

thanks again.

[ January 22, 2003, 15:28: Message edited by: Krysalyn ]

For every 2 abilty-scores you gain/loose a point in modifier.

Int: Higher modifier, more skill points. Wizards can cast more spells a day (more bonus spells). More dialogue options.

Dex: Higher modifier, better ranged attack. If you have a very good dex and low Str, pick weapon finesse (check feat for which weapons)
Check the armor for the dex modifier applied. A full plate armore (iirc) has a bonus of just 1, so you wont need more then 12 points in Dex, which gives you a modifier of +1.

Con: the 'max hitpoints per level' apply to your chars HitDice. The con-modif is a good bonus. fe: If your barbarian gets max hitpoint per level he gets 12+con-modif. A cleric would get 8+con-modifier. If you dont have this Max-hp per level' a barbarian would get 1-12 hp+Con-modif, a cleric 1-8 etc. Con does affect fatigue, fortitude saves, detox. Also, if a spellcaster gets hit the amount of damage can disrupt your spell. With higher con and concentration checks etc, you can lower the chance of disruption.

Str: more backpacking, better attack etc... blabla. Good for 2-handed weapons for more and more damage.

Wis: For a monk, the hgher the better. He will get better AC and abilities, iirc. Wis is important to divine spellcasters (Clerics, Druids and Pallies). Don't forget Will saves.

Chr: Sorcerer and Bard get the amount of spells from their Chr-modifier, like Wizards for Int. Better char means more spells. CHR is important for clerics and Pallies 'Turn Undead' ability (nasty!) and Druids Charm Animal (useless). Persuade people and discounts are fine, too.

AFAIK, no breakpoints. Just how you want them.

If this is not what you mean, I try it again... :D

[ January 22, 2003, 16:10: Message edited by: Master of Nuhn ]

yes, that is exactly what I am looking for...

the bonus modifier/2 stat pts is what I consider a "breakpoint" i.e. going from 10 to 11 Dex has the same modifier, but going from 10 to 12 Dex gives you a modifier 1 higher...

so, as I see it, it is better to have your stats in multiples of 2 to best take advantage of the way modifiers are added, correct? unless you plan specifically for items down the road (like that potion that takes away 1 pt Dex for 2 pts Wis) and/or plan according to how you plan to add stat pts at later levels once you get them...

so, for a fighter who is going to wear heavy armor, a Dex of 12 is the highest you should go, correct? but for a char like a barbarian wearing medium armor, you can go up to something like 14, to get the better bonus?

the only other thing I wanted to know was if there was some "breakpoint" for Int values that give extra skill pts per level... or is that based on the modifier? i.e. someone with an Int of 10 gets no extra skill pts per level, same at Int 11, but someone with Int 12 gets an extra skill pt per level? something like that.

thanks once again.

edit - also, regarding strength and how it affects damage, is that based on the modifier as well? is there a direct correlation? i.e. does a str modifier of +4 give +4 dmg on every successful hit?

and do any of the stats affect the % chance to hit? (is that BAB?)

[ January 22, 2003, 16:30: Message edited by: Krysalyn ]

Dexterity and Strength both affect the chances to hit. Strength for melee attacks with melee and thrown weapons and Dexterity for ranged attacks and melee attacks. Strength influences damage with Melee and thrown attacks. If you have the Weapon Finesse, you can take a simple weapon and have your DEX modifier applied to it's attack roles, instead of your STR modifier.

Dexterity also boosts the Reflex Savingthrows. (The ability modifier is applied) Same with Constitution for Fortitude-, and Wisdom for Will saves.

Yes, it is better to have your stats in multiples of 2. You got the armor-dex thing right too. Intelligence gives extra skillpoints, also dependant on the ability modifier.

BAB is Base Attack Bonus, and that is dependant on the STR or DEX modifier depending on which type of weapon you use.

does a str modifier of +4 give +4 dmg on every successful hit?
Correct. Even better: When wielding 2-handed weapons you can multiply this modifier by 1 and 1/2. A fighter with 18 str wielding a greatsword could do 18 damage: 12 (greatsword's max) + 6 (18 str is a modif of 4, times 1 and a half is 6)

Remember that Dex only effects the attack roles and NOT the damage for ranged weapons.

the only other thing I wanted to know was if there was some "breakpoint" for Int values that give extra skill pts per level... or is that based on the modifier? i.e. someone with an Int of 10 gets no extra skill pts per level, same at Int 11, but someone with Int 12 gets an extra skill pt per level? something like that.
Correct, again. Skill points are affected by Int-modifier. But also by class. IIRC, 8 for rogues, 4 for fighters and 2 for wizards. Humans get 2 extra skillpoints at 1st level and 1 extra point at every level past 1st level.

About the Armor types: Correct :D
Look at the Maximum dexterity bonus of each armor type. Some magical suits might give you a better dex-bonus. But if you have a dex of 20 (+5) and you wear an armor of +5 normal and +2 dex bonus (total 7) you'd be better off wearing +3 normal and +5 dex bonus (total of 8). All depending on your Dex Modifier.

Read page 37-42 of your manual. If you don't have a manual ( :nono: ), you can always ask again ;)

Stats do not effect anything unless you get them to even numbers. i.e. Getting a stat from 16 to 17 will effect nothing. But from 17 to 18 you will get +1 bonus on everything boosted by that stat. So, it is important to increase modifiers and not stats.
CON do not effect fatigue or stamina.

Some feats require minimum stats. This is worth considering aswell

AtA seems to be right about that. I was mixing things up things from other games (BG2). Sorry. :heh:

Manual:
"A character can operate at peak efficienty for 24 hrs game time (2 hrs real time). For every 4 hrs beyond 24, the char will receive a cumulative -1 to all rolls until rest."
Doesn't mention anything about Constitution

I know because I sometimes do not rest for 3-4 days. (game time) Until my whole group starts to cry for a bed. :grin: It is funny to see my barbarian with 24 CON :wail:ing for a sleep.
"I need to sleep or I will stop cutting meat for you." :shake:

are your stat values for Dex, Con, Wis used as the baseline for your saving throws? or are your saving throw "base" values determined by what class you are, and then modified by your stat bonus/penalties?

also, it was listed that rogues get 8 skill pts per level, fighters 4, and wizards 2, what do the other classes get for skill pts per level?

Base saveing throws are determined by class and level. stat modifiers are like bonuses or penalties.

I think Fighters only get 1 skill point pr level in IWD2, (they get two after 3E rules)

Does anyone have idea how much you can carry stuff if you have XX strangth? Is this same as in Baldur's Gates and IWD1?

I made a party existing only of humans. I had several characters, all with the same stats. I noticed that fighter-like chars had +2 to fortitude and spellcasters had +2 to will saves.

Any idea why/rule/something?

edit:

Weight allowence.
Str Modif : Weight
-4 : ..5
-3 : .15
-2 : .30
-1 : .50
00 : .70
+1 : .90
+2 : 120
+3 : 160
+4 : 215
+5 : 285

[ January 25, 2003, 20:37: Message edited by: Master of Nuhn ]

The different classes have different saves, warriors have good fort save and bad will and ref save. Mages and sorcerers have good will save and bad fort and ref save. Rogues have good ref and bad will and fort. Monks have all the saves good. I think but I am not sure that clerics get good will and fort saves and bad ref saves but not sure. Paladins add their charisma modifier to all their saves so the higher charisma the better saves for thme.

Joacqin is right about saves.
Characters get +2 for their goos saves and 0 for their bad saves at the beginning. Good saves will reach +12 at level 20 where bad saves will reach +6.