Stat penalties

I'm planning to make a tech gunner with the background Miracle Operation (+5 perception, +3 intelligence, +3 charisma, -5 constitution, -3 strength, -3 dexterity).

I'm wondering if the +/- works like race modifiers, in that you can go over 20, or be stuck with less. (Such as a halfling having a max of 17(?) str)

Can charge rings take your dex up to 20? Since having less then 20 dex hurts the combat side.

Thanks

 

The way I understand it (I'm pretty sure I'm right, but if someone who knows for sure wants to quote my post or something that'd be great) is that every stat has it's base at 20. From there, racial/gender/background modifiers *change* that final value to it's norm.

For example, normally, a half-ogre couldn't get a natural intelligence of 20 because of the racial -4 int modifier, but if he takes miracle operation (+3 to int) his total, final *base* int would be 20-4+3=19. 19 is still enough for the last tier tech schematics and last tier skill increases, though he wouldn't have full spell slots.

Regarding equipment bonuses (green stat bonuses): they just plain add their value. Using the last example, if you got your half-ogre to a natural int of 19, you could bridge that final gap with an item or piece of equipment that adds to int (like an int potion, though it's temporary). Charged rings and all the other stuff (like the constitution ring or Hebe medallion in Tarant) all just pile onto their respective stats.

So, yes, it is possible to get over the maximum using items.

 

Certain backgrounds and items can improve base stats, but will not increase them over 20 (unless part of your character's race adds to a certain stat, like Half ogres having a max strength of 24 {Or my game's just bugged and won't allow me to go over the max for nearly all the stats.}). However, all racial penalties and bonuses can be counteracted by the right background. But, charged rings can and will raise your dex to or over 20, if you have a blessing for it.

 

Large bill? :lol:

Stats are hard coded into the game, and no background can raise a stat above the racial limit (well, it can't raise a stat above 20 unless it's supposed to be above 20). The only way to raise stats above the max is with other hard-coded factors, like blessings (then again, if you undat the right file, you can alter blessing affects as well...). I don't think any gear you wear can raise a stat above the max.

 

The penalties from backgrounds affect the maximum value of a stat.
e.g. Human with blacksmith background (-2 to dexterity) can only have a normal maximum dexterity of 18.
That is 20 - 2 = 18.
Charged rings or blessings can bring this up to 20 but never above 20 as that is the absolute maximum for humans.

Bonuses from backgrounds work differently. They do NOT affect the maximum value of a stat. So the same human with blacksmith background (+1 to strength) can only reach 20 strength. The bonus does not add on to the racial limit.

 

Well, how does that work when my city raised background half-ogre uses an int potion to get his int to 20? Unless I'm reading your stuff wrong, wouldn't that mean that my ogre's int was capped at 19 or 18 (I forget what the exact numbers are for the city-raised ogre)?

 

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies.

It does seem wield to me why charge rings can bring dex up to 20 even though the background limits it. Not that i'm complaining.

Does this work for race penalties as well? (i.e. Dwarf with no background or at least none affecting dex)

 

You can negate a racial penalty with a background, but, like TONGS said, you can't raise the stat above the maximum of 20. You could have a halfling character (and halflings normally have -3 to strength) with a background that adds 3 to strenght, and the background and racial subtraction would cancel each other out, making your halfling capable of a maximum 20 strength.

 

Just to continue what Gross was saying:
If the halfling has a background strength bonus of +6, the maximum strength it can achieve is still capped at 20.
I didn't explain this properly before. So basically bonuses can cancel a racial penalty but only ever up to 20.
But here's the complicated part: Racial bonuses supercede any background changes up to a certain point. So a halfling with a -1 dexterity background will still be able to reach 22 dexterity normally (without charged rings, etc). However a halfling with a -3 dexterity background will only be able to reach a maximum of 21 dexterity normally (but can still reach 22 using charged rings).